A website builder is a great solution for small businesses and individuals to set up a website. One can start a website without hiring a developer while attaining the most exceptional results. A good website builder will include the right amalgamation of themes, designs, specificities, and content management systems that the user can choose from. Thus, even a novice user can comfortably navigate through the easy manual.
The core of a website builder lies in the fact that the designer has an inherent power to create links, text, and images as desired. The disposition of the numerous tools ensures that one has the ability to create a dream website. An imperative factor while choosing a website builder is that it should fit all the requisites of the creator. There is a slew of options to choose from and this can make the process difficult. In no particular order, here are 3 popular website builders which you can check out:

Shopify
An extremely popular choice, this website builder is specifically designed to accommodate the needs of online stores and e-commerce websites. Shopify boasts of more than one million active users and several dollars’ worth of products being sold through the platform. The website builder is a complete solution because it undertakes managing software programs, updates, and even ensures a secure backup.

Weebly
A fully hosted platform, Weebly is an easy-to-use website builder. The platform comes with great designs to choose from and enables website crafting without any knowledge of coding. The slew of website design poses to be a great factor for users looking to create a strong design for their website. The platform also enables e-commerce support in case of shopping sites. The setup is uncomplicated and allows for the best user experience.

Wix
Wix is a cloud-based website builder and comes with the most powerful set of features. The popular platform renders a smooth user experience. One does not have to pay for hosting while choosing from a hundred or more templates available here. A user can also upgrade his/her account using numerous paid apps that can be installed using Wix.

One must carefully evaluate the given website builders and pick the one that is most suitable for the type of hosting requirement they are looking for.

Email marketing has become an essential part of a business’s digital marketing campaign. Unlike social media marketing, email marketing allows a business to lend a personal touch in its communication to the potential or the existing customers. Email marketing tools help a business send out autoresponders and newsletters to their subscribers and customers. Below are some of the most-used email marketing tools available online right now.

MailChimp
This is one of the easiest email marketing tools. The user interface (UI) is well designed, and it can be easily used by beginners to build a good email marketing campaign. One of the significant features of this tool is that it offers a 100% free account. Another significant feature is that MailChimp can be integrated with other marketing tools and social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, WordPress, Hubspot, and so on.  MailChimp allows you to send autoresponders and newsletters to your clients and customers. It has two payment plans—monthly subscriptions and pay-as-you-go plans.

ActiveCampaign
With monthly subscriptions starting at around $9, ActiveCampaign is one of the most affordable email marketing tools. It is rich with features and has a customer relationship management (CRM) system to manage leads and automation tools to turn the leads into customers. With ActiveCampaign, you can automatically create a targeted campaign based upon consumer behavior. The automation tools let you send pre-built, as well as conditional content emails to consumers and subscribers. This email marketing tool has a Zapier integration that allows you to connect the tool to other services like Salesforce, QuoteRoller, LeadFormly, Xero, Acuity Scheduling, Calendly, GotoWebinar, and Evernote.

GetResponse
Affordability and ease-of-use are two of the most notable features of this email marketing tool. While other services may charge more as your list of subscribers grow, GetResponse is known to keep subscription charges stable irrespective of the size of the list. With more than 500 well-designed email templates, GetResponse makes it easy to create newsletter and autoresponders, whether you are an expert or novice. These templates have been designed to be compatible also with mobile devices. One of the most significant features of GetResponse is the application program interface (API) that allows you to perform the custom integration. This is in addition to the off-the-shelf integration available with Salesforce, WordPress, Zendesk, Shopify, and PayPal.

A successful digital campaign requires strong email marketing. This component is also one of the more affordable options to get your company’s message across. However, crafting your mailer list is only one part of the whole process. The right email marketing tools provide you with an array of different ways to engage with your subscribers and customers at various stages of the campaign. 

But which are the best email marketing campaign software services? Let us find out. 

Constant Contact
It is one of the fastest and most extensively growing email marketing campaign software for businesses. It is beginner-friendly software and is very easy to use. You can use the tool to manage your contacts, email lists, edit your marketing calendar, email templates, and a lot more. Every account provides you with entry to emails and assures easy reporting and tracking. It also comes with Facebook ads integration, in-built tools enabling social media sharing, list segmentation, a free image gallery, and a potent eCommerce integration for Shopify stores. Constant Contact’s Email Plus accounts come with excellent features, such as coupons, surveys, polls, drip campaigns, email automation, subject line A/B testing, and online donation. In addition, their customer support is responsive.  

Sendinblue
It is an all-in-one platform covering several business communication types, such as CRM, Chat, Facebook, SMS, and Email. The company’s primary objective is to help you focus on vital tasks and leave the rest on autopilot with automation. This tool also enables you to create professional emails quickly, all thanks to its email builder. With SMS marketing, chat, automation, Inbox, and CRM, building compelling campaigns will be easy. In addition, to attract new leads, Sendinblue has an in-built FB Ads feature. 

