Computer technologies are continually changing the way businesses and consumers interact, thanks to the internet. Running a company the ‘old-fashioned’ way won’t cut it if you plan to stay afloat or start a new business in the 21st century. One way or another, entrepreneurs will need computer skills to help them plan, manage, and advertise their products and services online.
Benefits of Learning New Computer Skills
Computers can help you do many tasks more efficiently, giving you more time to do other things. There’s certainly an app or software that can aid any kind of business and every part of running a business.. Need a way to track the expenses and growth of your business? Use a spreadsheet. What if you need to organize your schedule? Download a calendar app. Need to communicate with a colleague? Send them an email.
However, utilizing the power of computers and the internet is more than just sending emails and using spreadsheets. Businesses today have become more complicated because many are migrating their operations over to the internet. Today, entrepreneurs need to think about social media engagement, SEO rankings, building a website, and email marketing to improve their online presence.
This is why business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs need to develop an adeptness in some form of computer skill or two. Read on to discover some of the most common skills you can learn to improve your business online.
Computer Skills You Can Learn Right Now
From designing content to building your website from scratch, you can learn a wide variety of skills to help you improve your business across the board.
- Graphic Design
On the internet, where ‘content is king,’ creativity is an essential arsenal in your business toolbox. Designing creative content, such as posters, infographics, brand logos, product photography, and video blogs, can help increase your business’s online presence.
Learning graphic design is a skill that can help you understand the basics of content creation. Knowledge in applications like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and Canva are a few of the most in-demand skillset necessary to create content. If graphic design is a skill you’re interested in learning, there are thousands of Adobe Illustrator courses available online.
Nowadays, it’s not enough to have a website for the sake of having a website. Most of your business transactions will happen online. That’s why designing a website that’s engaging and attractive for your client’s use is essential.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that lets you create your blog or website without needing to learn how to code. It’s so easy to use—in fact, 1.3 billion websites were built using WordPress.
Entrepreneurs looking into starting a blog or migrating their business online should consider learning to design their website using WordPress.
Speaking of creating your website, if the idea of building your website from scratch excites you, then you might enjoy learning how to code. Computer languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP are most commonly used in web development.
Unlike using a CMS, having the ability to design your website gives you more flexibility. You’re more able to customize web pages according to your taste. The only downside to this is that learning how to code could take three to six months, depending on how often you practice in a day.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s ranking on search engines like Google. Improving your search rankings means more traffic on your website, which could mean having more customers buying your products and services.
SEO is a highly technical skill that takes time to learn. There are thousands of basic SEO courses online that could help familiarize yourself with technical terms like anchor text, backlinks, meta tags, PageRank, search algorithm, and SERPs.
- Social Media
If you think social media is a young person’s game, then you are highly mistaken.
Utilize the power of social media in your business. Avoid getting sucked into the misconception that social media is only for advertising and selling your products.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are a great way to build your brand. You can do this by engaging with your audience by producing engaging content, answering questions, and responding to their comments.
Takeaway
These are just some of the necessary computer-related skills entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners can learn to help their businesses thrive in the modern age. Only having a business idea isn’t enough. What you need is a well-rounded skill set appropriate for the time. Learning these skills can help you grow your business and make well-informed decisions moving forward.
