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Tools and Tips to help your business grow

When youre running a business, a lot of the tasks can fall on you to do, with no one to back you up or take the slack. This can lead to stagnation if youre left doing daily tasks rather than things which could help push you forward.

We thought we would ease the pressure a bit and provide you with some useful tools to help you run your business, and hopefully lead your business to growth.

Accounting

Keeping on top of your accounting and bookkeeping can seem like a headache. Invoicing clients, chasing payments, recording your purchases and keeping track of your bank account(s) all take valuable time out of your day.

There are various methods out there you can use to keep on top of it all, from hiring an accountant to using online software to manage it yourself. If youre thinking about using the route of managing it yourself, take a look at our sister site QuickFile.

Payroll

Keeping on top of your payroll needs can be complicated. Calculating how much you need to pay employees, whether you need to pay Employers National Insurance and pension contributions.

Firstly, check whether you are set up correctly with HMRC and make sure your choice of software can handle everything you need it to. If youre not sure which software you should use, HMRC has provided a list ofrecognised payroll software with both free and paid-for options.

Marketing

Promoting your business will make you more attractive than your competitors. There are several different forms of marketing, and finding the correct one for your business can really make a difference.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The more optimised your website is, the better a search engine such as Google will understand your site and could potentially improve your position on a search engine results page. This sounds a little complicated, but there are a few typical rules for you to follow which would set you on the right track. Semrush has written an interesting blog post on the subject of SEO. This is a good starting point if you want to dip your toe into SEO. However, to see real results, it may be better to hire an agency who specialises in SEO services.

Pay per Click Advertising (PPC)

Have you seen the adverts and sponsored links that appear on Google? These are done through PPC. This can be really quite confusing to use and hard to master. Fortunately, Hootsuite has created a useful guide on using Google Ads. However, like SEO, you may find it more efficient to invest in hiring an agency to do this for you.

Google Analytics

Do you know how your website is performing? How customers are interacting with it? How many pages have been visited? Probably not. The answer to this is using Google Analytics within the Google Marketing Platform. Google Analytics tracks your visitors (anonymously) to help you realise what pages are performing. You can use this to build and improve the content on your website. It also shows you where your traffic comes from - a good way to see if your PPC and SEO are performing.

Web Design

A website can make or break a business; you need to make sure your website looks the part and can be found by new customers. If your website looks outdated, then it could put customers off using your services/products.

Should I Use A Designer?

If you're looking for a new website or a refresh on an existing one, you can go to a designer and ask them to realise your vision. A good designer will guide you through the process, and inform you of any problems regarding expectations of the design which might not be the case with self-build websites. However, this can be an expensive option compared to self-build websites.

Build Your Own

There are several pieces of software available to create your own website; these are known as Website Builders. They can be less expensive than hiring a designer and can allow you to design and manage your own website. A quick search on Google reveals some of the top website builders - Go Daddy, 123-reg and wix.com.

Images for your site

Now that you have a website you need to have images on there to entice the viewer to stay and read about you and what you have to offer. But where can you find free or low-cost images?

Another thing to consider is you need to have the correct copyright permissions for the images.

Luckily for you Shopify have compiled a list of 40 stock image website for any size which can be found here.

These are just some tips and tools that will help you reach your potential and grow your business. What works for you? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.

The Company Wizard is not affiliated with any external websites and cannot be held responsible for any content posted to them and any losses made from using these services.

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