Hubspot
Hubspot provides you with a featureful and reliable email marketing tool that is ideal for growing your business. The good thing about Hubspot is that it is free to use. With a simple drag-and-drop builder, you can create professional marketing emails to grow and engage the audiences. The emails that you design with HubSpot are pixel-perfect. If you wish to design customized touch-point for your users, you can use the HubSpot CRM, wherein you can add details such as the company name and first name to make the users feel personally addressed. 

Omnisend
This software provides a comprehensive email marketing automation platform that serves eCommerce brands quite well. You can use this software to expand your sales and boost newsletters with segmentation, automated emails, and SMS. Omnisend comprises welcome series, in-built automation for cart abandonment, and traditional emails to offer seamless buyer engagements.

If you’re looking for desktops for your business, and your research for the best computer has left you a bit confused, there’s no need to feel down because you’ve finally come to the right place. Dell is known to have a wide range of the strongest business computers out there on the market. They have quite a few options that are suitable for large-scale businesses as well as small businesses.

So to narrow your search down by a whole lot, here are a few of the best business desktops from Dell.

• Dell OptiPlex 3050 Micro Desktop
  This one is by far the best desktops Dell has to offer. It comes with a 7th Generation Intel Core, an Intel HD Graphic card, 4GB RAM, and 500GB storage space. Its dimensions are in line with the name, and its slim design makes it a must-have for an office space. This business computer from Dell also offers good specs that can be switched according to your needs. Not to mention, this is quite an affordable desktop computer.
• Dell OptiPlex 3020
  Another business computer from Dell, this one is a great starter for any business. The 3020 comes with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit along with an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro and offers great expandability on its specifications. The best part about this computer is that it is reasonably priced, making it worth for businesses that are large or small.
• Dell XP S 8930
  XP S 8930 is a great tower desktop that is not only business-friendly but also attractive. The base model comes with specifications that can, of course, be expanded if needed. It is backward compatible and comes with a USB-C port on its chassis. Although it is sleek, it does have plenty of power for demanding needs. This means that it is excellent for photo and video editing and basic data processing.
• Vostro 3000 series
  Dell Vostro is a line of desktops that is the perfect choice for small businesses. It’s not only reliable with scalable features but is also future bound. The series also comes with pre-installed Windows 10 Pro and an anti-virus solution and OS Recovery. It offers an impressive range of storage options and graphics.

Purchasing a business computer for your company can be a tricky task. Both online and offline stores are swamped with business computers from Dell, Lenovo, HP, Apple, and other great brands. A fast and reliable computer can greatly boost your employees’ productivity and the company’s performance.

If you’re looking for such computers, here are a few features and specifications that you must consider.

• Processor (CPU)
  If you need a computer that can multitask smoothly, then you should look for one with more processors. Essentially, a multi-core processor allows you to run several applications simultaneously and ensures a smoother computing experience. It’s recommended that you select at least a quad-core processor for graphics-intensive or heavy database jobs.
• Memory (RAM)
  RAM is another crucial component that lets you quickly access files while you’re multitasking. A rule of thumb here is that the higher the memory or RAM of the computer, the better it performs. Computer experts generally recommend that you look for one with at least 8GB RAM.
• Storage space (hard drive)
  Generally, business computers do not require much storage space as employees are not going to use them to save personal photos and videos. But, if you’re going to work with heavy files and software, it is recommended that you select a computer with an inbuilt storage space of no less than 500GB.
• Display
  If your company is into some graphics-intensive work or gaming, then a display with high resolution becomes quite important. Higher resolution means sharper and more detailed images. But, if you rarely need the computer for such use, then you can opt for any computer with a decent display.
• Ports and connectivity
  Connectivity is primary for most businesses, so ensure that your computer has as many ports and connectivity options. Some popular options are USB Type-C, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and HDMI ports, and computers with Bluetooth capabilities so that you can easily connect your Bluetooth devices.

Popular business computers

Now that you’ve understood what to look for in a business computer, here are some of the widely-used business computers from Dell, HP, Apple, and Microsoft. Depending on your budget, you can explore some other brands too. However, make sure that you don’t compromise on features that matter the most to your business.

• Dell® OptiPlex 3050 Micro
• Dell® OptiPlex 3020
• HP Elite Slice for Meeting Rooms
• Apple iMac Pro
• Apple iMac (27-inch, 2019)
• Apple Mac mini
• Microsoft Surface Studio

Research states that an engaged workforce always outperforms a disengaged workforce. Satisfied and engaged employees are far more productive. Also, they have been observed to be loyal to their organization. To enable this kind of engagement, it is essential to stay connected. This is where employee-engagement platforms become indispensable. Moreover, most organizations have employees working on the go or remotely, so employee engagement apps become even more useful.

