Forming an LLC is an exciting accomplishment for any entrepreneur or business owner. But the work doesn’t end after the initial business formation process. There are certain steps and requirements to maintain your LLC and ensure the LLC remains in good standing with your state. Once you’ve identified these requirements, it’s relatively easy to maintain your LLC on an ongoing basis—and this guide will teach you how. What is LLC Maintenance?After the LLC formation, there are various maintenance requirements to protect your LLC and keep everything in good standing with the state and IRS. Each state has its own unique rules when it comes to maintaining an LLC. But generally speaking, any requirements, fees, taxes, paperwork, and additional filings are due annually. While the majority of LLC maintenance is ongoing, you might need to complete a few one-off tasks to ensure compliance and keep everything organized. The Basics of Maintaining Your LLCAgain, LLC requirements vary from state to state. But we’ll take a closer look at the core components of maintaining your LLC that are fairly common across the board. Articles of OrganizationThe articles of organization are a legal component that gets created during the initial LLC formation process. This legal document is formally used to establish limited liability companies at the state level. Contents of the document include rights, liabilities, duties, obligations, and more for all LLC members (owners). In many cases, the information on the original articles of organization will stay the same for quite some time. However, there are certain situations when you’ll need to amend the documents and file that amendment with the Secretary of State. Examples of an event that would require an amendment to the articles of organization include:
Updates to your LLC’s operating agreement typically wouldn’t be required with your amended articles of organization. The operating agreement is more for internal use as opposed to state compliance. If you’re unsure whether a specific event or action should trigger an amendment to the articles of organization for your LLC, consult with a legal professional who can give you guidance on your state laws. The official process for amending the articles of organization varies by state, but be prepared to incur a small one-time fee for each occurrence. Annual ReportMany states require an LLC to file an annual report. In some states, this is known as the statement of information (SOI). For example, in California, LLCs must file a statement of information using Form LLC-12 with the Secretary of State. The information contains publicly accessible information about your business, like the LLC’s address, member information, and registered agent information. California requires SOIs to be filed within 90 after the articles of organization have been filed. Then you’ll need to file a new statement of information every two years, regardless of whether or not the information changes. There is usually a filing fee associated with LLC annual reports or SOIs. Business Licenses and PermitsMost LLCs require one or more licenses to operate. The exact licenses and permits will vary based on industry and location. Not all licenses need to be updated on an annual basis. So you need to understand when each permit expires and what the process looks like for renewing each one. Failure to do so will increase the liability for the LLC and potentially land you in some compliance-related trouble. In some cases, incorrect or expired permits can result in fines or even business foreclosures. Some common examples of licenses and permits that you’d need to maintain include:
There are over 150,000 filing jurisdictions nationwide. In addition to the state requirements, certain cities and counties also have rules regarding different business licenses. DBAs and Fictitious Business NamesMany LLCs operate under a DBA (doing business as) or a fictitious name. For example, the name of an LLC might be something like “Francis John Holdings, Limited Liability Company.” But the LLC could operate as “Frank’s Pizza,” or something much simpler. Typically, DBAs are not indefinite. When they expire, you’ll need to go through a DBA renewal process. This is usually very straightforward. It’s just a matter of completing the proper paperwork before the name expires and paying any required fees. The expiration time varies by state. For example, DBAs in Texas must be renewed every ten years. But California requires LLCs using a DBA to renew those names every five years. Annual TaxesPaying your taxes in full and on time helps keep your LLC in good standing with the state and IRS. Depending on how your LLC gets taxed, the business itself might not pay any income taxes. For example, sole proprietors with an LLC can use pass-through taxation to pay business income on their personal tax returns. However, some states require a minimum LLC tax each year. For example, all LLCs in Delaware are required to pay a $300 annual tax. California’s minimum annual LLC tax is $800, but that number increases based on the LLC’s income for the year. Annual LLC MeetingUnlike a corporation, annual meetings are not officially required for LLCs. With that said, you should follow whatever procedures have been outlined in your LLC operating agreement. If the operating agreement calls for these meetings, then it’s important for you to hold them. Even though the state won’t necessarily be checking on this, failure to abide by operating agreements could cause your LLC to lose its liability protection if you’re challenged in court by another member. 3 Tools to Simplify the Way You Maintain Your LLCMaintaining your LLC alone isn’t always easy. But if you’re using the right tools and resources, the process is much less of a headache. #1 — ZenBusiness Registered Agent.![]() ZenBusiness provides an array of services for business formation, filings, compliance, and more. But when it comes to maintaining your LLC, the ZenBusiness registered agent service will simplify your requirements. There are two packages to choose from, Standard and Complete—starting at $99 and $149 per year. In addition to the basic functions of a registered agent, ZenBusiness takes this one step further with lots of extras. All of your LLC files and legal documentation gets stored in an online dashboard, allowing you to view, print, or download them at any time. The ZenBusiness team also handles all ongoing state filings, including an annual report. You’ll also benefit from two annual amendments to ensure your LLC remains in good standing, even if you need to change information. #2 — Northwest Registered Agent![]() Northwest Registered Agent is one of the most reputable and reliable registered agent services in existence. Their customer service is second to none, making them a top choice for any business owner that needs assistance maintaining an LLC. They provide dozens of free legal forms for LLCs, including articles of organization, operating agreement, meeting minutes, resolutions, articles of amendment, capital contributions, and more—all of which makes it easy to stay compliant. With Northwest Registered Agent, you’ll benefit from a corporate guide to help you navigate the waters of different state and local requirements. They provide pre-filled state forms, annual report reminders, and phone support with qualified agents. This exceptional registered agent service for LLCs starts at just $125 per year. #3 — Incfile![]() While Incfile is best known for its business formation services, it also provides extensive resources and services beyond the initial LLC filing. They allow you to obtain a certificate of good standing from the Secretary of State to show that your LLC is registered and officially authorized to operate in your state of formation. This document is often required to obtain certain business licenses that you need for maintaining your LLC. Furthermore, Incfile offers a wide array of additional LLC compliance services. You can use them for annual LLC reports, business license searches, DBAs, fictitious names, IRS filings, registered agent services, and more. The registered agent service starts at just $119 per year, and it’s free for one year if you register your LLC with Incfile. 3 Tricks For Maintaining Your LLCMaintaining your LLC doesn’t need to be complicated. The following quick tricks and best practices will make your life much easier, so you can sleep easy at night knowing your LLC is in good standing. Trick #1: Use a Registered Agent ServiceEach state requires LLCs to maintain a registered agent. Technically, you could do this on your own—but we strongly advise against that. The primary purpose of a registered agent is to receive government correspondence, service of process, and compliance-related documentation on behalf of your LLC. But if you’re using a registered agent service, you’ll typically benefit from much more than the basics. The best registered agents will help you remain compliant and ensure that all of your LLC paperwork is up to date with your state. They might handle the majority of the paperwork on your behalf with pre-filled state forms. Some registered agents will remind you of upcoming annual reports, fees, and other requirements. If you use a registered agent service, like the tools listed earlier in this guide, it will make everything easier as you maintain your LLC. Trick #2: Separate Business and Personal ExpensesThis is a common problem for newly registered LLCs, especially for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs. States don’t legally require you to open a business bank account. But this is something that you should do immediately after registering your LLC. Even if you’re not doing anything wrong or illegal, the idea of using one account for business and personal transactions is a big no-no in the eyes of the IRS. If you’re ever audited, you’d be heavily scrutinized for this. Additionally, you could lose the liability protection of your LLC if you’re mixing business and personal accounts. To avoid this, just open a business checking account as soon as possible. Once you have an EIN and a business name, most banks will let you apply. Trick #3: Keep All Required Documentation in a Safe PlaceMaintaining your LLC is all about staying organized. If you’ve got paperwork, documents, licenses, and everything else all over the place, proper maintenance will be a challenge. Your principal place of business or main office should include copies of the following documents:
In addition to physical copies of these documents, you could also keep them online in cloud storage for safekeeping. Quick and easy access to these documents will simplify things as you take the required steps to maintain your LLC. What to Do NextNow that you understand what it takes to maintain your LLC, you should consider a couple of other things. Here at Quick Sprout, our team has put together tons of resources and useful pieces of information for business owners and entrepreneurs. In addition to opening a business checking account, you should also get a separate credit card for your LLC expenses. Again, this will make it much easier for you to separate your personal and business financials. For some guidance and more information, check out our list of the best credit cards for startups. As we’ve mentioned several times throughout this guide, the exact requirements for maintaining your LLC will depend on your specific state. So it’s in your best interest to consult with a business attorney if you have questions, concerns, or need some direction on what exactly is required. Instead of spending a fortune on a traditional lawyer, you should be able to get the right assistance using an online legal service. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/maintaining-your-llc/
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Do you want to get more online reviews for your product or services? Podium has got you covered. By helping businesses send automated invites to customers at every critical touchpoint, Podium can give you a competitive advantage. It harnesses the power of online reviews for companies built on word of mouth. And with its powerful interface, you can also request feedback, convert web chat to text messages, and manage customer messages across different platforms all from the same place. Podium Pros and ConsPros
Cons
Podium FeaturesFrom starting as a simple tool to procure quality reviews, Podium has grown into an all-in-one app that consolidates all customer interactions. With the help of Podium’s support team, you can cherry-pick only the features your business needs, at a price that is well within your budget. Reviews![]() The most disgruntled customers are often the most driven to post their negative experiences. So even if you hold your business to a high standard, the negative reviews of a select few can warp people’s perception of your business. To stop these bad reviews from outnumbering the good, you need a reputation management tool like Podium’s. Podium is integrated with over 20 online review sites like Facebook, Google My Business, TripAdvisor, and a host of other industry-specific platforms. With Podium Reviews, you can view and manage all customer reviews from these platforms under one roof. No more jumping back and forth between these review sites as you can keep track of all new customer reviews straight from an easy-to-use interface. Are you ready to beef up your online reviews? It all starts with a request, and you can convince your customers to provide their reviews using your own message or one of Podium’s preset templates. Sending these review invites is a whole new ball game, but this where Podium outshines its competitors. Through its platform, you can set up automations so your customers can receive review invites soon after completing a purchase. With its switchboard feature, you can also determine how many customers will be sent to which review sites, ensuring no platform is overlooked. From the same dashboard, you can also set up alerts so you get notified each time a customer leaves a review. By doing so, you can promptly respond to each review and address customer complaints within the Podium app. Podium Reviews comes with in-depth reporting to help you gauge how well your business performs based on the reviews. By looking at star rating, recency, and review count, you can determine how well you stack up against competitors and whether your strategies need fine-tuning. Campaigns![]() Podium Campaigns is a potent alternative to old-fashioned email campaigns. Instead of sending emails that are often relegated to either the SPAM or a separate “Promotions” folder, you send marketing promotions to where customers can see them right away: SMS inbox. We’re not talking about sending out spam texts en masse. Customers won’t receive marketing campaigns via SMS unless they opt in to your list. And with opt-in opportunities available in every customer touchpoint, you can passively grow the list of people who are more likely to respond to your promos. With a targeted list at your disposal, it’s easier to craft personalized campaigns that resonate well with your customers. You can send these campaigns to your entire list or to specific segments of your list. By using a conversational tone in your messages, you can take the first step towards building a long-term relationship with your audience. The text thread is also two-way so your customers can reply to your messages, giving you more opportunities to earn their trust. Whether you’re sending out coupon codes or announcing a special sale, Podium Campaigns allow you to take advantage of the 98% open rate of a text message. Moreover, it comes with built-in analytics so you can measure your total revenue, unsubscribe rate, click-through rate, and response rate straight from your dashboard. Using these valuable data, you can fine-tune your campaigns and get better results in the long run. Inbox![]() By integrating Podium with Facebook, Google, Instagram, Zendesk, and other platforms, all customer conversations can be funneled into one location. This enables you to quickly reply to messages without having to juggle multiple platforms at the same time. Podium’s inbox also streamlines how you deal with all these messages. Using artificial intelligence, it can automatically group incoming messages so you know which one should be prioritized. Each customer profile also has an interaction history which includes all payments and transactions completed. At one glance, you can get insights about the customer you’re dealing with, allowing you to personalize your messages accordingly. For the busy marketers who don’t have time to respond to all messages, Podium’s inbox also provides smart solutions. You can assign the messages to other employees or another business location. Access restrictions are also available to ensure only the authorized people can answer specific messages. Meanwhile, you can set up autoresponders so you won’t lose potential leads even outside business hours or whenever you can’t reply in person. By also automating feedback requests, review invites, and reminders, Podium ensures you won’t waste your precious time on cumbersome tasks. Feedback![]() Getting feedback from your customers doesn’t have to involve long, boring surveys that barely get attention. Podium’s feedback feature turns the traditional survey on its head by sending two automated text messages proven to elicit quicker responses. Humans are notorious for having short attention spans. By sending short and simplified questions via SMS, you don’t have to wait for weeks or months for answers. Your customers can send their honest feedback almost instantly, which means you can also address customer complaints at lightning speed. With regular use of Podium’s feedback feature, you’ll be able to understand your market, explore opportunities to improve your service, and gain more loyal customers. The best part is you can also automate it so you can gather insights about your customers at any touchpoint, not just after they make a purchase. You can schedule when your customers will receive the feedback request and also set up automated responses based on the customers’ answers. By doing so, Podium can gather a wealth of valuable information even while you’re not around. Podium’s feedback feature also comes with analytics so you can dissect the impact that customer feedback has on your business. Through this tool, you can track your Net Promoter Score which gives you an idea of how satisfied your customers are with your products or services. It also enables you to measure how many customers who received feedback invites actually responded. By understanding how effective your campaign is, you can revise your questions accordingly to elicit more responses. Webchat![]() Through Podium’s webchat widget, you can turn random website visitors into customers. Unlike live chat where transactions begin and end in the same chatbox, the webchat follows your visitors even after leaving your website. All the visitor has to do is enter his name, mobile number, and message to the webchat and the conversation will be transferred to his phone. By giving you access to the SMS inbox where people are the most engaged, you can answer queries and nurture leads without being glued to your computer screen. The only downside is not everyone will agree to volunteer their contact details, especially those who are only making casual inquiries. But for those who agree to invite you to their personal inbox, the possibility is endless. To ensure the webchat can capture leads every single time, you can also set up autoresponders. This