How to grow your online business

If you’re running an online business, there’s a huge opportunity for growth, but finding the right formula depends on your products, customer base and business goals. Also, financing is key, as solutions like small business loans, cash advances and lines of credit offer fast access to working capital and funding to invest in your growth plans. 

We discuss how to grow your online business, including providing actionable digital growth strategies and exploring the types of business finance that can power your plans.  

The importance of growing your online business

The potential for online business growth is immense, as entrepreneurs have so many opportunities at their fingertips, while consumers are increasingly turning to online stores and digital channels to make purchases. According to market analysis by Mordor Intelligence, the UK ecommerce market is projected to grow by nearly 23% between 2025 and 2030.

How long does it take to grow your business online?

While ecommerce is booming, growing an online business is about more than just driving more sales. You need to develop a strong brand, increase your online presence and build a loyal customer base, while looking to expand your offering and increase market share. The timeline for growth varies, based on your strategy, industry, product demand, budget and market conditions. It could take months or years to gain traction, depending on these factors.

Using business finance is a way to accelerate your online growth, leveraging funding options like working capital loans, revenue-based funding or inventory financing.

How can I grow my online business faster?

Online businesses are free of many of the challenges brick-and-mortar retail faces, such as long-term leases, business rates, storing inventory, personnel and in-person footfall. Ecommerce businesses can strip things down, avoiding many of the issues and costs of physical stores and focus on expansion. 

Working online offers access to wider markets and more direct engagement opportunities with customers through social media and online advertising, and easier and faster ways to scale operations.

To grow your ecommerce business and online performance, you need to combine various ingredients, such as:

• Effective marketing and paid ads
• Leveraging partnerships to reach new audiences
• Optimising operational processes
• Boosting activities with additional funding, from business finance solutions or equity investors

Let’s move onto our top digital growth strategies for you to apply within your business.

6 key strategies to grow your online business

1. Building a strong online presence

Your online presence is the foundation of your company’s digital growth. This involves having a professional and user-friendly website, active social media profiles and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. Here’s how to do it:

• Optimise your website: Ensure your website is easy to navigate, mobile-friendly and optimised for search engines. A good website not only attracts visitors but also converts them into customers.
• Leverage social media: Use platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even TikTok, to connect with your audience, share valuable content and promote your products or services.
• Content marketing: Regularly publish high-quality content that educates, entertains or solves problems for your audience. This builds trust and positions your brand as an authority in your industry.

Engaging content encourages people to return to your site and channels, helping you build a community around your brand.

2. Accelerate growth with paid advertising

Organic growth is your baseline, but sometimes you need a boost to reach new heights. Paid advertising, including Google Ads, Facebook Ads and sponsored content, can significantly increase your visibility and help grow business online fast.

• Google Ads: Target customers actively searching for your products or services. This is especially effective for retail businesses and those in competitive niches.
• Facebook and Instagram Ads: These platforms allow you to target specific demographics, making them ideal for businesses looking to reach a particular audience segment. Also, based on your audience, explore other social channels and their advertising tools.

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3. Leverage email marketing for retention and growth

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to nurture relationships with your customers. By sending personalised emails with product recommendations, special offers or useful content, you can increase customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.

• Segment your audience: Tailor your email campaigns based on customer behaviour, preferences and purchase history. This personalisation increases the likelihood of engagement.
• Automate email campaigns: Use automation tools to send timely emails, such as welcome series for new subscribers or re-engagement campaigns for inactive customers.

4. Expand your team and resources

As your business grows, you may need more hands on deck. Expanding your team and tech stack allows you to scale operations, improve customer service and explore new opportunities.

• Hire specialised talent: Bringing in experts for specific roles like marketing, content creation or customer support can enhance your capabilities and free up your time to focus on strategy.
• Invest in the right tools and technology: Tools like CRM systems, marketing automation platforms and inventory management software can streamline operations and support growth. Also, AI adoption is increasing fast, so ensure you’re trying the latest tools and benefiting from the time-saving and analytical potential of AI for your business needs. 

5. Monitor and adjust your strategies

Growing your business online is an ongoing process, and what works today might not work tomorrow. Regularly review your online growth strategies, monitor key metrics and be ready to pivot when necessary.

