After COVID-19, many businesses have moved to an online model. Remote working has become the norm, and office-based businesses have had to adapt. There are many remote working tools used for different aspects of online businesses. As an entrepreneur, you need such tools to help you automate processes, manage your website, track your analytics, and more. Below is a list of 18 essential tools and software for building any online business.
Content Management & Marketing Online Business Tools
WordPress
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that enables you to create a website or blog from scratch or to improve an existing website. It’s free and open-source software used by millions of people and large organizations worldwide. To start with WordPress, you’ll need a domain name and hosting. Once you have these setups, you can install WordPress and start customizing your site.
There are thousands of free and paid themes and plugins available for WordPress, which you can use to change the look and feel of your site, and add new features and functionality.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is one of the most popular social media management platforms that allow you to schedule and publish content on social media. The software provides various tools and features to help you grow your online presence. Things that you can do with Hootsuite include creating and publishing social media posts, monitoring mentions and conversations on social media, analyzing your social media analytics, and setting up social media alerts.
Hootsuite helps teams easily connect and manage all social media accounts in one place. You can use it to post updates, track your analytics, and measure your overall success.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email marketing platform that helps users create and send newsletters and promotional offers, manage email campaigns, and more. It offers various templates and allows you to customize your email designs. You can also track how successful your email campaigns are with detailed reports.
Mailchimp makes it easy to grow your subscriber list and target your audience with specific content. You can also automate your email marketing tasks with triggers and workflows.
Communication & Collaboration Online Business Tools
Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing and online meeting platform that allows users to connect anywhere. With Zoom, users can hold online meetings, webinars, and group conferences with up to 50 participants. It also offers a variety of features such as screen sharing, recording, and chat capabilities.
Zoom is a great way to stay connected with colleagues, clients, and customers. It’s easy to use and provides various features that can make online meetings and conferences more productive. If you’re looking for a way to improve your online business meeting experience, stick to Zoom.
Slack
Slack is messaging software that lets users communicate in real-time. It’s at the top of the best tools to grow an online business as it helps teams stay organized and track what everyone is working on. With Slack, you can create channels to discuss specific topics, invite others to join the conversation, and share files and links.
Slack enables teams to move their business collaboration to one place to keep everyone on the same page and get work done faster and easier. It also offers a variety of features such as search capabilities, notifications, and an incredible number of integrations with other apps.
Trello
Trello is a project management tool that helps you keep track of your to-dos and tasks. It’s based on the Kanban project management method, a system that helps you optimize your workflow by visualizing your tasks and progress. You can create boards for different projects and add lists and cards to each board. Cards can be assigned to different people and include due dates, attachments, and notes.
The visual interface of the software makes it easy to see what’s been completed and what tasks still need some work. Trello also offers a variety of integrations, so you can use it with other software you’re already using, like Google Drive or Slack.
Ecommerce & Payments Online Business Tools
Shopify
Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms with features that make it easy to run an online store. It has a user-friendly interface, a good deal of e-commerce website design templates to choose from, and it integrates with various payment processors, so you can accept customer payments. Shopify also offers apps and plugins you can use to extend the functionality of your store.
Shopify also offers apps and plugins you can use to extend the functionality of your store. It’s a good option for businesses of all sizes, but it’s especially well-suited for small businesses and startups.
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular payment processors, and it’s widely accepted by online merchants. If you’re selling products or services online, you’ll need a way to accept payments. PayPal is a good option for small businesses because it’s affordable and easy to set up.
To accept payments with PayPal, you’ll need to create a business account and then add a payment button to your website. When customers click the button, they’ll be redirected to PayPal’s website to complete the transaction.
Stripe
Stripe is another payment processing platform that helps businesses easily accept credit card and debit card payments from customers worldwide. It also provides businesses with tools to help them manage their payments, including reporting and fraud prevention tools.
Starting your work with Stripe, create an account on the platform and then generate an API key. Once you have an API key, you can integrate the platform into your website or app. Stripe has detailed documentation that shows businesses how to integrate their payment system.