guarantees your visitors can get an automated reply even when no one from your team is available, usually during holidays or after business hours. Through Google Analytics integration, Podium webchat can give you insights on how your visitors interact with your website, and which web pages perform the best. There’s also an option to receive daily digest emails so you can keep track of every inbound lead. Finally, a leaderboard allows you to compare each employee’s response times and other metrics. It ensures nobody in your team is slacking off when it comes to capturing valuable leads. Podium Pricing and Package Options![]() Every business is unique so Podium offers custom pricing tailored to your needs. To get a personalized quote, go to Podium’s pricing page, fill out the form with your contact information, and submit it. A Podium representative will then contact you to get a better picture of your business, its industry, and its locations. A customized plan that includes only the features that will best optimize your business will be recommended. Price varies depending on how many features you need and the number of your business locations. A single-location business, for instance, can cost anywhere between $350 and $450. It may be too expensive for businesses that only need Podium’s review feature but remember that Podium is much more than a simple text messaging solution. What most users may find off-putting is the 12-month contract that they have to commit to initially. Payments can be made upfront (annually) or in monthly installments. ![]() For those who can’t afford to get into a 12-month contract yet, Podium also has the free Starter plan. Users from the US and Canada can sign up to take advantage of a free textable number and up to 30 communications per month. The free starter plan also includes a webchat widget, a centralized inbox where you can manage all customer communications, and the ability to send a limited number of automated review invites via SMS. Podium ReputationPodium has been known as a reputation management tool so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most users rave about its review feature. In fact, it’s the leading reason why most users gravitate toward Podium. By letting them send review invites via text not only after purchase but at every possible customer touchpoint, Podium can help businesses triple the number of online reviews they get. The clean user interface makes it easier to navigate the dashboard and find what they’re looking for at a glance. Podium’s capability to consolidate all messaging apps in one place is also worth highlighting. By eliminating the need to move from one platform to another, Podium effectively streamlines how businesses communicate with their customers. On the flipside, Podium may turn off businesses that value transparency. Pricing plans are not available publicly so any business interested to get a personalized quote must contact Podium directly. According to those who have already used Podium’s service, the steep cost of the customized plan may pose a problem to businesses that only need basic features. The platform has also grown cumbersome for small businesses that only signed up to beef up the number of their customer reviews. The problem is you can’t purchase a plan with only one feature. So even if your team only needs the review feature, they still have to contend with other moving parts they rarely use but make navigating the user interface a tad complicated. SummaryPodium stands head and shoulders above the competition for helping businesses use every possible customer touchpoint as an opportunity to get reviews. And because online reviews are now the word of mouth of the digital world, multiplying the reviews you get tenfold can drive great returns for your business in the long run. However, Podium comes at a steep price, not to mention you have to commit to a 12-month contract before you can get your team on board. If your company has multiple locations and deals with a steady stream of inbound leads, it most likely has the revenue to justify the cost of using Podium’s services. On the other hand, small businesses that don’t have the means to enter into a long-term commitment with Podium can use its free starter plan instead. Alternatively, you can use Textedly and other similar services that let you message your customers via text but come with a more flexible monthly payment schedule. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/podium-review/ Whether you’re starting a side hustle on your own or launching a full-time business with employees, operating remotely is appealing to many entrepreneurs for various reasons. But taking your idea and turning it into a reality is a challenging step. You still need to legally register your business, file paperwork with the state, and take steps to separate your personal assets from the company—even for a remote business. Once you get these initial steps out of the way, you can fulfill your dreams of working from anywhere without ever stepping foot into an office. This guide will walk you through the step-by-step process of starting a remote business. The Easy Parts of Starting a Remote BusinessThe legal aspects of starting a remote business can be intimidating for new entrepreneurs. Registering your business with the state, filing the appropriate papers, preparing for how you’ll be taxed by the IRS, maintaining compliance—the list goes on and on. Historically, business owners only had two options:
But today, there’s another option--business formation services. By using an online business formation service to start your remote business, you can get 90% of your needs covered by a single provider. You just need to answer some simple questions about your company, and the formation service handles everything else on your behalf. There are lots of great online business formation services to consider, but Incfile is an excellent option for remote startups. ![]() Incfile lets you set up a wide range of remote business entities, including LLCs, corporations, and nonprofits. You can use them to obtain an EIN (employer identification number), register your business name, file the articles of organization, articles of incorporation, IRS forms, and so much more. The base business formation services from Incfile start as low as $0 plus state filing fees. All packages include free registered agent services for the first year, too. Using platforms like Incfile for starting a remote business will eliminate countless headaches and hours of filing paperwork. It takes less than five minutes to answer some questions and choose your preferences online. Then it’s just a matter of waiting for things to get finalized with the state—the service handles everything on your behalf. The Difficult Parts of a Starting a Remote BusinessOfficially registering the business and getting yourself ready to start operating is the easy part. But then, you’ll face challenges that aren’t solved so quickly—running a profitable business. Even remote businesses with low overhead struggle at first when it comes to making money. Getting your name out there, driving traffic to your website, landing customers, and retaining customers are all easier said than done. Regardless of your industry, business model, or niche, you’re likely competing with hundreds if not thousands of other people doing the exact same thing. It can take years to generate sustainable income that you can use to grow the business and pay yourself. If you plan to start hiring employees as you scale, this presents other unique challenges as well. You’ll have to worry about managing talent, running payroll, additional tax compliance regulations, labor laws, and more. Running a remote business doesn’t exempt you from these challenges. But don’t let this discourage you. As someone who has successfully started multiple remote businesses, I can confidently say that the rewards far outweigh the challenges if you stick with your plan. Rewards include flexibility and saving a ton of money on overhead! Step 1 – Choose Your Business Entity TypeNot all businesses are the same in the eyes of the state, the federal government, and the IRS. When you’re launching a remote startup, the first thing you need to do is determine which type of business entity is right for you. Generally speaking, these are your options:
There are other business types and subcategories out there, but most fall within these three general entity types. If you head over to Incfile and click Start My Business, the first step is choosing an entity and selecting your state. ![]() Once you answer these two questions, it will present you with state-specific information and pricing. For example, the fees associated with starting an LLC in California won’t be the same as creating a corporation in Florida. I’ll give you a basic overview of each entity type below to help you decide what’s right for your remote business: LLC (Limited Liability Company)An LLC will likely be the best option for most of you. According to Incfile, over 80% of small businesses are registered as LLCs. This entity type offers flexible ownership options and provides owners with liability protection—hence the name. By forming an LLC for your remote business, you can separate your personal assets from the company ones. LLCs also have the luxury of choosing how they get taxed. By default, single-member LLCs are taxed as sole proprietorships, and multi-member LLCs are taxed as partnerships. However, you can choose to be taxed as a C corp or S corp instead. Consult with an accountant to determine which tax structure is right for your remote business. You can change this at a later time by filing straightforward paperwork with the IRS. CorporationCorporations typically fall into two main categories—C corporations and S corporations. The most significant differences between these two entities are the taxation and ownership structure. Similar to an LLC, S-corps provide pass-through taxes. This means that taxes aren’t assessed at the entity level but rather on shareholders’ individual tax returns. With C-corps, the business and owners are taxed separately. While you’re technically getting taxed twice here, the corporate tax income is usually lower on personal returns. Again, it’s always in your best interest to speak with an accountant or tax attorney as you’re making these decisions. C corporations are better for companies that want to raise money from outside investors. Nearly all publicly traded companies are C corps. NonprofitNonprofits are a subcategory of corporations, but they’re usually categorized separately because of the unique requirements. To qualify as a nonprofit, the principal purpose of the company must be for public benefit. If you qualify for nonprofit status with the IRS, your company may be exempt from sales taxes, federal income taxes, and property taxes. Forming a nonprofit can offer liability protection to directors, officers, and employees. Step 2 – Register Your Business With The StateEven if you’re operating remotely, you still need to register the company with the state that you’re operating in. While there are some exceptions, the vast majority of you will be registering your business in the state where you live. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through this process by registering an LLC in California using Incfile. But the steps will be similar regardless of the entity type and formation service that you’re using. Select a Formation PackageIncfile, like most business formation services, offers tiered packages for registering a new business. Here’s what those fees look like for an LLC in California: ![]() The cool part about Incfile is the base package, Silver is 100% free. You get the core features of Incfile and only pay the state filing fees (not any Incfile fees). The Silver package also comes with unlimited name searches, articles of organization filing, and a free year of registered agent services. But there are other requirements you’ll need to handle on your own. The Gold package includes an EIN, IRS Form 2553, an operating agreement, an online dashboard, and unlimited support. And the Platinum level has all of those features plus expedited filing and a domain name with a business email included. I recommend you go with the Gold package and let Incfile handle everything on your behalf. Obtain an EINEvery business needs an EIN (employer identification number). This is a nine-digit unique number assigned by the IRS that identifies your business for tax purposes. Think of it as the business-equivalent of a social security number. EINs are required for business banking, tax returns, payroll, working with vendors, and so much more. You can apply for EIN directly with the IRS for free. But it’s much easier to get one from your incorporation service. You can add this service to Incfile’s Silver package for $70 or get it for free with the Gold or Platinum plans. Prepare and File Additional FormsDepending on the entity type you’ve selected, additional forms need to be filed with the state. This includes things like:
If you’re using a business formation service, make sure to select a plan that includes all of the necessary forms for your entity type. Most formation services also allow you to expedite the filing process for an additional fee. ![]() As you can see from the example above, the average filing time for LLCs in California is four weeks. But you can pay an extra $50 to get it done in five business days. The fees and filing time estimates vary from state to state. Name Your Remote BusinessNow is your opportunity to name the business and provide additional company information. ![]() This step is fairly straightforward. Just fill out the form fields as prompted. You have the option to choose a designator as well. If I wanted to name my LLC “Quick Sprout,” then my designator options would be:
You’ll also need to provide some basic information about the purpose of your business. The form will also ask you to select a management method. For LLCs, you’ll have the option to choose between member-managed and manager-managed. 99% of the time, you’re going to choose member-managed, especially for a remote business. Member-managed means the “members,” or owners, of the LLC are running the day-to-day business. Manager-managed is when designated managers or appointees like a board of directors run day-to-day operations. Provide a Business AddressEven if your business is remote, you still need to have an address on file with the state. In most states, you can’t use a PO Box, and the address will become public record. So I advise against using your home address here. Fortunately, Incfile offers a professional business address and virtual mail service. ![]() It’s just $29 per month, and you can cancel it at any time. But this is worth the price of keeping your personal address out of the public records. Step 3 – Obtain a Registered AgentEvery business, including remote companies, needs to have a registered agent. Registered agents are available during business hours to handle government correspondence on behalf of your company. For example, let’s say your business gets sued. Your registered agent will accept court orders and summons on your behalf at their address so that nobody will be knocking on your front door. While you do have the option, I strongly discourage acting as your own registered agent. It kind of defeats the purpose of operating remotely, as you’ll be forced to be available during all business hours at your business address. Incfile offers free registered agent services for one year with the Gold and Platinum plans. ![]() The service automatically renews at the regular price of $119 per year. Step 4 – Open a Business Bank AccountNext, you need to set up a separate bank account for your business. You’ll need to have an EIN for this step in many cases, which you’ll have by now if you’re going through these steps in the right order. Many business formation services, including Incfile, have deals with banks to get you set up during the formation process. Here’s an example that includes a $500 bonus (terms apply) with Bank of America through Incfile: ![]() You can always skip this and get a bank account on your own. Check out our guides on the best online business banking solutions and best business checking accounts to help you narrow down your options. Step 5 – Secure Your Domain and Create a WebsiteThis step is essential for all businesses, but it’s especially crucial for remote companies. For most of you, your website will be the driving force behind a remote operation. Even if you’re not quite ready to launch the site today, you’ll want to secure the domain as soon as you’ve registered a business name with the state. Your website name doesn’t have to be the same as your business name, but many people mirror these two for simplicity. It all depends on your branding strategy. Some business formation services will offer services for domain registration, but this is an upsell that you can skip. Instead, go straight to a domain registrar. These guides will steer you in the right direction: via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/how-to-start-a-remote-business/ You probably know that you’ll use a job offer letter to offer a job to a successful candidate. The problem is, some employers don’t know how to write one. A good job offer letter can start off your relationship with your new hire on the right note, but a bad one can discourage the candidate from the start, potentially leading them to refuse your offer–or worse, accept it but already be thinking about eventually working elsewhere. So it’s pretty important to get the offer letter right. Fret not—our guide will show you how to write one step by step. The Easy Parts of Writing a Job Offer LetterSome employers believe writing a job offer letter is difficult and time-consuming. The truth is: it doesn’t have to be as hard as you may think. Writing a good job offer letter comes down to systematically making sure the letter includes the most critical information. For example, there is no one-fits-all job offer template that must be strictly followed per se. Instead, a good but concise overview of the job position and company, including specific job details like the start rate, remuneration, work schedule, and benefits, will often be enough to entice a candidate into your position. Using a dedicated recruitment software tool can be a big help here. Workable, for instance, allows you to send job offer letters through tried and tested templates that successfully get a positive response from a candidate. The software made our top picks list for being the best overall recruiting software at scale. ![]() Pricing starts at $99 per job per month on the “Paygo” plan, and you can try it free for 15 days. The Difficult Parts of Writing a Job Offer LetterWe’ve mentioned that writing a job offer letter doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s true, but there are parts that some employers will find more challenging. A good example is factoring in the time to write the job offer letter in the first place. Some employers mention the difficulty of crafting a great job offer letter when they’re busy managing other parts of the company. Another element employers find challenging is the order in which to send the job offer letter. Forgetting to send them out during the average day is part of that. Other worries include how to send the letter or the format, what exact details need to be included, and whether to be more informal or formal with your job offer letter. All of these worries are valid, but don’t let that stop you. Our next section will detail step by step the process of writing a great job offer letter. Step 1: Know What Details To IncludeNo two job offer letters will be the same. After all, different roles require different things—knowing what to include in yours can therefore be a problem. In fact, it’s a key concern of employers. The good news is that there are some general things that every job offer letter needs to include. What To IncludeThere is a little debate on what constitutes the essential parts of a job offer letter, but generally speaking, and without factoring in different job roles, these are the things you must include:
