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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How You Can Work From Home During COVID 19 - Some Free Tools
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How You Can Work From Home During COVID 19 – Some Free Tools

Working from home? So are we. And so are millions of people across the world forced indoors by the spread of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

But if you have access to the Internet, you are doing better than many because of a variety of free tools available to assist you in working from home.

For communicating

There are several free tools available for helping you to communicate with your colleagues.

Tools like Slack, Workplace by Facebook, Basecamp, Discord and Microsoft Teamsare the names you should be acquainted with.

Most of these are on offer with paid plans, but they grant basic free packages with some limitations (that should not pose any problems to users).

For instance, there is a guide to Slack’s free versus paid-for services.

For work lists and projects management

Making a to-do list of tasks is the foremost way of keeping track of work to be done and tasks completed.

There are several tools which help carry out this function. Take, for instance, Trello and Google Keep.

Tools like Trello give us the opportunity to handle projects, keep a track of work done, add comments or collaborate on these.

Google Keep allows us to do similar things like making lists, taking notes (with a feature that allows for attaching pictures or audio clips), and sharing them with co-workers.

Apps like Zoho, Asana and Paymo can also be used for these functions.

For Collaboration

To collaborate on documents, worksheets and presentations, the most widely used tools are those comprised in the Google Suite.

Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides facilitate work on documents, worksheets or spreadsheets and presentations respectively.

Files are usually saved on Google’s cloud platform – Google Drive – though they can also be saved in the offline mode. An alternative is Zoho Docs.

Conclusion

Working from home can be productive if you want it to be. So do not hesitate to be adaptive. We suggest you try out these free tools and recommend them to colleagues as well. And if you are looking for more suggestions, do read our upcoming blog. Best, Sprout Road

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Four Reasons Why We Need To Do SEO in Times of COVID-19
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Four Reasons Why We Need To Do SEO in Times of COVID-19

You are probably reading this from your computer system at home, with most private and government institutions declaring work-from-home arrangements to be made in the wake of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. As of Thursday, March 19, the COVID-19 has affected over 220,000 people and caused the death of over 8,800 persons across the globe.

As a result of the pandemic, countries have suspended flights into their respective geographies and asked citizens to self-isolate in case they fall ill. Trade has been affected and businesses hit. In such times, it is best not to panic and instead think up ways to brace against the emergency upon all of us.

Keep Calm and Optimize

While it is true that businesses across the spectrum have taken a hit because of coronavirus, it is not wise to withdraw your contract and put a complete stop to marketing operations in what is best termed as a knee-jerk reaction to the crisis. The move will put your business in trouble and force it into an unnecessarily long term struggle to recover.

“Organic search is a zero-sum game” – your gains or losses are balanced by the gain or losses of other companies listed on SERPs (Search-engine Results Pages).  People might not be actively seeking to pay for as many products or services as they used to earlier, but they are certainly searching them online and it is best you be visible and up and running in the market to give a sense of normalcy than be off it.

Budgeting for Marketing & SEO

Around 7% to 8% of your gross revenue is the bare minimum you should spend on marketing and SEO activities, even in times of an epidemic like coronavirus. People are making purchases, despite the lockdown and you do not want to stay behind in terms of paid advertisements, especially on the internet.

If you cannot, however, afford it (because of employees staying back home or a slashing down of business operations), then cut on paid advertisement. But do not compromise on SEO and inbound marketing, both of which are long term plans.   You have taken months to build quality marketing strategies and a loyal customer base. Do not desert them in times of an emergency.

Four reasons why you must continue doing SEO in times of an epidemic

  • Those businesses that are cash rich are the ones that will survive this downturn. To stay ahead of the game, the best practice is to have a competent SEO strategy in place. And if you choose to go a step forward, you should generate Opt-in Emails for prospective clients. This depends on a robust SEO strategy which ensures customers, who are spending more and more time on their phones and computers because of the lockdown in their respective countries, take note of your products or services on the internet.

  • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) helps you reach customers with immediate buying intent, something that you would want to achieve in these times of a slowdown which has in all probability forced a budget crunch at your end. Moreover, SEM shows you whether or not your strategy is successful and effective. All you have to do is look up the sales or leads in your analytics. Since buyer behaviors is sure to undergo change in the next few weeks, it will become important for you to concentrate your services and advertisement strategy on the changes in buying patterns.

  • A scarcity of products has been reported from markets across cities with allegations of consumers hoarding essentials like toilet paper and sanitizer and even food items triggered by the scare caused by the pandemic. In such situations, more and more people are searching the internet for online purchases of essential items or important services. In case they cannot find those, they are searching for alternatives. But searches are going up for sure. So it is best you be visible on the internet in full force.

  • Even if people are self-isolating, it is only temporary and they will need products and services in the near future. Though things are looking bad currently, the situation is bound to improve in the future and we must be prepared for that and wait for things to get to normal. SEO is the most effective way to market your business in downtimes.

Hope this helped calm you and hope this finds you well. Best, Sprout Road.

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