Digital Skills

Digital Resources

Guides, articles and more on how digital can help you to improve your business, people and processes.

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Pre-launching a new product or business

Many business owners work for months or even years to reach the point they’re finally ready to launch their new business or product, and then suddenly realise they have no clear plan on how to reach people who are ready to hear about it. This is where a pre-launch comes in!

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Managing online reviews

Word of mouth recommendation has always been one of the most powerful ways to drive new customers to your business. Find out about the review marketplace, how to build and manage your presence, and when it might be right to use review management software.

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How to choose an email marketing platform

Email marketing is a channel that has stood the test of time and is one of the most effective ways for small businesses to communicate directly with their customers and prospects. This guide will help you choose the right platform for your business.

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Identifying the digital marketing skills your business needs - Part 2

Find out how to build your digital marketing activity with email, search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising.

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Google Tag Manager

An introduction to Google Tag Manager and collecting data

If you run Google Analytics or any kind of online advertising that requires multiple tracking tags to be added to your site (such as Google Ads or Facebook ads), then Google Tag Manager could be a useful way of implementing your tracking.

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Upgrading your website – a checklist of what to consider

Find out what you need to consider when switching your website to a different website building platform such as Squarespace, WordPress, and Wix.

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An introduction to Looker Studio for small businesses

If you have an online presence or are looking to grow your online presence, you may benefit from using Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) to create bespoke reports for your key digital data. After a bit of time invested in setting it up, Looker Studio can help you access and analyse critical data for your business, saving you time and helping you to make the best decisions.

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8 aims and goals for your business launch

Whether you’ve been planning to set up a business for weeks, months or even years, for most people, launching is a big step - always exciting and sometimes a bit nerve wracking! Here we outline some key aims and goals to consider pre-launch.

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What is Google Analytics 4 and should I set it up for my website?

If you use Google Analytics, or if you are setting up a new website, you will have heard of Google Analytics 4. In this guide we take you through what Google Analytics 4 is, and what you need to do about it.

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Identifying the digital marketing skills your business needs - Part 1

Find out how to access the knowledge and skills you need to set-up your website and social media presence - considering what you can do yourself and where you might need some help.

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5 ways you can gain insights from online competitor analysis

Whatever stage your business is at, analysing your competitors can help you find opportunities and keep on top of industry trends. Here we take a look at what information you should look for and how to make the best use of free digital tools.

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Digital Tools And Techniques

Digital tools and techniques to identify consumer trends

Keeping an eye on customer trends in your sector can inspire innovation and help you to identify growth markets and emerging products or even spot untapped demand. Here we outline some useful digital tools and techniques to track trends.



Article
Digital Presence

Checklist for start-ups – setting up your digital presence

For most startups, setting up a digital presence is a key step in getting a new business ready for launch, whether that’s a website, social pages, an email address or more. This checklist covers the things you are most likely to need.

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Business Model

An introduction to digital business models for your new business idea

This guide outlines some common digital business models to help you come up with ideas and choose the best option to fit your circumstances and ambition.

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Managing and optimising your Google My Business profile

To provide a strong user experience for visitors, ensure your profile is correctly populated, optimised and make use of some of the additional features.



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Customer Retention

Five top tips for retaining customers

Winning new customers is hard work which means retaining them is critical. Here’s five tips to help you put customer retention at the heart of your business.

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Finding Customers

Finding new customers with digital marketing - a route map

A key concern for many small businesses is how to find new customers. Find out which digital channels are the best fit to help your business.

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Booking

Guide to selecting an online booking system

Many businesses find online booking systems help them to deliver a better experience for their customers, and a number of businesses that adopted online booking to support social distancing during the pandemic have continued with their new systems. Here we outline some key considerations to help you determine which is the best fit for you.

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Claim it or leave it – could Google My Business boost your marketing?

Often overlooked in marketing, Google My Business is a straightforward, easy and free tool that helps small businesses raise their local profile in Google’s search results.

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Step-by-step guide - claiming and populating your Google My Business profile

If your business serves customers face-to-face and in a specific local area, then a Business Profile within Google My Business can be particularly useful.

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Podcast Guide

How to make a podcast for your business in 11 simple steps

Each year, more and more people in the UK are regularly listening to podcasts. For small businesses with something to say, podcasts can raise your profile helping you to reach new customers.

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Keeping your customers up to date – a checklist

It’s easy to get distracted by the day-to-day running of your business, and not notice that your digital content is out of date. Make sure you regularly review your customer communications.

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5 ways you can use email to communicate with your customers

Here is a quick run down on when email is the ideal channel to improve communication with your customers.

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Selecting The Right Platform

Selecting a platform to run online classes

Many instructors now realise the value of offering online formats as well as face-to-face classes. Here we answer some questions that many people have when they are moving physical classes online.

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7 tips to getting your tone right in communications during a community crisis

During a crisis impacting your community, the words that you use and the tone that you take are incredibly important to your ongoing customer relationships.

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Customer Feedback

4 ways customer feedback can help you right now

If you're considering changing how your business operates, including launching new products or services or using different ways of selling, feedback from customers will be very useful. Your digital platforms can help you to gather this feedback. Here’s four types of questions you could answer.

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Communications

5-point plan to stay connected with customers during temporary closure

If you have to close your business temporarily for any reason, it’s worth proactively maintaining a relationship with your customers if you can. Here are some tips on how to use digital to stay in touch.

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Using digital platforms to sell and deliver your services

Digital channels and platforms offer huge opportunities for small business. Here we introduce some easy-to-use free or low cost tools that will help your business reach, engage with, and sell to customers.

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Using digital channels to communicate during a business crisis

Find out how businesses can use digital tools and channels to respond quickly and support communications with customers, staff and suppliers during a business crisis.

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Business blogging in a nutshell

Find out how blogging can help your business connect with your audience and keep them engaged.

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Objectives & results – top 5 tips from an expert

Sarah Johnson, director of growth-marketing agency IndigoLeap, discusses the top 5 rules to setting the right objectives for your digital marketing activity.

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Creating engaging content

Find out about high quality, relevant content can boost your business profile.

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Email marketing – overview

Learn about the best practices of email marketing and the tools you can use to stay in touch with your customers.

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Digital marketing strategy

Learn more in-depth steps you can take to develop your digital strategy.

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Video for business guide

Tips, strategies, and advice on creating video content for business.

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Digital Skills glossary

Use our handy glossary of frequently used terms to help bring you up to speed across a wide range of digital topics.

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Auditing your digital presence: a ‘how-to’ guide

Making sure your business’s various profiles are consistent across all the digital touch points where your current or future customers can find you is really important.

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Digital upskilling: what, why and how

Angela Prentner-Smith, co-founder of digital transformation agency This is Milk, discusses the key steps to digital success.

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Online tutorials

Free and available 24/7, our online tutorial series offers you advice & tips on the likes of paid advertising, cyber resilience & digital marketing.

Watch now

Digital Health Check

Take five minutes to answer a few simple questions on the digital strengths and weaknesses of your business.

Webinars and Events

Our free webinars and events, run across Scotland, tackle topics from bookkeeping and social media strategy to e-commerce and exporting.

Local Offices

Business Gateway have local offices all over Scotland. Your local office can provide support on starting up, funding, business plans and more.