Guides · Updated 3 November 2026

How to get your business online in India, step by step

"Getting online" isn't one thing. For a shop, salon, clinic or restaurant in India it means four: customers can find you on Google, see what you sell and your prices, reach you on WhatsApp in one tap, and pay you by UPI. Most of it is free, and you can do it from your phone in an afternoon. Here's the order that works.

Step by step

1. 1

   Put your business on Google Maps first

   A Google Business Profile is free and it's where most nearby customers find you ("salon near me", "chemist in Baner"). Search your name in Google Maps; claim it if it's already there, add it if not, pick the right category, put the pin on your door and verify it. Our step-by-step guide covers each screen.

2. 2

   Set up WhatsApp Business

   Use the free WhatsApp Business app on your shop's number: business name, hours, address, a short description and a catalogue of your main items or services with prices. Turn on a greeting and an away message, so nobody's left without an answer.

3. 3

   Get a simple website with your prices

   Customers want to see what you sell and what it costs before they call. A one-page site with your items or services, prices, timings, map and a WhatsApp button is enough to start; it's the link you'll put everywhere. You don't need a developer: an AI website builder can write it from one sentence about your business.

4. 4

   Take payments by UPI, straight to your bank

   Print your UPI QR for the counter and put your UPI ID on your website and bills. Money comes to your own account, with no commission on each sale.

5. 5

   Ask happy customers for Google reviews

   Reviews decide who shows up first nearby. Ask at the right moment (right after a good haircut, a delivered order), make it two taps with a QR card or a link on WhatsApp, and reply to every review. Never buy reviews.

6. 6

   Post a few times a week

   On Instagram, Facebook and your WhatsApp status: new stock, today's offer, a before-and-after, the festival menu. A clear photo and one line of text is enough. Regular beats perfect.

7. 7

   Keep your sales and udhaar on your phone too

   Once orders and payments come in online, a notebook can't keep up. Write sales, udhaar and expenses in an app, so you know what you made today and who owes you, and can send polite reminders.

8. 8

   Put the link everywhere

   Your website or Google link on the shop board, bills, visiting cards, WhatsApp status and Instagram bio. Every place a customer sees your name should take them one tap to your prices or your WhatsApp.

Get these right

• Keep the same business name, address and phone number on Google, your website, WhatsApp and the shop board. Mismatches confuse customers and Google.
• Start with what's free: Google Business Profile, WhatsApp Business and UPI cost nothing.
• Show prices. A page without prices gets far fewer messages than one with them.
• Marketplaces and delivery apps bring customers but usually take a cut of each order. Your own website and WhatsApp orders don't.
• Update your hours before festivals and holidays, everywhere at once.

Questions