Payment gateways are a vital part of sending and receiving money online. They make it easy to perform transactions with the click of a mouse, ensure the safety of your personal information, and make the online payment process accessible to everyone. When you’re thinking about the best payment gateways, there are many out there, each with unique advantages and limitations. That’s why I’ve combed through them to review the best ones available. While many people use payment gateways interchangeably with payment processors, they are different, and both are required for online payments. Both of these give the purchaser’s payment information to the issuing bank, connecting the bank with the business’s merchant account. However, a payment gateway securely authorizes a transaction to ensure payment and allows the merchant to use their preferred bank, while a processor does not. Whether you’re launching an ecommerce store, need to send money to friends, or are starting a mobile food business, there is a payment gateway on this list to suit your business’s needs. The Top 6 Best Payment Gateways
Read on to learn how each payment gateway compares as well as their best features. #1 – Square — Best For In-Person Payments
Square makes it easy to sell in-person anywhere you go. This can mean selling online, at a pop-up shop, through Instagram and Facebook, over the phone, or even as a contractor on a delivery run. Square is an excellent payment gateway for dynamic businesses that are constantly on the go or sell in more than one place, often in-person. With Square, you can accept payments remotely with invoices and even organize the payouts for each of your team members as you go. In this way, Square isn’t just a payment gateway. It also acts as your money manager. Through it, you can run loyalty programs, offer gift cards, or keep cards on file for easier and faster checkout. It takes as little as downloading the app, opening a free account through your tablet or phone, setting up your very own POS system, and you can start receiving payments and start selling automatically. You can also opt for the Square hardware for in-person sales, which comes free. Because of how easy Square makes it to take in-person payments, I highly recommend them as one of the best payment gateways for dynamic in-person businesses that want to streamline their payment processing system. Some of Square’s most useful features are:
PricingThe Square app is free to use without any monthly or yearly fees. They only require payment when you actually make a sale, and the processing rate is 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction. They provide a free physical card reader, too. For growing businesses that currently process more than $250k in card sales and have an average ticket size of over $15, Square can create custom pricing packages. You’ll want to get in contact with their sales team to go the custom package route. #2 – PayPal — Best For Online Payments
It’s probably no surprise to you that PayPal tops the list as one of the best and easiest online payment gateways available to virtually anyone. With PayPal Payments Pro, you can accept credit cards, pay with PayPal credit, and create completely customizable cart integrations and APIs. It is compatible with major credit cards like Visa, American Express, Discover, and Mastercard. One of the beauties of PayPal is its already active 184 million users around the world. So if you choose it as your payment gateway, you’re tapping into an easy payment option that’s already at the fingertips of potential buyers. They have the built-in trust and security necessary for a payment processor to successfully manage your cash flow. Paypal Payments Pro includes dynamic features like:
PricingPayPal as a payment gateway charges $30 a month and 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which is relatively standard. One great thing about PayPal is their transparency with fees and where they apply. And you can verify the extensive list of fees on their site. Whether you want to use PayPal for personal use, as a powerful payment gateway for your business, or if you’re a developer looking to customize their checkout and payment features, PayPal does it all. #3 – Stripe — Best For Versatile Payment Gateways
With Stripe, you’re able to accept payments, send payouts, and powerfully manage all your business transactions from one platform. It is the preferred payment platform for Instacart, Salesforce, Amazon, Slack, Lyft, Google, and a slew of other business giants. This is not surprising, as Stripe supports transactions in over 135 currencies around the world. Stripe makes it easy to accept payments and pay all your contractors from one unified and easy-to-navigate dashboard. Stripe also offers 24/7 support whenever you might need it. Some of Stripe’s additional features are:
PricingYou can easily get started with Stripe once you open an account. Or you can contact their team to get a personalized custom package for the unique needs of your business. Stripe doesn’t charge setup or monthly fees. Instead, they function as a pay-as-you-go model where they charge you 2.9% + $0.30 per successful card charge. If you decide to go with a custom package, you’re potentially eligible for volume discounts, country-specific rates, and multi-product discounts. #4 – Apple Pay — Best For Ecommerce Purchases
Apple is everywhere. And they’ve made it no different with their Apple Pay gateway. It’s usable through apps and in-person at stores that accept Apple Pay and is designed to effortlessly let your customers pay for anything when they shop online. This means that as an online business owner, it’s one of the best payment gateways to integrate into your store’s checkout options. With Apple Pay, your customers have a virtual wallet app that stores all their credit cards, so they’re ready to be used as soon as they are ready to check out. What’s more, Apple Pay works with virtually all debit cards and US banks. This eases the purchase cycle as your customers can purchase any of your products or services with one click once they’ve set up Apple Pay. The simplicity and streamlined payment process Apple Pay offers can make for increased sales and a higher rate of return customers. If your customer’s purchase is higher than usual, an extra step to ensure security through Apple Pay can include entering their PIN. Easy, convenient, and straightforward. To get started learning the ins and outs of Apple Pay and how to best integrate it into your online store, you can begin by viewing their Apple Pay demo. PricingOne of the best things about using Apple Pay as a payment method is that they’re free to use. Yet another reason to use it in your business as an effective payment gateway as it continues to gain popularity. #5 – WePay — Best For SaaS Platforms
WePay from Chase bank lets you integrate their payment processing system right on the platform of your choice, which makes it a great payment gateway for software as a service (SaaS) businesses. Your customers can make payments right on your site without having to leave or use clunky third-party integrations that get in the way of capturing payments fast and easily. Businesses like BiCommerce, Freshbooks, MeetUp, EventZilla, and Constant Contact use WePay’s interface to facilitate their checkout process. That means if you’ve ever used any of them to process a transaction, you’ve used WePay to capture and process your payment information. With WePay’s powerful APIs, you can use them in a Link, Clear, or Core tier capacity and start accepting payments online. Each of them has its distinct advantages. With Link, you can refer merchants to Chase and also monetize payments. You can market your products and easily capture payments on your site. The best part is you can easily create a Link account and start using it in minutes, where you’ll be able to capture data and manage it all from an accessible dashboard. WePay offers Clear as their white label solution for capturing payments in your applications while WePay takes care of the process’s backend. Once you’ve onboarded to their Clear solution and set up your self-branded checkout, WePay manages payment risk and compliance issues for you. Additionally, if you’re a merchant with a Chase account, you can receive same-day deposits without paying extra fees because Chase offers the payment gateway. With Clear as your payment gateway, you can also collect valuable payment data to fuel your business’s growth. With Core, you can integrate directly into Chase’s infrastructure and process your payments in one central place. It’s optimal for large payment facilitators that want a streamlined way to capture payments successfully. However, it requires a lot more developer work to implement. So, it’s not a solution you can just sign up for and start using immediately without some upfront integration and investment. PricingTo learn more about the pricing structure for each WePay tier, you’ll need to contact the sales team for more information. I recommend you look into WePay as a powerful platform partnership option so you can seamlessly integrate and capture payments on all your desired applications, especially if you are already a Chase account holder. #6 – Google Pay — Best For Mobile Apps
When you come across Google Pay, you’re sure to recognize the name. It’s a reliable payment gateway for ecommerce stores and in-person checkouts, and mobile apps. The name of their game is fast and secure, and it is the favorite of business giants like Airbnb, BigCommerce, Panera Bread, Hotel Tonight, and StubHub. Hotel Tonight reported a 65% increase in the likelihood of completed bookings after adding the Google Pay option on their checkout pages. Thrive Market reported a 17% increase in spending. With Google Pay, you enable your customers to make easy website purchases and contactless purchases for convenience. It is both Android and iOS compatible. Implementing Google Pay as an online payment gateway for your business can take as little as adding a few lines of code to your site and getting set up in a matter of days. Here are just some of their best features:
One of the great things about using Google Pay is that you can also use it in tandem with other payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal. Getting started with Google Pay can be another convenient way to boost sales and keep your customers coming back. PricingFor the time being, GooglePay is free to use and implement. This makes it another great additional option as an effective payment method for your business that is also cost-effective. How to Find The Best Payment Gateway For YouFinding the appropriate payment gateway for you depends on what you’ll use it for the most. There isn’t one payment gateway that can solve all your transaction issues and shortcomings. But some can be a better fit for your business than others. This begs the question: What are the transaction issues your company is dealing with at the moment? Are you a business owner trying to create the most payment options for your customers to increase sales? Are you trying to reduce abandoned cart rates? Do you need an easy way to capture payment for a small brick-and-mortar setup? Are you looking for a gateway that helps you capture payments and enables you to manage your employees successfully? It goes without saying that the more compatible a payment gateway is for your type of business, the easier time you’ll have integrating it into your systems. This is where I recommend test driving a few that cater to your niche’s needs to learn which one works as seamlessly as possible. This is where you’ll also want to look into what integrations it offers and if they offer open API for developing further. Here are a few additional points to consider. Transaction FeesWhile many payment gateways can be free to start using, some can charge you on a per-transaction basis. Fees can add up quickly. It’s important to compare fees and see which payment gateway gives you the most bang for your buck. For instance, the transaction fees for a payment gateway like Square are a bit more straightforward than the transaction fees for capturing payment through PayPal. Lots of payment gateways also offer the option of creating a custom package unique to your business needs. This can be a great opportunity to negotiate lower fees if you hit their sales and transactions requirements. CurrenciesIf your business is positioned to make a high number of international sales that involve different currencies, it’s always a sound idea to check for currency compatibility and any extra fees associated with taking payments in multiple currencies. Some payment gateways are designed to have an easier time handling online purchases with currencies worldwide. In contrast, others can have a few limitations in that department. In-person salesMost payment gateways are equipped to take at least standard online credit card payments. But not all of them are optimized to help you successfully make in-person sales. This is a big differentiator if you don’t only plan to sell products or services online. For instance, with a payment gateway like Square, you automatically rid yourself of the headache of selling in person and accepting credit cards can be. It also gives you the option of managing your team on the ground and each of their corresponding payments. This can be a crucial feature to consider when you’re optimizing for business growth and scale. SummaryYou need a reliable and versatile payment gateway no matter what you’re selling. Only being able to accept the basic payment method isn’t enough. Checking out an extensive list of payment gateways and their features to choose one that aligns with your business can be an easy way to boost additional sales. Here’s a quick recap of each payment gateway I reviewed and recommend:
Be sure to read through each carefully and check out their additional features and fees. This way, you’re empowered to make a sound decision. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-payment-gateways/
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Relaying a customer support experience that makes it feel like a technician is present with your customer every step of the way is possible with the right remote support software. With it, you can both save time and provide an excellent customer support experience without overbearing support costs. It can be hard to know which system will work best for your business needs, niche, or size. To help your remote experts diagnose, solve, and validate customer issues through a great remote support experience, this guide covers the best software on the market to integrate into your support workflow. The Top 5 Best Remote Support Software
There are five remote support software tools that I recommend. Below I dive deep into the pricing, tools, and standout features of each system to help you make the most sound decision to strengthen your customer support efforts. #1 – Zoho Assist — Best For Unattended Remote Access
Zoho Assist makes it easy for you to administer unattended remote access support from anywhere. Once you install Zoho Assist’s unattended remote agent onto your devices, you can use its bulk deployment feature to maintain and update any device without the presence of anyone on the other end. The diagnostic tools give you an overview of the status of hardware, software, printers, and task management on your devices. This helps with performing native system diagnostic operations when necessary. With Zoho Assist, you can easily stay organized by grouping and sorting each computer according to any criteria. You can remotely shut down your devices, hibernate them, log off, or set them on standby. As an added security feature, you’re able to assign permissions to particular teams or technicians to avoid confusion and keep your systems operations organized. Features like these make Zoho assist an excellent software option for affordable unattended remote access for device support. Zoho’s prices break down by either monthly or annual plans. Here is how the three unattended access plan breaks down when paying annually:
All tiers, including the free plan, come with instant chat, a desktop app, clipboard sharing, user management, Zoho Desk and Zoho SalesIQ integrations, and organization roles. Each tier comes with more features. To ensure you get all the remote tools you need, I recommend checking out the pricing page to see what each specific tier offers before making a final decision. You can also do a 15-day free trial to test it out. #2 – TeamViewer — Best For Efficient Remote Support
You can support your workforce on the job, equip IT for PC customer support from any device, and onboard new employees easily with TeamViewer and all its remote software support tools. Their popularity speaks for them as they experience at least 30,000 downloads every hour. As a powerful and dynamic remote support system, TeamViewer offers augmented reality support, IT management, fast file transfer between remote devices, and even online meetings. These features aid in efficient remote support, especially being able to have and record meetings across devices to ensure quality and have a record of the assistance. TeamViewer helps you improve first call resolution rates with remote support tools that don’t require a VPN and diminish firewall accessibility issues. If you need to show a customer where to click on their screen or walk them through configuring their computers or routers, you can do so once you send a TeamViewer quick support link that gives you access to their device instantly. They make it easy to manage security with the ability to create groups, assign permissions, and set the appropriate policies. Their extensive cross-platform compatibility makes it easy to connect from PC to PC, mobile to mobile, PC to mobile, or mobile to PC. Their prices are straightforward, and they breakdown into three tiers:
