Now is The Time to Create a Sound Digital Workplace
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Now is The Time to Create a Sound Digital Workplace

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has forced life to a standstill for most of us. Almost every country, the world over, has declared a lockdown to abate the spread of the coronavirus.

While many are sitting home with work paused and earnings taking a hit, many are fortunate to be able to work from home via computers. For those working from home, it is important for you to build a digitally sound workplace like some people are putting in place.

Remote Working

Tools like Slack and Google Hangouts are helping offices collaborate with each other with more time spent on video conferencing and chatting to compensate missing on time spent together in an office. This has to be done to make remote working as productive and healthy as possible.

Daily virtual meetings

It is important to hold a team meet every morning so all team members are on board with the goals and targets set by team leaders for the day. This helps organise better and leaves little room for confusion and acts of omission on the part of team members.

Assign a workstation to yourself

The importance of a dedicated workstation for your office work cannot be stressed enough. Balancing your laptop on your knees while you are perched on a couch or on your bed is a bad idea and it makes you realise why offices have chairs and tables for you to work on.

Email and phone etiquette

One of the biggest challenges working from home and having a sound digital workplace is maintaining office-like silence. So fellow workers and seniors appreciate you for ensuring zero distractions while you are attending phone calls. Similarly, quick and prompt replies on email or collaboration tools like Asana or whichever platform you use reflects on your personality and seriousness with work.

Take breaks

When you are at home, you tend to either get distracted too often or work too intensely for long stretches. It is best that you ration your time wisely and take a stroll or two in between work to break the monotony of working from home for days on end.

We, at Sprout Road, an IT company in Kolkata, are working from home and we have managed to streamline our work processes and schedules perfectly in less than a week. Sprout Road recommends you read this blog to be fully equipped to work from home most productively.

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6 Reasons Why you Should Get a Blog for Your Website
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6 Reasons Why you Should Get a Blog for Your Website

When you opt for website development services the first thing that should be on your mind is the fact that your website should be an active one, not a static platform that is lost in the Internet’s timeless limbo. The best way to make your website stay alive is to power it with inbound marketing techniques like business blogging, the benefits of which are manifold. Here is a look at 6 reasons why you must opt for a blog when getting a website developed.

  • Blogs generate traffic

Blogs are a cost-effective way of driving traffic to your website. All major search engines show a strong affinity to fresh, relevant and original content and they throw up search results based on this affinity. So your website has a greater chance of being indexed owing to its blogs. Moreover, insertion of industry- relevant keywords in blogs helps drive relevant traffic to your website.

  • Engage with customers

Engagement with customers online is a very crucial part of online marketing and branding. Blogs are one of the most interactive and engaging mediums of information dissemination and connecting with old and new customers. People on the Internet are hungry for relevant information written conversationally and your blogs can be a free gift of information to them. Moreover, if customers respond in the comments section, you can reply to their concerns and queries.

  • Build your brand

Every product or service has to have brand value in the market for it to sell. Building your brand and having a brand story is as important as selling your product or service because customers tend to prefer brands they can trust. Blogs help you spell out your core business values, what you essentially stand for, the nature of your products and services and how you value your customers and clientele. They serve as the book ends to your business.

  • Demonstrate expertise

Blogs are an excellent medium to flaunt your domain knowledge and expertise in your field of operation. You can write blogs on the production process or touch on topics related to your product’s market and trends – anything that catches the reader’s eye. And the more original and relevant the content, the more will your customers, clients and even competitors trust you.

  • Market Digitally

Blogs, if they are interesting, information-rich and unique, can find wide traction on the Internet and even beyond with people sharing the blog through phones and social media. This in turn helps market your brand widely and inexpensively. It can also lead to conversion to leads if people choose to click on your call-to-action buttons in the blogs they have particularly taken a liking to.

  • Pen down your thoughts

Blogs are a great way to express yourself and communicate to the world what you really believe in and stand for. It is a great medium to help you assert your individuality and stand apart from the crowd that is the Internet.

