Online business tools can streamline your business operations in ways you might not have dreamed possible. While the importance of traditional business tools like accounting software, CRM systems, and inventory management software can’t be overstated, there are dozens of online tools that can help businesses do just about everything in an easier, more efficient way. These include social media analytics tools, inventory checklists, Google Analytics add-ons for WordPress, credit card processing services, and even apps to help you organize your meetings or schedule your day.
OptimizePress.
OptimizePress is one of the best WordPress themes for creating conversion-optimized websites, and it’s what I use to power my online business as the website builder behind-the-scenes on this blog. The amazingly simple visual live editor and template library enables you to very quickly build high converting landing pages, make a website, construct member portals, offer gated content, and so much more at an affordable price point.
As an added bonus, all of the pages you’ll create with OptimizePress are automatically fully responsive, so they’ll display perfectly on mobile & tablets—a major consideration when designing your blog layout. The theme is regularly updated with new features, functionalities, and has an amazing support team to answer any questions you have once you get started. On top of that, the theme plays very nicely and has direct integrations with all of the other top online business tools on the market, which makes seamlessly running your business a breeze.
Email Marketing
Don’t let the spam emails in your inbox fool you — email is still very much one of the most used and cost-effective marketing channels.
In fact, email marketers who swear by it, get an ROI of approximately $44 for every $1 spent.
The benefits of email marketing roll on. With the right email autoresponder, you can:
- Nurture email subscribers with valuable emails on autopilot
- Promote your latest content and attract more views (e.g. blog post, podcast appearance)
- Attract sales for an upcoming service (e.g. announce limited spots for a six-week online workshop)
What email marketing business tools should you use to amp up your email game? Let’s explore your options:
MailChimp: An email autoresponder turned marketing tool. With MailChimp, you can easily send automated emails and integrate with over 200 tools. MailChimp is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a broader range of integrations in an all-in-one marketing platform.
Flodesk: This email marketing tool is an upcoming favorite thanks to its user interface and stunning templates. Flodesk is best for creating beautifully designed emails if you have limited design skills.
SendFox: A simple, zero-fuss, and beginner-friendly email platform that sends unlimited scheduled emails quickly.
ZipBooks
Do you have a hard time reconciling your financial records? You’re not alone. Many business owners and operators share this experience; dealing with large numbers can be hard. And that’s where business tools like ZipBooks come in. ZibBooks is a free accounting software that takes care of every number-related need in your business.
Reliable for fine-tuning checks and balances, its intelligence-driven software takes it up a notch by providing insights on performance to guide your interactions with customers.
What can this tool do for you?
Human errors are inevitable. Checks and balances are too delicate to be totally left in the hands of employees.
Businesses are unable to stand the test of time when tracking expenditures, revenue and profit becomes a problem. With ZipBooks’ automated bookkeeping, you can make sure that recurring expenses, accounts payable and other financial transactions are recorded properly.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is best suited when you want to take control of your various social media accounts from one platform. You get a single dashboard. You can schedule your multiple posts to your all the social media pages and accounts. The site also gives you real-time analytics so that you can spot the trends and performance of your content.
Fiverr
If you’re looking for low-cost freelance services for your business, Fiverr is your go-to online marketplace. Their strategy? To effectively cut out the middle-man of the hiring process, Fiverr provides an easy-to-use platform that allows sellers to list a variety of “gigs” including graphic design, copywriting, social media marketing and voiceovers—all at a low cost to you (though not exclusively $5 as “Fiverr” suggests). With Fiverr, you can purchase services on a case-by-case basis: just create an account and make your purchases right from the marketplace.
Website
Your website is more than a digital web home. It’s also a lead machine that attracts great clients.
True, you can set up an agency or your freelance business without a website (sometimes social media is enough to get the ball rolling), but a website boasts advantages that you can’t ignore:
- It boosts credibility and shows you’re a pro. Imagine you’re comparing two agencies. Both boast the same track record and rates. But one has a website, the other only a Facebook Page. Which agency will paint a credible image?
- It raises your online presence. When you optimize your website for a high-intent keyword, your site shows up on the first page of Google and attracts more eyeballs to your work.
Don’t know which website builders to pick? Here are our top recommendations.
Strikingly: A website builder for beginners that comes with pre-made templates. No coding skill is required. Strikingly is best for freelancers and agencies that want to build websites quickly.
Shopify: Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms out there with more than one million active stores today. If you run an online store and need a solution to quickly add and manage the various SKUs in your inventory list, then Shopify is a good solution to go with.
Shopify is popular for its library of apps that you can easily plug in to meet your various business needs (here’s how you pick the best ones). There are apps to power up your marketing campaign, handle shipping, track accounts, capture backups, handle customer support, and so on. This makes it one of the easier tools for businesses of all sizes.
WordPress: A powerful website builder with an equally powerful content management system. If you’re looking to build complex, professional websites, and you know your way around basic coding, this is it.
WordPress also offers a vast collection of plugins to beef up security, optimize SEO, and more. Whatever you need, they got it.
Kinsta.
After testing several different web hosting providers for my online business over the years, I’ve found an incredible new home with Kinsta. Since joining their premium WordPress hosting service, they’ve helped me make impressive gains on key factors like site load time, in addition to having one of the best customer service teams I’ve ever worked with. Kinsta comes at a higher price point compared to many of the entry-level hosting providers like Bluehost and HostGator, but once you’re starting to get traction with your website, their unparalleled hosting plans and accessible customer service team makes them the perfect solution for growing your blog to the next level. Check out their month-to-month hosting plans and you’d be glad you did.
Zoom
Face-to-face meetings are still common, but digital meetings are on the rise. Even after the 2020 pandemic, people will still work from home, or from different locations and time zones. That’s why you need to be equipped with an effective video conferencing tool – in other words, when you can’t meet in-person, just Zoom it.
Zoom is a video collaboration tool for real-time communications. Its clear audio and video quality as well as smaller features like polling and sending emojis allow good and personable communication from afar.
Wordable.
As a blogger that’s fallen in love with drafting content in the simple Google Docs interface, Wordable has become my right-hand savior with how easy it is to quickly export my drafted articles directly into the WordPress backend of my blog with literally just a couple of clicks. If you’ve ever tried copying and pasting from Google Docs into WordPress, then you know just how terrible that process can be—completely jacked up formatting, images randomly disappearing, the wrong header formats. Wordable solves that problem elegantly. This is one of those tools that I didn’t think I needed, until I tried it for the first time—and it completely blew my mind with the clear productivity gains I’d experience from integrating it into my regular content workflow.
All online marketing tools are different, but they all serve the same purpose. They help their users to promote products or services. Some marketing tools are free, while others will draw you money, but either way you should be using at least one of them. The following are the main online marketing tools that you’ll want to use to market your business online.