• Use data to guide you: Google Analytics, social media insights and CRM data can provide valuable insights into your audience's behaviour and preferences.
• A/B testing: Test different versions of your ads, email campaigns and website elements to see what resonates best with your audience.

6. Using business finance to fund online growth initiatives 

Once you’ve established how to grow your business online and you’re ready to apply key growth strategies, consider the funds required. While much can be achieved organically, significant growth inevitably requires additional capital. 

Sourcing funding to power your strategies can help you make key investments and reach your potential without causing cash flow problems. We discuss the best business finance solutions to help you grow your online business later in this article. [ANCHOR LINK]

How important is social media for growing an online business?

Using social media well is crucial these days to grow your ecommerce business or increase online sales for your company. It helps build brand awareness, attract customers and drive traffic to your website and associated channels. It’s particularly effective for visual and community-driven industries like fitness, fashion, healthy eating, etc.

Engage with your audience where they spend most of their time and produce content that resonates with them, their interests and buying behaviours, while connecting with others in your space, such as influencers and other brands.

How to grow an online business on Instagram

Growing a business on Instagram requires building a strong online presence, including creating compelling content and developing a personal brand. Combine professionalism with authenticity, demonstrating your personality, showcasing customer experiences and injecting humour, where appropriate. 

Turning followers into loyal customers takes time. You’ll need to post high-quality content in various forms to keep people engaged, interested in learning more about your products or services or advocating for you. This could be: 

• Educational videos
• Customer stories
• Behind-the-scenes content
• Product reveals

Support organic efforts with targeted ads and promotional campaigns, including investing in Instagram Ads, influencer marketing and industry partnerships. This will help get your products/services in front of more potential customers.

Instagram’s analytics tools track engagement and show you what performs best, so you can adapt your social media strategy to grow your online business.  

Areas of business primed for online growth

Retailers are enjoying huge success online, but other types of businesses are in a great position for digital growth, including service-based companies and professionals. Below, we explore some key business areas primed for online growth and how to achieve success:

How to grow a therapy business online

For a business offering support, such as therapy, credibility is crucial. Your website should look professional, with qualifications, accreditations and other trust factors clearly visible, like testimonials, reviews and recognition, outlining your experience.

Ensure your website is simple to navigate and compliant and make it easy for customers to understand your services, pricing model and the value you offer. You’ll need to invest time and money into the following areas to grow your therapy business online:

• Creating helpful content for your blog and social channels to build authority and increase your online presence. 
• Sharing tips and resources in industry networks and being part of key conversations amid industry news or events, such as Mental Health Week.
• Optimising your website for search – not just for Google, but for voice search and AI search tools, which are becoming increasingly important.
• Using paid advertising to expand your reach quickly and target people actively seeking therapy and related services.
• Leveraging tech, such as email marketing automation (to nurture leads and send out newsletters), CRM platforms and integrations with payment tools, accounting software and online session scheduling.

What about growing an online tutoring business?

Like with therapy services, growing an online tutoring business requires a website and social presence that garners trust and demonstrates your expertise. Create a site that clearly outlines your tutoring services, credentials and impact, with easy booking options. Your social profiles should align with your website’s messaging, but be tailored to audiences on different channels.

To build authority and online growth, spend time creating useful content, such as blogs, short videos or webinars, with study tips, learning strategies, student success stories and other insights. Sharing free educational content can open the door to your paid offering, once you’re established as an authority.

You can boost your content efforts and online reach with targeted ads, SEO, sponsored social posts and email marketing, while using promotions such as:

• Referral offers
• Seasonal discounts
• Reduced fees for subscriptions
• Course bundles

As demand for your services grows, you can expand your team, increase your offering and move into new markets/regions.

What’s the best way to grow an online coaching business?

Online coaching is thriving, as people seek practical tips and strategies to reach their potential. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn are great for sharing videos that showcase your skills and experience. Look to create varied content to build authority and interest, sharing personal lessons and client successes. 

Ensure your website and social profiles are engaging and professional, helping potential customers see the value of your coaching services. Provide testimonials, success stories, clear pricing and strong calls to action. 