Now that you have a fair idea about the importance of blogs to your website, you should try to generate blog ideas and content regularly for visitors and search engines to know you are alive and kicking. Sprout Road, a premier website builder in Kolkata, recommends you enlist the services of a professional content writer for your blog section so you can put out quality content regularly.

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4 Neat E-mail Tricks for Offline Businesses
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4 Neat E-mail Tricks for Offline Businesses

So yours is one of those businesses that are yet to go online? And you are not ready to take the plunge yet? Fret not for you have at your service a trusted way of communicating with your clients and prospective customers over the Internet– through email. But sending out emails is not as simplistic as it looks. You need to work on several aspects of your email to win the trust of your customer and make an impact on him or her. Here are a few handy tips for your email strategy.

Custom E-mail

Sending out emails from Gmail or Yahoo reflects poorly on you and your business because it is perceived as more of a personal platform to share mails on.

It is perceived as being unprofessional. Instead, what you can do is create a custom email on any of the many email-hosting platforms with your own domain name, something that is taken seriously. Having a custom email like yourname@companyname.com shows professionalism and gives a corporate feel. Zoho Workplace and G Suite are some of the popular custom email platforms in the market.

Email Signatures

The last impression is a lasting one, some thing you will be remembered by. So signing off well and impressively is as important as the presentation of the content of your email. Ideally, you should have an email signature that has your name, your company name, social media links, your phone number etc. A small paragraph or a catchy tag line that embodies the story of your brand could be added as well.

Email Tracker

No one likes shooting an email and having to wait endlessly for a reply or a reaction. Thanks to email tracking software you can now know when a customer opens an email, opens attachments or simply ignores your email. This gives you knowledge about customer behaviour and helps you target the right clientele for your business. Imagine what you could do if you found out your potential client has opened your email but not replied (you follow up and add value that’s right).

Pre-email signature content

Sometimes having some content before your email signature can be a great way to educate or promote the email receiver about a product or service or something you believe in.

Pre-email signature content reads like – (a). Save upto 20% on your hosting. Ask me how or (b). Contactless delivery partners can now get a cashback. Get in touch for more information.

Conclusion

Business today is all about marketing yourself and your product well. So impressing your customers with good communication skills and a robust one-on-one mail policy is as important as selling them a great product. It is akin to dressing up sharply for a business meet. You obviously want to look your best before prospective investors and clients! We, at Sprout Road, suggest you incorporate these strategies at the earliest if you have not already done so. Sprout Road is one of the best Internet marketing companies in Kolkata. Also, you might want to read our blog on why the COVID-19 lockdown is the best time to take your business online here.

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4 Essential Decisions You Must Take To Set Up Your Ecommerce Store
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4 Essential Decisions You Must Take To Set Up Your Ecommerce Store

Opening an ecommerce store and setting it up involves immense hard work and endurance. You must be brimming with ideas, open to change and equipped with quality research before taking the plunge. That said, there are a few more essential decisions you need to take to set up your online store like acquiring a custom domain name or selecting a payment gateway provider. Here are some pointers to help you set up and launch your ecommerce store.

Choose an appropriate Domain Name

Choosing a domain name, besides choosing which product you want to sell, is a task unto itself. An attractive, short and crisp name, both meaningful and symbolic, is what you want should represent your business.

If you are having difficulty finding a domain name, there are name generators like Namelix, Domainhole and Shopify’s name generator to assist you.

Know what products are suitable for e-commerce

Your product details are what customers will be reading primarily. So ensure they are perfect. Product photographs should ideally be taken by a professional photographer so you have quality images with the best lighting and backdrop on display.

Your prices should be competitive and attractive and graded according to product quality and features. And ensure you have a detailed product description with dimensions, colour, number of items and even a returns policy stated clearly.

Select a suitable Payment Gateway Provider

Payment is the holy grail in the relationship between a customer and a seller. Therefore, you must ensure customers have a seamless, secure and hassle-free payment experience. Choose a payment gateway that is secure.

Choose a gateway that accepts Master Cards, credit cards and e-wallet payments. Equally important is choosing whether you will offer cash on delivery payment option.

Select a cost-effective and reliable Logistics Provider

Firstly, you have to decide whether you want to ship locally or internationally.

