Customers, and especially corporate clients, will check out your website and LinkedIn profile before they ever agree to a meeting. If you can’t be found, or what they find looks unprofessional, you won’t get the call.
1. Get a professional business email
Nothing undercuts credibility with a corporate client faster than an email address that looks like a personal Gmail or Yahoo account. A custom domain email signals, correctly or not, that a business can afford the basics and is worth trusting with real work. This is one of the cheapest professionalism upgrades a small business can make.
2. Tighten up your LinkedIn profile
Use a genuinely professional photo, not a casual selfie. Keep your information current and accurate, check for spelling and grammar errors, and set a customised LinkedIn URL. Ask a former client or colleague for a recommendation, social proof carries real weight here.
3. Set up a proper website
Many entrepreneurs stall at this step, but getting into the game beats staying on the sidelines indefinitely. A website isn’t a once-off expense, it needs maintaining, and a full redesign every few years. A template-based site is the simplest, most economical way to get a professional result without a custom build.
4. Give visitors a clear path, not a guessing game
A good website does more than look polished, it should make immediately clear what you do, what problem you solve, and how a visitor benefits from working with you. Include an obvious call to action on your homepage, whether that’s requesting more information, signing up for a newsletter, or contacting you directly, rather than leaving visitors to figure out their own next step.
5. Make sure customers can actually find you
A website alone isn’t enough if no one finds it. Set up a free Google Business Profile, and build a basic strategy for driving traffic through paid search, social advertising or search engine optimisation, whichever fits your budget and audience.
6. Consider an off-the-shelf e-commerce platform
If you’re testing e-commerce rather than committing fully to it, a platform like Shopify removes most of the technical hassle of building and running an online store, with built-in tutorials and support. Shopify’s entry-level plan currently starts at around $39 a month, with pricing tiers scaling up as your store grows.
7. Keep learning, but don’t outsource everything blindly
Digital marketing has a genuinely steep learning curve, tackle one topic at a time rather than all at once. Agencies can help with execution, but outsourcing your entire sales and marketing function without understanding the fundamentals yourself is risky, you need enough knowledge to judge whether the work you’re paying for is actually good.
Frequently asked questions
Is a free email address really that damaging to a small business’s credibility?
With corporate clients specifically, yes. A custom domain email is a low-cost signal of legitimacy that’s easy to fix and noticeably improves first impressions.
Do I need a fully custom website, or is a template good enough?
A well-chosen template is a perfectly credible starting point for most small businesses, provided the site is clean, fast and has a clear call to action.
Should I build my own e-commerce store or use a platform like Shopify?
If you’re still testing whether e-commerce fits your business, an off-the-shelf platform is a lower-risk way to start than building custom infrastructure from scratch.
Looking credible before you say a word
Most of these fixes are inexpensive and quick to make, yet they shape a client’s first impression of your business before any conversation even happens. Getting the basics right online is no longer optional for a business that wants to be taken seriously by corporate clients.
By Victoria Williams, Head of Marketing Strategy at Riversands Incubation Hub.
Originally published in October 2019. Updated September 2026 to refresh current Shopify pricing and this guest advice on maintaining a professional online business image. The underlying principles remain durable regardless of specific platforms in use.
