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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4 Great Tips to Get an Effective Domain Name for Your Website
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4 Great Tips to Get an Effective Domain Name for Your Website

The domain name is our identity on the internet just as our names are for us in the world we live in. Choosing the right domain name is the primary thing you need to consider when starting with a website.

However, it can be quite hectic to pick the right name for your website and it demands a good amount of brainstorming to get it right. Furthermore, you ought to be extra careful if your website is to serve a commercial purpose because it can make or mar your business. But don’t worry because here we bring you exclusive hacks to start your website with an effective domain name.

Get a regional domain

The .com might have been one of the most popular domain extensions but opting for a regional domain isn’t a bad option either. For instance, you can go for .in if your website is for the Indian audiences or .fr if your website targets France. This would make you local and thereby, bring in a considerable amount of credibility to your business.

However, getting a .com domain is the best thing to do in case you have an international requirement. There are numerous other extensions, which might seem appealing but are fraught with challenges.

Insert keywords in your domain name

Using keywords in your domain name will not only inform the search engines but also your audiences about your website. Therefore, inserting relevant keywords in your domain name will surely benefit your business.

Go for short, simple and memorable names

A domain name is responsible for the first impression of your website. Therefore, you should make sure that it is impactful. Here’s where short and simple domain names come into play. Besides, being easier to remember, short names will be free of typos and make for a lasting impression on your audiences.

Unique domain names rule

Unique names stand out in the world of domain names. They are much more brandable and promise an enviable brand recognition. Distinctive domain names also save you from getting mired in copyright issues.

Endnotes

Applying these hacks will undoubtedly help you come up with an amazing domain name for your website. However, if you want to build a quality website that is both attractive and marketable, you must consult the experts. Sprout Road is one of the best web development companies in Kolkata you can appoint as your official website builder.

Do you know why you need a blog for your website? If not, check 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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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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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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10 Free Tools To Help You Work From Home
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10 Free Tools To Help You Work From Home

Slowly coming to terms with the changes forced upon us by the spread of COVID-19? It is difficult, shifting work to your home premises. But it is not impossible.

Here is a list of some free tools that can make the transition to working from home smoother and hassle-free.

  • Slack – It is a great collaboration hub that allows you to share files and communicate in groups as well as on a one-on-one basis.

  • Google Hangouts –It brings to life conversations through texts, audio and video connections on a one-on-one basis and for groups.
  • Zoom–It is a platform that allows you to hold video meetings and host virtual presentations online. It offers real time chats and video recording features as well.
  • Skype–It is a free communications tool that helps you connect with as many as 50 people through audio or video conferencing. 
  • AirTable–This is a strong tool that helps manage data and inventory on visually appealing spreadsheets so you can keep track of what your team is doing.
  • Asana –It helps teams structure work and tasks and helps team leaders and team members track progress and completion of tasks.
  • GitHub–It is a crucial free tool used to facilitate design and development, used as it is for version control and viewing, sharing and collaborating on code developed by team members.
  • Chrome DevTools–It is used for web development and the software is built directly into the Google Chrome browser.
  • Grammarly– It is a great platform used for writing on and editing documents with.
  • Google Drive– It is best for sharing files and collaborating on them with remote team members.

Try these tools out, according to your needs and preferences. For more on the subject, check out our previous blog here – www.sproutroad.com/how-you-can-work-from-home-during-covid-19-some-free-tools.

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Tips to Increase Your E-Commerce Sales
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Tips to Increase Your E-Commerce Sales

Have an online store and wondering how to boost sales in times like these? Every online store must be thinking on the same lines, actually.

It can be especially challenging to put in place effective business strategies when the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus has affected economies the world over.

That is why we have put together this article to help you understand some ways whereby you can increase online sales. Read on to know more.

Email Marketing

While you must be engrossed in putting money into paid marketing strategies on the Internet, a less expensive and more profitable exercise is automated email marketing.

It allows you to directly communicate with a customer and send him or her relevant and timely messages, especially if you want to upsell a product.

Upsell a Product

Upsells refer to selling or showcasing a product of higher value and better quality to a buyer who has opted to buy a certain product.

For instance, if you are looking to buy a phone online and your online store advertises or pushes for a higher-grade model of the same series and the same company, it amounts to upselling a product.

That way, you might end up selling a more expensive product to a customer.

Showcase product benefits

Since all you have to showcase a product is photographs, ensure these are professionally clicked against a clear backdrop, preferably white. Ensure the lighting is right and the camera quality good.

Also, polish up your product descriptions and add as many details regarding dimensions, colour and terms of use and your return policy.

Customer Testimonials

Mandatorily ask for user testimonials on the checkout page of you platform so you have an arsenal of feedback that you can use to your benefit.

Be a proud seller and showcase these customer testimonials to prospective buyers. These testimonials can feature anywhere on your web site – on landing pages, on the product page or on the home page.

Manufacture Urgency

There is no harm in creating a sense of urgency around your product sale. It gives the buyer incentive and a time frame to buy you product in.

And do not forget to follow up sales with an after-sale email that is a thoughtful way of building a relationship with your customer.

There are more technical ways to boost sales as well (take optimising your website pages or getting more Ad Clicks with Ad Extensions). But this article sheds light on some of the humbler points to remember while strategizing for an increase in sales that often get overlooked. Hope this helped. Best, Sprout Road

To get an e-commerce website or to setup avenues for your business, get in touch with us here.

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