Each tier offers features that include:
Once you get into how many managed devices are permissible for each tier, it starts to differ. You can watch a free demo or speak to the sales team on the TeamViewer website. #3 – BeyondTrust — Best For Extra Security Enforcement
If extra security features are what you’re looking for, BeyondTrust ensures every step of your remote support workflow is secure by enabling the right level of access for any given device. This means highly secure access to compatible systems like Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android. BeyondTrust offers you powerful tools for effective remote support, whether you want to administer unattended access to any device or help customers fix technical issues. It provides plenty of integrations with password tools to ensure granular team and permissions management, so every step of the remote support cycle is accounted for and logged. This can be useful for reference in the event of compliance issues and auditing. Their real-time reporting tools allow you to monitor IT support KPIs and security issues. Because of their innate ability to handle access point protection and enforced security features, BeyondTrust is the optimal solution for technical support that deals with sensible data. You can try BeyondTrust before you commit with a free trial. To learn the full scope of their prices, contact their sales team. #4 – AnyDesk — Best For Fast, User-Friendly Remote Desktop Support
App developers and software businesses can highly benefit from a robust remote support system that prioritizes speed without forgoing quality with desktop support software like AnyDesk. Users rave about the user-friendly interface and management screen. AnyDesk makes it easy for IT professionals onsite or anywhere else in the world to connect to any computer remotely and quickly. This enables you to fix customer support issues from one operating location at scale. For instance, if you need to access your computer on the go, AnyDesk allows you to do it once you set up a secure password. Its banking-standard TLS 1.2 technology ensures your computer is protected from unauthorized access. AnyDesk also uses RSA 2048 asymmetric key exchange encryption to make sure every connection is verified and secure. To use AnyDesk, you’ll have to download their software. But at just 3 MB in size, it’s designed for lightweight and convenience. As if that wasn’t enough, AnyDesk is compatible with the works, including windows, Linux, Mac OS, free BSD, iOS, and android. Here’s how their pricing tiers break down:
Each tier offers the basics, which include:
From there, each tier starts getting a bit more personalized with access to additional features. For instance, if you choose the Power tier, you’ll get access to features like an unlimited number of devices and sessions, three base devices to administer remote support from with the option of add-ons, and unlimited concurrent sessions. #5 – Pulseway — Best For Personal Use
If you’re looking for remote support software best for personal use, look no further than Pulseway. It allows you to monitor two systems for free and manage up to 19 systems if you decide to upgrade. With Pulseway, you can capitalize on device control with tools that enable you to run windows updates, quit processes, or even hibernate your machine from your smartphone. Not only that, you can schedule IT-related tasks on a recurring basis. With this feature, you can save time, as maintenance tasks you once had to do manually to fulfill your remote support needs will automatically be done in the background. To start monitoring up to two systems for free, you can get started with Pulseway by creating an account and selecting the free starter plan. If you want to upgrade to paid remote plans geared for businesses and teams, you can use Pulseway’s price calculator. How to Find The Best Remote Support Software For YouThe first step is identifying what industry your business operates in. This helps you narrow down your search by getting specific about the non-negotiable remote support tools you’ll need for your niche. This can mean features like unattended access, screen sharing, text chat, or even remote training tools for onboarding new technicians. Here are a few key factors to consider that I used for this list when choosing reliable software to give the most supportive customer experience at a distance. Type of Remote AccessWhen you’re administering remote support, you can usually do so in one of two ways:
Attended support happens when you reach out to any customer having trouble and need help fixing their technical issue in real-time. With the right remote support software, you can easily connect to their device and help them troubleshoot the problem within minutes. This doesn’t require any software preinstallation and can be done at a moment’s notice. Unattended remote support does require preinstallation of software. A designated IT technician can then reach any device from one access point to troubleshoot issues, install updates, or do routine maintenance without anyone needing to be present on the other end. This works well for in-house routine device maintenance. These features can be a deciding factor in the type of remote support software you need for your support team to operate successfully. Cross-Platform CompatibilityYour remote support software should be compatible with a wide array of systems. This means compatibility with the most popular ones, including Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android devices. The more compatible your software is with different software, browsers, and devices, the more versatile and robust your support representatives can be. It translates to saving time and money in the long run while boosting customer support productivity. Reach and ScaleAs your business scales, you’ll need remote support software that can grow along with you. For example, features like collaborative tools that enable your IT technicians to work together can come in handy. Onboarding features like augmented reality training offered by software like TeamViewer can ensure your in-house technicians are readily equipped for the job. Unattended support features can streamline your routine device updates. SecurityOne big customer concern when administering remote support is security. Understandably, customers might want reassurance that the remote support software you’re employing is safe. Check prospective software to see if it offers any extra security features whether you’re using cloud-based software or go the self-hosted route. This can also provide your customers with extra peace of mind as you access their devices from afar. ConclusionThe best remote support software highly depends on what you’re looking for according to your industry and business needs. Here’s a quick overview of each remote support system I recommended for your reference:
No matter what type of support you offer, you can find remote support software that streamlines the process with this in-depth guide. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-remote-support-software/ You wouldn’t buy a brick and mortar business without getting a lock for the front door, right? I imagine you’d probably even get an alarm system and install some cameras. These security measures are taken to prevent break-ins, from losing money, sustaining property damage, or putting sensitive information at risk. Your internet business is at risk for these very same things. It may even be at greater risk — the Internet makes it possible for cybercriminals to break into your website without having to leave their couch: On average, 18.5 million websites are infected with malware at any given time. The average website gets attacked 44 times per day. Of the roughly 90,000 websites that get hacked each day, 83% of them are using WordPress. That’s why you need to take as many precautions as possible when it comes to properly securing your website.
Don’t have the “it won’t happen to me” mentality. Nobody is immune to vicious attacks. Even retail giants like Target have had data breaches that affected more than 41 million customers. That one security breach cost the company over $18 million in settlements. Something like this can be extremely damaging to your company’s online reputation. I could go on and on all day about why your website needs to be secure, but I think I’ve made my point. So how can you install the security you need? To start, WordPress has some built-in security features. It’s also crucial for you to choose a secure web hosting company — with a host like WP Engine a lot of the security features are built into your hosting plan. Beyond these steps, you can take additional measures to beef up your protections with a WordPress security plugin. There are so many different security plugins available for your website. How can you know which one is the best WordPress security plugin? Rather than taking weeks to go through and research all of them, you can just review the ones that I’ve listed in this guide. I’ve identified the top seven WordPress security plugins of 2021. Use this information to increase your WordPress security and add credibility to your website. 1. MalCareThe MalCare security plugin is trusted by the likes of GoWP, WPBuffs, and Cloudways — so you know you’re in good company with them. This is a security plugin you should get if you want to save time and energy. Their malware removal is fully automated, removing viruses and bad actors in less than a minute. They also protect your website from their own servers. That means you’ll never experience a slowdown on your site when they scan for viruses. MalCare also comes with a powerful firewall to protect your website 24/7. It’ll also block any IP addresses that have been flagged for malicious intent from the thousands of sites on their network, according to their website. Though it might not be for everyone, I really appreciate the fact that they have a host of features aside from security like their WordPress management plugin. It helps you manage multiple sites on WordPress and allows you to manage permissions so your team can collaborate on all fo them. This service also allows you to make 90 day backups of your websites so you never have to worry about losing data. Pricing for MalCare is also relatively affordable for the features you’ll be receiving. It starts at $99 / year for one site and includes automatic malware removal, a website firewall, and complete website management. 2. Wordfence Security — Firewall & Malware ScanWith over two million active installs, Wordfence Security — Firewall & Malware Scan is one of the most popular WordPress security plugins available. It fights spam, malware, and other threats in real time. Unlike other plugins, Wordfence Security offers a dashboard that’s extremely user friendly. You don’t have to be a tech wizard, have a background in IT, or study cybersecurity to use this plugin. One of my favorite parts of this plugin is the ability to see data about your overall website traffic trends. These reports will show you any attempted hacks on your site. You’ll be able to tell if traffic is coming from humans, Google crawlers, or potentially malicious bots. Another great feature of this plugin is the country blocking option. You can block attacks that come from specific geographic regions known for high rates of cybercrime. The free version of Wordfence Security offers plenty of features that will keep your website safe. They definitely give you more out of the box than other free security plugins. You’ll get firewall blocks and brute force attack protection. Premium pricing starts at $99 per year. The premium version comes with added features like two-factor authentication, direct customer support assistance, and real-time IP blacklisting. The real-time IP blacklist feature blocks requests from any IP address that has attacked another WordPress website that is also using Wordfence Security. When it comes to the safety and security of your website, that’s a pretty good deal in my opinion. 3. Sucuri Security — Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security HardeningThe name of this plugin alone shows all of the extensive security features it offers. When you install Sucuri Security, you’ll benefit from things like:
All of these features, except for the website firewall, come with the free version of Sucuri Security. If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to protect your WordPress website, Sucuri Security is a top choice. For most sites, you don’t necessarily need the website firewall offered in the premium version. In the event of a hack or attack, Sucuri Security offers actionable steps to help you proceed with repairing any damage. Now, some of you might not love the idea of hearing something like this. But in all reality, it’s nearly impossible for any website to be 100% impenetrable. There is always the chance of something going wrong. When something goes wrong, you’ll instantly receive a notification about it so you can act immediately. Sucuri Security is upfront about that. They aren’t going to sit there and promise that the plugin is 100% effective. Rather than making false promises, this plugin has added a feature to assist you if your site is compromised in any way. I really like that. The security hardening provided by Sucuri Security is exceptional. It’s easy to go through and check the status of the different elements of your website to add additional security. If you have questions, problems, or run into any trouble when you’re using the Sucuri Security plugin, you can reach the customer service team via live chat or email. 4. iThemes SecurityFormerly known as Better WP Security, the iThemes Security plugin is another popular choice for WordPress users. Unlike the other plugins we’ve looked at so far, iThemes Security doesn’t offer as many free benefits, so it’s in your best interest to upgrade to the pro version if you’re going to install this plugin. The free version comes with basic security, but you won’t have access to the pro features, such as:
As you can see from this list, it’s definitely worth upgrading to iThemes Security Pro, which starts at $52 per year. With iThemes Security, users will automatically be banned after attempting too many invalid logins, which will help prevent a brute force attack on your site. There is also a scanning feature that will identify any potential vulnerabilities for an attack. Once those areas have been identified, the plugin shows you how to repair the problems in a matter of seconds. iThemes Security even helps strengthen the security of your server. The plugin forces SSL for admin pages, posts, and other pages on supporting servers. The plugin will hide the most common WordPress security vulnerabilities that are usually targeted by hackers. You’ll receive a notification via email anytime there is a problem or potential security threat on your WordPress site. This plugin fully integrates with your WordPress dashboard as well, which is a nice touch. It doesn’t feel like it’s intrusive, and you don’t need to navigate to any third-party platforms to add security to your site. iThemes Security also offers extensive video tutorials, which I found to be extremely helpful. 5. All In One WP Security & FirewallAll In One WP Security & Firewall is packed with free features. The interface is extremely easy to use, and you don’t need to be a technology or security expert to figure things out. One of the reasons why this plugin made my list is because of the visual elements on the dashboard. You can get reports with graphs that explain all of the metrics related to your website’s security. Furthermore, the plugin tells you which actions you can take to improve the security of your WordPress website. Each security feature is segmented into three categories:
You have the ability to apply certain firewall rules progressively in a way that won’t hinder the functionality of your website. As a result, the speed of your website won’t be slowed at all. The plugin scans your WordPress website for vulnerabilities. After these vulnerabilities have been checked, the plugin will assist you in implementing changes to enhance your security. Everything is measured by a grading system. The grades are based on different levels of security for each element on your website. Another top feature offered by All In One WP Security & Firewall is spam security for your comments section. Getting lots of comments on your blog posts or other website pages can be extremely beneficial for SEO purposes, but not if those comments are spam. Instead of manually checking all of your comments and deleting spam on your own, this plugin can do the work for you. It automatically detects IP addresses that are known for producing spam and blocks them from commenting. If certain addresses have exceeded a specific number of spam comments, they will even be blocked from accessing your site altogether. I haven’t even mentioned the best part of all. This plugin is free. That’s right, 100% free. Unlike free versions of other plugins, All In One WP Security & Firewall doesn’t withhold top features and pitch upsells. It’s completely free to all WordPress users. 6. BulletProof SecurityThe BulletProof Security WordPress plugin isn’t necessarily as popular as some of the other plugins out there, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it as a top choice for your website. It claims that in the last seven years, none of the 45,000 websites that installed BulletProof Security Pro have been hacked. Impressive, though this number has some contingencies and doesn’t account for things like server hacks. This plugin is extremely easy to install and get up and running in just a couple of clicks. The free version of BulletProof Security gives you access to features like:
