The internet has made it possible for businesses to grow at an incredible rate. However, there are still some things that can be done better or more efficiently by other means. There are many online business tools that are truly useful to have, but there are also other things that should be done in real life to keep your business running smoothly. Let’s go over these online business tools you should be using for your business.
Do you want to be able to work from anywhere in the world with a laptop and internet connection? Just imagine how much more productive you could be with a laptop that can last years on a single charge. Today, we’re going to talk about the essential online business tools that every online business owner should know about in order to be successful.
BuzzSumo
What it is: BuzzSumo is a research platform that allows you to monitor the most popular content by topic, and track rising trends. For example, our search for “content marketing” revealed the current top three most-shared pieces of content for that keyword:
The dark blue circle represents shares on Facebook, light blue is Twitter, and so on across channels. You can also identify people with influential social media profiles in different niches.
What it costs: 7-day free trial, with paid plans starting at $79/month.
Why you need it: You can’t produce topical content if you don’t know what’s topical. With BuzzSumo, you’ll know what content trends are getting the most likes and shares, and you can replicate that success. It’s also a great tool for keeping track of your competitor’s content performance.
WordPress or Squarespace for Content Management
Now that you’ve got your web hosting in place, it’s time to choose a content management tool to build and maintain your online presence. WordPressis obviously the best-known and for good reason. It’s incredibly customizable and comes with an array of free resources, tools, and plug-ins that can be applied as your business grows.
Squarespace is another popular website content management platform that many newbies will probably find a little easier to use than WordPress. No coding required! Both products have several levels of pricing, with Squarespace starting at $12 a month and WordPress at $8 per month. Really, you can’t go wrong with either one.
FreshBooks:
FreshBooks is something I use as well, and it makes a big difference. I’m an accounting moron, but FreshBooks keeps me in line and brings everything I need together into one convenient space. Expense entries, for instance, allow you to attached digital receipts.
FreshBooks is something that will let you handle your accounts from A to Z. No more mistakes, no more outsourcing your bookkeeping, and you can even invite your auditors or accountant to look over your books online.
Weave, Mailchimp or MailMunch for Customer Communication
In regards to communicating with your customers, there are far more ways today than there were even 15 years ago. The online businesses that excel at customer communication are the ones that are going to succeed. Communication for online businesses needs to be both streamlined and natural, which is what makes Weave such a great tool that allows you to automate your customer communication with texting, appointment scheduling, and payment reminders.
For email, Mailchimp and MailMunch are two wonderful and affordable online business tools for growing and maintaining your email list. Both have customizable features, such as allowing for custom landing pages and automatic syncing of email and newsletter campaigns.
Shopify or Stripe for Shopping Cart Software
If you’re going to be selling any goods or services through your online business, you’ll need a way of accepting payment from customers. This is one area of your online business where making things as easy as possible for your customers is going to literally pay off.
The second customers run into a glitch while trying to make a payment, you can expect a loss of sale. If your online business is going to be something in the retail sector, you really can’t go wrong with Shopify. At just $29 a month, it will provide tools to cover everything from social media management to website design, and, of course, payment processing.
Other sorts of online businesses may want to look into Stripe. It has a strong reputation for making payment processing easy and secure, and with a flat rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, and it doesn’t saddle business owners or their customers with a bunch of hidden fees.
Stripe:
What it is: Stripe allows businesses to receive payments from customers over the internet. It stands out from the saturated market of payment processors because of how well it integrates with ecommerce websites. Customers won’t be redirected to a third party site when they make a payment; instead, they’ll enjoy the convenience of staying on your site. And Stripe is convenient for merchants, too: with a single integration, you can accept over 135 currencies.
What it costs: Stripe is priced per transaction, which means you won’t incur any setup fees. Instead, you’ll pay 2.9% + 30 cents per successful card charge. An additional 1% fee is required for currency conversion on international cards.
Why you need it: Stripe was built to integrate with ecommerce websites, so it’ll help you deliver a better onsite shopping experience. It has tons of support from the major players in ecommerce, from Wix to BigCommerce, so you won’t have to worry about tricky installations or a lack of support.
Canva:
Canva is one of the design tools that I love the most since I’m hopeless at art. With access to a whole stable of templates, images, and elements, anyone can use Canva to create professional, quirky, or otherwise customized designs.
Create images and videos quickly from any of their templates or start from scratch and let your imagination go wild. Canva is so easy to use you’ll wonder how you survived before getting on board with them.
Much of it is free, but I strongly recommend a Pro plan since it offers you a brand kit experience that will simply blow your mind.
Wix Logo Maker:
What it is: Wix Logo Maker provides the tools necessary to create a business logo, and you don’t have to put in any difficult design work. Instead, you’ll just answer a few questions about your type of business and your personal design preferences, and Wix will create a logo for you. You can always customize the font/color scheme/size afterwards, so you’re guaranteed to like the end result.
What it costs: The logo maker is free to use, and you can download a free sample of the end result. If you’d like to purchase your logo, the Basic Logo package is $12.99 and includes high-resolution files and full commercial usage rights. You can also choose the Professional Logo package for $49.99, which includes high-res files, full commercial usage rights, vector files, a social media kit, a brand guide, and print-ready files.
Why you need it: 65% of small businesses are willing to pay up to $500 for a new logo, but you don’t have to. Wix Logo Maker is a cost-saving way to make use of professional design tools and insights. The option to customize your logo ensures that you’ll be satisfied with the end result, and you get full commercial use rights of any logo you create.
Conclusion: Common business tools that aid in running an online business, as well as the more rare ones found only among those who know what they’re doing. It’s important to have a lot of research and planning before investing your time and money into a tool, as something with all the features you think you need might be too complicated to use, or not powerful enough to actually help.