Content Creation Online Business Tools
Canva
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool that is perfect for creating professional-looking visuals for your online business. You can make everything from social media posts and ads to digital products and e-book covers.
If you’re not a design expert, don’t worry! With over 1 million templates and tools and varying levels of complexity, you can create any kind of graphic you need quickly and easily. You can also add branding to any design, making your visuals unique.
Blender
Blender is a 3D creation suite that can be used for everything from creating 3D models and animations to rendering and composing. You can also use it to create product renders to promote your products online. The great thing about Blender is that there’s no need to be a 3D expert to use it – the software is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive. You can find plenty of tutorials online to help you get started.
Video editing in Blender is also a breeze, thanks to the software’s powerful video editor. You can add special effects, transitions, and titles to your videos with just a few clicks. If you don’t want to use Blender, there’s other video-editing software with no watermark available, so don’t hesitate to try it.
Pexels
Pexels is a great resource for high-quality stock photos. You can use their photos for your website, social media posts, and marketing materials. All of Pexels’ photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license, which means you can use them however you like, without asking for permission or attributing the photographer. This makes it easy to create professional-looking visuals quickly and easily.
Pexels has a huge library of photos, so you’re sure to find the perfect photo for your needs. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, they also offer a premium subscription that gives you access to even more photos.
Productivity Online Business Tools
Todoist
Todoist is a good task manager that can help you stay organized and productive. It has a clean, user-friendly interface and lets you create to-do lists, set priorities, and add due dates. Todoist also integrates with other online tools, such as Google Calendar, to help you stay on top of your work.
Todoist has a handy mobile app that helps you take your tasks with you wherever you go. You can also share your lists with others and collaborate on tasks.
Evernote
Evernote is a cloud-based note-taking and organizing application. It allows you to take notes, create to-do lists, capture ideas, and more. The tool can be accessed on any device, making it a perfect option for entrepreneurs who are always on the go.
Evernote has many features that make it an ideal tool for an online business, including the ability to store your thoughts in one place, share any type of media, and work on mobile in offline mode. You can also use it to create a virtual workspace for collaboration with team members.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud-based storage and file sharing service that allows users to synchronize files and folders between devices and backup data. You can use Dropbox to store documents, photos, videos, and more. Its features include collaboration tools, real-time activity monitoring, and version control.
You can access the service online or through its mobile app. To collaborate on a project, send a link to your team members to give them access to your Dropbox folder. This way, you can see who’s working on what and leave comments on files.
SEO & Analytics Online Business Tools
SEMrush
SEMrush is a powerful SEO and analytics tool that allows you to track your website’s search engine rankings and the keywords that are driving traffic to your site. It also provides detailed reports on your website’s traffic, including where your visitors are coming from and what pages they visit.
Using SEMrush, you can research your competitors to see what keywords they are ranking for and then use them to improve your website’s ranking. This is a valuable tool for any online business that wants to improve its visibility on search engine results pages.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It can track visitor activity on your website, including the number of visitors, their location, and the pages they visit. Google Analytics can also help you identify successful marketing campaigns.
The work in Google Analytics is simple: create an account, add your website, and start tracking your data. You can then view reports to see how your website is performing. Understanding your website’s data enables you to make informed decisions to improve your online marketing strategy.
Zoho Analytics
Zoho Analytics is a comprehensive business intelligence and analytics platform that helps you track your website’s performance, measure your marketing efforts and understand your customers better. With Zoho Analytics, you can create insightful reports and dashboards and share them with your team members or customers.
Zoho Analytics helps you to explore, visualize, and analyze your data to make better business decisions. It offers a wide range of features such as data discovery, data modeling, and predictive analytics.
Wrap Up
There are many different business software programs to help you run a profitable online business. The ones that we’ve listed here are just a few of the most essential. Using these tools, you’ll streamline your work, communicate more effectively with team members, and better understand your website’s performance.
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