I really like BulletProof Security’s maintenance mode. It will keep your site secure while you’re going through front-end as well as back-end updates and maintenance, times when your site would normally be more vulnerable to hacks or breaches. While the installation and setup wizard is easy for anyone to do, overall I’d say this security plugin is geared more toward advanced WordPress developers. BulletProof Security allows you to customize so many different security settings. So, I’d say start with that version before you decide if you want to upgrade. That will at least give you a feel of the interface and navigation. If you go with the paid version, BulletProof Security offers a 30-day guarantee, so there’s no risk there either. 7. JetpackJetpack is considered a WordPress powerhouse. It helps improve performance and protect your site in countless ways, including advanced security, automatic backups, easy-to-decipher analytics, marketing tools, site speed enhancements, and more. Plus, with more than 5+ million activations and frequent plugin updates, you know you’re in good hands. While Jetpack offers dozens of different features, its advanced security functionality is incredibly powerful on its own. As such, this WordPress security plugin is excellent for anyone needing real-time security scans, backups, and anti-spam protection. With it, you get real-time backups that automatically trigger anytime you make changes. So, your backups are always up-to-date and can be reverted back to if anything goes wrong. With your subscription, you get unlimited storage for backups so you never have to worry about running out of space. Furthermore, you proactively prevent security threats using Jetpack’s scan feature. You can set it up to automatically scan new files and content, or you can run it daily. It scans your entire website on the hunt for malware and malicious software to find vulnerabilities and stop attacks before they happen. Another standout feature is the ability to block and clear spam submissions through comments and input forms on your site. Without this, you may unknowingly end up with hundreds of spam comments creating an awful visitor experience for anyone unlucky enough to scroll to the bottom of your latest post. Not only that, but you have to manually delete them rather than blocking them from going through in the first place. Jetpack also delivers various other security features, including:
There are dozens of pricing options to choose from, depending on what you need. If you want all of Jetpack’s security features, you’re looking at $55.95 per month for real-time security or $19.95 for daily security. Alternatively, you can get Jetpack’s full suite of tools, including security, marketing, design, SEO, CRM, and more, for $79.95 per month. If it’s within your budget, this is a great way to simplify your plugin stack. But if you’re on a tighter budget, you can purchase security features separately. Each of the three major tools (daily backups, daily scans, and anti-spam) is $7.95 per month individually. ConclusionWhat’s the best WordPress security plugin? It’s tough to name one as the definitive best, but I’ve been able to narrow down the top seven for you to consider in 2021. It all depends on what you’re looking for. Some of these plugins have more advanced features than others, which aren’t always necessary for all websites. Some plugins are easier for beginners, while others are better for advanced developers. Do you want a free WordPress security plugin? Or do you want a pro version with annual charges? All of this needs to be taken into consideration when you’re picking the best security plugin for your website. I’m confident you’ll find what you need on the list above. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-wordpress-security-plugin/ Do you know the secret to finding the best fish? It’s improving your odds by catching as many fish as you can. And for this to be possible, you need the help of a sturdy, durable net which no aquatic creature can escape. The same thing works in capturing and nurturing leads for your business. If you don’t want to deal with the nightmare of having your leads turning cold, you need to rely on lead management software to do what your good old spreadsheet can’t. I waded through piles of boring data to find the best software to give your leads the tender loving care they deserve. Let’s explore our top picks. The Top 5 Best Lead Management Software
From the long, overwhelming list of choices, I’ve narrowed them down to five remarkable brands that truly deliver on their promises. Since your choice can potentially change the course of your business, I’ll make sure to explore each software in detail so you can make an informed decision. #1 – HubSpot CRM — Best Free Lead Management Software for Solopreneurs and Growing Sales Teams
HubSpot CRM dazzles with its simplicity. The paid plans give you the full suite of features, but if you’re only looking for the core tools needed to find and warm up your leads, nothing beats HubSpot’s free CRM. Perfect for an entrepreneur who wears all hats for a company or a budding company with few salespeople, HubSpot doesn’t have the extra features of expensive lead management solutions. For this reason, it requires a relatively shorter learning curve and less time wasted on tasks that don’t have anything to do with lead management. To get leads, you can add forms to your website or leverage the bots for live chat conversations. You can also capture leads automatically through Facebook or Instagram ads and have all your customer data synced with your HubSpot account. No need to juggle multiple tools as everything is accessible within the HubSpot CRM. There’s a Contact Record where you can store up to one million contacts or retrieve information about each of your prospects in a few clicks. Each of your leads has its own activity timeline where you can view the complete history of interaction with that contact. Website links clicked, calls made, or emails opened, you name it. HubSpot can record every important touchpoint. This way, you can have a reference point to create effective, customized follow-ups to your leads easily. As for task management, HubSpot’s free CRM also keeps a record of all tasks and transactions completed so you can measure your small team’s productivity at any given time. HubSpot CRM is available for free, but you can get custom reporting and other extra features by upgrading to paid plans starting at $50 per month. Pros and Cons of Hubspot CRMHubSpot is a trusted brand that doesn’t disappoint with its basic features. Its simplicity and ease of use are HubSpot’s main selling points, which resonate well with lead generation professionals who care more about results than dull, repetitive data entry tasks. The quick accessibility of information is also a plus because it’s key to understanding your pipeline and funnel management. However, HubSpot CRM operates on a freemium model, and the features you can use will remain limited for as long as you stay in its free version. Furthermore, the mobile version is a little bit cumbersome, as it only shows a fraction of the features that the browser version offers. Overall, even though the free HubSpot lead management tool lacks built-in reporting, the available features are more than enough for those who want to keep and manage their leads in one place. #2 – Salesforce Sales Cloud — Most Robust Lead Management Software for Large Enterprises
Salesforce is like the Hulk of CRMs. And for a good reason: It can integrate with any business app imaginable, making it highly adaptable to any business that can afford its steep licensing cost. The Salesforce CRM, also known as the Sales Cloud, is available in several tiers. The most basic is the Essentials plan ($25 per user per month, if billed annually), which is available for up to 10 users and has the basic features like lead scoring and assignment and email and event tracking. The Lightning Professional plan ($75 per user per month, if billed annually) is best suited for small businesses because of its more advanced features like collaborative forecasts. On the other hand, the Lightning Enterprise plan is the most popular but is also one of the most expensive ($150 per user per month, if billed annually). It gives you access to all enterprise apps and allows you to create a corporate app store through a developer. In terms of lead generation, Salesforce is just as reliable. It has an activity timeline showing where the leads come from, what they’re up to, and ways you can convert them. Most leads come from social media. Salesforce Sales Cloud can track which of these social media networks provides the highest return, giving companies valuable insights on where to invest more. Each lead is also automatically given a score to ensure the ones ripe for the taking will be given the utmost attention, and no good leads will ever fall through the cracks. Pros and Cons of Salesforce Sales CloudNo other CRM or lead generation tool can compare to Salesforce when it comes to integrations and features it offers. However, more features don’t mean better performance for your business. In fact, Zoho CRM offers most of the customization options available in Salesforce at a relatively lower cost. Salesforce can also be considered a blank slate, so only choose it if you have a highly skilled team of developers to customize the platform for your needs. In addition to high licensing fees, most users are also intimidated by Salesforce because it comes with a steep learning curve. Many of its features are non-intuitive, so even though Salesforce has an extensive knowledge base, it will take a while before you fully grasp how the software works and utilize it. #3 – Zoho CRM — Best For Lead Management Automation
Zoho CRM was created with all your “smarketing” needs in mind. This strategy of working smart, not just hard, to get high quality leads is accomplished through Zoho’s fleet of automation tools. Leading the pack is SalesSignals, which lets you monitor your prospects from multiple channels and gives you real-time notifications every time your brand gets mentioned. If webinars are part of your marketing strategy, you can also integrate Zoho CRM with your choice of webinar hosting product and sync all the vital information you gather back to your CRM. The omnichannel communication approach is an investment that pays huge for big companies in the long run. However, the regular notifications may turn off smaller enterprises that don’t have the workforce needed to filter them. Just Amazon’s Alexa, Zoho CRM has an artificial intelligence-powered sales assistant called Zia, created to enrich whatever information you gathered about your leads. The data enrichment, in turn, will help you personalize all your marketing campaigns and gain new buying customers in the process. Speaking of personalization, you can also create and send email campaigns straight from the Zoho CRM. You can improve its success using vital subscribers’ information like their purchase history, location, and previous interaction with you. Delegation is also seamless with Zoho CRM. If you’re the sales manager, you can use predefined workflow rules to assign leads to sales reps based on product, department, or geography. You can ensure every priority leads get a follow-up by employing the round-robin approach. Zoho CRM has a free version, but it’s limited to three users. For more customization and to provide access for your growing sales team, you can also avail of the Standard and Professional tiers, which cost $18 ($12 if billed annually) per user per month and $30 ($20 if billed annually) per user per month, respectively. Pros and Cons of Zoho CRMAside from automated workflows, Zoho CRM also takes pride in the freedom it offers to users to customize the platform. Unlike HubSpot that isn’t as flexible, Zoho CRM can be integrated with various software applications. In case you have a private app that can’t be easily integrated, your developers can create an API to ensure it will work harmoniously with Zoho CRM. The number of contacts you can store in Zoho CRM is only up to 100,000, which pales compared to HubSpot’s limit of 1,000,000 contact records. However, this minor disadvantage is offset by Zoho’s more extensive list of lead management features that beat HubSpot’s free version and even Salesforce’s more expensive counterpart. #4 – noCRM.io — Best Standalone Lead Management Software for Small Businesses or Startups
noCRM.io operates on minimalism. As its name suggests, it’s created for salespeople who only need a simple lead management tool to turn leads into customers. Unlike complicated CRMs that require a longer onboarding process and time-consuming data management, noCRM.io is a cloud-based solution focusing on the sales process itself. Since its purpose is clearly defined, expect noCRM.io to have minimal features. Hence, it’s ideal for small companies, specifically those with a separate department tasked with closing deals. It has a built-in lead capturing tool, so it’s easy to get leads from multiple sources and put them into your noCRM.io account. You can collect leads from web forms, emails, and LinkedIn. It also has a feature similar to Zoho’s that enables you to take a picture of business cards and have the data uploaded to your account. Dealing with email messages is a breeze as every email you send to leads is automatically sent to your noCRM.io account as well. Automation works wonders on how you view and manage your sales pipeline. Each lead added to your account is automatically assigned either a “To Do” or “Stand-By” status. “To Do” requires your immediate attention, while the “Stand-By” means it needs a follow-up. With the data organized this way, none of your leads will ever go cold without your knowledge. Follow-ups can be scheduled and the reminders synced with your calendar so you won’t forget to call or meet your leads. You can also track your team’s performances from your account and have a clear idea of how everyone’s performing based on the number of calls made, deals closed, emails sent, and other criteria. noCRM.io offers a 15-day free trial with no credit card required. Afterward, you can upgrade it to either the Starter plan for $10 per user per month or Expert plan for $17 per user per month to continue enjoying all its features. Pros and Cons of noCRM.ioIf you’re looking for a simple lead management tool that offers the bare essentials without much of a learning curve, noCRM.io is worth a try. Unlike other CRMs where lead management is just part of the bigger picture, lead management in noCRM.io is the whole picture. It’s perfect for those who only want to set reminders, keep notes, and be in the loop about the status of their leads without the full CRM experience. You can integrate noCRM.io with hundreds of popular apps to automate workflows or use its API to personalize the platform to your liking. noCRM.io also streamlines the post-sale process by allowing you to build a checklist of tasks to be accomplished soon after winning a deal and assign them to your team members. However, this feature is only available for those subscribed to the Expert edition, leaving those in the Starter plan with no choice but to complete the post-sales process on their own. #5 – Pipedrive — Best Lead Management Software for Real Estate Professionals
