Starting your own business can be a very exciting prospect for many of us – it’s taking control of your own life and your own income so that you’re no longer at the beck and call of your employers, so the attraction is pretty obvious. Here in the UK, we are a nation of business owners, with a record number of 5.5 million private sector businesses at the start of 2016. Small businesses account for 99.3% of all private sector business in Britain and 99.9% of these were small or medium sized (SMEs) with a combined annual turnover of £1.8 trillion, 47% or all private sector turnover in Britain. These statistics clearly show just how much Britain’s economy depends on small businesses and if you’re planning on joining in and starting your own business, you’re in very good company.
Despite our reliance on small business, many business studies courses still tend to concentrate on big business models. However, running a small business means that you don’t have the same levels of investment as do large corporations and you’re trying to do everything on a limited budget, especially during the early years of trading. It’s often the case that you need to become a jack of all trades and take on roles and responsibilities that you haven’t been trained for and are not familiar with. Here at ACM, we understand the issues faced by small business owners so we’ve decided to publish regular Business School 101 articles that can be used to gain some knowledge and understanding of the business environment and how things work.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the importance of getting it right when it comes to your website content. Having a website is essential for the 21st Century business – it’s the only way to compete on the global stage that the internet provides us with. You’re likely to find lots of advice on content – the importance of regular updates both on your website and social media platforms, how your content should be attention grabbing and add value for the reader, etc. However, you won’t find much advice on the importance of making sure your content is well-written and free from spelling and grammatical errors.
Badly written content that is full of errors is really common online as so many business owners either write the content themselves, get a family member to do so or pay for the cheapest available option. This is likely to damage your business – after all, if your content has spelling and grammatical errors, potential customers are likely to view your business as not trustworthy and move on in their search for particular products or services. Your content reflects your business and is often the first impression potential customers have of your company, so taking the time (or spending the money) on making sure it’s done properly really is a no-brainer.
If you don’t have the time or wherewithal to write your own content, why not hire a freelancer online to write it for you. When choosing a freelancer, it’s essential that you don’t choose the cheapest option as the content submitted to you is likely to be of low quality. This is an investment in the future of your business, so spending a little more will mean that your website will benefit from well-written content that showcases your business, building trust with potential customers and getting your business off to a great start.
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