Secondly, you must decide if you are going to pay for shipping and packaging out of your profit margins or the customer will pay or you both will share the cost. Based on these decisions, you go ahead and set up your ecommerce store.

Remember, an equally important aspect of the success of your store is a great ecommerce website, the door to your store. Sprout Road is a premier ecommerce company in Kolkata. We suggest you sign up for our ecommerce website development services for the best results.

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Top5 Content Management Systems to choose from in 2020
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Top 5 Content Management Systems to choose from in 2020

Making a website of your own has become more exciting and easier than ever before because of the sheer number of Content Management Systems or CMSs available. A CMS is a web application that enables you to publish and manage content on the Internet.

While most think CMSs are meant for blogging, the truth is that CMSs today are highly customisable and can be used for absolutely any kind of project including ecommerce sites and private membership sites. Here is a list of top CMS platforms you can use to develop your website.

WordPress

This open source software is unarguably the most popular one today and it boasts the largest market share among competitors. It is ultra easy to use and navigate and it is highly customisable with a large database of themes to chose from.

Joomla!

This open source platform, like WordPress, has a large library of templates and extensions to choose from. But it is not advisable for beginners because of its complicated interface. It is a good option to build your ecommerce site on for it has extensions for this.

Drupal

This open source software powers some of the most prestigious websites out there including The Economist’s. Many universities use it too. It is suitable for developers to handle especially for websites that are very complicated and designed to manage a large amount of content.

Magento

This powerful open source ecommerce platform from the software giant Adobe is one of the most competent and customisable CMSs available. It is, however, on the expensive side of things and you need specialised developers to build your website for you.

Shopify

This is an all-in-one hosted CMS platform. You do not need to purchase hosting or manage updates and backups. It is a brilliant platform for setting up an ecommerce store with an easy drag-and-drop interface. You can accept both debit card and credit card payments through Shopify Payments.

There are many more CMSs out there in the market. We have covered only five. What we suggest you do is first identify the purpose of your website – will it be a blog or an ecommerce platform or a private membership website? And then proceed to research on the type of CMS you want to go for. Sprout Road, a premiere website development company in Kolkata, recommends WordPress for websites and Magento for ecommerce platforms.

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Why You Should Get a Dynamic Website?
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Why You Should Get a Dynamic Website?

Years ago when the Internet was just taking root, most websites used to be static. They were a bunch of pre-written HTML, images and resource files.

If one had to make a change to the layout of a static website one had to painfully edit each page manually. It was a simple platform but its simplicity was its major drawback.

With the advancement of time and technology, however, websites have come to become dynamic. This means they have a database backup and are powered by a server-side programming language like PHP. Dynamic websites come with a lot of advantages.

1. Easy content updation

It is easier to update content on a dynamic website that is run on a Content Management System (CMS). It is as simple as clicking on ‘New Post’, adding the content and clicking on ‘Publish’.

2. Quick makeovers

Secondly, you can give your website a site-wide change to font or backdrop colour in minutes. In a dynamic website, especially those run on user-friendly platforms like WordPress, you can change the font, images and text.

3. Easy Content Management

It is very easy to manage content on a dynamic website. If you have decided you no longer want a bunch of pages on your website anymore you can just filter them out and delete them, something that would take much longer on a static one.

4. Interactive

A dynamic website is more interactive and engaging. It provides a personalised experience to users with features like last visited page, or recommendations for product purchases. Users like to visit platforms that cater to them specifically.

5. Professional look

Dynamic websites look much more professional and competent as compared to static ones. They show the visitor that you are serious about your business and intent.

If you’re thinking of getting a website developed, make sure you ask for a dynamic site. Sprout Road is a premiere ecommerce company in Kolkata and we always suggest our clients to take up dynamic sites.

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Top Facebook Updates You Can't Miss
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Top Facebook Updates You Can’t Miss

The world has changed over the past two months because of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. As of April 24, 2020, over 27,25,000 persons have been affected by the novel virus and thousands have lost their lives due to fatal infections from the virus.