Whether you’re a home seller or a property agent, Pipedrive has the perfect set of features you need to ensure none of your leads will ever go stale. If you want more features than the free HubSpot CRM but don’t have the budget nor the need for the more expensive Salesforce, Pipedrive is the lead management solution you’re looking for. Pipedrive offers a free trial, and paid plans that start at $15 are affordable enough for budding real estate businesses that don’t require many integrations. Although the list of apps that can be integrated with Pipedrive is more limited than the apps you can add in Salesforce, it’s not a dealbreaker, especially for its price point. After all, Pipedrive can be integrated with apps like Asan, Slack, Trello, MailChimp, Gmail, and LinkedIn that most in the real estate industry consider indispensable. The user interface is simple and easy to use, so don’t expect to deal with any steep learning curve. But what makes Pipedrive stand out is its Lead Inbox that allows you to put all your leads gathered from a variety of sources in one place. You can then label each of the leads with the default “hot,” “warm,” and “cold,” or any custom labels that make sense to you. This way, you can easily monitor and track which leads are getting cold and schedule a call or meeting with those leads before it’s too late. Pros and Cons of PipedrivePipedrive has the broadest range of integrations for its price group. However, larger corporations are better off with advanced solutions like Salesforce if they’re looking for more flexibility. Customer support is also limited for the smaller accounts. While this may not be an issue for most users, given the intuitiveness of Pipedrive, I can see it being a problem for those in starter plans that are not as familiar with how CRM works. How to Find The Best Lead Management Software For YouA lead management software is designed never to let any leads slip through the cracks. But these tools are not created equal. Use the following parameters and criteria to help with your due diligence in selecting the best software for your needs and budget. 1. Do you need a standalone lead management software or a more comprehensive CRM?Although CRM and lead management are now often used interchangeably, they’re two different things. Lead management is all about getting and keeping leads until they’re ready to convert. CRM encompasses both lead management and everything that happens post-sales. For some businesses where there’s a separate department that exclusively handles leads, a standalone lead management software has the simplicity they need. A standalone solution is a few steps above old-fashioned spreadsheet management but doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of a CRM. On the other hand, a CRM makes sense for businesses where the same person or team handles leads and sales. Since everything happens in one platform, everyone can follow and optimize a customer’s journey throughout the entire sales pipeline without jumping from one application to another. 2. How many leads are you tracking?Some businesses deal with more prospects than others. If you’re a one-man team or a small enterprise with only one or two sales agents who handle hundreds of leads, it won’t make sense for you to invest in a program made for a larger enterprise. A company this small can get by with a free software like HubSpot that provides you with all the basic features needed to manage your leads. A bigger company with thousands of leads requires a more robust and comprehensive program. The software you choose should be one that is powered by automation tools. At the very least, it should be integrated with prominent tools like MailChimp so you can import your huge email list and launch email marketing campaigns all in one place. 3. Who are you tracking?The nature of your business dictates the types of features you should be looking for. If you’re a business that sells products or services to other businesses (B2B), it’s not unusual for the sales journey to take much longer. Your prospects need to be captured and nurtured for a long time, so you need tools that will help cultivate a trusting relationship with them. You also need advanced automation tools to score or classify each of your leads based on where they are in the sales pipeline. This way, you can figure out at a glance which ones to prioritize or are ready to move further in the sales funnel. Meanwhile, if you’re a business that sells directly to the consumers (B2C), expect the market’s size to be larger and the customer life cycle to be not as complex. Hence, you need software that can import, process, and organize huge consumer data in its platform. An analytics tool is also indispensable in understanding your leads as a whole and in creating different market segments that make sense for your business. 4. Does the software integrate with popular tools or your existing sales applications?A lead generation software is either a standalone tool or part of a bigger customer relationship management (CRM) platform. In both cases, it rarely works effectively unless you use it in tandem with tools that you’re already familiar with. Are you using social media to gather leads? Choose a lead management software with social media integration so you can reach out to and engage with your prospects. Do you use Gravity Forms or another form creator? You can also integrate this with a lead management software, so each person submitting a contact form automatically becomes a new lead. Do people call you via RingCentral? No problem. Integration with the software means you can be notified with each call, assign each call to your sales agents, and track whether which calls eventually convert. The best part is you’re not limited to public apps. Lead management software at a higher price range also enables its users to customize their platforms by installing private apps via APIs. This way, you can continue using existing applications built exclusively for your business. 5. What kind of automation do you need?The purpose of ditching your spreadsheet for lead management software is to make the process of collecting leads easier. And streamlining lead management isn’t possible without some form of artificial intelligence (AI) in place. AI automates tedious data entry tasks so you and your sales team can focus on what you do best. While there are many tasks that lead management software can automate, there are few that are considered the most critical. An ideal lead management solution not only gathers leads from multiple channels but also analyzes which source generates the highest quality of leads that convert into sales. This way, you’ll be aware of what to prioritize and stop wasting resources on places that don’t contribute to your bottom line. But this is just the beginning. Lead management solutions at higher price tiers are also capable of tracking where the customers are in the pipeline. For a customer to move to a higher step, the salesperson must complete specific tasks. Some also score each prospect based on a set of criteria to help you identify which of the leads are more likely to convert into sales. SummaryA lead management software rarely exists on its own. It is often incorporated within a more complex customer relationship management (CRM) solution that provides everything you need to manage the entire customer lifecycle. If you’re a solopreneur who is not keen on spending anything yet, the free version of the HubSpot CRM can help you keep and nurture all your leads in one place. Should you want to step up, Zoho CRM has all the features of the free HubSpot CRM plus automation tools to let you run some aspects of the lead management on autopilot. For standalone lead management software that eliminates the complexity of a CRM, noCRM.io is your obvious choice. It streamlines the process of collecting, nurturing, and converting leads by focusing on what salespeople do best and leaving all the non-essential tasks to those outside of the sales team. Overall, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach in determining the best lead management tool for your business. Read the methodology above and use them to figure out which software has all the features that will benefit you in the long run. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-lead-management-software/ It’s 2020, and Excel is far from dead. There’s a wide range of online courses on the market you can use right now to start learning the ins and outs of the ever-present software. No need to stumble through each function alone or go back to college to learn it. With courses geared for just about any proficiency level, you can start confidently using Excel beyond creating colored rows and columns. Here I take a look at the top excel courses you can sign up for to add to your skills so that you can optimize any workflow or data set with your newfound knowledge. Let’s jump right in. The Top 5 Best Excel Courses
Below, I look at the best features each course offers, what it teaches you, and how accessible each of them is according to your budget. #1 – Microsoft Excel — Best For Learning Advanced Formulas and Functions
If you’re an intermediate Excel user, it’s time to start learning advanced formulas and functions with the top-rated Microsoft Excel course on Udemy by Maven Analytics and Chris Dutton. The course currently boasts 4.6 out of 5 stars with over 40,000 ratings. With it, you’ll master more than 75 useful Excel formulas you can apply to real-life situations. More than a whopping 195,000 students have already taken the highly-rated course. It offers eight hours of on-demand video, downloadable resources, and a collection of detailed articles to complement the course material. To top it all off, the course offers certification once you’ve completed it successfully. The Microsoft Excel course is lauded as exceptionally valuable because of how it’s structured. Instead of having you memorize a bunch of functions, it emphasizes teaching you how to think like Excel. Once you learn to think like Excel, you’ll be able to analyze text fields, formulas, dates, and values. The Microsoft Excel course makes learning to write advanced formulas from scratch easy and accessible for just about any project. The only requirement to successfully take this course is access to Microsoft Excel 2007 – 2019 or Office 365. The price is $124.99 for lifetime access to everything that comes with the course. If you aren’t satisfied, they do offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Not bad for learning advanced Excel skills from your couch. #2 – Excel For The Real World — Best For Beginners
Excel For The Real World on Skillshare is an excellent entry-level overview of all the things you can do with the software. Taught by instructor Al Chen, Excel For The Real World starts by providing a short trailer to manage your expectations and walk you through what you’ll learn. More than 23,000 students have taken this course, and it teaches skills like formatting, selecting data, using the ribbon, writing formulas, pasting, listing, and sorting. On Skillshare, you have access to a discussion area where you can ask questions and convene with other students. The course is generally applauded for providing clear instructions and helpful examples in an easy-to-follow and organized format. Since it’s hosted on Skillshare, you can enroll for free if you sign up for their three-month trial. Otherwise, it costs $19 a month for a premium membership, where you get full access to this beginner’s Excel gem and plenty of other courses. #3 – Excel Skills For Business Personalization – Best For Business Certification
Are you looking for a business certificate you can put on your resume? Excel Skills For Business Specialization on Coursera ensures you can endorse your skills by issuing a certification upon completion that’s shareable on LinkedIn. This can be a valuable addition to your resume if you are working towards a promotion or pay raise or simply a skill that can serve you in everyday life. The flexible schedule ensures you have time to go through their weekly five-hour schedule and can be completed in about six months. More than 50,000 reviews give the course a 4.8-star rating and plenty of praise. The course ensures you get comfortable navigating all aspects of Excel. This means once completed, you’ll be able to easily create spreadsheets, analyze data, summarize raw data, perform data lookups, automate choices, and manipulate different types of data. The course functions a lot like a classroom, with routine quizzes, graded assignments, readings, and peer feedback. Coursera, the platform the course is hosted on, breaks down their prices depending on whether you’re a student or an enterprise looking for employee training and certification. As a student, you can sign up and have access to one free course a year. For enterprises, user enrollment starts at $400 yearly per user for the platform. Any enrollment plans for a larger team can be discussed with one of their support agents. #4 – Excel Fundamentals For Data Analysis – Best For Learning Data Analysis
Functions and basic math aren’t the only things Excel can do. The world of in-depth data analysis is at your fingertips with the Excel Fundamentals For Data Analysis course. The course, offered by Macquarie University and instructor Nicky Bull on Coursera, takes you through the world of data analytics with more than 15 hours of actionable instruction. Students have learned to clean and manipulate dates, create tables for automating data manipulation, and use logical and lookup functions. With Excel Fundamentals For Data Analysis, you don’t have to worry about deadlines, as they’re immensely flexible to fit anyone’s schedule. And yes, you do get a certificate upon completion. There is financial aid available for the course if you qualify. Coursera prices vary whether you’re a student or want to purchase an enterprise package for employee training programs. For enterprise access, teams, and smaller organizations, Coursera charges $400 per student per year. Or you can get custom pricing for larger organizations. As a student, you can sign up to join for free and take one free course per year. As a note, student enrollment for multiple courses is usually handled through the student’s university administration. #5 – Learn Excel — Best Free Training
The internet has done a wonderful thing: it has made free education accessible to just about everyone. This means you can get excellent Excel education for free with online courses like LearnExcel from TrumpEXCEL. With 26 lessons and more than 12 hours of free training, you’ll go from knowing the basics of Excel to advanced Excel territory. The modules include the basics for beginners, Excel formulas, data analysis, introduction to charting, and pivot tables. The free course is offered by TrumpEXCEL, a site specifically dedicated to all things Excel. Ex-financial analyst Sumit Bansal started it back in 2013 and keeps it updated. The course is readily available to quite literally anyone on the internet that has access to any Excel version up to 2019. You don’t even have to sign up or log in to anything to get access to all of the value-packed modules. This means there is no free monthly trial with a fee that’ll catch you by surprise at the end of the month on a half-finished course. Though if you would like to show support or express your gratitude, you can always donate to the instructor at your discretion on the site. How to Find The Best Excel Courses For YouIt’s raining Excel courses on the internet right now. So, how do you go about finding the course that best fits your needs? You’ll have to start by determining your current skill level and your goals. Are you a complete beginner, an intermediate, or an advanced Excel user, and what are you hoping to gain? Are you a student who needs to complete a project with Excel by the end of the semester but don’t know how to use the software properly? Are you an entry-level data analyst with no official Excel training who needs to brush up on skills? Or maybe you’re just a busy mom running a business from home who needs a comprehensive system to keep track of profit and expenses for tax reasons. Whatever the case may be, choosing an Excel course tailored to your situation will help you follow through and get the most value out of the time you’ll dedicate to the course. Here are a few additional details to think about when choosing the perfect course. CertificationDoes the online course offer certification? The online course space is booming and relatively new. So, in many ways, it’s like the wild wild west. Things haven’t really been standardized, and not all courses offer certification (or carry the same weight). Still, a course certification to ensure it’s a verifiable asset you can add to your resume can be of great benefit in just about any professional field. If this is important to you, make sure and look for a course that offers verifiable certification after completing it. Instructor SupportSometimes courses come with instructor support and office hours. If you’re taking an intermediate or advanced course and feel you’ll need the extra help, this can be important criteria to look for when choosing the best course. Usually, a course will at least have an email where you can reach the instructor for further clarification or questions you may have. Some go as far as offering community forums or Facebook support groups. If you choose to go with a course that doesn’t provide any type of support, be ready to be resourceful and find answers to any additional questions yourself. Course LengthIf you’re only looking to learn Excel’s basics, a longer course might not be right for you. It can end up costing more, and you’re less likely to follow through, learn it comprehensively, and finish the entire course. It might also teach more advanced skills that you’re either not interested in learning yet or aren’t ready to grasp. This can cause unnecessary stress and overwhelm. Choosing a course that hits the sweet spot in length ensures you stay engaged and motivated to finish it and learn it at your own pace. Course UpdatesSome courses floating around online do not have any recent updates to their modules and instructions. This can mean it has outdated content or the modules are low quality. With course platforms like Udemy or Skillshare, where many helpful courses on Excel live, you can easily see the last time a course was updated. This empowers you to make sure you aren’t investing in outdated low-quality courses that get you nowhere. Reviews and TestimonialsAlong with course updates, it easy to see the value of student reviews and testimonials. You can find them on the course page, by making a quick Google search, in the comments sections, on YouTube, Reddit, or third-party course forums. Some reviews won’t give you much outside of a rating, but others won’t hesitate to say exactly what they liked and didn’t like about the course. Candid reviews can give you an accurate view of value when investing in the best Excel course, especially if it’s priced higher. Bringing It All TogetherWith the number of free and paid courses out there, there’s no excuse for not knowing how to do, well, anything. Here’s a quick walkthrough of the Excel courses I went over that you need to check out:
You can choose to take as many courses as you want or stick with one and call it a day. It’s entirely your choice and largely depends on the goals, whether personal or professional, that you’ve set for yourself. Ready to take on Excel and build your skills? Click on any of the recommended courses to start learning. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-excel-courses/ Do I recommend it? Yes! SiteGround is a great web host for websites of all sizes. SiteGround is one of the most popular web hosting services out there—and for very good reason. They offer hosting options and plans suitable for a wide range of websites and businesses. Small personal websites, business websites, and large ecommerce sites alike can all use SiteGround. That’s why more than 2 million websites trust SiteGround for their hosting needs. If you’re just starting out, I can’t recommend SiteGround enough.
