10 Tools That Will Help You Improve SEO Strategy

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is widely used to improve business marketing operations. Visibility has always been at the core of thriving businesses. With the rapid expansion of e-commerce, brand visibility and online presence go hand in hand.

SEO is a viable and affordable way to drive organic traffic to your website. Even though it is easy to begin, SEO is hard to master. You will need additional SEO tools to inspect your online traffic, keyword ranks, backlink quality, etc.

Luckily, there are hundreds of professional SEO tools at your disposal. This article will help you choose the correct SEO tools to improve your SEO strategy. They will help you climb to the first pages of Google and secure a stable position for positive, long-lasting organic traffic. 

1. Ahrefs: An Ultimate SEO Tool

SEO

Just like Google dominates the search engine market share, so does Ahrefs relating to SEO. There’s hardly an SEO professional not using Ahrefs at some point. Ahrefs excels at information availability with a “Web Crawler that powers the 12 trillion link database for Ahrefs online marketing toolset.” You will not find a better place for exhaustive site audits, historical data, data comparison, and other valuable Ahref features. For growing businesses, competitor analysis will illuminate their backlink strategy to improve yours.

Simultaneously, established brands use it to keep an eye on website performance, fix broken links, monitor website authority, and more. Ahrefs remains one of the most popular tools in the SEO field. Mastering it will significantly improve your SEO practices. 

2. Semrush: Competitive Data Analysis 

An all-in-one marketing tool Semrush is among the favorites in the SEO community. You will find reviews praising its design, information accessibility, user-friendliness, and more. You can use it for content structuring, keyword analysis, website performance improvement, and other significant SEO tasks.

What’s more, Semrush provides an outstanding Keyword gap feature. It’s a second-to-none tool to compare your websites against competitors. It allows a side-by-side comparison of up to five competitors, including their subdomains for premium subscribers. This makes Semrush one of the best tools for competitor analysis and overall SEO improvement. 

3. Proxies: Enhanced Data Accessibility 

Proxies are an essential online networking tool for regulating online communication. However, SEO specialists use proxies to enhance several SEO operations. Firstly, proxies grant access to localized Google search engine results page (SERP) results and keywords.

When you browse Google, it marks your IP address’s geographical location and returns localized results. SEO tasks often require results from various foreign markets. You can connect to a proxy server to get its alternative regional IP address. For example, you will get U.S. regional SERP and keyword results if you connect to the U.S. proxy while based in Europe.

Even though some SEO tools provide different geographical location analyses, proxies add additional value. SEO tools don’t have an inherent function to bypass geo-blocks. Sometimes it might distort their global keyword analysis. Moreover, via a proxy server, you can access geographically restricted information to enrich your SEO analysis with additional data.

Additional SEO-related proxy use cases involve real-time HTML tracking, automated keyword collection, and publicly available data gathering. Instead of gathering vast amounts of data manually, you can combine proxies with search engine crawlers for efficient and geographically unrestricted analysis. Proxies are an invaluable tool for advanced SEO practices. 

4. Answer the Public: Content Idea Generator

SEO

Any successful SEO strategy relies on possible content ideas. However, how do you know if your content is relevant to broader audiences? Answer the Public is an excellent tool to get possible content ideas and generate leads. Moreover, it’s straightforward to use from the very beginning. You can select a keyword and get a list of related questions, prepositions, comparisons, etc.

Answer the Public allows you to download this information in a .csv file to integrate with additional software. If you run out of ideas for your business blog, use this tool to inspect consumer queries and drive more relevant traffic. Furthermore, its free version is sufficiently equipped for primary SEO tasks. 

5. KWFinder

KWFinder is a professional software to generate new keyword ideas. It will also provide exhaustive information on keyword difficulty, volume, paid vs. organic, and other key metrics. It’s excellent for selecting long-tail keywords for a durable website structure. KWFinder stands out in its simplicity and additional features. Even if it is your first experience with SEO, KWFinder will make it effortless to start optimizing your website for better visibility.

Moreover, businesses value pop-up alerts when online users search for your selected keywords. It will give you a better real-time idea of SEO campaign performance. KWFinder is part of Mangools SEO toolkit, alongside backlink analytics, rank tracking, SERP, and SEO metrics analysis.

6. Google Analytics for SEO

Google Analytics is a powerful marketing tool that brings a lot to the table. Coming directly from Google, it offers more information than could be found elsewhere. Its available demographic statistics include age, location, interests, and more. It’s an essential tool to construct your consumers’ psychological profile for better product placement.

Simultaneously, you will see your landing page performance statistics, such as impressions, clicks, bounce rate, etc. You can install a unique tracking code for each website you want to monitor. Google Analytics offers numerous marketing tools. You can track visitor conversion rates, manage PPC spending, and inspect traffic referral sites. Mastering Google Analytics will significantly improve your SEO and overall digital marketing. 

7. MozCast

SEO

The worst SEO pro nightmare is waking up to keywords that are not ranking anymore. This happens more often than one could expect. In fact, it’s an integral part of SEO. Because Google owns the most popular search engine, its results depend on Google’s decisions.

What’s more, Google is continuously changing and improving its search algorithm. What was ranking one day may be thrown into the desolate second page the other. Google does this to improve search result relevance, fight backlink spamming, and other reasons beyond mortal understanding.

MozCast is a real-time Google algorithm weather station. According to their site,

“Every 24 hours, we track a hand-picked set of 10,000 keywords (across 20 industry categories and 5 major US cities) and analyze page one of Google organic results, comparing it to the previous day. The MozCast temperature reflects the degree of change in the day-over-day rankings, with an uneventful day being about 70°F. Put simply, the hotter the temperature, the more change we saw in Google rankings in the previous 24 hours.”

Instead of panicking regarding low keyword ranking, you should check MozCast. SEO is in big part adapting to new Google regulations. MozCast will give an idea of a happening change within Google algorithm. Use it to keep up-to-date regarding the latest changes and improve your SEO strategy accordingly. 

8. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest is free keyword-tracking software. It’s an excellent choice with a limited budget and provides sufficient features to compete with paid services. Ubersuggest will assist in identifying short to long-tail keywords, reveal user search intent, keyword rank, and more.

You will need to upgrade to premium to unlock its full features. However, the free version is sufficient for most keyword-related operations. And the premium version is moderately priced. Ubersuggest is praised for its simplicity, accurate keyword data, and relevant content update suggestions. It’s an excellent tool for junior specialists that want to learn the discipline without spending hundreds of dollars. 

9. Google Trends for SEO

Google Trends is another valuable tool. It’s a free Google asset that provides meaningful insights into Internet user queries. It is extraordinarily simple to use, yet provides exclusive knowledge when used professionally. Google offers decades of online data to illustrate researched trends. You can see the popularity of specific queries over time, sort them by geographical location, compare them with other queries, and more.

As always, Google provides an endless repository of valuable data to work with. SEO specialists use Google trends to accurately predict possible keyword volumes and content opportunities.

10. SpyFu

SEO

SpyFu is a professional paid search analytics tool. It wasn’t developed for SEO beginners, but its intuitive design has a gentle learning curve. SpyFu offers a lot to businesses providing keyword monetary value and detailed search advertising metrics.

Moreover, instead of ranking keywords based on Domain Authority, SpyFu populates the results with the exact monetary keyword’s worth. It’s a unique way of providing keyword results that come in handy for numerous marketing operations. This choice is perfect for improving email marketing campaigns, affiliate marketing operations, and retail site analysis. 

Final Words on SEO

SEO may sound straightforward, but there’s a lot to learn. Firstly, SEO is nearly impossible without a myriad of tools. What are netizens searching for online? What exact phrases do they use? Are they expected to keep searching or lose interest? All of this can be found on Google’s first page. However, specific tools can narrow the information to the smallest detail.

Moreover, technologically advanced Internet users combine SEO tools with proxies for more detailed insights. As you will know, SEO is closely related to the development of Internet technologies. Whether it’s an ever-changing Google algorithm or a trick to avoid geo-blocks, your SEO strategy will significantly improve if you master using the tools above.

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How to Increase Employee Happiness and Improve Productivity

Employee-Happiness

If you are a business owner or team leader struggling to improve productivity within the workplace or team, then you have come to the right place! Here is how you can improve workplace productivity by increasing employee happiness.

How does employee happiness affect productivity?

Happy and motivated employees are proven indicators of productivity, and as a result, better profitability. To enhance overall business success, it is suggested that you start with improving the happiness and wellbeing of your employees.  

If your employees feel appreciated and valued by the company, they are more likely to be productive and deterred from quitting. Therefore, employee happiness is crucial in lengthening the longevity of your business! 

Rewarding employee performance

One way to boost employee happiness is to of course offer employee rewards and bonuses – whether this is a cash prize, or something like gift cards or a free trip to somewhere, these rewards can help to increase employee happiness.  

Additionally, as these rewards act like incentives, it may motivate employees to perform better and work harder at their tasks if it means receiving a reward in return! You need to show that their contributions to the company are extremely valued and appreciated, so rewarding excellent employee performance is a must.  

Boosting morale and wellbeing

Employee-Happiness

Happy employees mean high morale and wellbeing – how to achieve this? Implement things that encourage this such as a biking to work scheme or discounts on gym memberships, or, and possibly the popular of the bunch, support flexible working arrangements.  

If your company survived the COVID-19 pandemic, your employees would have most likely worked from home during the lockdowns, but if you have recently enforced full-time office working, you may want to consider offering work from home solutions. 

Working from home can boost your employees’ wellbeing as it can improve their work-life balance – and, they may find it easier to work from home anyway, eradicating commute times, so productivity is enhanced regardless. 

It may also be worthwhile to actually take the time to know your employees on a personal level – remember their birthdays, significant life events or anniversaries, and surprising them with a gift, may just be the motivation for their happiness.  

Cultivating a positive work environment

Happy employees can influence the work environment positively, so you need to ensure that your employees are thriving within the workplace. Fostering a safe and comfortable space for your employees to work in is crucial when it comes to increasing employee happiness and productivity.  

In addition to this, when it comes to feedback surveys, you may find your employees to be more honest and genuine as you have empowered them to feel safe and have trust in the company to be truthful. 

How to create such an environment? Encourage and support your employees both individually and as a team. You should consider planning company events to build relationships and rapport between employees, as well as having absolutely no tolerance for discrimination nor workplace bullying and harassment.

Overall, it is clear that you must be willing to actively listen to your employees whenever they have concerns and problems so that they feel that you do care and value them. In doing so, you will see a boost in morale, and thus naturally improve productivity.  

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Is OOH advertising only for big brands? Let’s discuss

The marketing expert Neil Patel explains that out-of-home (OOH) advertising “refers to the process of reaching consumers while they are, you guessed it, out of their homes.”

Patel insists that, though “this may conjure images of NYC Times Square billboards, there are many mediums that qualify as out-of-home advertising.” He cites not only billboards but also bus stops, point-of-sale displays and even blimps as places where OOH advertising can be displayed.

Nonetheless, given how often billboards are associated with well-known brands and major companies, you could have assumed that your own business is too small to even have the option of OOH media. Would this perception be borne out by the facts?

If you run a small business, should you consider using OOH advertising media?

Advertising

The simple answer is yes — and one simple reason why is that many small businesses are already engaging in OOH advertising. Home Business states: “Believe it or not, roughly seven out of ten outdoor ads promote local businesses.”

Of course, as we have already seen, billboards are far from the only option when it comes to OOH advertising. However, you could be stunned to learn that, even as the owner of a small business, you don’t necessarily need to rule out going specifically for billboard advertising.

That’s because, though the cost of billboards can admittedly vary depending on what market your business occupies, billboards remain — on the whole — surprisingly affordable to use for advertising purposes.

Generally, utilizing billboards in this way is far cheaper than TV, magazine, and newspaper advertising. In fact, Home Business enthuses: “Outdoor ads deliver the best value — in terms of cost-per-thousand impressions — of any type of advertising, including digital.”

Even if your business is a start-up, you could gently ease it into OOH advertising by taking advantage of a start-up accelerator scheme. One good example of one is the Clear Start programme run by Clear Channel, the UK-based provider of OOH advertising space.

OOH isn’t just inexpensive — it’s also great value

There can naturally be quite a marked difference between the upfront price of something and the long-term value it delivers. Fortunately, there is good reason for you to believe that, if you do invest in using OOH advertising, it will more than pay for itself.

Numerous Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) figures relayed by Home Business are testament to OOH advertising’s effectiveness.

The revelations in these figures include that, of people who have seen an outdoor ad, 41% are more likely to find out about the advertised brand, while 58% have searched the web as a direct result.

Of course, it helps that, when someone sees an OOH ad, they can’t simply choose to turn off the ad like they probably would if it was an online ad where this was an option.

Similarly, while it is possible to install plugins known as ‘ad blockers’ on web browsers and consequently avoid having to see a wide array of online ads in the first place, OOH ads can’t be blocked in this manner.

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work – 7 Ways Teams can Collaborate

Teamwork

Effective teamwork is crucial in any business, especially when it comes to improving productivity and overall employee wellbeing and performance. So in what ways can teamwork happen? Here are 7 ways teams can effectively collaborate.

1. Workflow management software

Implementing a workflow management, or a project management software like Trello or Asana is the perfect way to boost not only collaboration, but also efficiency, as the team is able to monitor and see everyone’s progress so that you’re all on the same page. With this software, you’re able to manage tasks and collaborate with others as you’re able to make comments, add deadlines, etc.  

2. A safe pace for ideation and sharing ideas

It’s recommended that in order to foster collaboration, you must first cultivate an environment where everyone feels comfortable to share their ideas and listen to others. If you’re a team leader in particular, it’s vital that you empower your team members to be able to actively listen and share ideas with each other to improve collaboration.  

3. Shared workspace/centralized drive

A simple method that teams can use to collaborate is to just have a shared workspace or centralized drive that everyone has access to. This enables your team to look at, download, or upload relevant documents that can be accessed by others easily. As a result, there’s no hassle when it comes to sending and receiving emails which may be delayed for any reason.

4. Instant messaging apps

Particularly for remote teams, Microsoft Teams is perfect for your communications system as this allows instant communication, regardless of whether or not the other person is online at the same time. With instant messaging apps, your team members can adequately communicate with each other, enhancing collaboration and productivity.  

Teamwork

5. Screen sharing

A feature that is sometimes overlooked in the evolution of communication technology is the screen sharing function. With screen sharing, your team, especially if some members are remote, are able to collaborate in a unique way. Your team members have the ability to share their screen, showing any relevant and important information to other members that they may be struggling with or would like to share.  

6. Editing documents in real-time

Microsoft Teams has a function that enables you to edit documents with others simultaneously. By being able to edit the same document in real-time, with every change or comment being added as soon as someone types it, this is a time-efficient way of collaborating when working on a document with another team member. Don’t forget about this convenient feature that’s ideal for any last minute document writing.  

7. Call and video conferencing

As communication is key in collaboration, it’s worthwhile hosting team meetings regularly. Call or video conferencing options are available on a range of platforms, so you’ll never be out of options when it comes to this. Whilst instant messaging is useful, it’s also valuable to be able to see or physically speak to other members of the team – to catch up on their tasks and build a rapport in the meantime. 

And there you have it – just few ways that you can encourage teamwork in your business.

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An Essential Guide To Building A Company Warehouse

Without warehouses, the supply chain will not thrive, leaving customers, manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers waiting for essential items for weeks and months. More importantly, the global e-Commerce industry will only be as robust as it is today if not for these commercial spaces. A warehouse is vital to any business—whether an online merchant or not—that sells physical goods. With proper storage areas and fulfillment systems, companies can store their inventory, have them packaged, and shipped out to customers most efficiently. 

According to estimates, there were 151,000 warehouses worldwide in 2020. The continuing online shopping boom is seen to drive the numbers to 180,000 by 2025. If you’re planning to build one for your business, check out this guide for some insightful ideas. 

  • Be Clear With Your Company’s Objectives

As with any significant business movement, building a company warehouse requires owners to have clear goals for the project. What are the company’s priorities, and how does having a warehouse align with its vision?

The answer to this question must be clear from the get-go. Your company is bound to make poor choices in the location, design, and other essential warehousing elements unless you’ve settled on what your business hopes to accomplish. Additionally, it’s important to understand the firm’s current performance as a benchmark, so your company can set measurable objectives.

  • Set A Budget for Your Warehouse

The cost of building a warehouse varies greatly and depends on various factors such as location, size, materials, and layout. Apart from building construction, companies will also have to spend on industrial equipment for handling materials, stocking goods, and automating the process.

Companies should consider the following cost factors when erecting a warehouse:

Warehouse

  • Building construction costs 
  • Office equipment 
  • Warehouse management system (WMS) software
  • Positioning devices like clamps, worktables, etc.
  • Transport equipment like forklifts
  • Storage tools like shelves, pallet racks 
  • Packing and shipping equipment like boxes, pouches, bags, label printers, and scales
  • Barcoding and scanning devices

Operational expenses like fuel costs, maintenance costs, warehouse staff wages, electricity bills, and consumables must also be considered.

  • Identifying The Right Location  

As with any other real estate transaction, location is a significant consideration in setting up your business warehouse. Ideally, your warehouse must be strategically placed and accessible to your staff, suppliers, transport, and shipment hubs.

Is it easy to scale?

A forward-looking company must also think about its future operations. Consider how much tax rates your company has to pay in the location and whether the area is suitable for expansion or future operations. Visiting several potential sites and knowing the locality’s development plan can be helpful before deciding where to build the warehouse.

Workforce issues

Despite the automation of some warehousing operations, human intervention is still needed in various tasks like picking and packing. More importantly, staff members must operate the WMS and other software tools. 

Relocating interstate workers to the newly built warehouse can be challenging, and some might refuse or quit. That said, ensuring workforce availability in your chosen warehouse location is crucial. Hiring staff members with warehousing experience is best, but you can give trainable workers with the right attitude a chance.

  • Size, Design, And Layout of Your Warehouse

These have got to be three of the most critical components of a warehouse—yet it can be easy for businesses to make mistakes in one or all of them. 

In most cases, company warehouses are built to improve the fulfillment process. These include sourcing raw materials, storing inventory, shipping the products to customers, receiving and processing, or picking and packing the goods. Within these processes are workflows that optimize efficiency by improving space usage, inventory management, and the safety features of warehousing operations. 

Size requirements

An excessively large warehouse leads to high operational costs, while an undersized one can lead to inefficiencies. Either way, wrongly estimating your warehouse size requirement is a costly mistake.

There’s no standard warehouse size, as business and consumer needs are always shifting. But the need for larger spaces has been noted in a study by the real estate services company CBRE. Comparing current and previous demand peaks, the company found out that the average warehouse size built in the US between 2012 and 2017 increased by 108,665 square feet compared to 2002 and 2007 figures.

Nevertheless, it’s vital to consider your entire business operations when assessing your needs. Think about the types of products you keep and the warehouse’s inventory movement. Once you’re done contemplating the size, you can proceed and think about the warehouse space and layout.

Design and layout

Warehouse

Besides storage capacity, you must allot space for other tasks like sorting, inventory, packing, and shipping. You’d also have to include the office area and additional workflows specific to your business type. These elements will decide how your warehouse will look and influence your decisions, including the ceiling height, column spacing, etc.

Think about how your operations will look once everything is set up. Visualize how the materials are placed in the warehouse, where they go, and how they are sorted. Additionally, consider the next stages involved in picking, packing, and shipping. This step is crucial whether you operate a physical or online store, or both. 

Establishing the flow of materials inside the warehouse and maintaining worker accessibility and safety are paramount before deciding on the design. A poorly designed warehouse will hamper the entire warehousing operations and expose your staff to certain occupational risks. 

Contractors often have experienced in-house warehouse designers who can help you with this crucial construction planning component. Before sealing the deal, ask for a copy of the design and conduct a final analysis of the product flows, equipment placements, and staff positioning.

  • Choosing The Right Contractor

After going through your company’s objectives and warehouse size, design, and layout, choosing a contractor comes next. Picking the right warehouse building experts to work with is crucial in making your vision come to life. The contractor should provide valuable warehouse construction insights and ensure the project stays on track. 

Here’s how to do it: 

  • Ask other businesses for referrals. 
  • Read the reviews and contact at least one of their previous clients.
  • Make a shortlist of three to five companies and ensure that they’re reputable and experienced in building commercial warehouses. 
  • Ask for a quote and proposal from each builder and compare them. 
  • Study each proposal and pick the one that aligns best with your business goals. 

Your budget will likely be a significant contributing factor to this decision. But going with the cheapest or priciest quote isn’t always the best way. Think about the company’s reputation in the industry and the trust its clients have in the firm. Go for the contractor that provides the best value and possesses the most capability without going overboard with your assigned costs.

Concluding Thoughts on Having a Company Warehouse

A warehouse is essential to the growth and success of a company that produces and sells physical goods. With it, companies can store and manage their inventory and make the order fulfillment processes more efficient and scalable. 

Thus, setting clear goals and identifying the right elements, including construction experts, are crucial when building a company warehouse. Getting these things right eliminates the risk of significant operational constraints and business losses in the future.

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10 Reasons for Productizing Your Service Business

Productizing your service business has many advantages. It can help you scale your business, attract new customers, and improve your bottom line. Here are 10 reasons to productize your service business.

What is productizing?

Productizing is the process of turning your services into products. This can be done by packaging your services into an online course, ebook, or membership site. It can also be done by offering a subscription-based service, or by creating a physical product that delivers your services. You can use a simple SMS reminder or email marketing to notify customers of any product development or launch.

Below are some of the main reasons it makes sense to productize when and where you can.

It can give you a competitive advantage

productizing

If you’re the only one in your field offering a productized service, you have a huge leg up on your competition. Why? Because you can offer a standardized, repeatable service that’s easy for your customers to understand and purchase. This is much more appealing than trying to explain what you do in a way that makes sense to each individual customer.

Plus, when you productize your service, you can show would-be customers exactly what they’re getting before they make a purchase. This is a big selling point that your competition is likely missing.

In short, if you want to stand out from the crowd and offer your customers a better experience, productizing your service is the way to go.

Productizing is easier to scale

When you productize your service, it becomes much easier to scale because you’re not relying on yourself (or a small team of people) to do all the work.

Instead, you can document your process and train others to follow it. This allows you to take on more customers without having to worry about quality control.

And as your business grows, you can continue to add more products and services to your lineup. This gives you a much better chance of success than trying to scale a traditional service business, which is often limited by the number of hours in a day.

It makes marketing easier

Productizing your service also makes marketing easier, as it lets you better target a specific audience with your marketing efforts and craft a message that resonates with them.

For example, let’s say you offer a productized social media management service. You could target small businesses that are looking for help with their social media but don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves.

This is a much more effective approach than trying to market your services to everyone and hoping that someone bites.

Productizing increases profits

When you productize your service, you can charge more for it because customers are willing to pay more for a product that’s easy to understand and purchase. Plus, since you’re not trading hours for dollars, you can make a lot more money with a productized service than a traditional service.

And if you package your productized service in a subscription, you can make even more money by recurring revenue. This is a great way to increase your profits and the stability of your business.

It attracts better customers

Productizing your service will also help you attract better customers. This comes down to the fact that when you offer a productized service, you’re making it clear who your target market is. This allows you to attract people who are actually interested in what you’re offering.

And since you’re not trying to appeal to everyone, you won’t waste your time on tire kickers and tire-spinners. This will save you a lot of energy and frustration in the long run. You can also use your marketing efforts to attract even more of your ideal customers.

It makes selling easier

productizing

When you productize your service, selling becomes much easier. It makes sense because you are now able to explain more clearly what your service is and how it can help potential customers. You can also show them exactly what they’re getting before they make a purchase.

This is a big selling point that your competition is likely missing. In short, if you want to make selling easier, productizing your service is the way to go.

When you make selling easier, what you are essentially doing is decreasing your cost per acquisition. This is the amount of money you spend to acquire a new customer.

It makes delivering your service easier

The reason it can be easier to deliver your service is because you will have systems and processes in place that you can follow. This makes it much easier to deliver a consistent experience to your customers.

It also means that you can outsource some or all of the work to other people. This can free up your time so that you can focus on other areas of your business.

You can use it as a lead-generation tool

Productizing your service can also be a great lead-generation tool. This is because when you offer a free or low-cost product, you can attract people who are interested in what you have to offer.

The alternative is to try to sell your services to people who have no idea who you are or what you do. This is a tough sell, and it’s often not worth the effort. But with a productized service, you can offer potential customers a taste of what you have to offer without asking for anything in return.

You can then use these leads to upsell them on your other products and services. This is a great way to grow your business without spending a lot of money on advertising.

There are less customer service issues

Productizing your service also comes with some built-in customer service advantages. This is due to the fact that when people purchase a product, they generally have fewer questions and concerns than when they purchase a traditional service.

This is because, with a product, they know exactly what they’re getting. They don’t have to worry about the details of the service or whether they’re getting what they paid for.

Of course, you still need to provide excellent customer service. But you’ll likely find that there are fewer customer service issues when you productize your service.

Conclusion on Productizing

Productizing your service is a great way to grow your business. It allows you to charge more, attract better customers, sell more easily, and generate leads. Plus, there are fewer customer service issues to deal with. If you’re looking for a way to take your business to the next level, productizing your service is the way to go.

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Wi-Fi Marketing for Retail: How Does It Work To Boost Sales

Wi-Fi-Marketing

The retail industry is under immense pressure to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape. In order to stay ahead of the curve, retailers need to be constantly innovating and finding new ways to engage with their customers. One of the most effective ways to do this is through Wi-Fi marketing. By offering free Wi-Fi in your store, you can not only attract more customers, but also collect valuable data about their shopping habits. Here are 10 ways that Wi-Fi marketing can help boost sales for your retail business.

What is Wi-Fi Marketing?

Wi-Fi marketing is a type of marketing that uses Wi-Fi hotspots to reach potential customers. By offering free or discounted Wi-Fi access, businesses can attract people to their locations and encourage them to spend more time – and money – there.

In addition to boosting foot traffic, Wi-Fi marketing can also be used to gather data about customers, such as their contact information and purchase history. This information can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to result in sales.

There is a lot of data backing up the efficacy of Wi-Fi marketing.

Here are 10 ways that Wi-Fi marketing can boost sales for retail businesses.

Increased foot traffic

Wi-Fi-Marketing

How often have you been somewhere–a mall, a store–and you’ve seen people just sitting around on their phones? Now, instead of being a place for people to take a break from shopping, your business can become a destination for people to connect to the internet and get things done.

By offering free Wi-Fi inside the store (that’s the kicker), you ‘re essentially saying, “Come on in and shop–and while you’re here, why not connect to the internet and do some work?” You may not think that people would take you up on such an offer, but you’d be surprised.

In fact, a study by JiWire found that 74% of consumers said they would visit a business more often if it offered free Wi-Fi.

Turn window shoppers into paying customers

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, chances are you’ve had people come in, browse around, and then leave without buying anything. It’s frustrating, but it happens. However, with Wi-Fi marketing, you can turn those window shoppers into paying customers.

How? By offering Wi-Fi access, you can encourage people to come inside and browse–and then, once they’re connected to the internet, they may be more likely to make a purchase. Even if they don’t make a purchase right there on the spot, they may contemplate buying something that they otherwise wouldn’t have, which is still a win for you.

Gather customer data with Wi-Fi Marketing

When people connect to your Wi-Fi, you can gather data about them, such as their contact information and purchase history. This information can be used to create targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to result in sales.

For example, if you know that a customer has purchased items from you in the past, you can send them targeted emails or ads for similar products. Or, if you have a list of email addresses, you can send out a monthly newsletter with exclusive deals and promotions.

The bottom line is that Wi-Fi marketing gives you the ability to collect data about your customers and use it to your advantage.

Upsell and cross-sell

Once you have gathered data about your customers, you can use it to upsell and cross-sell them products and services that they may be interested in.

For example, let’s say that a customer has purchased a pair of shoes from you in the past. When they connect to your Wi-Fi, you can send them a message about a new style of shoes that you have in stock–or, if you know their size, you can send them a coupon for 20% off their next purchase.

The key here is to use the data that you’ve gathered to offer products and services that your customers will actually want to buy.

Enhance the customer experience with Wi-Fi marketing

In today’s world, people expect more than just a product or service–they want an experience. And with Wi-Fi marketing, you can enhance the customer experience by offering things like digital loyalty programs, in-store competitions, and social media integration.

For example, you can offer a digital loyalty program where customers can earn points for every purchase they make. These points can then be redeemed for rewards, such as discounts or free items.

You can also use Wi-Fi to run in-store competitions, such as social media contests or scavenger hunts. These competitions can not only drive sales, but also create a sense of community and loyalty among your customers.

Finally, you can use Wi-Fi to integrate with social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. This way, you can offer discounts and promotions to people who follow you on social media–and you can also use social media to drive traffic to your store.

Offer guest Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi-Marketing

If you have a business that gets a lot of foot traffic–such as a restaurant, cafe, or retail store–you can use Wi-Fi marketing to offer guest Wi-Fi. This way, people who come into your business can connect to the internet without using their data plan.

Not only is this a nice perk for your customers, but it can also help you generate leads. How? Well, when people connect to your guest Wi-Fi, you can require them to enter their contact information, such as their name and email address. This way, you can add them to your marketing list and start sending them targeted emails and ads.

Increase dwell time

When people are connected to your Wi-Fi, they’re more likely to stick around and browse–which means that you have a chance to convert them into a paying customer. And the longer they stay, the more likely they are to make a purchase.

So, if you want to increase sales, then you need to find ways to keep people in your store for longer. And one way to do this is by offering Wi-Fi.

For example, you can offer Wi-Fi-based games or quizzes that people can play while they’re in your store. Or, you can offer Wi-Fi-based content, such as articles, videos, or podcasts. This way, people will have something to keep them occupied while they’re in your store–and they may even learn something new.

Allows for better multi-channel marketing

Wi-Fi Marketing is a great way to get people signing up for email lists, liking and following social media accounts and even sharing contact information with you so you can market to them in the future.

This type of marketing allows you to have a constant connection with customers, rather than just when they’re in your store. You can use things like pop-ups or splash pages to get people to sign up for your email list or follow you on social media.

This way, you can continue marketing to them even after they leave your store and turn them into lifelong customers.

Use push notifications

Push notifications are a great way to re-engage customers and get them back into your store. With Wi-Fi marketing, you can send push notifications to people’s phones or devices when they connect to your Wi-Fi.

For example, you can send a notification that offers a discount to people who haven’t been in your store in a while. Or, you can send a notification about a new product or service that you’re offering.

Push notifications are a great way to increase sales and get people interested in what you have to offer.

Conclusion on Wi-Fi Marketing

Wi-Fi marketing is a great way to boost sales and increase dwell time. By offering guest Wi-Fi, you can generate leads, and by using push notifications, you can re-engage customers. So, if you’re looking for ways to increase sales, then consider using Wi-Fi marketing in your store. It can be a great way to boost sales and increase customer loyalty.

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4 Ways to Put Customer Service at the Forefront of Your Business

Running a business takes a lot of work, and customer service is one of the most important aspects. Without it, clients have nowhere to turn to within the company for assistance. Whether they need to report a poor experience or leave a good review, without customer service, there’s no way to present that to your company directly. 

How can you put customer service first to watch your business grow? This article will cover the best ways to prioritize and maximize results from quality customer service.

1. Quality Assurance

Customer-Service

When looking to prioritize connection with clientele, customer service quality assurance is the way to go. Quality assurance monitors your progress with customer service, giving you feedback on your customers, agents, and business statistics. 

The best quality assurance services can be integrated with numerous platforms to help with a smooth transition for your company. Employees will be trained to be the best representative agents they can be, assisting customers with their needs and ensuring they feel heard and satisfied with their care. Never underestimate the potential of auditing your employees’ progress towards helping you retain customer loyalty. 

2. Listen to Feedback

Client feedback is vital to success. When a customer has an impactful experience, good or bad, they must be heard. Even Elon Musk understands how crucial feedback is in shaping a business platform. Whether or not you believe a customer is exaggerating about a negative experience, it reflects well on the company to address the issue swiftly and directly. 

If clients are unhappy with a practice or product, listen to them! While things don’t need to change overnight, you must show them that you take them seriously and treat them as more than just another number.  

3. Engage with Clients

Now more than ever, a company’s presence on social media is crucial to improving engagement rates. It’s important to lead your actions with kindness but also be humorous when appropriate. Creating a rapport with customers can build loyalty and draw attention to your company!

When you engage with customers, you show that you are approachable. Customers are more likely to engage and perform transactions with a business they view in a positive light, especially when they have several options available to them. Customer service skills are a determining factor in where customers spend their time and money, and setting yourself apart can help sway the decision in your favor.

4. Act with Urgency

Customer-Service

When a problem arises, it’s crucial to act quickly. Customers will notice if you drag your feet to address a problem or ignore it entirely. What builds loyalty and a great customer service reputation is a fast response that addresses the issue without talking down to the customer. The sooner a company reacts, the sooner the affected person feels like they’re being taken care of and looked after.

While problem-solving can take time, maintaining customer loyalty through superior customer service is vital. Letting clients know that you are working quickly to correct the issue reassures them that you are on their side. Without clients, there is no business!  Great customer service means taking action as soon as possible when needed.

Final Thoughts on Customer Service

Quality assurance and engagement are crucial parts of running a business, big or small. With small businesses, it’s even more important to hone these skills because they set the tone for future endeavors.

Don’t sacrifice customer service when trying to improve aspects of your business – prioritize it! Loyalty is an invaluable asset that will carry your business through, and maintaining it ensures a profitable future.

Don’t underestimate the power of great customer service!

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5 Ways To Optimize Your Online Store Performance

There is no denying the industry-wide shift to internet shopping. Online companies that are just starting out and traditional stores that are making the transition to the web both have significant potential for growth, thanks to e-commerce. Nevertheless, having an online storefront isn’t enough. Retail internet stores that are most likely to succeed are those that are tailored to the specific items, brands, and customers they serve. This factor plays a significant role in the modern digital sales cycle. Online store performance is crucial to the success of your business.

There are many options that come up in a search for a clothes shop, for instance. Have you ever pondered the discrepancy between the popularity of the sites that appear in the first three search results and those on page 16, for example? Because those successful businesses nailed the optimization of their online storefront. In order to reach the same levels, follow our tips about it below.

1. Choose The Appropriate Website Address

Online-Store-Performance

When trying to enhance the efficiency of your online business, it is impossible to overstate the significance of selecting an appropriate domain name. This choice needs to have some connection to the products or services that you will be providing to clients. If you are running a website that sells shoes and sandals, for illustration, you need to be certain that the website address includes one or more of the goods that you are offering via the website. Keep in mind that the simpler the domain name, the easier it will be for your consumers to recognize the name of your business.

2. Start Thinking Like A Search Engine Itself

If you’re like most people, you do some preliminary research on the Internet before making any major purchases, right? If you type something like “best hairstylist in Arizona” or “electric blow dryer” into Google, you’re probably going to select one of the first pages that come up. The statistics demonstrate, putting aside individual experience:

  • When performing an internet search, 33% of people will choose the first result.
  • 75% of search users only explore the first five ones.

What this implies is that you can’t afford to have your online shop show up on the 12th column of your target audience’s Google search results. Its visibility may improve with a few simple SEO tweaks. First, let’s go over what this crucial acronym stands for.

3. Clear Cache Files

It might not sound so promising at the beginning, but taking care of cache files will help you with questions like: “How can I clean my Macbook properly?”. So, if you want to understand how to clear an application cache on Mac, you must learn what it represents. Well, it refers to the temporary storage of information that offers many options and is used later by an application, browser, or computer system. The material stored in these files is crucial since Mac clear caches with a quick route to a process that may be used again in the future. While this data was designed to speed up site loading on your device, it might actually cause problems.

 If the site you’re visiting has been modified since your device stored its information, your computer will still display the old web page. The files that haven’t been used in a while do nothing except take up space and slow down your machine. What was once helpful becomes a burden when the extra data it generates causes your Mac to run slower. Unredacted data not only causes task incompatibilities but also other system problems.

4. Add Images, Title, And Description

Online-Store-Performance

Both the requested and meta descriptions on your website might benefit from optimization. It relays to search engines everything your brand is advertising and refreshes your summary on the SERP. There should be no more than 60 characters in the title tag, which should contain your company name and location. Words like “free” and “shipping” as well as “sale” and “money-back guarantee” tend to attract customers’ attention.

Don’t forget to optimize your photographs, either. Online shoppers really need to be able to view the products they’re purchasing before making their decision; thus high-quality product photos are essential. However, displaying images on the homepage may significantly slow download times, driving away potential clients. In addition, your SEO will suffer if you use photos that haven’t been optimized. You may avoid these problems by adjusting the size of your photographs to the precise dimensions you want. If you resize them, you may minimize their file footprint and improve page responses.

5. Meet Your Intended Audience’s Sticking Points

Make the content on your product description about the aims of your target audience rather than about your business. Keep in mind that the majority of buyers acquire products in an effort to address their difficulties. They won’t give their money just due to their feelings of affection for a certain brand. And even though they have a strong affinity for a certain business, they won’t part with their cash if they don’t see that the action will provide them with any personal benefit. Put an emphasis on the pain areas that your customers are experiencing by utilizing a bulleted list, client tales, stats, and other material that is relevant. The next step is to demonstrate that your product is the best answer there is to those problems.

Conclusion on Your Online Store Performance

It is essential for the success of your e-commerce business to have a website with a performance that has been optimized. It has an immediate bearing on both your income and engagement rates. However, the vast majority of proprietors in this industry are more concerned with their sales than the enhancement of their websites. Keeping this in mind, the purpose of this post is to provide an overview of the tried-and-true strategies that may improve the functionality of your online store performance.

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Leveraging Technology to Enhance your Business

Leveraging-Technology

Over the past decade, the world has experienced increasing digitalization, as reflected in various aspects of our lives. This trend doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon. While this increased digitalization has brought certain concerns, such as data privacy and protection, it also provides various opportunities. Leveraging technology is crucial to the success of your business.

The business sector is one area where technological advances have been of immense benefit. In the past couple of years, many business technology tools have come up to help streamline processes and improve efficiency. Undoubtedly, these tools can afford businesses various competitive advantages that may catalyze growth and improve profitability.

This article discusses some technological tools you can leverage to grow your business. Let’s dive right in: 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Customers are the most valuable assets for most businesses, whether individual or corporate. This is why businesses have to pay attention to customer engagement. However, keeping track of every customer while delivering top-notch customer service can be quite burdensome. Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps manage this problem. 

CRM software can help your business offer customers a unique and better customer experience, thereby building lasting relationships with them. Similarly, CRM software keeps track of your interactions with customers, collecting and analyzing data based on the history of interactions. This helps you identify your customer’s needs, enabling you to provide them with personalized services and further drive sales. 

Examples of CRM software include Salesforce, Zoho CRM, and HubSpot CRM. 

Accounting Software Helps With Leveraging Technology

This is a tool that helps businesses record and report financial transactions. Essentially, it keeps track of accounts payable, receivable, and billing. Accounting software can be beneficial, particularly if your business is a startup. You can leverage the software to constantly stay on top of your business’s finances, monitoring financial performance and cash flow.  

Similarly, accounting software can help create and send invoices. Some accounting software can also develop financial reports that you can customize to track specific KPIs. Some great accounting software includes Xero, Intuit QuickBooks, and FreshBooks. 

Employee Recognition Software

Leveraging-Technology

Employees are a crucial part of your business since your business’s growth is most likely hinged on the quality of output delivered by them. This being the case, many businesses try to promote optimal employee performance through incentives and reward systems. Employee recognition software can be another way for your business to do this.

Employee recognition software helps you efficiently manage employee satisfaction and relationships for excellent work culture. There are several recognition programs for companies with different functionalities. However, most allow for recognition and reward of employees either by other employees (peer-to-peer) or by managers based on the business’s values. Therefore, employee recognition software can be a great way to develop an ideal work culture that motivates your employees and improves their productivity. 

Email Marketing Software

With businesses becoming increasingly competitive, you must improve your marketing efforts to retain and expand your customer base. One of the most effective ways of doing this is email marketing. 

Email marketing efforts can be further improved by email marketing software. These tools can help you send and track emails. In addition, email marketing software can also be instrumental in increasing your audience, monitoring responses, and segmenting your lists. Similarly, some email marketing tools enable you to automate personalized emails to subscribers based on user behavior. 

Ultimately, email marketing software can be a great way to drive awareness about your business among the right audience, increase engagement and potentially increase sales. Some great email marketing software includes Mailchimp, MailerLite, and Active Campaign. 

Payroll Software

Your business, whether small or large, has to pay employees. However, the process of making payments to employees can be lengthy and complex. You do have to set up direct deposits, keep appropriate records and withhold payroll taxes. Doing all this manually without proper knowledge of how to prepare a payroll can lead to mistakes, which can eventually lead to you getting fined. 

Fortunately, you can leverage payroll software to streamline and automate this process. This reduces the likelihood of errors while saving you a lot of time. Some popular payroll software includes Gusto, Paychex Flex, and OnPay. 

Final Thoughts on Leveraging Technology

This article shows that you can enhance your businesses by leveraging technology in various ways. It is, therefore, important that business owners leverage these tools as may be necessary to solve their problems and improve internal processes. 

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