Nations have decreed lockdowns and economies have come to a grinding halt. In such a situation, business processes like marketing efforts have undergone a change in language and immediacy. Let us review some of the changes Facebook has undergone in these unprecedented times.

Facebook Ads

Facebook announced it no longer holds it mandatory for advertisers to use campaign budget optimization or CBO. “With campaign budget optimization, you’ll be able to set one central campaign budget for all of your ad sets, and we’ll automatically and continuously distribute that budget in real time to your top performing ad sets.” You can access Facebook’s announcement regarding CBO here.

Facebook Marketing

  • Facebook has announced that changes to its moderation process and the fact that its staff is away from work might result in delays and errors in ad reviews.

So it is advisable to design and upload ads for approval much earlier than you need them so you have time to edit or change the ad or even appeal.

  • Facebook is currently testing new features that limit the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19, on both Whatsapp and Messenger.

Some pieces of misinformation regarding magical cures and government action have gained a lot of mileage on these platforms.

  • Facebook has banned ads and listings that “seek to capitalize on fears” around the coronavirus pandemic.

Test kits, toilet paper, facemasks, disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizers, or even purported “cures” cannot be advertised to exploit people on the basis of their fears.

Facebook Stories

Facebook Stories has introduced a new “Mood” frame for its Stories. The feature applies any GIF a user chooses to the stories panel and tags it as ‘Mood’. This is to signify the fact that the GIF represents the present mood of the user.

Brands can use this feature to call attention to a product review or the launch of a new product by following up a story with a mood GIF. This feature can be used to “express” feelings like excitement over recent news they have shared via Stories.

Facebook appears to be concerned about your business in these uncertain times, evident from these updates. It has also put out a link to its Business Resource Hub where it puts out pointers on connecting with small businesses and taking your business online. For more assistance on these updates or social media marketing and advertising, do not hesitate to contact us. Sprout Road is the premiere most IT company in Kolkata engaged in Facebook marketing. Best, Sprout Road

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Video Marketing Trends for 2020
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Video Marketing Trends for 2020

Audio-visual medium of communications are any day more engaging and impactful than mere words communicated in patches of written text. To the viewer, a video is more captivating because it engages the aural and visual faculties.

Videos are more impactful because they communicate body language, tone and visual cues to the viewer. It is a tested norm that customers are more likely to click a video ad than a standard banner ad. Thus, most businesses prefer opting for video marketing and video advertising.

Here, we list a set of video marketing trends for 2020.

‘Live’-n up

Going ‘Live’ is the new go-to model for video marketers, especially on platforms as effective as Facebook and Twitter. They tend to create a sense of urgency and they look less scripted and more genuine.

360 degree video content

Immersive videos are dominating the market right now. And there is nothing like great 360-degree video content that can easily be shot on a smartphone or a special camera that does not cost much. Spherical videos tend to fascinate viewers and excite them a lot more as compared to non-interactive ones.

‘Shoppable’ Videos

Shoppable videos are gradually becoming a rage among e-Commerce customers. These videos are designed for customers to click on them and be directed to the checkout page seamlessly, cutting short their shopping time as compared to sifting through an e-Commerce website.

Vlogs

If you are a fan of storytelling and cannot stop at the first 100 words or so while explaining your product or services to a customer, you should go in for Video Blogging – Vlogging. Telling a personalised story that features your product or services touches a cord with the customer and increases conversion rates.

Data-driven video ads

Finally, while everything has been said in favour of audio-visual mediums of marketing and advertising being the most effective, nothing beats the credibility of data and facts and figures supporting your claims around your products and services. Thus, including relevant content in the form of data is not a bad idea at all.

So, if you are trying to better your ads strategy this year, especially since you have time on hand due to the global lockdown in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, do give this blog a thorough read. Best, Sprout Road.

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Why The COVID-19 Lockdown is The Best Time to Take Your Business Online
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Why The COVID-19 Lockdown Is The Best Time To Take Your Business Online

The deadly COVID-19 pandemic has forced economies across the world to a grinding halt. Countries have issued lockdown decrees and travel bans to abate the spread of the coronavirus that has, as of April 21, 2020, infected over 24 lakh people and caused 1,67,000 deaths.