Remember that a job offer letter is considered a formal document in most cases that’s sent out to candidates selected for employment, so getting the necessary details in there is essential to help them make a decision. It’s a wise idea to have written confirmation of an offer, to have it readily accessible, so that both the employee and the employer know the exact conditions of the job in question. Structure the DetailsYou know the key details to include in your job offer letter, but you need to know how to structure them. A good order to follow—although by no means is this the only way to structure a job offer letter—is to start with the company logo at the top of the letter and closely follow it with the date and contact details. For the company logo, ensure you use the official letterhead of your company logo, as this adds a sense of professionalism and legitimacy. Having both of these qualities will inspire the candidate to read the job offer letter more thoroughly. On the contact details side of things, be sure to include the date, full name, and complete address of the candidate. These details should be followed with an opening line that greets the candidate formally or casually. Deciding between a more formal or casual approach depends a lot on your company’s culture and the image you want to present. So think carefully about what you want to get across here. For example, you could start with a straightforward “Dear [Insert Candidate’s name]” then offer them a job on an optimistic note like: “We are very pleased to offer you a position at [Insert Company name].” How you do this is up to you, but don’t be afraid to set yourself apart from others. If your company culture is more casual, feel free to open with a more conversational greeting and offer. ![]() Follow this with your job details, benefits, and salary, and don’t feel afraid to include an expiry date if appropriate. A standard time is to give the candidate a week to respond. If there are specific next steps that need to happen, make sure to lay those out here as well. End the job offer letter with a closing line and include details on how the candidate can reach you. For example, they might have a few questions about the job, and you’ll want to make sure you are available to answer them. A positive and detailed response to these questions might be all that stands between an employee joining your business or not, so take your time to respond fairly and properly. Step 2: Pick a Template To FollowWe’ve spoken about what to include in your job offer letter and the structure, but it’s helpful to look at a range of different templates for varying job roles. After all, each position and scenario will shape how to present your information to employees. Below we’ve included the specifics of some common templates. Look at Part-time or Full-time Job Offer TemplatesA part-time or full-time offer template is standard. You can modify the template as you wish, but for part-time or full-time roles, we recommend including the following:
These particulars are standard for both part-time and full-time job offers, so be sure to introduce them in a similar way to the template. Workable is a valuable tool here because it offers full letter templates and approval workflows to speed up the entire process: ![]() In the picture above, the green text is where Workable has auto-populated the details as set by the user. You fill in the basic details, and Workable will do the rest. The platform will even let you know when a candidate has accepted the offer. Look at Internal Job Offer Letter TemplatesInternal job offer letter templates differ slightly from standard ones. These offers may have started from an informal conversation with someone already on your team, but they still require a job offer letter to be sent to the candidate to make it official. Most of the details above still apply. That said, you must mention to the existing employee the full details of the new job opening on the team. This new role might be a move to a different department altogether, so be clear about the details. Of course, congratulating the employee is vital as you recognize their existing achievements with the company. The more you do this, the more likely they will stay with you for the long term. Look at Remote Job Offer Letter TemplatesRemote job offer letter templates differ because they need to mention flexible working hours, remote work options, tech equipment, professional development, and standard details in a more traditional role. Will the job offer in question require the employee to be in the office any day of the week, or is the position fully remote? Will you pay for equipment expenses, and how will you communicate with your employee? These are all extra areas to consider for remote roles. With the post-pandemic world fully embracing remote working, it’s wise to stay updated with requirements. Step 3: Show Your PersonalityMost job offer letters come across as dull, and that’s a problem if you want to fill your roles quickly. With a new and younger workforce that expects a bit of a flair to proceedings, you need to show your personality in the letter. Think About ToneMost companies will write stiff job offer letters that don’t excite their candidates enough to accept the offer. Think about it like this: you only get one chance here to make a great impression, so a light sprinkling of personality can do wonders. We are not suggesting you become so casual that you undermine the importance of the offer, but some fun here is perfectly acceptable within reason. ![]() It’s a good way of showing your company’s culture and what the employee might expect once they join you fully. For example, are you a fun company where the candidate will work hard but also play hard? If so, don’t be afraid to talk about that in the offer letter–and tell the candidate how much you’re looking forward to having them on your team. Choose Your FormatThere are a few key ways you can send a job offer letter. The first is the formal and physical letter that you post to a candidate’s address. This letter will include all of the details you would expect. Some companies prefer this format, but it’s fair to say it’s not something every company will want to use. Email job offer letters are increasingly common, and there are two ways to send these: in the body of the email or as an attachment to the email. We prefer having the job offer letter as a PDF attachment that sets out the details rather than simply in the body of an email, but this is up to you and the impression your company wants to create for the candidate. Step 4: Know When and How to Send ItWhen do you send the job offer letter, though? This question is something many employers ask—luckily, the answer doesn’t have to be complicated. Contact via PhoneDepending on your company and the role in question, it’s not unusual for a company to contact a candidate via phone. The call is typically carried out well before you send the candidate the job offer letter itself. In other words, you’re letting them know in advance, which also helps to give them more notice. If you’re a remote company, this might occur on Skype or Zoom instead of a traditional phone. That said, there is another way to send it, which brings us to our next point. Contact via EmailWe’ve mentioned contacting candidates via email. However, an increasingly common way of doing things is to contact them with an initial email before following up later with another one. The initial email will effectively express the offer. The second email will detail it more formally and will usually be the job offer letter presented as an attachment in a PDF or other professional format. Workable offers a dedicated hiring plan that can help out here too: ![]() With the software, you can plan and track your hiring and are notified at every key stage. The hiring workspace automates approval workflows and captures requisitions, so you’ll never have to chase candidates again. Step 5: Be PatientThe final step is learning to be patient about the response from your candidate. Rushing at the final stage can scare candidates away, some of which were probably hours from accepting your offer. Set an Expiry DateOne way of tackling this is to set an expiry date on your job offer letter. The expiry date is typically added towards the end of the letter and gives the candidate a set amount of time to accept the role. The standard amount of time here is around a week from the date of the offer, but some employers might worry this is not enough time—others might prefer a response in a matter of days. Ultimately, set an expiry date that’s best for you and give your candidate a fair and reasonable amount of time to make up their mind. Don’t Pester the CandidateTop talent is frequently hard to retain, so don’t pester the candidate during the time you’ve given them—that’s if you’ve given them a defined time in the first place. There have been cases where a candidate is close to accepting the offer, but the employer was too eager and lost them. The point to keep in mind is that candidates typically apply to multiple companies at once, and therefore, they might have many offers available to them during the decision process. You want to ensure you’ve given them time to think things through—following up too soon could be a make-or-break decision, so think carefully before doing so. Workable features built-in reports that help out here as well. It includes aspects such as the time to hire and the results of what candidates want to see. ![]() Specifically, candidate surveys are a great way to measure what works during the hiring process and help you to build your recruiting practices. Know what candidates want to see during the hiring process, and you’ll have a better chance of recruiting top talent overall. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/how-to-write-a-job-offer-letter/ The ecommerce industry is booming. People are buying products online more than ever before. Nearly anything you can imagine can be purchased on the Internet and delivered to your doorstep. It’s a great time to be a consumer. But as an entrepreneur, you can leverage this craze by creating your own ecommerce shop. You can take advantage of this opportunity and start an online store from virtually anywhere with Internet access. While technology has made it easier than ever for consumers to buy, it’s also easier than ever before to start an online business. Sure, there are a handful of things that you need to figure out. You’ll have to create a website, choose an ecommerce platform, pick a web hosting service, and learn how to market your brand online. But before you get ahead of yourself and start all of that, you need to figure out what you’re going to sell.
Lately, I’ve been talking to so many entrepreneurs who want to sell online, but they just don’t know what to offer. That’s what inspired me to write this guide. Using in-depth research and trend analysis, I’ve come up with a list of nine popular products that you can sell online in 2021. Use this guide as an inspiration for your ecommerce shop. 1. GroceriesWhen most people think about selling products online, they automatically think of new gadgets or products that are designed for everyday use around the house. Or they try to think of something innovative that will solve a common problem. However, it seems like people rarely think to sell food. Consumers are buying everything else online, so why not groceries? It’s something that everyone uses on a daily basis. Take a look at the current and projected growth of online grocery sales in the United States alone. By 2021, experts predict that this will become a $30 billion industry. Furthermore, the online food and beverage industry is growing at 18% year-over-year While the majority of grocery shopping still takes place in physical store locations, the ecommerce grocery movement is the way of the future. So this is a great chance for you to jump on board before the market gets too saturated. There are seemingly endless opportunities here. You could sell anything from snacks, to produce, to prepared and pre-packaged meals. Ultimately, there is plenty of money to be made in this space if you’re able to carve out the right niche. Just make sure you educate yourself about the legal aspects of selling food online, as the regulations are different from selling other products. 2. Electric scootersIf you live near any major American city, you’ve probably seen the rise of electric scooter usage over the last couple of years. Depending on the area, this trend has seemingly taken over the streets and sidewalk. Companies like Bird, Lime, and Razor are pioneering the scooter ridesharing industry. Even bigger names like Uber and Lyft have entered the e-scooter space. The idea behind ridesharing scooters is great. Essentially, riders just use a mobile app to locate and start a scooter. Then they ride to a destination and park it anywhere. They are charged based on usage and everything is handled through the mobile app. With this trend growing in popularity, it seems like more and more people want to own electric scooters, as opposed to just using the rideshare options. In 2018, there were roughly 44 million electric scooters and electric bicycles sold worldwide. That number is expected to reach 50 million in 2021. This is a great opportunity for you to seize. That’s because high-end products can be sold at a higher price point. Research shows that the average cost of an electric scooter is roughly $300. But some high-end models can retail for more than double that amount. 3. Virtual reality headsetsVirtual reality and augmented reality are increasing in popularity. If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that augmented reality already made my list of the top mobile trends that are dominating 2021. I also wrote about how augmented reality is impacting the future of SEO. But now I want to take a moment to talk about the business opportunity for the virtual reality market. First, let me clarify the differences between AR and VR. AR uses overlays on computer-generated screens to put digital figures into real-world images. For example, AR can be used on a smartphone to play games like Pokemon Go. As the name implies, VR puts users into a virtual world, using more specialized and sophisticated equipment, like a VR headset. Take a look at the growth of VR and AR users in the United States. As you can clearly see from the graph, both VR and AR users are growing each year. There are more AR users, simple because augmented reality is easier to use and doesn’t require special equipment. With that said, the number of virtual reality headset users is still continuing to grow and carve out a good-sized market share in this niche. In 2017, there were roughly 11 million VR headset users in the US. That number has already doubled and will reach 26.5 million users by 2021. There are lots of potential consumers to target with this product. According to a virtual reality headset review by The Verge, VR headsets have quite the price range. Inexpensive headsets can be bought for less than $100, while higher-end models retail for upwards of $800. 4. Smart speakersAs long as we’re on the technology subject, I figured this would be a good time to talk about smart speakers. This is another trend that’s growing in popularity. Today there are more than 74 million smart speaker owners in the United States. However, this only makes up 26% of US Internet users, meaning that there is still plenty of room for growth in this space. China has that most smart speaker owners in the world, with 85 million. But this makes up just 10% of the country’s total Internet users. Again, this proves a high global demand for the product, with tons of room for growth in the category. Speaking of growth, look at the number of households in America that have a smart speaker. There was a 78% growth rate between 2017 and 2018. Here’s a crazier statistic. More than half of smart speaker owners have two or more devices. This means that current smart speaker owners are still potential customers for you. This product is a great opportunity to sell online via your ecommerce shop. 5. Vapor productsE-cigarettes and electronic vaporizers, better known as “vapes” are growing in popularity. There are several different components to vapor products. There is the device itself, which operates by heating a liquid solution. Then there are the flavored liquids, usually containing nicotine. Plus there are other accessories as well, and these products come in all different shapes and sizes. Just to be clear, I’m not here to talk about the health risks of vaping or anything like that. Nor am I encouraging the use of e-cigarettes or nicotine products. But like every other product on this list, I’m simply identifying market trends and sharing the information with you. These trends are telling me that it’s a hot category. By 2023, the global vapor market is expected to reach $43 billion. That’s a 15% compound annual growth rate for five years. The figures are impressive, to stay the least. There is definitely a market for this product, and plenty of money to be made by selling vapor products online. Just make sure you comply with all of the legal regulations associated with selling vapes and accessories through an ecommerce shop. 6. JewelryJewelry is another product category with seemingly endless opportunities for online sales. You can target men, women, children, and teenagers with high-end diamonds, low-end rings, and everything in between. There are so many options for products and targets in this industry. Plus, you can even make jewelry by hand. More than 2 million handmade jewelry products are sold on Etsy. Studies show that the global online jewelry market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 16% between now and 2022. According to Shopify, ecommerce only represents 4-5% of all jewelry sales worldwide. However, that number is expected to be 10-15% by 2021. What does this mean? Jewelry sales, like most products, are starting to trend in the ecommerce direction. There is so much room for growth in the coming years with this product category. 7. Digital courses and learning materialYou don’t always need to sell tangible products on your ecommerce shop. You can also sell digital goods like ebooks or online learning courses. This is another booming industry. According to Forbes, the e-learning industry is going to reach $325 billion by 2025. There are so many potential customers here as well. In fact, 77% of corporations in the US use online learning tools. E-learning increases retention rates by up 60%. So if you’re good at something, take advantage of it. Teach others how to do whatever it is that you know best. Product content like blogs, ebooks, and videos. Then sell those digital goods online. The best part about this is the low overhead. Your only costs will be running your website, processing transactions, and your time. Everything else is just straight profit. 8. DronesThe drone market is segmented into two categories.