It’s also a great choice for anyone who wants to switch hosting providers. They offer a great WP Migrator plugin. This is a free plugin that makes the transfer of WordPress sites very easy. Let’s dive into the plans, types of hosting, and top benefits offered by SiteGround. Use this guide to make an informed decision to determine if SiteGround is the best web hosting plan for your needs. Benefits of Using SiteGround Web HostingThere is plenty of upside to using SiteGround as a web hosting service. I just want to quickly highlight and explain why this platform stands out from its competitors. High uptimesWhen it comes to measuring how good a web host is, uptime is the ultimate metric. This is the amount of time that a server stays up and running. A recent study shows that SiteGround has exceptionally high uptimes, on average, over a twelve-month stretch. In 2018, SiteGround ranked fourth compared to other web hosts judging by average uptime. As you can see, they were just barely beat out for the third place spot by a one-thousandth percentage point. Overall, the average uptime for the 32 shared web hosting services in the study was 99.59%. SiteGround was significantly higher than the average and near the top of the list. High uptimes ensure that your site will nearly always be up and running around the clock. Fast load timesJust because your site is up, it doesn’t always mean that it will be fast. But take a look at the response time for this SiteGround test website that was set up by Hosting Facts. We already talked about the great uptime, but now you can refer to the response time column. The average response time for these months in 2021 was 653 ms. That’s phenomenal. In addition to using a good web host, you should also know the other top principles that boost website loading times. Great customer supportHopefully, you don’t have any issues with SiteGround. But in the event that you run into a problem, have a question, or need some assistance, it’s nice to know that they provide excellent customer support. You can access phone support as well as live chat 24/7. As I mentioned earlier, you’ll have priority support if you have a GoGeek plan. This means that you’ll be connected with the most experienced SiteGround technicians whenever you need help. Free featuresWeb hosting services will always try to hit you with add-ons at an upcharge. But SiteGround throws in some great features at no extra charge. Your membership comes with one free site migration. This can be done with their migrator plugin, which we talked about earlier. SiteGround plans also come with a free CDN and free SSL certificate. Cloudflare CDN keeps images, videos, and other large files off of your server. As a result, your server is always fast. Since SiteGround users servers all over the globe, the CDN makes sure that files are stored closer to website visitors for fast delivery. The SSL certificate is required for all websites. It protects private information being transmitted between devices and websites. SiteGround throwing this in for free is a nice touch since you’d need to get one regardless. FlexibleNearly any website can be hosted on SiteGround. It’s a great web hosting service for beginners and experienced users alike. You don’t need to be too tech-savvy to understand how the platform works and get your site hosted. But on the other hand, if you like to be more hands-on with the server and take advantage of certain features, SiteGround has plans with you in mind. There are also enough options on SiteGround to accommodate different web hosting needs, such as shared hosting and cloud hosting. They have plans suitable for a wide range of average site traffic as well. So as your website scales, you can always upgrade to a plan that will meet your needs. Money back guaranteeSiteGround offers a 30-day money back guarantee for their shared hosting plans. This shows that they stand behind the services that are offered. Dedicated servers and cloud hosting plans have a 14-day money back guarantee, which is still enough time to tell if you’re happy with your service. SiteGround will also refund you if they fail to meet a 99.9% uptime rate. This is clearly written in their terms of service. This relates back to what we talked about earlier, in terms of their high uptime rates. There’s a reason why it’s so high—SiteGround has a promise to stand behind. Other considerationsThere’s no such thing as a perfect web hosting service. While SiteGround is great, there are a few downsides that you should be made aware of before you proceed. Renewal ratesAt first glance, SiteGround’s pricing is very attractive. But those are only promotional rates. When you renew, your rates will jump as follows:
The cost essentially triples across the board. So I’d recommend locking in the longest contract possible when you first sign up, which is 36 months. This will guarantee you a low rate for a while before you’re forced to renew. Limited budget planFor those of looking for the best cheap web hosting service, SiteGround’s StartUp plan for $6.99 per month is definitely attention-grabbing. It’s a great choice for those of you with smaller websites, but it’s fairly limited for anyone who plans on getting more than 10,000 visitors per month. You may have to upgrade faster than you anticipated if you start with their lowest priced web hosting plan. Compare SiteGround Web Hosting PlansSiteGround offers three tiers for their hosting sites:
The prices of these three plans remain the same across the board for shared hosting, WordPress hosting, and Woocommerce hosting. Cloud hosting is the only one that differs. We’ll dive deeper into those plans later in this guide. For now, I’ll focus on the pricing and features of the three most popular plan options offered by SiteGround. StartUpAs the name implies, the SiteGround StartUp plan is ideal for new or smaller websites (less than 10,000 monthly visits). Rates start at $6.99 per month. You can only host one website with the StartUp plan, and it comes with 10 GB of web space. Other top features include:
It’s a basic plan, but definitely appropriate for new websites that are starting from scratch. For those of you who want more features and better performance, you’ll need to upgrade. You’ll also outgrow the StartUp plan as your traffic increases (which is a good thing). GrowBigThe GrowBig plan starts at $9.99 per month. This is ideal for medium-sized websites averaging up to 25,000 monthly visits. GrowBig has 20 GB of web space and can host an unlimited number of sites. Unlike the StartUp plan, GrowBig has enhanced caching ability. The SiteGround Supercacher has three levels.
StartUp only caches at the first level, but GrowBig caches on all three levels. If you sign up for the middle-tier plan offered by SiteGround, you’ll also get free on-demand backups, as well as a staging feature for WordPress and Joomla sites. I’d say that the GrowBig plan will be suitable for most of you who are reading this guide. GoGeekGoGeek can accommodate up to 100,000 monthly visits and has 40 GB of web space. Obviously, this plan is made for bigger websites with high volumes of traffic. Rates for GoGeek start at $14.99 per month, but the plan comes with all of the bells and whistles. In addition to everything that’s available in the GrowBig plan, GoGeek offers:
The name for this plan was inspired by technology geeks. So it’s made for those of you who want more control of your site. If you don’t understand some of the tech lingo that’s being mentioned in the GoGeek plan, it’s probably not for you. The only other reason why you’d need to upgrade to GoGeek is if you’re getting tons of monthly site traffic. WordPress hostingSiteGround offers hosting options specifically designed for WordPress users. This will save you time since you won’t need to manually download, install, and configure WordPress. With SiteGround, you can take advantage of their automated process that’s as simple as clicking a button. This plan also makes it easier for you to customize your WordPress site by choosing a theme, picking your site functionalities, and installing marketing tools. The WordPress Starter Kit from SiteGround is a great added feature for new WordPress sites. You don’t need any technical knowledge or experience to set this up. If you have an existing WordPress site, SiteGround offers a free WordPress transfer. The SiteGround Migrator plugin takes care of everything for you. This is a secure way to transfer your site. Alternatively, you can get your WordPress site migrated by one of the experts at SiteGround. This is a paid feature but could be worth the price if it’s in your budget. WooCommerce hostingSiteGround also has hosting options for ecommerce shops using WooCommerce. The quick install and integration with WooCommerce is an easy way for you to create a professional theme for your online store. You can get the site up and running in minutes. Just migrate your WooCommerce site using the migrator plugin. Just like WordPress hosting, WooCommerce migrations done by a SiteGround expert is free for one website if you’re on the GrowBig or GoGeek plan. Then you’ll have to pay $30 per each additional site. Cloud hostingCloud hosting is a new way to host websites. The process uses multiple remote servers and is a great option for those of you who have websites that have outgrown the shared hosting plans. With cloud hosting, SiteGround gives you guaranteed resources to meet your needs. Your own RAM and CPU won’t be shared with any other websites. It’s also easy for you to scale your website with this type of web hosting. You can upgrade your RAM, CPU, and disk space on-demand at any time. You don’t need to get approval to do this, and it happens without any website downtime. Rather than always doing this manually, you can set up automatic scaling with SiteGround. It will adjust your CPU and RAM to meet the needs of unexpected traffic surges, but you still have control of all the parameters. There are four plans for SiteGround Cloud hosting. As you can see from the image above, the plans range from $80 to $240 per month. So there’s definitely plenty of options to choose from. I’d say that the business plan will likely be a suitable choice for most of you who are using a cloud hosting service for the first time. ConclusionBottom line: I definitely recommend SiteGround for web hosting. They have hosting plans for any size business. It doesn’t matter if you’re a startup or if you’re an established company. SiteGround stacks up well compared to its competitors in terms of features and performance. While the hosting service it’s perfect, it still gets the nod from us here at Quick Sprout. I’m confident that it will fulfill your web hosting needs.
via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/siteground-web-hosting-review/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best business credit card for most people is definitely the Chase Ink Business Cash. A good business credit card goes beyond day-to-day purchases. They can give you high spending limits, fantastic rewards like airline points and cashback, and useful tools to grow your business. In many instances, you don’t even need a formal business structure to apply for a small business credit card. If you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur without a registered LLC, you can still apply for cards using your social security number as opposed to a tax ID or EIN.
This guide is perfect for anyone interested in a small business credit card. I’ll show you the top options and explain how to find the best business credit card for your situation. Top 8 Best Business Credit Cards for 2021There are hundreds of business credit cards on the market today. It seems like they all claim to be “the best” for something. But really, there are only eight business credit cards that I recommend:
I’ll highlight the top features, benefits, costs, and any other considerations for each one below. The Best Business Credit Card ReviewsChase Ink Business CashChase Ink Business Cash is the best overall business credit card. We love their benefits and flexibility for a wide range of business purposes. Chase offers outstanding rewards for things you’re already spending money on.
You get up to $1,750 cash back each year if you max out those first two categories. Chase offers built-in protection for instances using your Ink Business Cash card. You can decline collision insurance offered by rental companies when you’re renting a car. Chase Ink Business Cash has you covered. The card also provides purchase protection against theft or damage to items for 120 days, up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. It also extends qualified manufacturer’s warranties on purchases for an additional year. You can get extra cards for your employees at no cost, and set individual spending limits for each cardholder and the Ink Business Cash card does not have an annual fee. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineBlue Business Cash Card From American ExpressBlue Business Cash Card gives you the benefits of American Express without the annual fees. You’ll earn 2% cash back on purchases up to $50,000 in a calendar year. After that, you’ll receive 1% cash back on your purchases. Rewards will automatically be credited to your statement, so you don’t have to worry about manual redemption. One unique feature of this card is the spending capacity terms. You have the ability to spend above your credit limit with Amex’s expanded buying power. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have unlimited spending freedom. The amount available above your limit varies based on things like your payment history, usage, and other factors. American Express offers outstanding travel and transportation benefits with this card. In addition to car rental loss and damage insurance, you’ll also have access to 24/7 services with global hotline assist whenever you’re more than 100 miles from home. This program gives you access to legal, financial, medical, and other emergency services coordination, such as helping you travel with a lost passport. Other Blue Business Card highlights include:
American Express has a long history of providing exceptional service to its cardholders. Their dispute resolution services are second to none. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineChase Ink Business PreferredThe Chase Ink Business Preferred card offers better benefits and rewards than the Ink Business Cash card. However, customers need to pay a $95 annual fee. It’s a better option for business owners who spend more money regularly and prefer rewards points as opposed to cash back. Earn 3 points for every $1 spent on the first $150,000 in combined purchases on:
Earn up to 450,000 points per year if you spend money in those categories. You’ll get 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases, unlimited. If you redeem your travel points with Chase Ultimate Rewards, the points are worth up to 25% more. For example, 80,000 points will get you roughly $1,000 toward travel. You can even transfer qualified points to your favorite frequent travel programs at a 1:1 value. Chase Ink Business Preferred gives you protection for auto rental collision, cell phone protection, as well as trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance. If you miss a business trip or need to cut it short due to sickness, weather, or other situations, Chase will reimburse you up to $5,000 for prepaid, non-refundable expenses. This includes hotels, airfare, and tours. If you refer other business owners to an Ink Business Preferred card, you can earn up to 100,000 bonus points per year (20,000 per approved referral). *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineCitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World MastercardThe CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard is the best business credit card for frequent American Airlines travelers. If you or your employees frequently fly with American, you definitely need to consider this card. Their benefits offering might make you want to consider flying exclusively with American Airlines after you read it. Travel Benefits:
Rewards Benefits:
You’ll also earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate for domestic travel after spending $30,000 per year. That’s easy to do if your business has a lot of routine spending. The certificate is worth a free round-trip domestic flight for someone else on your itinerary. NOTE: You’ll still be on the hook for taxes and fees. It’s easy to justify the annual fee is you travel with American Airlines often enough. Assuming you check a bag when flying, two round-trip tickets would normally cost $100 in bag fees. The card pays for itself right there. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineAmerican Express Business GoldAmerican Express Business Gold is a great credit card if you’re looking to accrue a ton of points. The card allows you to earn 4x membership points on the top two categories where your business spends the most money each billing cycle. Those categories are:
The 4x points are valid for the first $150,000 spent per year combined on your top two categories. You’ll earn one point for every $1 spent after that. As such, this is a great card for businesses that regularly have big expenses each year. American Express has an outstanding membership rewards program for redemption. Your points will transfer to the majority of popular loyalty programs. Booking a flight with AmEx Travel allows you to pay with your points too. Do that and you’ll get 25% of those points back to your account. You also get all of the exceptional American Express travel perks like no foreign transaction fees, car rental loss and damage insurance, baggage insurance, and the global assist hotline. Furthermore, the Amex Business Gold card offers room upgrades and a $100 hotel credit for dining, spa, and other resort activities when you stay at a participating property for at least two consecutive nights. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineChase Ink Business UnlimitedThe Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card is very similar to the Ink Business cash card. However, rewards are earned differently. With the Ink Business Cash card, you’ll get a different percentage of cash back based on your spending category with certain limits and restrictions for how much can be earned in a year. The Ink Business Unlimited card is much more straightforward. You earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases; no limit. All of the other features and benefits are the same as the Ink Business Cash card. You’ll get a $500 cash back bonus after spending $3,000 in the first three months using the card. There is no annual fee for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineCapital One Spark CashCapital One Spark Cash offers unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases. There is a $95 annual fee for this card, but it’s waived for the first year. Some of the top features and benefits for Capital One Spark Cash include:
I like the fact that you can immediately lock a card from the mobile app if it’s lost or stolen. You’ll also benefit from a detailed year-end summary report that’s perfect for budgeting and tax preparation. It’s easy to integrate your purchase records with Quickbooks to simplify your accounting tasks. Capital One provides emergency card replacement, as well as emergency cash 24/7 at locations throughout the world. Not everyone will be eligible for this card. To apply, you’ll need an excellent credit score and a business registered in the US. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineCapital One Spark Miles For BusinessIf you’re a frequent business traveler, the Capital One Spark Miles cards will reward you with miles instead of cash or points. There are actually two options to choose here. One card is free with decent perks, and the other has a $95 annual fee with better rewards. Beyond that, the two cards are basically identical. Here’s an overview of each one: Capital One Spark Miles
Capital One Spark Miles Select
The Spark Miles Select card will best for those of you who don’t want to pay the annual fee. But if you travel often enough, the $95 is justifiable for Spark Miles card. *Terms apply – Learn how to apply onlineHow to Choose The Best Business Credit CardNow that you’ve had the chance to review the top business credit cards, you’ll need to choose one for yourself. But the best business card for me might not be the best for you. Everyone’s situation is different. This is the methodology that we used to come up with the cards on this list. You can use the same process to evaluate the best option for your business. FeesOne of the first things you should look at is how much the card will cost you. The cards we reviewed ranged from $0 to $295 in annual fees. An annual fee is easy to justify if you’re going to be spending enough to get the most out of the perks and rewards. But if you’re a single-member sole-proprietor working out of your home office, you probably don’t need a card with an annual fee. Beyond that, look for APR, cash advance fees, foreign transaction fees, transfer fees, and late payment fees. Personally, I always pay my cards in-full each month, so the late fees and APR aren’t really relevant to me. But things like foreign transaction fees can add up quickly during international travel. RewardsWhat type of rewards do you want? Some cards offer cash back, while others offer points or miles. Cash back will likely be the best option for most of you. If you travel often for business, cards that reward you with miles should definitely be taken into consideration. Just make sure you understand how rewards get earned and if there are any stipulations. Some cards will limit the number of rewards you can earn in a year. Qualification TermsSome cards require you and your business to have excellent credit. You won’t get approved for certain cards if your credit score is below 700. You’ll also need to have an incorporated business to be eligible for certain cards. Other cards allow you to apply using just your name and social security number. Loyalty ProgramsThere are certain business credit cards that are tied to a specific loyalty partner. For example, the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard is an American Airlines card. In most cases, it’s best to stay away from those airline or hotel-specific cards because you won’t be rewarded as much for purchases with another company. So you’re better off with general miles, cash back, or points that can be used with any airline or hotel. With that said, if you know that you’ll be flying a specific airline often, these types of loyalty programs will give you the most rewarding benefits. So if you fly from Chicago to Dallas once a month (both American Airlines hubs), it makes perfect sense to get a card tied to AAdvantage. Spending HabitsA business spending $10,000 per year shouldn’t have the same credit card as a company charging $100,000 per year. Your spending categories can also influence your decision when choosing a card. Certain cards offer better rewards for purchases at restaurants or gas stations. Others will give you extra benefits for money spent on advertising or your phone bill. PerksThere are dozens and dozens of potential perks that could sway you to choose one card over another. Some of these include:
The list goes on and on. Find a card with perks that align with your business and spending habits. For example, the American Express Business Gold card has a 50,000 point sign up bonus if you spend $5,000 in the first three months using the card. But if you don’t normally spend $5,000 in three months, this card isn’t for you. The $295 annual fee won’t be worth it. ConclusionEvery business owner needs a credit card. Fortunately, the credit card companies have created cards with a wide range of benefits, rewards, and perks to accommodate your needs. Here’s a quick recap of the best business credit cards on our list:
Whether you want cash back, miles, or points, I made sure to include something for everyone on this list. Some of these cards are best for larger businesses that travel frequently, while others are suitable for small business owners and sole proprietors. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-business-credit-cards/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best electronic medical record system is AdvancedMD. Read on to find out why. No matter the size of your practice, you need a good electronic medical record (EMR) system. Having digital, searchable, and constantly accessible information about each patient in the practice helps medical professionals make the best healthcare decisions for their patients in the shortest amount of time possible. Protecting this sensitive data is important too, and the best EMR systems keeps data safe, while making it easily accessible to the people who need it. Proper documentation leads to a more efficient billing system and reduced time spent on paperwork as well.
Compare Quotes From The Best Electronic Medical Record Systems Get matched up with a EMR system that fits your specific needs. >> Compare Quotes
Here is our collection of the best EMR systems currently on the market, as we aim to help you find the right system for the needs of your particular practice. The 10 Best Electronic Medical Record SystemsThe 10 best EMR systems are:
Keep reading to find our in-depth reviews of each one. 1. AdvancedMD
>> Compare Quotes Regardless of whether you need basic or advanced features in your EMR, AdvancedMD has you covered. It is versatile enough to fit the needs of many different practices. The primary dashboard available through AdvancedMD does require some work to learn to use well, but once you figure this system out, you’ll be able to do some impressive things to help your practice operate more efficiently. Pros
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2. Athena Health
>> Compare Quotes Small and average sized practices often need an easy-to-use EMR system, as they may not have the time or personnel required to do a deep drill down into a complex piece of software. The AthenaHealth EMR fits this need. It’s fully web-based, so it will work for the practice where personnel use a variety of types of input devices. Pros
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3. CareCloudThe CareCloud EMR interface gives you the ability to clearly determine how the patient flows through your practice. This helps spot potential bottlenecks, making your processes more efficient in the process. They’re also web-based, so you can use them with any input devices. The interface is highly adaptable too. That’s perfect for the ever changing world of laws and regulations. Pros
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4. Greenway Health Intergy
>> Compare Quotes Greenway Health’s Intergy EMR is a very flexible system. That’s because it’s highly customizable—which makes it perfect for large medical practices that handle a wide variety of cases and patients. It may take you awhile to figure out all of the different aspects of Intergy, but it’s definitely worth the time spent. Pros
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5. Kareo
>> Compare Quotes Kareo EMR is very easy to use. This system’s interface is a little older than some others, but it still will work nicely for small and average sized practices. Those working at your practice will be able to pick up the basics of the EMR quickly, allowing for you to be up and running with very little time spent. Pros
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6. NextGen Healthcare
>> Compare Quotes For average and smaller sized practices, NextGen has the kind of customer support that these practices often need. A practice of this size may not have the tech staff required to run training and other services, but the NextGen customer service and training capabilities are extremely strong. Should your practice need to customize a certain aspect of the EMR, this is relatively easy with the NextGen EMR. Pros
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7. Sevocity
>> Compare Quotes The Sevocity EMR has quite a few good features for small and mid-sized practices, but it likely will not be powerful enough to meet the needs of larger practices. The interface in this EMR is extremely easy to use, and you can perform basic customization features. The customer service people are available 24 hours a day. Pros
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8. TheraNestFor practices that need to be able to access the EMR interface using multiple types of devices, TheraNest is a smart choice. You can use a traditional computing system to run TheraNest, or you can access it with smartphone apps. It even has a client portal to allow clients to schedule their own appointments or to submit forms. Pros
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9. Virence Health Centricity
>> Compare Quotes For small to medium sized practices, Centricity from Virence Health is an ideal option. It has multiple features that give smaller practices the ability to track data in a similar manner to what a larger practice traditionally has been able to do. Centricity has a mobile app, so personnel at a medical practice can use it in the manner that makes the most sense to them. Pros
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10. WebPT
>> Compare Quotes For practices that specialize in outpatient services, including occupational, speech, and physical therapy, WebPT has a platform that’s ready to use. This is a web-based solution, so personnel at the practice can access it using a multitude of devices. It has a strong customer service reputation, offering access to support at any time. Pros
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How to Choose The Best EMR System For YouFinding the best electronic medical records system for your particular practice becomes easier when you focus on the specific needs of your practice. Figure out which areas of your practice need the most help, and focus on an EMR system that excels in those areas. Here are 10 of the areas we weighed when creating our list of the best EMR systems. 1. Automatic RemindersA big part of managing a patient’s care is maintaining a regular schedule of appointments. With certain EMR systems, you can set up an automatic reminder system that alerts the patient about upcoming appointments or about reminders to set an appointment. The EMR system could send a text message, make an automated call, or send an email to the patient, depending on the patient’s preference. Automatic reminders will save time for the staff at the practice, freeing them up for other tasks. These reminders also reduce the number of appointments that patients forget about and miss, which makes your practice more efficient. 2. Scanning DocumentsBy selecting an EMR system that allows for document scanning, you will be able to match whatever needs your billing system requires for supporting documentation for claims. Rather than submitting these documents via fax, printout, or email, you can simply digitize them and add them to the patient’s EMR. Should the billing service need these documents for an insurance claim, they will be readily available, eliminating wasted time and the potential for lost documents. 3. Sending PrescriptionsWithin the majority of EMR systems, you will have the option of submitting patient prescription drug orders electronically to the pharmacy, using an e-prescription system. Sending prescriptions electronically is safe and efficient, ensuring that the order for controlled substances travels only to the patient’s pharmacy of choice, eliminating the chance of the patient losing a handwritten prescription. With an e-prescription, you also eliminate the chance of an error at the pharmacy because of unreadable handwriting on the part of a doctor. 4. Specialty PracticesIf your practice has a specific area in which it operates, you may need to track atypical data about patients. You may need an EMR system that gives you the ability to customize data fields and to adjust how the system stores the data. A vendor may need to help you customize the system after installation, so if you have special needs for tracking data, always ask the vendor about how it handles this type of situation. In other cases, the vendor may have a specialty specific EMR system or add-on service that will perfectly meet your needs. Tracking this type of information can be a significant hindrance to your practice when you must do it by hand, so having an EMR system that can match your specific needs is incredibly important. 5. Systems IntegrationIf your EMR system has the ability to integrate with multiple systems already in use at your practice, this streamlines record keeping. This feature is especially important for meshing the EMR system with the billing system you have in place, for example. Whether your practice sends its billing information to an outside service or does billing in-house, having integration between the EMR system and the billing system saves quite a bit of time and reduces coding errors. Should your practice have an affiliation with a larger network, such as a hospital, integrating your EMR with the hospital’s system simplifies the patient care process. The EMR vendor can help you figure out how its system may be able to integrate with other systems you already have in place. 6. Task RemindersEvery medical practice has hundreds, if not thousands, of mundane tasks to perform on a daily basis. Whether you’re awaiting results from tests sent to an off-site lab or you need reminders to check with other colleagues about a patient’s status, certain EMR systems make this process far easier than others. With timestamp deadlines attached to the various reminders, a doctor can be certain to have all of the required tasks finished regarding a certain patient’s case before it’s time for the patient’s appointment. With the tasks finished ahead of time, the doctor will not waste time searching for information or making calls while the patient sits idle in the exam room. 7. Template CreationSay your practice sees a certain type of disease or condition on a regular basis in the community. With the right EMR system, the medical team could create a template that contains information about treating the particular condition, ensuring that all of the doctors and nurses follow the same steps. This saves time in treating this common condition, while also reducing the possibility of mistakes. 8. Tracking Patient FlowSomething that you may not think about when comparing EMR systems is the way they can track patients flowing through your office. For example, you don’t want patients occupying exam rooms waiting for a certain doctor, when that doctor cannot see the patient for at least 45 minutes, leaving other patients stuck in the waiting room, rather than being in an exam room, receiving treatment from other doctors. Your EMR system may be able show exactly where bottlenecks are occurring in the patient flow in your office, helping you become more efficient. However, this is not a feature that all EMRs will provide in an easy-to-understand manner. 9. Tracking PrescriptionsWhen you have patients who take multiple prescription drugs, keeping on top of potential side effects and drug interactions is a time consuming process. Before the advent of EMR systems, the patient may have given a hand-printed list of drugs to the doctor for inclusion in the patient file. The list may or may not have been accurate or up to date. By selecting an EMR system that allows prescription drug tracking within the patient’s records, spotting drug interactions will be easier and will occur in a timely manner. Doctors also can see any drugs the patient has tried in the past that did not work or that created unwanted side effects, avoiding trying those drugs again in the future. Additionally, should a patient show an allergy to a certain class of drug, this information is readily available to the doctor in the digitized patient record. No longer will the doctor need to rely on a patient’s memory regarding drug allergies, which may lead to errors. 10. Vendor ResponsivenessPicking the right vendor is an extremely important part of choosing the EMR system as well. Even if the EMR system is great, it will be nothing but a headache for your practice if the vendor support is not up to par. Some practices need more responsiveness from the vendor than others. Some practices want to be able to access help or to ask questions of the vendor any day of the week and any time of the day. Others may be able to live with a vendor that’s only accessible during normal working hours. If your practice does not have a person or department that handles IT, you may be able to hire a vendor that can deliver these features for you. Summary: Finding the Best EMR SystemsAlthough you will find some vendors attempting to use the terms EMR and EHR (electronic health records) interchangeably, they technically have a few differences that you should understand.
The EMR system simplifies the ability of a single practice to care for the patient, helping the practice send out reminders to the patient for upcoming tests or health screenings. Finding just the right EMR system will produce significant benefits for patients and for those working in your practice, making the process of caring for patients more streamlined and more successful in the long run. Compare Quotes From The Best Electronic Medical Record Systems Get matched up with a EMR system that fits your specific needs. >> Compare Quotesvia Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-emr-systems/ Want to jump straight to the answer? The best video conferencing service for most people is definitely RingCentral or GoToMeeting. I consider a great video conferencing service to be critical for any business--especially in this day and age. Whether you have remote employees, clients, prospects, or team members across multiple locations, you need video conferencing software that you can depend on. Tools like Skype or Facetime aren’t robust enough for companies. They lag too often, can’t handle groups well, and are a pain when setting up meetings. If you’re ready to take your conference calls to the next level with video, you need to read this guide.
I’ve already done all the research and heavy-lifting to help you choose the best video conferencing service for your business. Regardless of your company size, industry, or conferencing needs, there’s definitely an option for you below. The 8 Best Video Conferencing ServicesOf the dozens of options available, there are really only eight solutions I would recommend to a business owner. In no particular order, those are:
As I said, these video conferencing services are in no particular order and all have their pros and cons. Use the in-depth reviews below to compare them. RingCentral – Best video conferencing service with VoIP business phone plans
RingCentral is our top choice for video conferencing. That’s because they go beyond video conferencing services. They also offer VoIP business phone services. You can get rid of your traditional phone plan too. RingCentral provides video conferencing features as an added bonus. You can always purchase RingCentral Meetings as a standalone product. Those plans are below: Free — $0 per month
Essentials — $14.99 per month per user
Advanced — $19.99 per month per user
The free plan is actually pretty decent if you compare it to others on the list. While you’re capped at 40 minutes per meeting, you can still have up to 100 participants. At the same time, the paid plans are also limited to just 100 participants, which is low compared to the competition. However, you can add-on larger meeting options to your plan for an upcharge. RingCentral also has great enterprise solutions. You’ll need to contact their sales team to get a custom quote. But you can save some money by bundling RingCentral Meetings with a VoIP business phone. GoToMeeting – Best video conferencing service for small businesses
GoToMeeting makes it easy for you to turn any video conference into a highly collaborative workspace. As such, it’s a top choice for remote workers and clients alike. Everyone from sales managers, to business owners, to IT teams use it. A big reason why: GoToMeeting easily integrate with the systems your business is currently using. They also offer an all-in-one hardware and software kit for those of you who want to transform your physical conference room into a digital one. This hardware is more advanced than the built-in cameras, microphones, and speakers on your current devices. Some other top features and benefits of using GoToMeeting for video conferencing include:
Unlike the other platforms that we’ve reviewed so far, GoToMeeting has just two plans for you to choose from:
The plans are very similar. GoToMeeting offers unlimited meetings and unlimited meeting durations with both options. You’ll also benefit from things like Salesforce integration, Slack meeting launcher, and an admin center with each. The biggest difference between Professional and Business is that they can host up to 150 and 250 participants, respectively. In addition to more participants, the Business plan gives you access to transcripts, keyboard and mouse sharing, unlimited cloud storage, and mobile cloud recording. I think it’s a no-brainer to sign up for the Business option instead of Professional. The added benefits are worth the extra $5 per month. GoToMeeting does offer enterprise-grade plans for up to 3,000 participants. But those prices aren’t available online. You’ll need to speak to a sales rep for a custom quote. Save 16% on your GoToMeeting plan with an annual contract. You can try GoToMeeting for free with up to 250 participants for 14 days. ClickMeeting – Best video conferencing service for webinars
ClickMeeting is a bit different compared to some of the other video conferencing services that we’ve reviewed. This platform has a specific standout: webinars. It’s a great option for those of you who want to hold large online events, market your products with video demonstrations, and host online courses or training sessions with live video. They also traditional video conferencing solutions for team meetings and business collaboration. However, if that’s all you need, I’d look towards the other options on this list. Their pricing is complicated too. There are two plans that depend on how many attendees you have. Here’s an overview of those price points per month for each plan: Live
Automated
For video conferences with more than 1,000 attendees, contact the ClickMeeting sales team for a custom enterprise solution. You can try ClickMeeting free for 30 days and run webinars with up to 25 attendees to try it out. Save up to 20% off your with annual billing instead of a month-to-month contract. The Automated plan is your best option for broadcasting professional video webinars. This plan comes with advanced features like auto-streaming to Facebook or YouTube, automated follow-up emails to attendees, Google Analytics integration, and certificates of attendance. As you can see, ClickMeeting is definitely pricey compared to the other options on our list, which is why I wouldn’t recommend it for just basic video conferencing use. But the price is worth it if you’re planning to use the webinar features. Zoho Meeting – Most affordable video conferencing service with basic features
Zoho Meeting is arguably the most straightforward video conferencing solution on the market today. There isn’t a bunch of bells a whistles. Just one plan for video conferencing. Pricing is simple; it’s $10 per month per user, or $8 per month for an annual contract. The plan comes with everything you need in a video conferencing service. However, it’s limited to just 100 participants per meeting and storage of up to 10 recordings. This isn’t enterprise-grade software by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s an affordable and suitable choice for lots of small business owners. Some of Zoho’s top features include:
You’ll also have the ability to switch a presenter, give someone control, and remove users from a video conference. As expected, Zoho Meeting integrates seamlessly with Zoho CRM. So if you’re already using a Zoho product, this will be a top option for you to consider. This isn’t the most feature rich video conferencing software out there. But it’s a high-quality solution for small business owners who just need basic features and already utilize Zoho products. Zoom – Best video conferencing service for scalability
>> Compare Quotes Since launching in 2011, Zoom has quickly become an industry leader in the video conferencing space. The software is trusted by large businesses like Ticketmaster, Uber, Pandora, and GoDaddy, to name a few. Where Zoom shines is its simplicity. They have a plan for businesses of all shapes and sizes, including a free option. Zoom has video conferencing capabilities with up to 1,000 participants, and up to 49 videos on the screen simultaneously. The platform is secure, with role-based user security options, password protection, and waiting rooms. Zoom makes it easy for your team to collaborate with screen sharing, filing sharing, and other interactive features. Zoom is modern, so naturally, the service can be accessed from a mobile app as well. This is perfect for participants who are on the go and unable to reach a computer for a meeting. Here’s an overview of Zoom’s pricing model: Basic — Free
Pro — $14.99 per month per host
Business — $19.99 per month per host
Enterprise — $19.99 per month per host
As you can see, there is a plan for everyone. The free option is an excellent choice for an entrepreneur or freelancer who only needs to video chat once in a while for brief meetings. Beyond personal use, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro or Business plans to get the most out of Zoom. Fortunately, Zoom makes it easy for you to scale to another plan as your company grows. Just be aware that your plan will impact the level of customer support you receive. To get premium support, you’ll need to upgrade. Microsoft Teams – Best video conferencing service for internal communication
>> Compare Quotes Teams is an instant messaging service with video capability, offered by Microsoft. The platform is designed specifically for internal communication in the workplace. With chat, audio, and video capabilities for group sizes of 10 or 10,000, Teams is the ultimate in-house communication solution. Slack is a direct competitor of Teams. But Teams shines with its superior technology and video conferencing features. However, the setup, usage, and onboarding are a bit more complex. So just be aware of that ahead of time. Teams is best when it’s accessed from a desktop device or web app. There is a mobile app, but overall the web version is easier to navigate. Here’s a quick overview of the plans and pricing:
Both paid plans are only available with an annual contract. The Free plan and entry-level paid plan both have a limit of 300 users, while the Office 365 E3 option is unlimited. You’ll still have access to quite a few features with the free version, including video calls. But you’ll need Office 365 Business Premium to get the most out of this software. Paid plans have 140+ app integrations, 1 TB of storage, scheduled meetings, meeting recordings, and administrative support. The biggest downside of Teams is that it’s limited. It’s not really a true video conferencing service. Instead, it’s better for one-on-one video meetings or smaller groups. If you want to host large-scale video conferences and make presentations to clients, you should look elsewhere for a more suitable solution. Join.me – Best annual contract for video conferencing services
>> Compare Quotes Millions of people use Join.me for video conferencing. The platform offers solutions for individuals, teams, and businesses. From startups to Fortune 500 companies, Join.me is a popular choice. The website boasts its best-known customers like like TOMS, Foursquare, OpenTable, and Pinterest. Join.me is easy. The signup process is as quick as it gets. There’s no need to consult with a sales representative or get a custom quote. Just visit their website, and you can start a call in minutes. To start a new video conference, simply invite others to “join” your meeting (hence the name). You can invite people via email or with a custom link. With Join.me, you can customize the video conferencing background, customize the URL, and share your screen with just one click. You can invite people to your meeting even if they aren’t already using the Join.me platform. Here’s an overview of the plans and pricing options: Lite — $10 per month per user
Pro — $20 per month per user
Business — $30 per month per user
Unfortunately, the Lite plan doesn’t include video conferencing, so you can skip over that one. It’s also worth noting that all plans are offered with an annual contract only. Month-to-month plans are unavailable. However, you can try Join.me free with a 14-day free trial. Compared to other options on the list, Join.me is a bit limited in terms of meeting participants and the number of video streams per meeting. But it’s a fine option for those of you who won’t need more than ten simultaneous video streams per conference. Webex – Best video conferencing service for cloud collaboration
>> Compare Quotes Cisco is a brand name that’s synonymous with superior technology. So it should be no surprise that Cisco Webex ranks so highly on our list for video conferencing software. With Webex, you can host massive virtual events with up to 100,000 participants and run an interactive webinar for 3,000-person audiences. Webex is perfect if you need to run on-demand training lessons for large groups as well. This is a great tool for onboarding employees at scale throughout multiple locations. The Webex mobile app is another standout feature of the platform. Hosting and joining meetings are both simple and accessible from anywhere. Webex is built for teams. Arguably the best part about this video conferencing software is the cloud collaboration features. It’s easy to share files and screens with other meeting participants to stay organized and make the conference more interactive. Cisco offers four different plans for you to choose from, including a basic free option. Free — $0 per month
Starter — $16.95 per month per host
Plus — $22.95 per month per host
Business — $32.95 per month per host
At first glance, the Webex prices appear to be higher than Zoom. However, you can save 20% per month with an annual contract. It’s also worth noting that the Webex Plus plan doesn’t have any host minimums, and the business plan has just a five license minimum. Zoom has a 10 and 50 host minimum for their plans at similar price points. So Webex will be a better option if you want those business or enterprise-level features for a smaller team. How to Find the Best Video Conferencing ServicesCompare Quotes From The Best Video Conferencing Services Get matched up with a video conferencing service that fits your specific needs. Compare Quotes
Now that you’ve had a chance to review the top solutions on the market, how can you find the best option for your unique situation? This is the methodology that I used to come up with this guide. I’ve identified each feature set that matters the most and why you need to take it into consideration when you’re evaluating prospective platforms. Conference SizeEvery video conferencing plan has some limit on the number of participants who can join a meeting. This can be as 25 or as high as 100,000. Make sure you choose a service and plan that can accommodate the number of people you need for your video conferences. You don’t want to overpay for a plan that has participant limits that you’ll never reach. But more importantly, you don’t want to be in a situation where your participant list is too large for your platform and plan. Meeting LengthWith the global pandemic putting a ton of people into remote work, businesses and schools need to be able to take as long as they need for certain calls. That’s why we took a close look at how long each plan allows you to meet when determining this list. Often, they had to be counterbalanced with how many participants are allowed in a plan as well. After all, a plan that offers unlimited time but with only a dozen participants might not be helpful for larger teams. Scheduling OptionsGood video conferencing tools allow you to schedule easily and across a wide breadth of calendar apps. When looking at scheduling options, see if they integrate with common planning and calendar services such as Google Calendar, iCal, and Office 365. Video StreamsYou might be able to have a large number of participants in a conference, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every user will be able to broadcast a video stream. For example, RingCentral plans have up to 100 participants per meeting, but limit you to just ten simultaneous video streams. So don’t be swayed by the participant limits alone. Always check to see how many users can actually stream a video at the same time. Collaboration ToolsCollaboration tools are crucial for groups and teams. Features like screen sharing, built-in chat, file sharing, and cloud collaboration are very useful for presentations and group projects. It’s also helpful when a video conferencing service integrates with existing tools and platforms that you’re already using to run a business. You can look for features like Salesforce integration or Google Analytics integration. ConclusionTake your virtual meetings to the next level with video conferencing software. What’s the best video conference service on the market? The answer depends on who you ask and what you’re looking for. Here’s a quick recap of the platforms reviewed above.
Based on this guide, I’m confident that you can find the best choice for your business. No matter how unique your situation might be, these options can accommodate your needs. If you are still not sure which one is right for you then complete the short form below to compare the best solutions further. Compare Quotes From The Best Video Conferencing Services Get matched up with a video conferencing service that fits your specific needs. Compare Quotesvia Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-video-conferencing-services/ Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Want to jump straight to the answer? My top pick for the best business checking account is Novo Bank or BlueVine. Your business needs a checking account. Whether you’re running a large company or a side hustle, you’ll need to separate your business transactions from your personal finances. For the most part, a business checking account functions very similarly to a personal checking account. However, business checking accounts typically have extra fees, minimum balance requirements, and monthly transaction limits. So before you open a new account, it’s important that you find a bank that meets the needs of your business.
Top 11 Best Business Checking Accounts For 2021There are hundreds, if not thousands, of business checking accounts on the market today. From small local banks to large national chains and online-only banking, there are really only eleven accounts that I would consider.
The majority of these are free business checking accounts. Some do have a monthly fee, but it’s fairly easy to get those waived by meeting reasonable requirements. I’ll give you an in-depth review of the top business checking accounts below. We’ll cover the top features, benefits, prices, and any potential drawbacks that should be taken into consideration. The Best Business Checking Account ReviewsNovo – Best online-only business checking account for freelancers and entrepreneursNovo is an alternative to traditional banking. It’s an online-exclusive business checking account intended for freelancers and entrepreneurs. They’re a straightforward solution with transparent pricing and no hidden fees. You can apply for a Novo account in less than ten minutes online. These are some of the notable highlights for Novo business checking:
Novo lets you open a new business checking account with just $50. This is a modern banking solution. You can integrate your account with Zapier, Xero, Slack, and other tools that your small business is currently using. Since it’s online, you can’t walk into a physical branch. So if your business has in-person banking needs, then Novo isn’t for you. However, Novo will reimburse you for ATM fees imposed by other banks. So you’ll still be able to access cash from anywhere without paying an extra fee. BlueVine – Best business checking for bootstrappy entrepreneursBlueVine Business Checking offers great accounts tailored for entrepreneurs. Their features list is perfect for bootstrappy startups:
Easily set up one-time or recurring payments through their dashboard. Also, you’ll be able to easily pay vendors via ACH, wire, or check. As for downsides, there aren’t many. They have a 38,000 ATM network—though it might be difficult to find an ATM within network depending on your location. BlueVine also gives you live support, though advisors are only available during office hours. That’s Monday through Friday 8am – 8pm ET. Axos Basic Business Checking – Best online-only business checking account with no monthly feesAxos Basic Business Checking offers an excellent online-only checking service with zero monthly fees. Some great features of the account:
The online and mobile banking solutions from Axos are exceptional, as you would expect from an online-exclusive bank. You can deposit a check from anywhere using your mobile device. Overall, Axos Basic Business Checking is suitable for small business owners with modest banking needs. Chase Business Complete BankingSM – Best checking account for small businessesChase Business Complete BankingSM is perfect for small business owners. Top benefits and highlights of Chase Business Complete BankingSM include:
Chase also offers 24/7 customer service for customers. This is fantastic for those any issues, big or small, that might come up. They offer the tools you need to manage your growing business, including some of the best business credit cards on the market today. Overall we find that Chase Business Complete BankingSM is one of the best checking accounts for small businesses. Citizens Bank Clearly Better Business Checking – Best free business checking account with no minimum balanceFor those of you seeking a free business checking account, look no further than Citizens Clearly Better Business Checking. You won’t have to worry about meeting any minimum balance requirements because there are no maintenance fees. This makes Clearly Better Business Checking a top choice for business owners who maintain a lower bank balance. Other top features include:
One potential drawback of Citizens Bank is its size. While the company has more than 1,000 branches and 3,100+ ATMs nationwide, most of them are located on the east coast. So if you’ll need to visit a branch, for anything, verify that there is a Citizens Bank near your business before opening an account. Unlike other business checking accounts, Citizens does not offer a sign-up incentive for Clearly Better Business Checking. TD Business Convenience Checking Plus – Best checking account with up to 500 free transactions a monthYou can open a TD Business Convenience Checking Plus account with just $100. However, you’ll need to maintain a $1,500 daily balance to waive the $25 monthly maintenance fee. If you link a personal checking account to your Business Checking Plus account, TD Bank counts your combined balance between the two accounts toward the daily minimum. So this is a great choice for business owners who already have an account at TD Bank. Let’s review some of the account benefits:
While TD Business Convenience Checking Plus does have a high maintenance fee, you’ll benefit from more free monthly transactions. For comparison purposes, Chase Total Business Checking has a $15 fee for just 100 free transactions each month. Plus, it’s easy to waive TD’s $25 fee by maintaining a low combined balance between two accounts. Even though you’re limited to $5,000 free cash deposits each month, you’re only charged $0.25 per $100 thereafter. So an additional $5,000 cash deposited in a cycle ($10,000 total) would cost you $12.50. That’s just 0.13% of your deposits, which is next to nothing. TD Bank gives you access to other services, like merchant solutions, business loans, and business lines of credit. US Bank Silver Business Checking – Best free checking account for low transaction volumesUS Bank Silver Business Checking is 100% free. They do impose a $5 monthly fee for paper statements, but you can waive that charge by going paperless. Here’s an overview of the account benefits:
One thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the strange wording US Bank uses to limit cash deposits. The account allows 25 “units” of free cash deposits each billing cycle. After reading the fine print, you’ll learn that a unit is calculated by dividing each deposit by 100 and rounding the value to the closest whole number. Here’s an example. Let’s say you deposit $920. 920 100 =9.2 Round 9.2 down to 9, and you just used 9 of your 25 credits for the month. This credit system is a complex way of saying you’ll get up to $2,500 in free cash deposits each billing cycle. So if you’re making cash deposits on a regular basis, this account might not be the best option for you. Huntington Unlimited Business Checking – Best business checking for large businesses with high cash flowHuntington Unlimited Business Checking is a top option for larger organizations. If you have a higher monthly transaction volume, some of the other accounts on our list won’t fit your needs. The top features and benefits of Unlimited Business Checking from Huntington include:
Huntington does charge a $20 monthly maintenance fee for this account. But it’s waived with a $10,000 combined balance between all of your eligible Huntington Bank accounts. With an Unlimited Business Checking account, Huntington Bank allows you to choose one of the following bonus services as well:
This bank also has a tool called “The Hub” for business checking accounts. It comes with several digital tools for things like cash positioning and cash flow forecasting. The Hub is a great resource for managing your revenue and expenses. Navy Federal Business Checking – Best business checking account for veteransNavy Federal Business Checking is a top choice to consider if you or someone in your family is a member of the armed forces, National Guard, or DoD. It’s a straightforward and basic account, best for startups with a low transaction volume. The best part about this account is that it’s 100% free. You’ll never be charged a monthly maintenance or service fee. Your first 30 non-electronic transactions are free. After that, it’s $0.25 for any in-branch deposits, withdrawals, or transfers. But you can deposit up to 12 checks at the same time, and it will count as a single transaction. Another reason why I like Navy Federal Business Checking is because they have other banking solutions to meet your needs as the business grows. Once your banking activity increases, consider upgrading to:
Those accounts cost $8 and $20 per month, respectively. The Premium Checking maintenance fee is waived if you maintain a $5,000 daily balance. BBVA Business Connect Checking – Best business banking for sole proprietorsBBVA has free banking solutions for small businesses. Sole proprietors can apply online for a BBVA Business Connect Checking account. Other business types need must apply at a branch. Here’s an overview of the account advantages and highlights:
BBVA gives you free unlimited transactions every month, sort of. You’ll get two in-branch deposits, and five in-branch withdrawals or processed checks free each month. All other transactions are unlimited at no charge. You’ll only find BBVA branches in the following states:
However, you’ll have access to a network of 55,000+ ATMs nationwide. That’s because BBVA is an Allpoint partner. There are no ATM fees at Allpoint ATMs and participating 7-Eleven locations. Azlo Business Checking – Best online bank for freelancers accepting digital paymentsAzlo Business Checking is a bit unique compared to the other options on our list. This online-only banking solution is made for freelancers and entrepreneurs. The company is very straightforward in saying that they are not right for all businesses. Azlo doesn’t accept cash deposits or offer checkbooks. So it’s only suitable for businesses that send and receive digital payments. With that said, the account definitely has its advantages:
Azlo integrates with platforms like Stripe, PayPal, Square, QuickBooks, and Xero. Overall, Azlo is a modern way for freelancers to access their banking needs online. But it’s definitely not suitable for everyone. How to Find the Best Business Checking Account For YouAll business checking accounts are not created equally. The best choice for one business might not be ideal for yours. This is the methodology that you should use when you’re evaluating business checking accounts. I’ll explain each feature in greater detail below. FeesService fees and monthly maintenance fees are common for business checking accounts. In most cases, these fees fall somewhere in the $10 to $50 range. But there are still plenty of free business banking solutions. In fact, seven of the eleven accounts on our list don’t have monthly fees. While the remaining four contain fees, you can easily waive them by maintaining a minimum account balance. There’s no reason to pay these fees if you can avoid them. Balance RequirementsSome banks require a minimum opening deposit. So choose a bank with a reasonable opening deposit minimum based on your situation. If you’re launching a startup and don’t have a ton of cash on hand, you can open some accounts with as little as $50 or $100. Some banks don’t require a minimum opening deposit at all. In addition to the opening deposit requirement, some accounts will charge for you falling below a certain minimum daily balance. Make sure that your cash flow is enough to maintain your minimum requirements without getting penalized. Transaction LimitsPersonal checking accounts will rarely if ever, cap the number of transactions you can make in a billing cycle. But that’s not the case for most business checking accounts. Depending on the bank, activities like deposits, withdrawals, and transfers count toward a monthly limit. Some banks will restrict the number of in-person transactions you can make while offering free unlimited electronic transactions. For the most part, free monthly transaction limits start at 100. TD Business Convenience Checking allows for 500 free transactions per month. Other banks give you unlimited transactions, with a few contingencies. You’ll pay a small fee for each transaction over your monthly limit. This is usually somewhere in the $0.25 to $0.50 range. Mobile Banking and Online AccessibilityEvery bank offers some way to access your account online or through a mobile app. But with that said, some of these digital solutions are definitely better than others. Choose a business checking account that lets you deposit checks remotely, set up account alerts, and pay invoices automatically. I do nearly all of my business banking from a mobile app, and I’m sure you’ll want that convenience as well. Branch LocationsSome banks are region-specific, while others are large national chains. It’s important to choose a bank near your business location if you need to access a branch for anything. However, there are several business checking accounts that are online-exclusive. These banks don’t have any physical locations. But those solutions aren’t for everyone. For example, if your business accepts cash, you’ll definitely need access to a physical branch for in-person deposits. Online-only banking is very popular for freelancers and entrepreneurs working remotely and accepting digital payments. Additional Banking ServicesThis may not be important to you immediately, but it’s nice to have a bank that will provide you with additional services as your business grows. Whether it’s merchant services for credit card processing, additional accounts, or a business loan or line of credit, it’s easier to get these from a bank where you have an existing relationship. Always look at what else a bank has to offer beyond your immediate checking account needs today. ConclusionEvery business owner needs a business checking account. But everyone has different banking needs, which is why finding the best business checking solution can be difficult. These are the top eleven best business checking accounts on the market today:
There’s an account for every type of business on this list. From freelancers and startups to small businesses and larger organizations with high transaction volumes, I’m confident that you can find a checking account from one of the options above. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/best-business-checking-accounts/ |
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