If your business is not already online or if you wish to improve your presence there are many free resources available to help you.
The Federation of Small Businesses has a skills hub including a series of webinars on digital marketing to help businesses navigate through the various social media platforms available.
Google offers free Google my business accounts and has tips for how to maintain your listing so that customers can better support your business. View the guide to find out more.
Google also has a selection of free tools, training and resources to help businesses adapt to the web and create and build your online profile.
Social media
Facebook for business
Facebook for business has a free resource hub to help businesses during the pandemic with free webinars, guides and support for using Facebook and Instagram.
If you already have a page, Facebook has new features that allow you to add special content to your page, such as displaying your menu, listing your services or showcasing your products with a shop section. You can also make temporary service changes to your page.
You can also set up your page so that customers can purchase vouchers for your business.
Facebook for business training
Access Facebook and Be the Business’ free virtual training sessions to boost your digital skills to help your business recover and grow. Watch the webinar for more support.
Twitter also has a comprehensive guide for business looking to use their platform
Don’t for get to:
- Retweet, re-post and share what satisfied customers say about your business on social media. These posts act as a little testimonial that may encourage others to give your business a try.
- Respond to social media reviews online to show that you value your customers’ feedback, gives you an opportunity to highlight the positives and shows you care.
Online listings
There are a number of local directories, Facebook groups and websites where businesses can list and raise their profile in the local area. Below are some of the websites that are available. You can also do an online search to see what is available in your area.
- My virtual neighbourhood – Ealing
- My virtual Neighbourhood-Acton
- Acton Notebook
- Pitshanger Village Shops Facebook page
Other support
Be the Business is a not-for-profit organisation set up by the government to support SMEs. Their website is dedicated to helping small businesses make better use of technology. Access their free tools and visit the rebuild your business web pages for free support.
Vodaphone has also created a small business resource centre to help small businesses.
For complete beginners Make it Click has a series of free courses to build your digital skills. The government’s Skills Toolkit has a range for free courses available.