There’s actually a military category too, but that’s not really relevant for ecommerce purposes. While you might be tempted to just target the average Joe who wants to flow a drone around his neighborhood, you might want to consider the commercial market as well. Check out the growth of commercial drones over the years. Between now and 2025, the global commercial drone market is expected to grow by roughly 700%. Now is the time to jump on this trend to get your share of the action. You can still go after consumers as well. The unit sales of personal drones dominate 94% of the market. However, this only represents 40% of the total revenue share, since commercial drones are typically priced higher. 9. Clothing and accessoriesIt may sound simple, obvious, or boring, but the online clothing industry is huge. But in order to be successful here, you definitely need to go after a niche. Trying to sell to anyone and everyone will be too competitive to survive. By 2023, revenue from online clothing, footwear, and accessories in the US is expected to surpass $145.7 billion. That’s up from $93 billion in 2017. 58% of Americans have purchased clothing online. Again, this is another industry where you have tons of options. There are different types of people to target, and countless options of products to sell at varying price points. Ultimately, there’s lots of money to be made selling clothes online. ConclusionThere has never been a better time to sell products online. Starting an ecommerce store is easy, and consumers are continuing to buy products on the Internet more and more each year. But what should you sell online? Use this list as a reference. Unlike other similar posts that you’ll find online, I took the time to actually research industries and trends. I didn’t just pull random products out of thin air. That’s why this information is so valuable. If you can set up your ecommerce shop around these trends, it has a much greater chance of being successful. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/popular-ecommerce-products-to-sell-online/ Where is your website traffic coming from? If you’re relying on people to find you through a Google search, search engine optimization (SEO) needs to be at the top of your priority list. You won’t be able to generate leads for your business if nobody can find you. Did you know 93% of experiences on the Internet start with a search engine? What happens after someone makes a search? The top result on Google has a 33% chance of getting clicked. That means if you’re not number one on the page, you just missed out on a third of potential traffic. What’s even more astonishing is that 75% people won’t even click on the second page of the search results. The reason why other websites are ranking higher than you on Google is because they are making a conscious effort to improve their SEO. Fortunately, it’s not too late for you to get started.
I’ve identified the top 34 ways to improve your SEO ranking. Here they are. 1. Improve your page loading speedYour page loading time is important for a few reasons. First of all, if your load speed is too slow, Google will recognize this, and it will harm your ranking. But a slow website will also impact the way your website visitors engage with your pages. As a result, those negative interactions will hurt your ranking too. Look at how abandonment rates increase for websites with long page loading times: How slow is too slow? Research shows 40% of visitors will abandon websites if the page takes longer than 3 seconds to load. What’s even more shocking is that 80% of those visitors won’t return to that website. This is terrible for your SEO ranking because it ultimately kills traffic to your site. But on the flip side, if your page loads fast, people will keep coming back. Google’s algorithm will recognize your website’s popularity and adjust your search ranking accordingly. This makes it extremely important to optimize both your page speed and server response time. If you want to test the speed of your website, there are online services such as Pingdom available for free. This will allow you to test your website from different locations all over the world. If you find that your site is running slow then you may want to check your website theme and plugins. If your slow server is the culprit then check out my list of the best web hosting providers and transfer to a new host! 2. Produce high quality contentHow often do you update your website? If you haven’t touched it since the day you built it, you probably don’t have a great SEO ranking right now. To drive more traffic to your website and increase its popularity, you need to give visitors a reason to keep coming back. Your content needs to be high quality, recent, and relevant. Another factor that impacts your SEO ranking is so-called dwell time. This relates to how much time people spend on your website per visit. If your site has fresh, exciting, or newsworthy information, it will keep visitors on your page longer and improve your dwell time. Websites that provide highly informative content typically have long dwell times. Save your content ideas in one place across all the document apps you use. Here’s something else to consider. Google Chrome controls nearly 45% of the Internet browser market share, making it the most popular browser in the world. That number will continue to rise as Chrome was also the most downloaded browser of 2017: When users bookmark your website from a Google Chrome browser, it can help your SEO ranking. High quality and relevant content will increase the chances of your website being bookmarked by visitors. 3. Optimize your imagesPictures and other images are great for your website. But you need to make sure they are optimized properly if you want these images to improve your SEO ranking. I’m referring to factors such as the file format and size. Huge images can slow your page loading time, which, as I’ve said, hurts your ranking. Resize or compress your images to optimize them. You can also use your images to sneak in keywords by naming them accordingly. For example, let’s say you have a website that sells toiletries or other bath products. Instead of naming an image something like “shampoo1,” you could name it “best shampoo for long hair.” You can also strategically use keywords in the title of your image as well as the caption or description. 4. Break up your content with header tagsHeadings are another way to help improve the user experience on your website. They break up the content and make it easier to read or skim. Plus, headers make everything look more appealing, which is always beneficial. If your website is just a wall of text, it’s going to discourage people from spending a long time on it. As a result, your SEO ranking will suffer. If you’re running your site on WordPress, you can easily change the header tags. I use header tags for all my websites and blog posts. If you’re not utilizing this tool, I highly recommend you start ASAP. 5. Start bloggingBlogging is great for your business. It’s an outstanding tool for lead generation and helps you engage with visitors to your website. But what most people don’t realize is blogging also improves SEO rankings. Here’s why. As I have already mentioned, producing fresh, updated, and relevant content can drive people to your website and give them a reason to stay on your pages for a while. Well, blogs are the perfect channel for you to accomplish this. If you can establish a large group of faithful readers, you can get lots of traffic to your site on a daily basis. Plus, you can incorporate other things I talked about so far into your posts as well, such as images and header tags. Other elements, such as links, increased readability, and keywords, can also be incorporated into these posts. I will talk about them shortly. All of this positively impacts your search engine ranking. 6. Use outbound linksThere are certain things you can do to increase the credibility of your website. Sure, you can make claims, but it looks much better if you back them up. All of your data claims should be linked to trustworthy and authoritative sources. As you can see from what you’ve read so far today, I do this myself. But here’s another example that illustrates what I’m talking about from a blog post I wrote about generating leads on Twitter: All my facts are citations from authority sources. And I made sure to use outbound hyperlinks to those websites. You should not only link to authority sites but also make sure all the information is recent. Notice that the graph I used in the example above is from 2017. Outbound links to resources from 2009 are irrelevant and won’t be as effective for your SEO ranking. You should also include internal links. These links will direct visitors to other pages on your website. I used this technique in the first sentence of this section. If you scroll back up and click on the link, you’ll get redirected to another Quick Sprout blog post. 7. Add more than textThe content on your website shouldn’t be only written words. As I said earlier, pictures are great too, but there’s more you can add to improve your SEO ranking. Consider adding other multimedia elements such as videos, slideshows, or audio to your site. All of this can help improve the user experience. Why? For starters, consumers want to see more videos: It’s much easier to watch something than read about it. But there’s a direct correlation between videos and other multimedia sources on your website, and it’s SEO ranking. These features can dramatically improve the amount of time someone spends on your website. Depending on the length of your videos, people could be on your page for several minutes. If that happens, it will definitely boost your search ranking. 8. Make sure your site is readableKeep your audience in mind when you’re writing content on your website. If you want people to visit your site and spend time there, speak in terms they can understand. Don’t try to sound like a doctor or a lawyer (even if you are one). Your content should be written in a way the majority of people can understand. Not sure if your content is readable? You can use online resources to help. One of my personal favorites is Readable.com. Tools like this can help you identify words that might be too long or difficult for people to comprehend. 9. Fix any broken linksIf you’re using authority websites for hyperlinks, you shouldn’t have to worry about the links breaking. But it can still happen. Broken links can crush your SEO ranking. Plus, it doesn’t look good when a link you provide to your visitors brings them to an invalid website. You can use tools like Dead Link Checker to search for links with errors on your website: You can use this to check your entire website or specific pages. If you sign up, you can also set up your account to get checked automatically. Anytime a link goes dead, you’ll be contacted right away so you can replace it. You can also use this resource to monitor other websites relevant to your industry. How can that help your SEO? Well, if a link goes dead on another website, you can notify the webmaster of that page and ask them to replace the dead link with a link to your website instead. You’re doing them a favor by letting them know about a problem with their site, so they might be willing to do you a favor in return. This will drive more traffic to your website. Outbound links from other websites to your page will help improve your SEO ranking too. 10. Optimize your site for mobile devicesAs I’m sure you know, mobile use is on the rise. It’s rising so fast that it’s actually overtaken computers and laptop devices. In fact, over 60% of Google searches come from mobile devices. Obviously, Google recognizes this and ranks sites accordingly. Your website needs to be optimized for mobile users. There’s no way around this. If your site isn’t optimized, it’ll hinder the user experience, adversely affecting your ranking. 11. Properly format your pageTake your time when you’re coming up with a layout for your website. It needs to be neat, clear, organized, and uncluttered. Consider things like your font size and typography. Use colored text, bold font, and italics sparingly. Things such as bullet points and checklists make it easy for visitors to scan through your content. Take a look at this example from Square: It’s super clean. They’ve got a simple picture and reasonable amount of text. The way the text is formatted makes it easy for people to read, especially with the bullet points. As you can see, Square also included different header tags and subheadings on their page. If your website is cluttered with too many pictures, advertisements, colors, and blocks of text, it can appear untrustworthy. Your site architecture and navigation also fall into this category. A clean format and design will improve your SEO ranking. 12. Provide appropriate contact informationSpeaking of appearing untrustworthy, have you ever struggled to find the contact information of a business on a website? I know I have. This should never happen. All your contact information should be clear and in plain sight for people to find. The worst thing that could happen is for people to start reporting your website just because you forgot to include your phone number, email address, and location. This will crush your SEO. 13. Encourage sharing on social mediaEvery business and website needs to be active on social media. That’s pretty much common knowledge. But what’s not as well known is that you can get your SEO ranking improved if people share links to your website on social media. Here’s an example from a pest control website case study in which they ran a campaign specifically designed to increase social sharing: The infographic was shared 1,117 times in just two weeks. During those same two weeks, the website’s organic search traffic rose by 15%. As a result, their SEO ranking improved as well. And that was just over a couple of weeks. Imagine the results you’ll see if you encourage social sharing as a regular part of your SEO campaigns. One of the best ways to do this is by including social sharing icons on all your content. You should also share links on your social media pages. When that information appears on people’s timelines, all it takes is just one click for them to share it. 14. Use keywordsTake a look at the components of the Google ranking algorithm: Keywords play a major role in this formula. You want to include words people will search for throughout your content. But do it sparingly. If you go overboard saturating your website with keywords, Google will pick up on this, and it will have an adverse effect on your ranking. Keywords should fit naturally into sentences. Include them in your header tags and even in image captions. You should also use long-tail keywords, which are three or four word phrases that could be found in a search. For example, someone probably won’t just search for the word “phone” when they’re looking for something. But they may type in the phrase “best phone for texting” as an alternative. If your keywords match their search, your website will have a greater chance of getting ranked higher. 15. Write click-worthy titles and descriptionsWhen it comes to writing titles for search engines, the first thing you have to know is this…you only have 65 characters to write your headline. You could write the greatest headline, but if it’s over 65 characters, it will get cut off. This is what you will see: Fortunately, the most important part of the headline is saved, but the rest is cut off. So keep it short. Here are some other tips to keep in mind when creating click-worthy titles:
16. Create clean, focused, and optimized URLSWhile your title tag needs to be emotional, your URL doesn’t. Let me show you what I mean. Here is an example that Dan Shure used: Avinash’s title tag is optimized for SEO and click rates. It’s optimized for SEO because of the keywords “digital marketing,” and it is optimized for click rates because of the words “change or perish,” which are very emotional, wouldn’t you agree? His URL, however, does not include “change or perish.” It doesn’t need to because it is only ranking for “digital marketing.” How might you change this title tag to optimize it further? I’d rewrite it like this: “Digital Marketing: 2015 Rule Book. Change or Perish.” That way you move the two keywords up front. 17. Write a great meta descriptionThe meta description is the next element you must optimize. If you view the source code, the tag looks like this:
If you use a WordPress plugin like All-in-One SEO Pack, you’ll get this form at the bottom of your blog editor: Google has made this easy by giving you tips on how to create good descriptions. Here are the two most important:
While meta description is not as important your heading is when it comes to getting clicks because people don’t seem to pay nearly as much attention to the description, it is still important from an SEO ranking perspective. So don’t ignore it! 18. Create a mobile appYou probably think I’m crazy, but hear me out: creating a mobile app can help bolster your SEO. Granted, this is a rather expensive option, but it’s also an investment. How exactly can an app boost your SEO? Google is now indexing apps on Google search with Firebase App Indexing. When people are searching for keywords in your niche, they could find your app, and that creates some juicy SEO. For example, when you search “reserve a restaurant” on Google, you’ll find an app on page one: When your app pops up on a Google search, it automatically becomes a valuable resource. But back to the main point—you can see the benefits of having a high-ranking app on Google. Yes, it’s costly, but it’s so worth it. 19. Use latent semantic indexing (LSI)Although latent semantic indexing (LSI) is very powerful, not very many sites are using it. And that’s a shame because LSI can give your site a serious SEO boost. LSI is the process search engines use to find related keywords in addition to your main keywords. In other words, LSI finds synonyms for keywords. For example, if you’re writing an article about Facebook, you’d include “social media network” as an LSI keyword. Let’s take a look at LSI in action. When you Google “buy new laptop,” one of the first pages that pops up is this TechRadar post: Right away, you can see that “best laptops” is one of the post’s keywords. You can see other keywords and phrases sprinkled throughout such as “budget” and “affordable.” And sure enough, when you Google “budget laptop” and “affordable laptop,” the post appears on page 1. This article is a great example of how LSI can improve your SEO. Take it for a spin, and you’ll see just how effective it can be. 20. Sniff out unnecessary codeCode is good, but you know what they say about having too much of a good thing. In this case, if your site has excess code, search engines will take longer to crawl your site, which is bad. On-page JavaScript and CSS are among the main offenders here. Your code should be as lightweight as possible. This will also help your page load time, and a faster load time means better SEO. 21. Join question-and-answer sitesPeople are hungry for knowledge. That’s why so many people post on Q&A sites like Yahoo! Answers and Quora. But there aren’t many answers out there. That’s where you come in. The trick is to compose a thorough, well-written answer to someone’s question, preferably a question that doesn’t have many answers. You need to write the best answer possible and include links to your site when it’s relevant. (Don’t get spammy here!) By doing this, you’re accomplishing two things at once. First, you’re helping the person asking. Second, you’re getting attention to your links, exposing them to countless readers. You’ll be seen as a valuable resource by the community, and people will be more likely to click your links. 22. Use infographicsInfographics pack a huge SEO punch. At Kissmetrics, we used infographics to generate over 2 million visitors and 41,142 backlinks. And our infographic strategy is still flourishing: For your infographics to be super powerful, you need two things: great design and great content. Don’t overlook the content when creating infographics. Lots of people do, and guess what? Their infographics don’t perform well. I also recommend coupling your infographic with at least 2,000 words of high-quality content. That’s because Google won’t index the text on the infographic itself, so writing longform content will give you extra ranking power. One last trick on infographics. Make them move! One of the coolest infographics I’ve seen is this one on cheetahs. What’s cool about it isn’t the data. It’s how the data and visualizations move within the graphic. So, how successful was this concept? Let’s just say 1,170 websites link to it. Not too bad for one infographic. 23. Get some pressWhen I started out in the SEO world, I would manually build links, and it would take me months, if not years, to see good increases in rankings because my sites lacked links from authority sites. But one day, I launched a site in the podcast space, and it got covered by sites like TechCrunch. Within weeks of the coverage, the site started to rank on page 1 for competitive terms in the podcast space. It was then that I realized the power of press. From then on, I always got press for each of my companies, which helped them rank higher and faster. So, how do you get press? A simple way is to pay a PR agency like PR Serve, who has a performance-based pay model, allowing you to pay it only when it gets you press. A cheaper way to get press is to build relationships with reporters. By continually helping them out with their stories and giving them feedback, you will increase your chances of them eventually being interested in covering your company. Or, if you want to go for the cold approach, which is harder but still works, you can always follow this PR email pitch template. 24. Get interviewedI’ve found that the easiest way to generate links is through interviews. Every time someone interviews you, chances are they will link to your website. The links will be fairly relevant too as the linking web page will typically talk about your story or what your company does. I know what you are thinking though…it’s easy for me to get interviewed because I have a well-established brand. And although you are right, it wasn’t easy when I first started out. During the early days of my entrepreneurial career, I would continually email two to four bloggers a day who interviewed other people in my space to ask them if they wanted to interview me. Most of them ignored my email or said no, but then I quickly learned that if I emailed them with feedback on their other interviews, they were more likely to agree to interview me. For example, if Mixergy did an interview with your competitor, you could email them with your feedback on the interview. You could tell them that the interview was great but also highlight the points with which you disagreed. You would then end the email by asking if they want you to come on the show for an interview. By using this tactic, you should be able to get one to two interviews a week. 25. If links are hard to find, think laterallyIn some niches—such as marketing, recipes, and entertainment niches, for example—it’s very easy to get links. There are hundreds of thousands of blogs that are willing to link to you if you make a good case. But in some niches, those blogs just don’t exist. That’s when you need to get creative. One very effective strategy is to get links from related niches. For example, if you’re a plumber, related niches would be:
Basically, think of any other niche that you can add your expertise to. Then, all the typical SEO tactics come back into play: guest posting, forum posting, etc. Let’s go through an example. Let’s say that you’re a home decorator. One related niche is home buying and owning, which has a different audience from your typical home decor enthusiasts. You could write about how home decor could add value to your home. In fact, that turns out to be a good long-tail phrase: What could you do with this? You could create content for your own site and then reach out to home buyer/owner blogs asking for a link. That’s a standard SEO tactic. Alternatively, you could use the idea for a guest post on a popular site. Not only will it rank for the long-tail keyword that you target (sending you continuous traffic), but it’ll also send you a lot of immediate referral traffic from the site you post on. Start by thinking of as many related niches as you can, then generate as many ways as possible to add value to those niches. 26. Boring niche? Here’s how to make it more funWhat can you do in a boring niche? Can you really make painting homes fun? If you approach the subject with a notion that it is, in fact, boring, then you probably can’t. But usually, there are ways to make content at the very least entertaining. Brian Dean did a great case study of this exact idea. Mike Bonadio, who runs an SEO agency based in NYC, had a client who worked in bug control—boring. However, he created a high quality infographic on an interesting topic: how bugs can help you defeat garden pests. That infographic got picked up by a few prominent blogs: Gardening is a related niche for pest control (just as we discussed in the previous section). But Mike took it a step further by creating “fun” content. Bugs aren’t supposed to be fun, but he made it fun by focusing on the benefits that bugs can provide. And you can do this in every niche by focusing on exciting benefits and surprises instead of the boring parts. For example, do you seal driveways? Well, that seems boring at first, but what if you created content like:
I’m not so sure that all of those are real things, but the point remains. Turn the boring parts into an important element of a story, but not the main focus. Back to the case study--how did it go? Extremely well, I’d say. After Mike reached out to sites in that related niche, he was able to get over 60 referring domains and hundreds of links: On top of that, he got over 2,100 views from referral traffic in the short term. His client’s site still ranks #4 for the term “exterminator NYC.” Can you make your niche interesting to your customers? I know this is difficult and requires some thinking, so let me give you another example: Blendtec. Blendtec is a company that sells…blenders. Not exactly a sexy product. However, you might have heard of their “Will it Blend?” video series. In these videos, they blend all kinds of crazy objects, like iPhones, superglue, and even skeletons to answer the question: “Will it blend?” They now get millions of views on each video they produce. More importantly, those videos get linked to a lot, and those videos link back to Blendtec’s website, which makes them rank highly for all sorts of blender-related terms. 27. Diversify your linksThere are a lot of different types of links you can get such as blog roll links, homepage links, links from blog posts, directory links, educational links, footer links, etc. SEOs have a tendency to build only one, instead of each, of these types of links. If you want to rank high, you can’t just focus on one type of link building method such as directory links. Instead, you need to get links to your site from blogs, directories, and sometimes from the homepages of other sites. Just make sure whatever links you are building are also relevant as those links tend to have the biggest impact. For example, with Quick Sprout, I have a variety of sites linking to me. Here is an example of a news site link, a sidebar link from a popular blog, a link within a blog post, and a link from an educational website, all linking to my site. The diversification of links coming into the site is what partly accounts for over 50% of my monthly traffic from Google. 28. Get set up on Google BusinessLocal SEO is important, especially if you’re a brick-and-mortar business. If you’ve been skimping on this aspect of SEO, you’ll want to spend a few minutes setting up an account on Google Business. This allows you to edit the info on your business, verify contact info, add images, monitor reviews, and more. This can give you a huge advantage over competitors who fail to capitalize on this powerful resource. 29. Find link opportunities on BuzzSumoYou can use the same process with BuzzSumo. Just enter your search phrase, and you’ll get a list of results. Here’s what I get with “content marketing:” From there, click on “View Sharers” on any articles that interest you. You’ll then see a list of people who shared that article. These can all be potential people with whom you may want to form relationships, which could eventually translate into link-building/guest-blogging opportunities. 30. Turn a standard post into a long-form postI’m not going to insult your intelligence by stating the obvious fact that long-form content ranks better than, say, a typical 500-word post. You already know that. But here’s a nice little trick you can do with thin content. Look for a shorter post, under 1,000 words, that’s pretty good but never lived up to its full potential. Then spend 30 minutes “beefing it up” by adding more content, charts, graphs, visuals, etc. until it’s bona fide long-form content. 31. Get into Google NewsNews articles get pulled by Google on two SERPs—the traditional SERP you’re used to and the News section. You may not have thought of Google News as a traffic source, but consider my point. It’s a traffic wellspring! Check out this screen shot: To get into Google news requires perseverance, honest reporting, cutting-edge articles, and regular updates. If you are up to it and want your website to show up on the Google News SERP, here’s what you should do:
Yeah, it reads like a slow process, but it’s worth millions! 32. Become an expert in your nicheSounds like a tall order, right? But it’s not as difficult as you think. You can increase your website’s traffic by growing your personal brand. I spent about a decade cultivating my personal brand. I then used that personal brand to boost traffic and generate high-converting leads, creating several multi-million dollar businesses. You can do the same. Here is how. Start sharing your knowledge tactfully and helping others without giving away your business secrets. First, register at Q&A sites such as Quora, Yahoo Answers, and WikiHow. Join LinkedIn groups, and reach out to other sites in your niche that could benefit from your guest authorship or input. Start answering questions and helping users. Do not promote your business or link to your website. If your answers are helpful, users will start requesting your help. When you see help requests coming in, it’s time to strike (in a good way, of course). From this point on, help people, but link back to your article or site when you do so. Followers and browsers will follow your link, and your site traffic will multiply like crazy. Yahoo Answers, LinkedIn, and Quora are liberal with links, but WikiHow has a tough backlinking policy, so be careful. Whatever you do, be polite, and write factual helpful information. 33. Influencing the influencersYou may have heard that influencer marketing is dead, but I can guarantee you that if any influencer links to your post, a swarm of traffic will follow. Now, you cannot overtly approach an influencer and request that person to promote your content. Why? Because the minute the influencer reads your first line, they’ll understand what you want. Honestly, it’s a turnoff. Influencers receive hundreds of content promotion requests every month. They can spot one from a distance. Here’s what you can do instead. Influence and motivate the influencer to share your content. I’ll show you how you can attempt that with an example. Let’s say I am targeting “men’s fashion” as my keyword phrase. I Googled “top blogs on men’s fashion.” There are plenty of meaty results: I visited one top blog, Off The Cuff, and found it was founded and owned by Christopher Hogan. Next, I visited Christopher Hogan’s Twitter page. It looks like he tweets often, and some of his tweets are about formal fashion in different seasons (he has 3,300 followers. It’s a bit low, but there’s a twist in the tale). That gave me an idea—a content strategy that can be endorsed by many influencers (with a gazillion followers). Here’s what I’d do next:
What I have given you is just an example. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of this technique. Use your creativity to devise even more advanced and informative content within your niche. You can use other tools, such as Followerwonk or Buzzsumo, to find influencers and apply the same technique. 34. Tools outperform content marketingWhat’s the number one way websites are getting links these days? Content marketing, right? And although that’s correct, it doesn’t mean it is the best form of link building. I’ve found that releasing free tools in the market place generates more backlinks and traffic overtime. In other words, it is a better investment than content marketing. By releasing a free tool on Quick Sprout, I was able to:
The key with releasing free tools that generate thousands of visitors and links is for you to create something that is easy to use and is high in demand. The best way to figure out what to release is to see which companies are doing extremely well in your space. ConclusionSearch engine optimization isn’t just a fad that’s going to phase out soon. It’s something your website needs to concentrate on right now and in the future as well. If you’re just starting to focus on SEO, you’re a little bit behind, but it’s definitely not too late to implement the strategies I just talked about. Don’t get overwhelmed. Start with a few, and move on to the others. Monitor your results. Checking your traffic and search ranking will help validate your SEO strategy. Soon enough, you’ll be making your way toward the top search results on Google. Who knows, you might even be able to claim that number one spot. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/ways-to-improve-seo-ranking/ It doesn’t matter what type of company you have or what industry you’re in, email marketing needs to be a priority for your business. In fact, 89% of marketers named email as their primary method of lead generation. If you are putting more effort into your email marketing strategy, you’ve got the right mindset. That said, just because you’re sending lots of promotional emails doesn’t necessarily mean they are effective. Some of your emails might be getting marked as spam. You spent time carefully writing your content, but you didn’t get the results you had expected. Why did that happen? As you’ll soon learn, there are several different reasons why your emails are getting marked as spam. That was my inspiration for writing this guide. I want to help you identify what’s putting your messages in the spam folder. Even if you’re not currently getting your content marked as spam, you can still benefit from this guide. Understanding these email principles and best practices for writing marketing content will help you avoid these mistakes in the future.
In a perfect world, your emails should go straight to the recipient’s inbox, get opened, and generate click-throughs. But you can’t get conversions if your content is being marked as spam. If you don’t think through your marketing automation campaign, you may give off the impression of being an accidental spammer. A content mishap can also be more than just an innocent mistake. Without even realizing it, you could be breaking the law. Keep my recommendations in mind and use this guide as a reference moving forward to help keep your emails from being flagged as spam. Let’s jump in. Need Help With Email Marketing? Get help with improving your email campaigns, traffic, and revenue. Get StartedUnderstanding how consumers define spamSpam used to be pretty easy to identify. You’d get a message saying you won a contest you didn’t enter. The subject line would have a bunch of stars and other sketchy characters. The message would come from an unknown sender. In your lifetime, you probably even got some spam messages with subjects featuring NSFW content. I don’t think I need to provide an example of this since I’m sure you have an idea of what I’m referring to. Years ago, spam would even contain malicious content, e.g., attachments containing viruses or phishing scams. But email software has improved over time, and these messages tend to go straight to the spam folder. However, now legitimate brands are getting emails marked as spam because the consumer definition of it has changed: As you can see, consumers report messages as spam even if they know the sender. They’ll even flag spam from senders who have their permission to send them emails. This is a big game changer. Someone could willingly sign up to receive emails from your brand and still send your content to the spam folder. Studies show 57% of people say getting too many emails from a sender or receiving irrelevant messages causes them to mark the content as spam. What does this mean for you as a marketer? It means that your promotional messages are susceptible to getting marked as spam. Being a reputable brand and sending messages only to your subscribers doesn’t make you immune to this. Before I dive into the actual tips lets discuss email marketing laws in general that you should research and abide by before sending a single email. Knowing the LawKeep in mind, before reading this section, that we are NOT lawyers, and we have not reviewed this section with any attorney. We’re reporting what we’ve learned from basic web research with the goal of helping you figure out what your blind spots are and what questions to ask. Proceed with caution, and consult with a lawyer and/or official government source before moving forward. Let’s start with the law. You’re probably well-aware that in the early days of the Internet, shady marketers abused the heck out of email. What happened as a result was a federal crackdown on sketchy marketing activity. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2003. The law established the U.S.’s first national standards for email—enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The CAN-SPAM law’s full name is Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. The goal is to protect consumers from unsolicited email. The law overrides many state laws that would otherwise allow for unregulated or partially regulated email marketing activity. Relax—there’s no need to worry. The FTC has provided a clear set of (actionable) guidelines to keep you in the clear. Here is the law, directly from the FTC (in their words): The Law from the FTC
Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $42,530, so non-compliance can be very costly. Before you send a single email make sure that you consult with a legal professional to ensure that you stay compliant with all laws. Just make sure that you’re compliant. Got it? Ok lets move on to my top 11 tips that will help you avoid having your emails being flagged as spam. 1. Don’t buy subscribersAs I just said, even recipients who subscribed to receive emails from a brand are still marking messages as spam. If you’re buying email lists and sending content to people who never signed up to receive them, there is even a greater chance you’ll be heading for the spam folder. Furthermore, you’re putting yourself at risk of violating the CAN-SPAM Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Overall, sending unsolicited emails is just a losing strategy. In addition to the legal repercussions, it’s terrible for your brand reputation. An average person who works in an office receives 121 emails each day. They won’t waste time checking unwanted messages. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute. If you get a promotional message from a brand you never heard of and never signed up for, are you going to buy something from them? Probably not. You can’t expect to see results from other people who receive these unwanted messages. Instead, you should be focusing on how to grow your email list by getting new subscribers. Include signup forms on your website. Research shows that the most common placement for email opt-in forms is in the footer of each page. Give this strategy a try, and watch your email list grow. Now, you’ll be sending promotional content to people who actually want to hear from you as opposed to random email addresses you purchased. 2. Limit your sending frequencyAs a business owner, you think about your brand 24 hours a day. I can relate to this. You’re always coming up with new ideas to promote your company. But your customers and email subscribers aren’t always thinking about you the same way you think about them. That’s just a reality. Can you blame them? They have more important things on their minds, and they don’t want to hear from you that often. Distributing promotional emails on a daily basis is not going to help your cause. You need to be selective when you send a new message. When it comes to receiving emails, consumers report that sending emails too often is the number one most annoying action taken by marketers: I’d recommend limiting these messages to once a week at the most. You can even change the sending frequency based on what the subscriber prefers. When a new customer signs up to receive your content, ask them how often they want to hear from you. You can segment this list by people who want weekly messages or just a monthly newsletter. Giving your subscribers exactly what they’re asking for reduces your chances of getting marked as spam. 3. Use a clearly labeled “from” field addressMake it clear whom the email is from. Some of you may have multiple email addresses within your domain, depending on the size of your company. For example, if someone submits a complaint or request for help on your website, they may get a reply from a [email protected]. But if they’re trying to make a purchase or return an item, email inquiries might be made through [email protected]. Don’t change the sender field too often. Try to stick with the one that works best for your promotional messages. Avoid odd choices, such as [email protected] or [email protected]. Make sure you create a solid reputation for these sender fields. It will build trust with your subscribers and even increase the chances that they will add the address to their contacts lists. If they are used to receiving your marketing emails from the same sender address and one day it comes from a different one, they may think it’s spam. Even if that message is coming from your company, it’s confusing to your subscribers. 4. Don’t try to trick the recipientI see people make this mistake all the time. In an attempt to increase email open rates, they try to be sneaky and trick their subscribers into clicking the message. That’s a big mistake. Tricking your customers can damage your brand. In addition to marking your message as spam, the recipient might ultimately unsubscribe from your email list. More than half of consumers say they have felt cheated or tricked into opening a promotional email: I’ll share with you some strategies that are perceived as deceptive by recipients. Do not start your subject line with “Fwd:” or “Re:” to try to get more opens. This type of text implies you’ve already had a previous communication with the subscriber. Discovering this was not the case will put a bad taste in their mouths. Don’t send a message telling people they’ve won a prize if they haven’t actually won anything. Again, this is a fast way to disappoint the recipient and get your content marked as spam. I’ve also seen some marketers conceal spam content by creating an image with text written on it. You might fool spam filters, but you won’t fool the person who opens the email. They’ll still send you to the spam folder. 5. Choose the right service providerWork with a partner that has a positive track record. There are thousands of marketing automation and email marketing companies out there—some are bound to be spammy, with dubious histories. No matter what you’re promised, don’t take any chances—ever. Only work with the companies that have a positive track record. 6. Certify your IPThis will help you get on the good side of many email providers. It will likely cost thousands of dollars a year, so make sure to do a rigorous cost/benefit analysis. 7. Set clear expectationsOne of the first emails that you send should be a short introductory email that sets expectations about the content that you plan to send. To the best extent possible, make this information available before audiences describe. Here are the expectations that you should clarify:
8. Stay relevantYou need to focus on the content of your messages. Ask yourself these questions before you hit send: Why are you sending this email? Is this message adding value to the subscriber? If you don’t have a clear answer to these, you should probably re-evaluate the message. Don’t send content just to say hello or provide a friendly reminder that your company exists. Your subscribers don’t care about this. Here’s a look at the top reasons why emails get reported as spam: Take a look at the top reason. Earlier I talked about how the frequency of your emails can cause you to get marked as spam. Well, there is a second part to this principle. Your content needs to be relevant. Even if you’re sending emails only weekly or bi-monthly, you can still get sent to the spam folder if the subscribers think the message is irrelevant. For example, let’s say you run an ecommerce website selling home furniture. A marketing email updating your subscribers about the weather doesn’t add value to their lives. It also has nothing to do with your brand. Make an effort to always stay on brand. If it’s been a while since you’ve communicated with your subscribers and you feel like it’s time to send a new email, you probably can’t go wrong by sending out a discount or promotional code. Run a flash sale, or send an exclusive personalized offer. These types of messages are likely to get opened and lead to conversions. 9. Segment your listGroup audiences by demographic variables or web traffic source. Whatever dimensions you choose for segmentation, make sure that they reflect a clearly defined set of user characteristics. Here is an analysis about what happens when marketers segment their list. As you’ll see in this sample, segments performed higher—in terms of both open and click-through rates—compared to the email list’s average. 10. Master your subject linesA successful email marketing campaign starts with the subject line. You could have the best promotional message in the world, but nobody will see it if they don’t open the message. It’s in your best interest to keep your subject line as short as possible. Research shows that email subjects between 1 and 20 characters yield the highest open rates, regardless of what type of email you’re sending. This is partially due to the fact that 55% of emails are opened on mobile devices. If your subject line is too long, it will get cut off when it’s viewed on a cell phone. If the subscriber can’t read the full subject, it decreases the chances they’ll open the message. Let’s put open rates aside for a minute and get back to the topic of discussion: spam. Research shows that nearly 70% of emails get flagged as spam just based on the subject line: Learning how to write email subject lines will help reduce your chances of getting marked as spam. I recommend personalizing your subject lines. Personal subjects have higher open rates and click-through rates. They also tend to increase website traffic and drive sales. Use your subject line to create a sense of urgency. Provide an offer that won’t last forever, and make sure it’s properly conveyed in the subject. Tell a story. Provide breaking news. Stimulate curiosity. These are all great types of subject lines that will entice your subscribers to open your messages instead of reporting them as spam. 11. Check spam risk before you hit sendMost email software for marketers has a built-in feature that checks for spam. It scans your message and determines how likely it is to get sent to the spam folder. To avoid a high spam risk, make sure you limit the use of promotional words such as: Certain words are flagged by email clients as “suspicious” or spam. Here are some examples from the finance space:
And here are some examples from the ecommerce space:
Don’t get me wrong, you can include these words in your message, but use them sparingly. Avoid special characters and writing in all capital letters. Don’t make obscure choices, e.g., adding spaces between letters, like F R E E. Make sure the size of your email isn’t too big either. If you’ve got links, be sure they from reputable websites with a high domain authority. Your messages shouldn’t be too text-heavy or image-heavy. Balance text and images. Don’t include too many colors or text written in colors difficult to read. Here’s an example of what the spam check feature looks like on the Constant Contact platform: It may look a bit different on a different platform, but you’ll still be able to accomplish the same thing. If your spam checker says you’re at a high risk of being marked as spam, you need to make some changes before you hit send. ConclusionIt’s great you’re focusing on your email marketing campaigns. But if your content is getting marked as spam, it’s obviously not an effective strategy. Times have changed. Even reputable brands who have permission from recipients to send emails are getting flagged as spam. The key is being able to identify why emails get sent to the spam folder and how you can avoid this from happening to you. Never buy subscribers or send unsolicited emails. Instead, use your website as a tool for growing your email list. Use tools to help check your content for spam before you hit send. Don’t send marketing emails too often. Clearly label the sender field, and don’t change this address. Do not deceive your subscribers by tricking them into opening a message. Always make sure the content of your emails is relevant. Learn how to write subject lines that lead to opens and clicks as opposed to the spam folder. Following these tips will help you avoid getting marked as spam. Ultimately, this will lead to higher conversions for your business. Need Help With Email Marketing? Get help with improving your email campaigns, traffic, and revenue. Get Startedvia Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/email-spam/ Did you know that Matt Cutts released a video explaining that social signals do not impact search engine result rankings? For a long time, every SEO behaved as if they did. If this is true — that social signals don’t affect search rankings — what do we do now? I’m making the case that social is the new SEO. But I need to explain the new social/SEO territory that we’re in, specifically in the wake of Cutts’ announcement. So, what has changed with social media and SEO? Let me give you a brief history of Google’s conflicted stance on social signals. Google’s stance on social mediaFirst, in May 2010, Cutts stated that the algorithm does not use social signals as a factor in search results. Then, in December of 2010, Cutts revealed that the algorithm does use social signals as a factor in search results. Finally, in January of 2014, Cutts informed us that the algorithm does not use social signals as a factor in search results. This agonizing back-and-forth has caused some confusion in the search community. For the last several years, we’ve been operating under the assumption, stated by Cutts himself, that social signals were an algorithmic rank factor. Our metrics seemed to back it up. The higher our social following, the better our sites seemed to perform in the SERPs. Evidence suggests that the so-called “social signals” were a helpful SEO feature. And now, they aren’t a factor? If that is the case, then thousands of SEOs and social media managers have been barking up the wrong tree. We’ve been throwing millions of dollars and thousands of hours into pumping up our numbers of followers, fans, plusses, retweets, and likes in order to improve our SEO. Now, apparently, that doesn’t work for SEO. Social signals do not impact SEO. To quote Cutts’ exact words:
Let’s just assume that he’s right. What should we do about it?There are several things that we should do in light of this information. First, let me tell you what not to do. Don’t neglect social! The whole point of this article is that social is important. It’s the new SEO! It’s one of the most important ways that you can spend your time, efforts, and marketing dollars. So, maybe these “signals” we loved so much aren’t working. But so what? Social is still a valuable channel for promotion, content, distribution, virality, and sharing. Social is still a crucial aspect for search even if it doesn’t register as one of Google’s many algorithmic ranking factors. Stay on top of social. More on that later. For now, please remember — don’t neglect social! Small businesses benefit the most from social mediaA Social Media Marketing Industry Report came up with some interesting findings in terms of who benefited the most from social media. According to their findings, 90% of respondents agreed social media was important to their businesses. The interesting thing is that 67% of self-employed individuals and 66% of small business owners were more likely to strongly agree with this statement. In terms of the specific advantages, 88% of respondents said the top benefit was increased exposure for their businesses. Second, at 72%, was increased traffic/subscribers. With roughly two-thirds of all small business owners claiming social media was important to their businesses, it’s clear that a well run campaign can have a significant impact. You also have to take into account the possibility for going viral and seeing massive growth in an extremely short period of time. If you really understand your audience and know how to connect with them on social media, you can not only gain exposure but also earn your audience’s loyalty and bring repeat business. So in theory, a no-name startup can experience wide scale exposure overnight and get a flood of traffic along with off the chart sales. Potent social media strategiesI love social media because it gives small businesses the opportunity to convey their identities and build highly personalized relationships with their audiences. You can showcase your swagger and let consumers know why your company is worth doing business with. It may sound a little cheesy, but I think the most important part of finding success on social media is to be yourself. I, for example, am building my strategy with the specific goal of reaching MY customers and not worrying about the masses. This coincides with Seth Godin’s concept of building a tribe (a community) around your brand. Like the old saying goes, “Try to please everyone, and you’ll end up pleasing no one.” Dollar Shave Club is a great example of a brand that embraces being itself. Their off-kilter, slightly smart-ass marketing messages are unforgettable and definitely appeal to a certain segment of the population. Saying things like, “Our blades are f**king great” is ballsy. But it’s hard to deny that this attitude has been a key contributor to their success. Another integral element of a well run social media campaign is to be constantly engaging your audience. Whether it’s retweeting epic content relevant to your niche, responding to comments on your Facebook page, inviting others to connect on LinkedIn, or asking questions to ignite digital discussions, it’s important that you’re interacting. In other words, be on the offense. The great thing about social is that it can actually be used as an outlet for handling certain aspects of customer service. People love giving their feedback via social channels, which gives you an opportunity to strengthen relationships and quickly fix escalating situations when the feedback happens to be negative. It’s also essential that you’re using the right networks. Each social network has its own demographic and appeals to a different segment of the population. You want to make sure you’re spending your time on the networks your core audience is using. For example, if your target audience is primarily female, Pinterest would be one of your best bets because 81% of Pinterest users are female. Some other strategies include the following:
Change your idea of “SEO” to include social search enginesSEO is nearly synonymous with Google optimization. When I provide SEO advice, ranking tips, and coaching on SEO, most of the discussion centers around what Google likes, what it does, how it crawls, and why it behaves the way it does. However, we need to understand that search engine optimization includes the search that happens on social media search engines. Google isn’t the only search engine out there. Yes, there is Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL. But the amount of search that these engines manage is minuscule compared to Google. Look at a typical example of traffic generation: This pie graph demonstrates that Google is the dominant source of search engine traffic. There is a surprising reality lurking behind this graph that we don’t often think about. Social is a search engine too. Social referrals don’t register in the graph above because the social searchers have the company’s social page, not the company’s website (with analytics tracking), as their destination. Nonetheless, visitors who find the company on its social platforms are searching, accessing, and interacting with the company in a very real way. Social is the new SEO because social networks themselves function as powerful and widely-used search engines in their own right. Here are the big social search engines and their search capabilities. YouTubeYouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, second only to Google. Yes, Google bought YouTube in 2006, but YouTube is still a separate site with a separate search algorithm. Every second of every day, 1,140 searches are performed on YouTube. There is an enormous amount of content that is indexed on YouTube. With 100 hours of video being uploaded every minute, with 50% of Internet users accessing YouTube, with six billion hours of video viewed every month, and with one billion unique monthly visitors, YouTube is a force to be reckoned with. And it’s a social force. YouTube is a video sharing site. Get that: sharing. It’s social. If you’re not using YouTube, then you’re neglecting a valuable source of search traffic. Even if that traffic doesn’t end up on your homepage, it’s still enhancing your social presence. This could elicit a flood of conversions, brand awareness, and social growth that is outside the realm of conventional Google SEO optimization. Facebook has a highly-developed search engine. Its purpose is vastly different from Google’s because it is indexing the content and settings of personal and business identities. Facebook’s people search feature allows you to tweak your search settings to find individuals that you may know: This is a critical source of searched information because it taps directly into people’s pursuit of human relationships: Specific filter sets allow me to curate the exact results that I want: Facebook’s search bar allows instant search on any topic, organization, individual, or idea. It elicits thousands of searches daily and a deluge of targeted leads for companies and businesses who know how to work it. And all of this has no connection to Google whatsoever. Twitter is a search engine too. A big one. Statisticbrain reports that as of January 1, 2014, Twitter’s search engine manages 2.1 billion queries daily. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Search engine experts have been watching Twitter search metrics for a few years. Here’s a sample query for “google algorithm.” See what comes up? The first result is promoted. We can discount that one. In the second result, though, we see that there is a “top news story” by Barry Schwartz, posted on Search Engine Roundtable. This is a hot topic, and I can see that it was published just one hour ago. This kind of search appeals to me because I can get up-to-the minute results. I can even refine my search with a set of filters: If that’s not good enough, I can use Twitter’s Advanced Search functionality. This is a level of search in a source that is largely unreturned in Google’s results. But it’s still search engine optimization, just on a different search engine. And at a rate of 2.1 billion searches daily, there is an incredible amount of traffic that can be gained. Obviously, Twitter search is delivering Twitter-only results. In order to rank on these Twitter search results, you’ve got to:
Google crawls and indexes some social pagesSo, maybe the number of your followers doesn’t matter to the algorithm. But still, the content on social pages is indexed. Your social pages matter to Google. Here’s what Cutts said in his video:
This is somewhat vague. The phrase “if something occurs” doesn’t exactly inform you what that occurrence is. Nor does it tell you what kind of pages on social networks are indexed. Based on this response, I interpret Cutts’ words in the following way. I think what he’s saying is, “We only crawl some social pages, and we only return some of those results.” From conducting studies of my own, I have found that Google does crawl and return personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and LinkedIn pages for individuals. In the case of Facebook, a person’s account will show up in the SERPs only if the accessibility permissions have been adjusted to allow public viewing of certain elements on the page. My studies have also shown that there is an upside to having social pages for a business as far as Google SERPs are concerned. Companies with robust and optimized social accounts can and will gain greater search benefits from their social media accounts in Google SERPs. For example, the World Wildlife Fund has its Facebook account listed on the first page of Google for the queries “World Wildlife Fund” and “Wildlife Fund.” If you Google “Quicksprout,” you will see its Facebook and Twitter accounts in the second and third positions of Google’s SERP. This is a different type of SEO altogether. ConclusionCutts’ video on the role of social media in SEO suggests that future search results may provide tighter integration with social results. It’s evident that the web is an intensely social place. Maybe the size of your social empire is irrelevant. But your social presence is very relevant when it comes to search. No longer can we view the algorithm as a sterile and lifeless entity to be gamed, tricked, and cajoled by our clever SEO tricks. We must now realize the enormous impact of the social web. The web is comprised not merely of bits and bytes but of people, organizations, groups, causes, ideas, and human energy. We’ve observed that with Apple’s popularization of speech search (e.g., Siri) and Google’s Hummingbird update, even the style and syntax of search has a human, or conversational, element. As we move forward in the new SEO era of social, the takeaway is this — stay active on your social networks. Pay attention to them, curate them, improve them, enhance them, and remain plugged into this valuable resource. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/social-seo/ Among customer relationship management (CRM) software tools, Copper provides an easy-to-use option that’s best-suited for businesses that rely on Google tools and apps. Copper CRM works well for organizations looking to save a bit of money and don’t need the high-end services and features found with the top brand names in this category. Copper, previously called ProsperWorks and G Suite CRM, has a close integration with the various aspects of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). Copper pulls information from various Google apps, saving time on data entry and allowing your group to improve its efficiency and productivity. Although Copper did not make our list of the top CRM software packages, it has a key role in the market, helping small businesses get started with CRM. Copper Pros and ConsPros
Cons
Compare the Best CRM Software
There are dozens and dozens of CRM options out there on the market today. Check out our in-depth reviews of the best CRM software of the bunch to help with your decision.
See our picksHow Copper Compares to the Top CRM Software SolutionsAgainst some of the most popular CRM software options, Copper doesn’t quite have the same feature set or level of versatility. It’s an excellent choice for smaller organizations that rely on Google apps, such as Gmail and Google Calendar. Larger businesses may want to consider some of the other top CRMs, which have more power and versatility. Here is a brief description of four other CRMs that may serve your needs differently than Copper:
Copper’s Team SizeWhen choosing the right CRM for your business, it’s important to consider the organization’s size. When a company serves multiple types of clients, finding a CRM that can match the versatility of the business is essential. ![]() As a general rule and versus other CRMs, Copper works better for smaller organizations. Its Basic tier allows only three users, while the Professional and Business tiers do not have limits on the number of users. Copper has good automated lead management features, an area where many small and medium-sized businesses struggle. However, for larger groups with dedicated marketing departments, lead management is less of a problem, which negates some of the strengths of Copper. Copper’s CapabilitiesCRM software provides services in a variety of categories for businesses. Think about which kinds of services your organization needs from its CRM software. Some CRMs excel in a variety of areas, while others have a specialized area of strength. Lead Management and SalesThe Copper CRM does a good job with lead management for small businesses, working almost like a personal assistant by suggesting potential leads for an organization. Copper performs searches through your organization’s linked Gmail and Google Calendar accounts to find potential leads, alerting you to them through automated suggestions. ![]() Copper can also track when potential clients open your emails, letting you know when to follow up with them because they showed enough interest to open the message. As part of Copper’s administrative features, you can set up automated follow-ups to check on the leads and schedule calls. For organizations that need advanced lead generation features, Salesflare outperforms Copper, but you’ll pay extra for its features. MarketingCopper doesn’t match up to other CRM tools when it comes to developing marketing campaigns. It focuses more on generating sales leads than on general marketing campaigns. For CRMs with features that rank them near the top for marketing features, HubSpot and Salesforce would be great choices. Project ManagementCopper has a Projects tab that works similarly to a Kanban-style project board, using cards for creating tasks that the user can move through the To Do column, the In Progress column, and the Done/Completed column. ![]() Add members of your team to different cards, giving them tasks. The task cards will integrate with the various Google apps you’re using, pulling tasks from Gmail into Copper if desired. Copper certainly isn’t as detailed in its features in this area as a dedicated project management software package would be. But it will handle project management for organizations that have basic needs in this area. Copper’s IntegrationsTo make CRM software easier to use, it should integrate with the other tools and processes you’re already using. When CRMs can pull data from integrations with email software, social media packages, and calendars, it saves time and prevents potential leads from slipping through the cracks. Copper differs quite a bit from other CRM software in this area, as it focuses its integrations on apps from Google and Google Workspace, including Gmail, Google Sheets, Google Docs, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar. ![]() The Basic tier in Copper has limited integrations beyond Google apps, while the Professional and Business levels allow for integrations with several non-Google tools, including DocuSign, MailChimp, and QuickBooks. Still, versus other CRM packages, Copper’s level of integration with third-party software lags by quite a bit. Unless you’re a dedicated user of Google apps and very few other third-party software packages, you may need to look elsewhere for a CRM package that has more options for using integrations. We like Pipedrive as a high-quality CRM with multiple useful third-party integrations. Pipedrive provides more than 150 integrations, giving you a good chance of matching up with some obscure third-party software packages that your organization may use. Copper’s PriceCopper is a cost-effective CRM option for organizations that don’t have a huge budget, as long as your group doesn’t need all the bells and whistles. ![]() Here is more information on Copper’s three pricing tiers. BasicThe Basic tier costs $25 to $29 per user per month. It has a limit of three users and a limit of 2,500 contacts per month. It offers integration with most Google apps but will not integrate with third-party apps and software. It does not allow bulk email message generation. If you only need the most basic features in a CRM and only have a few people who need to use the software, this Basic tier may meet your needs. Just understand that it has quite a few limitations. ProfessionalThe Professional tier costs $59 per user per month. There’s no limit on the number of users, but there is a limit of 15,000 contacts per month. For a mid-level pricing tier, 15,000 contacts are more than you’ll find with most other CRM packages. It offers full Google Workspace integration, along with several third-party software integrations. For a small team in the process of growing, the Professional tier is a great option. The majority of organizations that choose Copper will probably end up at least starting with the Professional tier. Many may never need more features than what the Professional tier offers. BusinessThe Business tier costs $119 per user per month. There’s no limit on the number of users or contacts per month. Copper is one of the few CRMs that offer unlimited contacts at a price point this low. This tier offers full Google Workspace integration, along with several third-party software integrations. It has full reporting features, including extensive customization options for reports. Even though it doesn’t have a significant number of advantages over the Professional tier, the Business level is well worth considering for those who need unlimited contacts per month and advanced reporting features. Users can try out any of the tiers for a 14-day free trial. Pricing Versus Other CRM PackagesOther types of CRM software can carry a significantly higher price than Copper. The highest pricing tier for Salesforce is $300 per user per month, but Salesforce also offers a lower tier with a cost of $25 per user per month. Apptivo has a free tier and a $10 per user per month tier for those looking to spend as little as possible on a CRM. Copper’s Ease of UseAmong CRM software, Copper is one of the options with the smallest learning curve. It is incredibly user-friendly. The left pane contains all of the tools in the software, providing quick access. You’ll find menu topics across the top that reveal up-to-date tracking data in the working pane on the right. ![]() Additionally, Copper has an extensive help center available through its CRM interface, including a detailed FAQ and startup guide. Should you need to open a chat session with Copper, a support button at the lower right is always available. Copper’s automated features for sending team members suggestions about potential sales leads and assigning tasks further simplify using the software. Some users dislike the large number of suggestions that Copper generates, though, finding them overwhelming. For those seeking to use CRM features while out of the office, Copper has a mobile app that offers many of the same ease-of-use features found in the main cloud-based software package. By focusing on offering the most basic CRM software features within Copper, its developers keep complexities out of the software versus more advanced CRMs. Copper’s Report Generation FeaturesIn addition to its legacy reporting features, Copper recently added customized reporting features to its advanced software tiers, allowing users to see a more precise representation of lead generation and conversion. Users can select among preconfigured report parameters or specify the exact types of data to include with the report. The detail you can access with Copper’s reports is impressive, going as far as to provide reports on the communication levels between team members and their contacts. ![]() Because of Copper’s close integration with Google Workspace, its report generation features can use data Copper pulls directly from the Google Sheets app. This integration dramatically simplifies data entry and creating reports. Through Copper’s reports, team members can track the success of sales conversion and any failures to convert leads into actual sales. For those who need advanced report generation features at a greater level than Copper can generate, Pipedrive can collect large amounts of data and generate reports that provide insight into the organization’s level of success with sales. Copper’s Security MeasuresOne of the areas where Copper compares very favorably to some of the more well-known CRM packages is its security measures. Copper’s designers clearly take security seriously, protecting both the data that passes through the software and the personal information of its subscribers. ![]()
For those who need to match the security requirements of FedRamp or HIPAA, though, Copper does not meet those compliance standards.
Compare the Best CRM Software
There are dozens and dozens of CRM options out there on the market today. Check out our in-depth reviews of the best CRM software of the bunch to help with your decision.
See our picksCopper’s CRM offering is not the most powerful option on the market, nor is it a particularly good option for large organizations. However, for small businesses and organizations that want to start using an easy-to-use and straightforward CRM, Copper is a smart choice. Organizations that rely on Google apps for the majority of their communications needs or that have a subscription to Google Workspace will have the best chance of success with Copper. Google’s apps are simple and effective, and Copper follows this same type of design. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/copper-crm-review/ Dialpad Meetings is an easy-to-use conference call service. With robust call recording tools and a host of great features, it’s one of the best free conference call services. There are a few areas where competitors surpass it, such as the call audio quality, but it’s still better overall than most other conference calling services. Dialpad Meetings Pros and ConsPros
Cons
Compare The Best Conference Call Services
We reviewed dozens of conference call services and narrowed them down to the best options.
See Top PicksHow Dialpad Meetings Compares to the Best Conference Call ServicesDialpad Meetings holds up well against the other conference call services on the market, particularly those that are free. With its top call recording tools, its free plan is easily one of the best offerings available for individuals who want to jump right in, although some of its competitors’ paid plans beat it in a few areas. The call audio quality, for one, isn’t quite as good as it is elsewhere. Still, this is an excellent conference call service with plenty of useful features and a dedicated mobile app that impressively comes as standard on the free plan. The best conference services overall are RingCentral and GoToMeeting. RingCentral provides top video, screen sharing, and messaging features, and it’s free for up to 100 participants. Meanwhile, GoToMeeting is another top-notch conference call service known for HD video conferencing, 24/7 customer support, and Salesforce integration. Dialpad Meetings Call RecordingThe ability to record calls is a vital feature of any good conference call service. I’m pleased to see Dialpad Meetings offer it, allowing companies to record their business calls for the unbeatable price of free. Recording calls can be essential to improving customer service, allowing employees to learn where a call might have taken a wrong turn or understanding which places they could have directed a customer to instead. Of course, you might want to record calls to confirm details too. Dialpad Meetings allows companies to set up their system so that every call that comes through—whether through the main line, call queue, or department—will be automatically recorded and stored. These archived calls can then be listened to with select access to them when needed. That’s one way of recording calls with Dialpad Meetings. The other is to manually click Record on the on-screen menu once a call has started. You can also choose to record specific bits of a call and stop it by clicking the button again. For all recording methods, the call is converted into an MP3 file. This is then downloadable from a folder for personal use. It’s worth mentioning that MP3 files often take up little storage space—you can rest easy there. How does Dialpad Meetings stack up against its competitors? The answer is very well overall. It’s not unusual to see some services charge users for call recording. Not only that, but the system here is easy to use, flexible, and the file size of the calls isn’t a problem. Some long-term users have experienced issues with their call quality, but this is few and far between. Dialpad Meetings excels in this area. Dialpad Meetings Number of ParticipantsThe number of participants is a significant factor when it comes to using conference call services. The limit on the number of participants almost always changes based on plans. For example, with Dialpad Meetings, the free plan is for 10 participants, but the paid version allows for a much greater number at 100. How important this is, of course, comes down to what you need, and a small remote team would be well-served with Dialpad Meetings’s starting plan. On the other hand, a larger business might find this limit detrimental, leaving it unable to hold a call with everyone it needs to at a given time. As you can see from the picture below, Dialpad Meetings also limits the calls to a duration of 45 minutes on the free plan. Meanwhile, the paid tier allows calls to go on for up to five hours at a time. Against the competition, Dialpad Meetings’ offering here is generally satisfactory, although some of the other conference call services allow for more participants in a call on their starting plans. Another factor here is call duration. For example, Google Hangouts allows 25 people to be part of a call for free, and the call times are unlimited. Dialpad Meetings’s starting plan doesn’t match up to this, so keep that in mind when deciding on the best service for you. Dialpad Meetings Video and Audio QualityRegarding the call quality, we’re talking about both the video and audio here. Dialpad Meetings’ audio quality isn’t one of the greatest strengths of the service. Some customers have mentioned that audio calls can be uneven, with the quality varying between perfectly fine to difficult to understand what the other person is saying. It’s clear this isn’t a case for everyone, but the service isn’t faultless in this area. In terms of video quality, there is more consistency here. The video calls, which support resolutions up to 720p, are often stable throughout, although some people have mentioned it can occasionally be choppy. It’s fair to say that this can also depend on a user’s internet speed and quality. Dialpad Meetings recommends a bandwidth of at least 1.2-1.5 Mbps up / down for 1:1 calls, and for group calls, a rate of 1.2-1.5 Mbps up and 3 Mbps down. Compared to other conference call services, Dialpad Meetings does a good job overall, but it won’t be the highest quality service on either an audio or video level. For example, RingCentral offers consistent HD quality audio and video calls, and customers very rarely have any problems with either. It’s also worth noting that Dialpad Meetings doesn’t provide much in the way of extra features such as echo prevention, which, as the name suggests, can be helpful to prevent echoes during crucial meetings. Dialpad Meetings Voice IntelligenceDialpad Meetings features powerful Voice Intelligence (Vi) functionality that can accurately transcribe a call you’ve had with others. This can be an essential part of driving sales, gaining valuable audience insights, or improving customer service. The calls are transcribed mostly word-for-word, although occasionally there are a few minor issues concerning the accuracy. The calls are then generated in an easy-to-read format. Perhaps most impressive is the machine’s ability to learn and expand how successful it is at transcribing calls. Like something from a science fiction film, Dialpad Meetings’ call transcripts will increase in accuracy over time, and the VI system can process subtle nuances in conversations the more it’s used. It can determine different voices, too, allowing the transcripts to be easily read and understood. The ultimate aim here is to eliminate time-consuming tasks, so you can spend more energy elsewhere. Some extra features include the software being able to capture and highlight key “action Items” from your conversations and the option of searching the transcripts for specific keywords. A helpful post-call summary also includes vital details, such as searchable transcription and the overall meeting sentiment. Dialpad Meetings’ Voice Intelligence is undoubtedly a compelling offering then, but you may be wondering where it stacks up against its competitors. For instance, GoToMeeting can record the notes from a call automatically, and similarly, can transcribe key sections. The bottom line? There isn’t a massive difference in the capabilities on offer with Voice Intelligence and those offered by other top conference call services, which means Dialpad Meetings stacks up pretty well vs. competitors. Some users have noted VI being a particular highlight of the service, and it’s definitely a feature you’ll get a lot of mileage out of if you do choose Dialpad Meetings. Dialpad Meetings Screen SharingHaving the functionality to share your screen with others is a vital part of remote working. It can help you run through a task with your team and enhance the sense of collaboration between colleagues. Dialpad Meetings offers screen sharing in a simple and easy-to-use form. Users can share a screen by clicking the share screen button and can then choose whether to share a window or their entire screen with their audience. The even better part is that you don’t have to be an organizer of the call to share your screen—it’s available for both organizers and participants. While you can only share a single screen at any one time, different screens can be shared throughout the call in succession if needed. You’ll also be able to access conference controls, such as the mute feature, during a screen share. If you’d merely prefer to share a document or file, then that’s also an option. There’s no doubt this is a great feature, and I think it’s something all conference call services need to have as a standard to stay up to date with the modern world. The general capabilities on offer here are similar to what’s available elsewhere, and many services offer the ability to share screens. Dialpad Meetings isn’t providing users with something revolutionary then, but it’s a fundamental feature all the same, and users note it works very well on the platform. Dialpad Meetings Custom On-Hold MusicDialpad Meetings allows its users to upload and choose their on-hold music. Or, if they’d prefer, they can pick from a selection of music that’s ready to go. This feature might not seem like the most pressing of concerns, but it can have a powerful effect on customers while they wait. Many users of Dialpad Meetings have stated their customers have often brought up the on-hold music, mainly in a positive light, so it can be a novel way of adding some personality to your company image. There’s a distinction on what users can do between the plans. On the free plan, you’re stuck with the pre-recorded music. It’s only users of the paid-for business plan that get to upload their own music. This is only true for MP3 files, but naturally, you’ll be able to upload any song you desire as long as it’s in that format. They do have to be smaller than 10MB in size, though. Of course, you may feel it necessary to not use on-hold music at all, in which case, you’ll also have the option to make customers wait in silence. This functionality isn’t a unique feature to Dialpad Meetings. For example, RingCentral allows you to choose your on-hold music too, and it can be up to 20MB in size or the .wav file format in addition to MP3s—so there’s a bit more flexibility there. That said, this is one of those features that can, in some cases, be quite effective at creating the desired mood, so it’s great to see Dialpad Meetings offer it. Just keep in mind the paid plan alone allows you to upload your songs. Dialpad Meetings Calling and RoutingCalling and routing capability is a critical part of a conference call service and covers a somewhat extensive range of features. For a start, Dialpad Meetings offers its users the option to quickly transfer an incoming call to another individual with a single click. You’ll ask the potential recipient of the call if they can take it and can send it to voicemail if not. Other notable features include the ability to create a three-way call, so another person can join in the call if need be. A dial-by-name feature allows incoming callers to speak with the required individual they’re trying to reach by using the keypad to dial in their name. There’s a handy call flip feature that moves live calls from one device to another, so imagine moving a call from your laptop to your tablet and back again without a customer knowing about it. That’s without mentioning spam call blocking and transferring calls to a “parked area” to allow others on a different extension to pick up the call. There’s a multitude of features here that will satisfy Dialpad Meetings users. While many of these features aren’t unprecedented, they are still expected by most companies. I think they all help to make Dialpad Meetings a complete package.
Compare The Best Conference Call Services
We reviewed dozens of conference call services and narrowed them down to the best options.
See Top PicksSummaryIf you’re looking for a simple, straightforward conference call service, then Dialpad Meetings is one of the best options available today. With a vast number of robust features, great call recording, and an easy-to-use interface, you can’t go far wrong. The best conference call services for most people are still going to be RingCentral and GoToMeeting, but you should give Dialpad Meetings some of your time and consideration. It might well be the perfect service for you. via Quick Sprout https://www.quicksprout.com/uberconference-review/ |
Sean BrianWhile radishes deter certain insects naturally, they require similar growing conditions as carrots. Although the crops both have roots, radishes grow and germinate quicker, allowing carrots to continue growing in the soil space available when the radishes are harvested, Archives
April 2023
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