As your customer base grows, you can increase advertising to expand reach and generate leads, while using email campaigns to share tips, case studies and exclusive offers. Also, consider investing in CRM systems and digital tools to: 

• Provide key customer insights
• Reduce time spent on administrative tasks
• Improve process efficiency
• Allow you to expand your offering and spend more time coaching

How to expand your ecommerce business online

Enjoying rapid ecommerce growth comes from understanding your market, gaining visibility, testing and optimising and differentiating yourself from the competition. Also, you need to establish strong supplier relationships and operate efficient inventory management. 

Whether developing and selling your own products or using dropshipping and non-inventory online business models, monitor trends, forecast cash flow and demand and invest in key assets, people and promotional activity, as you scale. Use paid advertising, alongside organic marketing, to reach new customers and retarget visitors who abandoned online carts to help increase sales.

Another way to grow your ecommerce business is improving site performance, including conducting a technical audit and reviewing content to identify areas to improve, such as:

• Page load times
• Time spent on pages
• Mobile optimisation
• Page structure/navigation
• Call-to-action positioning
• SEO
• Copywriting

Taking a continuous improvement approach is key. Even small tweaks can make a big difference to conversion rate and sales. 

Maximising online growth in key sales periods

Ecommerce is heavily influenced by seasonality, so aim to maximise potential revenue during peak seasons and build reserves to cover cash flow in slower periods. Working capital finance solutions, such as a line of credit, merchant cash advance, flexible business loan or invoice finance facility, can support you with both. Consider some of the following tactics to boost sales:

• Offer complementary or seasonal products.
• Explore dropshipping to test new ideas without holding stock.
• Use email marketing and SMS campaigns to promote offers and encourage repeat purchases.
• Be more active on social channels and explore influencer marketing to showcase products authentically and spark engagement.
• Analyse and optimise campaign performance to gain greater impact.

How financing can support your online business growth

As your business grows, so do your financial needs. Whether you need funds to invest in marketing, expand your team or purchase additional inventory, various business financing options can support your growth.

Here are a few of the main finance solutions to help you grow your online business: 

• Working capital loans: Manage cash flow and cover day-to-day expenses as you scale your operations using short-term loans that offer fast access to working capital, with manageable repayment schedules. This type of loan is usually a short-term, unsecured loan.
• Business lines of credit: A flexible and revolving credit facility that allows you to draw down funds from a pre-agreed limit, only paying interest on what you use. This is a good finance option to grow your business online at your own pace, topping up when required.  
• Inventory financing: This helps you better manage inventory in line with demand, without causing cash flow shortages, providing capital for purchasing stock, with current and purchased goods used as security. 
• Invoice finance: Getting an advance of 80-95% of upcoming invoice value provides a fast injection of cash to invest in key areas, overcoming cash flow issues caused by late-paying clients or lengthy payment schedules. 
• Merchant cash advances (MCAs): Useful for retailers and online businesses, this form of revenue-based funding provides a lump sum to be repaid as a percentage of your future card sales. It provides flexibility for scaling and keeping cash flow healthy as revenue fluctuates.
• Equity finance: If you don’t want to take on debt, you can explore various forms of equity finance, seeking investment from venture capital firms, angel investors or crowdfunding platforms. While you can get significant capital without needing to repay it, you’ll need to give up a level of control and share of future profits in exchange for funding.

Choosing a finance solution to help grow your online business depends on numerous factors, like the amount of funding required, when you need it, if you’re prepared to use business assets as collateral, and much more. Also, eligibility for different options hinges on various criteria being met, plus your creditworthiness.

Using a flexible business loan to grow your business online 

If you need fast access to flexible business finance, our Flexi-Loans do help you grow your online business and manage cash flow effectively. We’ve helped over 150,000 SMEs to reach their growth ambitions. 

It’s quick and easy to apply for a business loan from iwoca online, with funding decisions given within 24 hours, and successful applicants can gain access to capital in a matter of hours. 

You can borrow £1,000–£1 million for a few days, weeks or up to 60 months, only paying interest on what you draw down with an option to repay the loan early  free of charge.

Apply for a loan today or check out our business loan calculator to see your likely repayments for the funds you need and your preferred borrowing period.