Although around half of Australian small businesses still don’t have websites, the soaring consumer appetite for online products and services information means that not having a digital presence when you launch is increasingly inviable.

With more and more consumers using the web as a first port of call to compare businesses and find out where to locate and buy from their chosen supplier, every budding entrepreneur should consider the following digital steps prior to launch.

We’ve rounded up the five key areas you need to concentrate on to be digital ready on day one of trading, including:

• Web design
• Usability
• SEO
• And more