Running your own online business has many benefits. You get to be your own boss, make your own hours, and do what you really love. But, as wonderful as it is, it is also incredibly challenging. Most people are only able to see the end result, but what they don’t realize is how much time, money, and effort goes into creating and keeping your online business a success story. And yet, despite burning through all of your savings, spending many sleepless nights, and making one mistake after another, and learning from them, you will still feel like you’re coming up short.
And it’s true because you could always use more money, more time, or an extra pair of hands to boost your business efforts, even if it’s just for the sake of feeling more secure. But, until you are able to afford those things, you can still grow your business by relying on helpful sites and online resources. For this article, we have chosen seven essential sites which can help you turn your online business into a smash hit, and make your life just a little bit easier. Keep on reading.
Best Sites for Your Online Business
1. Google Trends
Whether you are just starting out, or if your business has gained some traction on the market, you could make use of Google Trends, which will help you keep a closer eye on what’s trending in your niche or industry. This will help you respond to the needs of your customers even better. While there are other sites which offer a similar service, Google Trends is incredibly easy to use, and you don’t even have to sign up or log in. Just type in your keyword or phrase and Google Trends will display how it has performed over a particular time period. And it won’t just tell you how your keyword is doing on sites, because you can also focus on images, YouTube, news outlets, and shopping sites like Amazon. You can also set it up so that you receive alerts on keywords you consider important.
2. TopAussieWriters.com
Every successful online business needs to feature high-quality content, so that it can promote itself and reach its target audience. However, since you will have to do several things at once, and because nothing is more important than growing your business, you could use some outside help when it comes to content creation for your sites. We recommend TopAussieWriters, which is one of the best online writing and editing services. Their professional writers are very experienced when it comes to writing content for sites, blogs, and landing pages. You can also get them to go over your existing content and polish it. But, most of all, they are able to deliver quality content in a timely manner, which is important when online businesses are required to post frequently and consistently.
3. Upwork.com
Since you won’t be able to hire a lot of people in the beginning, or anyone for that matter, a good solution would be to hire a freelancer to shoulder some of the burden. Whether you are in need of writers, designers, photographers, marketing specialists, developers, or SEO experts, the largest, and certainly one of the best sites where you can hire people is Upwork. With millions of freelancers singing in each day, you will be able to find someone who is skilled, yet affordable enough for your budget. And the best thing about Upwork is that it’s free. The only thing that will cost you is the payment processing fee, which is 2.75%, which definitely won’t break the bank, especially when it comes to smaller projects. You can also check out detailed freelancer profiles, including their job success score, and client reviews.
4. Bufferapp.com
Social networks are one of the best ways to promote your business online. Not just because there is a wide variety of social media sites, but also because they are (almost) free, and because it’s so easy to find the right kind of audience, since everyone is already there all the time. However, randomly posting updates and links on your social media profiles will not do your business much good, since you may end up flooding your audience with updates. Also, there is the issue of optimal posting times for your posts, which are different for all social media sites. Since you can’t be around 24/7, we recommend that you check out Buffer. This brilliant tool will enable you to schedule your social media posts in advance, and publish them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites at times when their users are at their most active.
5. CrazyEgg.com
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a tool which would tell you how your customers are interacting with your sites? Sure it would, and It would be even better if the results were presented in an easily digestible and intuitive form, instead of just dry stats. Well, you are in luck, because Crazy Egg is such a tool. Basically, it creates a visual heatmap of your sites and your landing pages. This can help you optimize the design of your pages, and even test out potential new design, and see how they fare among your audience. And while other apps will only tell you about the number of visitors, and perhaps even their location and the device they are using, Crazy Egg will also let you know whether they are scrolling or clicking. You can also choose between four different views: Heatmap, Scroll, Confetti, and Overlay.
6. Google Analytics
Even if your online business is doing great, you still need to know the reason why it’s doing great. You need to be able to see which changes and tweaks produce which results, otherwise it’s a just a shot in the dark. On the other hand, your online business can tank, and you won’t know the cause of it. This is where Google Analytics comes in really handy, since it tracks just about everything about your sites and blogs, and that includes traffic, the location of your visitors, the platforms they are using to access your website, as well as information on whether they’ve arrived there through paid ads or via organic search. On top of it all, Google Analytics is free to use, regardless of how many sites you are tracking with it. Also, you can present all of the results in the shape of charts and graphs, which are much more user-friendly than just plain numbers.
7. Quora.com
Although it may not seem like an obvious choice, Quora is one of the best sites if you are trying to get your online business off the ground. Since you are just starting out, you won’t have all the answers and that’s ok, because you can find an answer to just about anything on Quora. Simply post your question and wait for someone to provide you with an answer. More often than not, it will turn into a lively conversation, which will become a true goldmine of useful information. Also, Quora will provide you with suggestions on similar topics, where you will be able to find even more stuff that might help you out. But, don’t forget to give back once you have gathered enough experience and learned the ropes of running an online business.
Conclusion
Turning your online business into a success story is not something that will happen overnight. But, if you are determined, willing to learn, and using the right tools for the job, rest assured that you will be able to develop it and reap all of the benefits that come with being in full control of your own future, with as few of the drawbacks as possible. Work hard, be patient, and it will pay off in the end. Good luck!