Slack
Launched in 2013, Slack came to be known as an email and Facebook disrupter. Based on Cloud, Slack is a mobile-engagement tool and an internal communicator. It helps teams consolidate all their communications in one place. With Slack, employees can be part of channels like groups. These channels can be public or private. The channels here can be used to send messages, files, documents. Plus, Slack lets organizations create channels for specific clients and projects for a more streamlined work process. Additionally, Slack can be integrated with other platforms, like Dropbox and Hangouts.

Yammer
Yammer is a social networking app for professionals. It requires a company email ID for login and even has a mobile version. With this app, an employee can get push notifications whenever they are working remotely or out of office. An extension of the desktop app, Yammer lets employees send private messages to one another. Moreover, employees can send and receive photos and documents with OneDrive and Dropbox integrations. Since it is quite similar to personal social media apps (such as Facebook), employees do not need any professional training to use the app.

Tap My Back
This app is a tool for employee recognition and motivation. With this app, employees can recognize their team members for their contributions and actions in real-time. Additionally, team leaders can view team information on a single platform. The team leader can check all the actions listed for employees and provide feedback as well. This app lets team leaders check how engaged and satisfied the team members are. This information can also be used to list out goals for individual employees. Tap My Back brilliantly taps into the fact that engaged employees always result in positive outcomes for an organization.

All these apps are available on Google Play Store and the App Store.

Perhaps you already know that employee engagement is extremely important for keeping your employees motivated and satisfied and at the same time, boost their productivity. It’s even more crucial to understand that employee engagement platforms are more of a tool that helps keep your employees engaged. That said, it’s about time that you invest in a great employee engagement platform. Here are our top four employee engagement platforms for you to check out and see which one is perfect for your company.

OfficeVibe

OfficeVibe allows company owners to keep track of trends and patterns across the organization through regular, honest employee feedback. With OfficeVibe, you will know exactly where and when you’ll have the maximum impact on your company and which managers and teams need your support. Essentially, the platform sends a weekly survey with questions based on their 10 Key Metrics of Engagement to all employees. This includes 120 science-based and interactive questions to help you gauge the performance of your company.

15Five (Continuous Performance Management)

15Five is a continuous performance management platform that helps your employees grow and become their best selves. Through its strategic weekly check-ins, the platform delivers more than what a manager needs to maintain visibility. 15Five also has great features like high fives for employee recognition, 360-degree feedback, one-on-ones, and reviews. The platform is used by thousands of companies like Spotify, HubSpot, and Credit Karma to bring out the best in their employees.

Lattice Performance Management

Lattice provides an easy way to launch 360 reviews, share regular feedback and praises, facilitate one-on-one meetings, set up goals, and administer employee engagement surveys. It’s a very user-friendly product that makes employees’ work easier and saves time and resources of the HR team. The platform also offers various customization features that can easily adapt to your work culture. Globally, more than 1500 companies including Reddit, Slack, Samsara, and Cruise use Lattice to improve their performance.

Peakon

Peakon is not just a survey company, they are into data as well. So, their insight can really help transform your business. Their platform collects employee feedback, analyzes it, and sends insights all in real time. Employees are given the option of submitting their feedback via their computer, SMS, kiosk, or app. The platform can efficiently manage tens of thousands of employees.

Employee engagement is essential as it ensures that your employees are happy and satisfied. If you’re wondering why you should care about the happiness of your employees, we have the answer.

An average employee spends the majority of their time at work rather than at home. So, if an employee is unhappy with work, you can rest assured that the company will suffer. But if an employee is happy, they will work with passion, enthusiasm and will be dedicated and engaged with their work and we’ve already seen where that will take us.

But, if you’re still not convinced about the importance of employee engagement and still think of it as some modern corporate buzzword, here are some benefits that should completely change your mind:

• Retainment rates are higher
  Were you aware that almost a quarter of the employees at any organization are at high risk of moving out? Let’s not forget that among these would be highly talented people who would work wonders if they stuck around.
• Eliminates the cost of hiring and training
  Now, once those people have quit, you’ll need to rehire people. This means you will have to invest in not just hiring but also training a whole new set of people. Also, let’s not mention the disgruntled employees who are now over-pressured with extra work.
• Full workforce at hand
  Having a full workforce at hand has major benefits. Say someone on your team is sick and takes an off, having a full team means work can be handed off to another team member but if you’re already functioning at half power, you may soon be having an overworked and unhappy team.
• Improved productivity rates
  Well, if your team is at full strength and working like a well oiled cog in a machine, there’s absolutely no doubt to the fact that you’ll be hitting your targets and achieving high levels of productivity.
• Productivity breeds profitability
  If your work is getting done on time, you know you’ll be making profits.

