Article by: Jonathan Burrows
Date: 23/03/2020
Length: 5 minutes
Quote: “When times are bad is when the real entrepreneurs emerge.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Coronavirus Disease 2019 Graphic. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario “Charo” Gutierrez)
Here are a few technical tips and things to do while at home to support your business through coronavirus.
Summary
For most businesses, this is at best a trying time, one in which it will be hard to get through unscathed. But what would life for your business be like when you come out the other end?
That’s up to you, of course, however, there are some technical things you can do to put your business in a much better place when we say goodbye to COVID-19. At least from a technical standpoint.
No excuses, it’s time to learn!
What we will cover
- Cloud storage
- Communications
- SEO for your website
- Security
- Learn something new
Cloud Storage
Probably most of you will have some sort of cloud storage in place. This is where you save files to a specific folder on your computer hard drive (such as OneDrive – Personal, and the file is automatically uploaded to the cloud.
If you don’t have cloud storage you might want to look into it. Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive are just a few.
If you can only work with files by using Microsoft Office, then consider OneDrive since some plans come with a subscription to Office 365.
Dropbox has a web version of Office built in so that’s handy too. Google Drive has its own version of web programs to create and edit documents and spreadsheets.
The point about this post though is to encourage you to look into cloud storage if you haven’t got it and to take a closer look if you do.
Tip: Check folders on your computer that are outside the cloud storage folders such as your Desktop as these are not synchronised by default. If you lost your computer or the hard drive died then those files will be lost!
Anything I.T. and Hello Comtec provide business versions of OneDrive and Google Drive. Get in touch to find out how these products can help you.
Communications
Have a look at the way you communicate with your potential customers and existing customers. Here are several things to look into and research yourself:
Cloud telecommunications
Move your phone system away from antiquated and immovable hard-wired systems into your office/home (such as a BT line) to cloud-based telecommunications such as Number Club by Hello Comtec. Contact them on their website or us here at Anything I.T.
Facebook Page Messaging
You can have your Facebook Page (you do have a Facebook Page don’t you?) automatically reply with a customised message to anyone that starts a conversation. You can also setup Frequently Asked Questions so visitors can get the answers they need quickly without having to wait for you to respond.
You might want to also integrate Instagram into your Facebook since you can receive and reply to messages all in one place.
Improve your email communications with Office 365 for Business
Office 365 for Business comes with business-class email. A stable and full-featured product. More on that elsewhere.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for your website
Now that you are stuck at home for a few weeks, why not focus a little on your website?
Check your SEO
Check your SEO for your site by using tools such as Ubersuggest. Once you get familiar with this tool you can then work on your site content to reflect your goals.
Blogging and article writing
Now is the time to create a few articles or blogs of useful information to help your website visitors.
By creating several blogs you can improve the way Google (etc) see your website and therefore improve the visibility of it on search results.
You can normally set each blog with a publish date sometime in the future so you could write about future events coming up and delay their publishing until later.
The important thing here is to write useful information that people will read.
You might also want to try creating video blogs too.
Update your main pages
Take a look at the content on your website pages also. Tweak and improve them. Make sure the content is relevant to what the topic is about. Google likes to see websites updated regularly.
Google My Business
Do you have a Google My Business listing?
Seeing your business in what some people call the ‘map’ section of results can be quite important. Google My Business is yet another way you can improve your online visibility.
If your business has a physical address, then that will help how you appear on the map but the address will need to be verified, usually by way of a postcard sent by Google to the address with a code that needs to be entered into your Google My Business console.
Security
How secure are your computers and the data they have stored on them? Perhaps they should be removed from public view?
Who has access to business files and documents? Did you forget to remove sharing for someone who left the company? Check it now.
Are your anti-virus programs up-to-date? Check them.
What about GDPR? In most small businesses you can check what you have to do to be compliant at the ICO website. There is a Registration self-assessment on the ICO website which will take you through some steps to help you decide if you need to pay a fee or not.
Learn something new
Learn something new. For me, I’m self-teaching myself a new programming language called React. For you? Maybe you have always wanted to get to know more about SEO, or HTML, or how to speed up your computer or to understand your computer network.
Now is the time and there is plenty of information and tutorial websites to help you. Here are just a few:
- Lynda.com (Business, Higher Education, Programming, Photography, Business and much more)
- Codecademy.com (Programming)
- Hubspot.com (Marketing, Sales, SEO, Social Media)
- Udemy.com (From Programming to Photography, Marketing to Personal Development)
Finally
This post is really just a way of stimulating your mind to get you doing some technical things to help your business and to put it into a better position when coronavirus isolation ends.
Feel free to get in touch if you need any help: