10 Essential Online Business Tools to Achieve Growth

10 Essential Online Business Tools to Achieve Growth

As a business owner, achieving growth and success is a must. You must incorporate various essential online business tools to achieve skyrocketing growth quickly. Proper work management tools and appropriate web development can grow enterprises immensely.

Business management software is a must-have for handling multiple activities simultaneously. Managing too many activities simultaneously is only possible through work management tools like Proof Hub, Timely, etc.

Business tools are various software essential to perform business functions properly and effectively. Marketing tools are also required to promote business through emails and banners. Social media marketing is necessary in today's online world, where most people are available online. It is done via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram platforms. Business tools provide you with a platform to perform business functions effectively.

Online Business Tools Essential to Achieve Growth:

1. Website Development Tools

The company’s website is the first place customers can look for products and services. It is essential to update everything on companies’ websites compulsorily. It is an online business tool to achieve skyrocket growth. Along with the company's website's effectiveness, the website must be mobile-friendly. The company's website has to provide all the necessary updates the buyer requires.

Web development should be safe for customers and always available without technical issues. Security is also the prime concern for customers. They must be sure of the security of your website from hackers.

Along with the website, its page loading speed should be quick and optimised for use by search engines through relevant keywords. There are many website platforms from which companies can choose to create their websites, like WordPress and Hubspot.

The choices abound, from robust frameworks like WordPress and Joomla to versatile platforms like Wix and Squarespace. Tailoring functionality with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript remains pivotal, while advanced libraries and preprocessors enhance efficiency. Integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Visual Studio Code and Sublime Text streamline coding workflows.

Moreover, responsive design and accessibility considerations redefine user experiences. Embracing these tools fosters creativity and ensures scalability and adaptability in an ever-evolving digital landscape, enabling developers to construct compelling and user-centric websites.

• Visual Studio Code – Visual Studio Code is a paragon among modern code editors, a versatile tool empowering developers across the spectrum. Its intuitive interface marries simplicity with robust functionality, fostering a seamless coding experience. It morphs to suit diverse programming languages and developer preferences with a cornucopia of extensions and customisation options.
• Sublime Text – Beyond its intuitive interface, Sublime Text's strength emanates from its extensibility. Through Package Control, users access a treasure trove of plugins and extensions, tailoring the editor to suit specific needs. Whether it's language support, version control, or UI themes, the vibrant ecosystem fosters a personalised coding experience.

2. Business Task Management Tools

Tools are required to manage business tasks and track their productivity time. We must keep track of the number of hours employees work and measure their productivity. There are business tools to measure it and keep all the files in a single place:

• DeskTime – Time management and productivity tracker:

The DeskTime dashboard is used to check your productivity time at work. It works in the background and lets you check the duration of your work. It is a productivity tracker for employees and a time calculator for the duration of work time. One can decide when to turn off the work based on the number of hours worked through a DeskTime calculator. The app provides the exact details of hours worked and overtime done, and it also maintains work-life balance by reminding you to take off lunch and coffee breaks.

• ProofHub – ProofHub is a central platform that maintains all the work in a single place. Teams remain sorted with their work by keeping it in a single place, and they can even track their everyday work and visualise their performance. It is a business management software that manages all the business-related work on a single software. It gives easy access to work when stored in one place.

Assigning tasks to employees can be done in this single place, and their performance can be seen from the work performance stored on this software. A team can also chat and share work on this single software. The number of files can be shared among employees through this tool. One can ping others for updates on work so that things are done on time.

3. Search Engine Optimisation

Business success requires its quick appearance on search engine result pages.  SEO is the art of ranking your webpage higher in search engines. Using proper keywords related to your content can make your page easily discoverable through SEO. Ranking your website high in search engines can increase the traffic to your website. More traffic can generate more sales for your business. SEO  is the optimal way for business growth.

Your webpage content must meet your client's requirements, and the tool selected for SEO meets up with your content management system.

From Google Analytics to SEMrush and Moz, the array of SEO tools caters to diverse needs, aiding in content refinement, link building, and overall site health. Embracing these tools fosters informed decision-making, ensuring an edge in the competitive online sphere. As technology advances, leveraging these resources becomes pivotal for businesses aiming to thrive in the digital realm, unlocking growth and success.

• Google Analytics – At its core, Google Analytics tracks various metrics, from the number of visitors to the site's performance across different platforms. Its intuitive interface provides comprehensive insights, including audience demographics, acquisition sources, and user engagement patterns. With this data, businesses can fine-tune their strategies, optimise marketing campaigns, and tailor content to resonate with their audience.
• SEMrush – SEMrush provides in-depth analytics and insights into website traffic, keyword research, and competitive analysis. Its robust suite of tools allows users to identify lucrative keywords, track their rankings, and fine-tune their SEO strategies. Additionally, it unveils valuable data on competitors' strategies, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and stay ahead in the game.
• Moz – Moz's suite of features encompasses keyword research, link building, site audits, and more, providing invaluable insights to enhance your website's visibility. By leveraging Moz's comprehensive analytics, businesses can pinpoint high-performing keywords, understand competitor strategies, and optimise content for higher search engine rankings.

4. Communication Tools

For success and growth in business, communication tools are essential to connect with every member who is part and parcel of your business on a single platform. It's an easy way to communicate information to everyone working in collaboration with companies. Some popular communication tools are:

• Slack – A platform for team communication that shares voice messages and sends audio and video files to the team. It brings the team to one platform for communication among all team members. This app lets team members chat and share their views about projects and updates. It can even be used to assign tasks to team members through messages. It allows for file sharing, chatting, and video calls. But this app is more expensive than other communication forms.
• Calendly – It's a booking application used to schedule events. It helps customers to book their appointment themselves. One can link Calendly with their calendar and can fix meetings. Different events can be organised with Calendly, which allows for rescheduling and setting up reminders.
• Zoom (video communication) – Zoom is a communication medium that allows for video and audio calls, and users can chat through it. It also allows for screen sharing and sharing of any critical document. It supports recording any meeting for clients and sharing it later. Through this, up to 1,000 members can be called into a meeting. One must download the Zoom app on their phone or the web browser and can log in by creating their IDs.

5. Business Marketing Tools

Business marketing tools are crucial for success. Businesses need to use several online marketing tools to attract more web traffic and convert it into possible leads. Giving customers positive sales experiences at once will motivate them to buy more in the future.

Some of the tools that can be used in marketing are:

• WordPress – Business owners can use WordPress for their web development. Content management systems can be used for website creation without technical knowledge, which saves a lot of costs when hiring a specialised web developer as it can be done quickly. Building a website can lead to growth in sales. WordPress sites can do enough marketing for your business. People in business owe their development to the one open-source WordPress system.
• Canva – Canva is a graphic design software for creating web banners and images for the public that lead to marketing your business. It's an easy-to-use platform that enables you to create graphic design to promote your business. It helps to make marketing brochures, cards for business, and presentations to show growth in your industry. Canva brings traffic to your business through its content marketing via banners and pamphlets. The traffic turns into possible leads by its marketing of posters created through Canva. It has over 1000 design templates that can be used to develop companies' logos and banners.

6. Social Media Marketing

Social media is undoubtedly a powerful and popular medium for bringing popularity to your business. Nowadays, many business people use social media as their only online platform to promote their business. Posting several ads and demonstrating products on social media gives the business popularity among its customers.

Sharing client reviews through social media leads to a surge in business sales. It helps promote businesses of all sizes. People discover a lot of products through online platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Social media marketing is a continuous way to promote your business. A single post on social media doesn’t give your business recognition. One has to do this rigorously.

It’s a place to communicate with potential customers about your products and services. One can promote their brand and its products through various social media influencers. Social media influencers are the persons who have names and fame on many social media platforms. Influencer’s word: Potential customers trust customers to go for purchase from any business.

We have social media management software known as Sprouts Social, Buffer, and BuzzSumo:

• Sprout Social – One can manage all their social media posts and accounts through Sprout Social. All accounts mean Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube through this one place. It helps to manage your social media presence. Social media management that creates publishing and publishes content on social media. You can even track your journey by reviewing analytics data on this.

It manages social media with its intelligence tools and all the conversations with the client through Sprout Social to get results in business. Manage social media accounts through various relevant posts for photos and videos, monitor audience comments, and ask them to like, share, and subscribe to your posts for better visibility of your posts to clients.

• Buffer – Buffer simplifies content distribution by allowing users to create and schedule posts for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more, all from a single dashboard. Its intuitive interface and customisable scheduling options enable users to optimise posting times, ensuring maximum reach and engagement with their audience.
• BuzzSumo – One of BuzzSumo's key features is its ability to provide valuable insights into content performance across various platforms. By leveraging its search capabilities, marketers can uncover trending topics, assess their virality, and gain a medium understanding of audience preferences. This information is a compass, guiding content creation and distribution strategies for maximum impact.

7. Email Marketing for Business Growth

Business growth needs customers, which requires communication with them at the right time through the right channel. When used correctly, email can give you better results and increase business growth to a large extent. Most brands still prefer email to communicate about their products, services, discounts, and offers. Emails should be sent to people who are already your customers or are interested in your brand. Sending emails to anyone for your product would be a good use of time. MailChimp, Omnisend, and GetResponse are email marketing tools to promote your business.

• Mailchimp – Mailchimp runs email marketing campaigns by emailing customers based on their purchase behaviour and a survey basis. Email can be sent to more than 1000 people at the same time. It connects with the customers and maintains long-lasting relationships with them. Personalised emails are also shipped according to chat interactions with customers and based on data collection and survey responses.
• Omnisend – Omnisend, a dynamic marketing automation platform, revolutionises how businesses engage with their audience. This all-in-one solution caters to the diverse needs of modern marketers, offering a comprehensive suite of tools designed to optimise customer communication and drive conversions.
• GetResponse – GetResponse excels in email marketing, providing intuitive features to create, send, and track email campaigns. Its drag-and-drop email editor simplifies designing visually appealing newsletters or promotional emails. The platform's automation capabilities enable users to set up intricate workflows, allowing for targeted and personalised communication based on subscriber behaviour.

8. Document Management for Business Growth

Effective document management is essential for business growth as it improves communication, streamlines all the workflows, and enhances productivity. Document collaboration should be in one place, and some factors like ease of use and security features are crucial. It should meet your business growth objectives. Some popular document management tools are Google Drive, Loom, and Dropbox.

• Google Drive is a cloud-based storage for various documents, files, and business presentations. It organises all the records in different folders. One can create, edit, and share the document with anyone in Google Drive. The changes made can also be easily tracked and make document management easy.

Multiple members can have access to the document at the same time, and even more than one can edit the document simultaneously. It allows for different versions of changes made, and even one can revert to the previous version of the document. It protects documents by having different settings and permissions.

• Loom – Loom is essential for video demonstrations, provides different tutorials and explains complex documents with complete detailed instructions. Loom is best used to synchronise video messages. It creates one video to explain everything and then provides separate videos.

It allows for a recording screen or your camera. It is easy to use and works on all devices, whether a tab, PC, or mobile. Explaining your product with a clear demonstration of its features is necessary for business growth.

• Dropbox Business – It is also cloud-based storage. The app can be installed, or a web browser can be used for cloud-based file storage. It's also easy to use for collaboration of various photos, videos, and documents and allows for sharing.

9. Customer Relationship Management Tools

CRM is crucial for all businesses. To achieve growth, it's essential to manage customer relationships effectively. CRM software allows businesses to manage their vital relationships with vendors, clients, and all the other contacts.

As a technology, CRM maintains all customer data and manages customer requirements in a central location. It works repetitive sales to a single client; CRM identifies new prospective customers and results in sales growth.

Some of the CRM tools are:

• Hubspot – Hubspot is a CRM tool that is free to use. It manages company sales and identifies prospective customers. This helps determine future prospective clients for business. Hubspot communicates with clients through emails, calls, and chat processes.  It can be used for 1 million contacts. You can use another CRM as your business grows.

• Zoho CRM – Zoho CRM has a user-friendly communication interface. It can manage an extensive customer database. This provides a better customer experience through better customer service by resolving all their issues. Better customer experience improves business work efficiency, increasing future sales and business growth. It handles multi-level marketing at different places. It also has an AI interface known as Zia AI. Zia AI provides predictive analysis.

• ZenDesk – Zendesk provides customer service support. This software uses AI to solve the issues like pro. Zendesk support is based on real customer service experience and interactions. One can reach the customer service desk through the app, and the Zendesk bot helps resolve issues. One can get multi-channel support through it.

10. Account Management Tool

Accounting is the backbone of every business. Keeping all the books and accounts updated can run smooth business operations and avoid any problems in the future. Account updates are necessary for business success.

Several accounting tools are available for small businesses and start-ups to maintain accounting books and fulfill financial requirements.

• QuickBooks – Most small businesses use cloud-based software to maintain invoices and track inflows and outflows. Quickbooks help prepare financial and tax reports at the year's end.
• FreshBooks is an accounting software for small businesses that allows them to run efficiently and securely. FreshBooks helps business owners spend less time doing accounting work and can contribute their time to other essential tasks. It can track various expenses online and provides accurate accounting data and reports.

It's clear from above that the business content is essential. It must be well-built and demonstrated through the website. The business grows when it is identified through digital marketing and social media marketing. More traffic to the business, more leads, more sales, and hence skyrocket growth. Documents must be well managed through Loom, Google Drive, and Dropbox. Everything is synced in one place for easy access and sharing. So that nothing is lost. Customers are the kings of growth and success for a business. Customer service support is necessary via Hubspot and ZenDesk online business tools. One needs to include the above tools for growth and success in business.

Author Bio: Vivek heads WebTechPanda, a trailblazing platform founded by skilled technology and marketing experts. With a solid commitment to assisting beginners, startups, and IT professionals, he has been crucial in establishing WebTechPanda as a top authority in the ever-changing digital landscape.