Small businesses have shut shop, factory production has slowed down and consumption has dipped across the world. In such a situation, while we wait with bated breath for the pandemic to pass over, it will be wise to think of ways to overhaul your business strategy – in other words, take your business online.

Here are a few reasons why you should take your business online.

Online Shopping

In a post-COVID-19 world, more customers will be shopping online than they ever did for fear of contracting infection. In fact, a study by the NRF (National Retail Federation) says

  • 9 in 10 consumers have changed their traditional shopping habits.
  • More than 50% of consumers have ordered products online that they would normally purchase at a store
  • Nearly 6 in 10 consumers say they are worried about going to the store due to fear of being infected

Low Demand, High Supply

For some companies selling luxury or non-essential items, demand has virtually disappeared. Customers are refraining from buying expensive watches or handbags simply because they do not really “need” them though they might “want” to possess them.

In this new need-based economic atmosphere, it would be best to take your store online so that you might be able to make yourself virtually present, 24/7, before your customer even if she is not driving down to your brick and mortar store. Having an online store or a website might as well convert “want” to “need” in these days of a nation-wide lockdown.

Improving Company image

Taking your business online is like presenting your customers and clients with a well-designed and thoughtful calling card. It improves brand visibility on the Internet and it lends your company credibility. You simply lose to competitors who have a professional website to go with their businesses.

Even if your business is not designed to be an online one, you can still have a website and generate leads through chatbots or customer care portals online. You can follow these up the next day from any-where you operate from. Taking your business online is the surest way to convert leads to sales.

So, if you have not already taken your business online, please start planning to do so today. The lockdown has given us ample time to rethink business strategies, so we might as well make the most of it. Best, Sprout Road

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6 Google Ads Trends You Can't Overlook in 2020
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6 Google Ads Trends You Can’t Overlook in 2020

Are you someone tirelessly looking for ways to better your ROIs in advertising on the Internet? Are you trying hard to increase organic traffic to your website?

Well, we are here to help you with some information on the most tantalizing Google Ad Trends out there. One way to solve the problem of low organic traffic is by opting for PPC or Pay Per Click advertisement.

But featuring on Google is not all that easy. Google has an ultra intelligent shape-shifting algorithm. This is why, we have narrowed down available trends to give you an idea about what you can use for your brand and services.

1. Google Ads Smart Bidding

With Smart Bidding, you can optimize ads according to searches specific about location, time or day and even language. You can also remarket your services to customers who opted for your services earlier.

Moreover, Google decides on which ads are most likely to convert and helps you invest your bid on those ads and it helps you optimize ads within your budget.

2. Google Discovery Ads

Google began in 2018 what it called Discover, a personalized news feed feature active even when the user was not searching for anything. This enabled Google to study and understand search behavior.

In 2019, the tech giant introduced Discovery Ads that are user friendly and optimized on the basis of an understanding of user search behavior and search history.

3. Google Gallery Ads

Launched in 2019, this beta version allows users to scroll through multiple images that appear as Google gallery ads, especially in mobile phone search results.

Usually over four and under eight images are advertised with separate URLs and are suitable for businesses that thrive on strong visual content.

4. Expanded Audience Segment

Google launched two expanded audience ad segments late in 2019. One is for an affinity audience whose members are classified on the basis of search history, preferences, interests and browsing patterns.

The other segment is for in-market audience whose members constantly research on and compare products and prices.

5. Integrated Ad Campaigns With Google Lens:

A visual search engine of Google’s, Google Lens identifies landmarks and objects with the assistance of a native app. It can, among other features, scan barcodes and provide product details and suggest where to purchase products.

6. Google Ads And Voice Search

Text search routines are becoming extinct gradually and more and more people are choosing to go in for voice-enabled searches. Google has diversifies it ad segment to accommodate voice searches.

Hope this list helped you get a clearer picture about how Google is adapting to the demands of technological advancements and popular choices this year. For suggestions and advice on digital advertising, feel free to give us a call or drop us a message. Best, Sprout Road

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