How do you keep the employees engaged?

Well, there are many ways to do so but since we live in the age of the Internet, you can implement an employee engagement platform. Each employee engagement platform has their own style but a majority of them take on certain things such as daily feedback, company updates, shining the light on spotlights and so on.

So, ensure you don’t take your employees for granted and ensure that they are happy and engaged!

Gartner, Inc. is an advisory firm based in the country. The company works towards providing information, tools, data derived from research, tools, and advice. It also gathers solutions to enable customers to make better decisions on a day-to-day basis. The company has further developed a series of market research studies under the title of Gartner Magic Quadrant. It is one of the major products of the company. Here are a few things to know about the Garnet Magic Quadrant.

What exactly is the Garnet Magic Quadrant?
Produced by Garnet, Inc., the Magic Quadrant is a series of publications based on market research. The reports make use of an evaluation matrix for analyzing how tech-based companies are positioned. The series also rates various technology vendors on the basis of certain defined criteria. Along with this, the Quadrant also displays the strengths and weaknesses of vendors. Before the purchase of a particular technology service, solution, or product, the Magic Quadrant can be used for the evaluation of a vendor.

How does Gartner Magic Quadrant divide various vendors?
The Magic Quadrant’s evaluation of vendors is based on two parameters: execution ability and vision completeness. The vendors are classified into four quadrants: leaders, challengers, visionaries, and niche players.

• Leaders
  These vendors score high on both the parameters and are usually ranked at the top of the quadrant matrix. These are vendors with established businesses, strong market positions, and large customer bases.
• Challengers
  These vendors are nearly close to the leaders in their rankings. Often, these vendors score low on the vision parameter. However, they have the potential to become leaders if they work on improving their future plans.
• Visionaries
  These vendors are small players with significant visions. However, they often lack the resources for the successful execution of their vision.
• Niche players
  These vendors are start-ups that score the lowest in both the parameters of execution and vision.

What are the advantages of using Gartner Magic Quadrant?
Using a series of researches, the quadrant sets the market. By analyzing this, organizations as well as individuals determine the progress of a specific market domain. This will help businesses to reach their goals by changing their strategies and gain success in their segments.

Are there any precautions to take against using Gartner Magic Quadrant?
Always take a note of the date on which the Quadrant was developed. This will help to avoid analyzing an outdated quadrant, which may lead to inaccurate results. Also, ensure that there are more companies of the specific domain regarding which information is sought. The more companies there are in the quadrant, the more complete will the end results of the quadrant be. Furthermore, make sure to analyze the main geographical market. The quadrant contains world-wide data. This makes it difficult to look for local data.

Business intelligence is the process in which strategies are incorporated to analyze the existing data of the business by deciphering trends and patterns to make better decisions for current operations. Business analytics, on the other hand, is the strategy to continue exploring and interpreting data to drive future operations. Although the differentiating line between business intelligence and business analytics may appear confusing, all you need to know is that while business intelligence focuses on past and current data for present functioning, business analytics is all about the prediction for better future plans by analyzing the present data. 

Here we have listed some perks of using the business intelligence and analytics system:

• Easy data storage and usage
  Business intelligence and analytics tools help bring the stored data to use for the company’s growth. It enables companies to analyze and track trends and use them for their growth with ease. 
• Profitable planning
  The results obtained using the system can help brands come up with user-centric campaigns resulting in high engagement with the target audience. The interactive dashboards that are a part of these tools help translate the collected data into intelligible plans for the brand or the company’s growth. A better analytics strategy leads to higher growth.
• Financial control
  Business intelligence and analytics tools can also prove to be useful in not only creating but also launching campaigns and programs. The company can make use of these tools by creating target audience specific plans, adjust budgets, and manage cash flow to optimize finances. The advanced technology helps in developing campaigns that work for the company and make marketing strategies cost-effective.
• Analytical insights can help reduce expenses

Data insights generated at the corporate and departmental levels can help identify cost-avoidance opportunities and cases of spending that are wasteful.

Some of the most trust-worthy business intelligence and analytics tools are a complete mix of many factors. They are user-friendly, easy to use and understand, and can be easily shared by the company’s internal system. A few popular business intelligence tools are Datapine, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau Desktop, Sisense, Dundas and Zoho Analytics. A few noteworthy business analytics tools are Python, Apache Storm, Splunk, SAS, R, and Excel.

Although both these terms are often used interchangeably, business intelligence and business analytics stand for different functions. With the increased amount of data available in this day and time, both prove to be an important part of data science and play a crucial role in the current and future functioning of companies. The combined use of both business intelligence and business analytics complement the other and result in maximum goal achieving.