Best Image Editing Tools to Create Killer Rich Media

I’m just going to say it: Visual marketing is the wave of the future.

There’s no denying the power images have on gaining traffic, shares, and rankings.

In fact, if you have at least one image on your blog post, you are much more likely to rank on the top page of Google.

Images should be the lifeblood of your content marketing strategy.

Great content without any images likely won’t get many shares, much buzz, or any viral promotion.

But that’s easier said than done, right?

Making images that are visually pleasing can be time-consuming.

We don’t all have the creativity or design skills to do it, either.

Heck, I surely don’t have the creativity to produce diverse designs from scratch.

But I know I need the visuals if I want my content to be viewed and shared.

Without visuals, I’d probably drive 50% less traffic.

So I make it a priority.

In every blog post I write, I try to include a visual with every 100 words.

That number can be tough to hit when I can’t think of creative designs, but thankfully, there are a ton of free (or crazy cheap) image editing tools that make you look like a professional.

And that means you can shave time off your day with just a few minutes of image editing.

Thankfully, almost all of them are easy to use even if you have little-to-no experience with graphic design.

Here are six image editing tools that make you look like a pro and will drive your social shares through the roof.

1. VistaCreate

VistaCreate is an all-in-one online platform for designing literally anything a marketer or small business owner may need — no design skills necessary.

vista create home page

You can use it to create posts and stories for socials, make email designs, ads, presentations, and even print materials.

The editor offers thousands of premade templates that already look great, so you can just quickly customize a design and use it right away.

vistacreate templates screen

And unlike other graphic design platforms, ALL their templates are free.

In addition to templates, you access a huge library of royalty-free stock photos, videos, vectors, objects, animations, fonts, and music tracks.

With all these tools, you can make videos and animated visuals in addition to static designs.

If you want to publish your design right away, you can post it directly from VistaCreate to your Facebook and Instagram business accounts, and Pinterest. Handy, right?

I like that most of their tools are free, so that you can create a cool design on a budget.

To start creating, log in or sign up to VistaCreate.

So I’ve talked a bit about what VistaCreate can do for you, but let’s show it in action. Here’s a real-life look at me putting this great tool to use.

To begin, I decided to create an Instagram video story for an event I’ll be speaking at.

So, I chose a template first.

vistacreate choosing a template screen

I changed the colors, added objects and my photo, and used the Background Remover to erase the background in one click.

screenshot of vistacreate background remover

Next, I applied a black-and-white filter to make my photo match the style of the conference.

screenshot of vistacreate image filter

It’s pretty cool!

Next, I animated my photo and objects.

Gif of Vistacreate being used to create an instagram story.

I added all the information about the event and tried different styles to see which color scheme worked best.

Graphic of instagram stories in VistaCreate.

After that, I’m ready to post!

VistaCreate also has a resize feature that allows you to make one design and resize it for different platforms in just a few clicks:

Resizing Instagram stories in Vistacreate.

Speaking of branded designs, you can build a brand kit in VistaCreate and use it to create a cohesive look for your branding.

Add your business’s colors, fonts, and a logo to your brand kit — and apply it to a template to create your on-brand design.

Having a brand kit is very convenient, especially if you work with many different companies and want to simplify your workflow.

vistacreate brand kit screenshot

If you work for a new company that doesn’t have a logo, you can create one right from the Brand Kit page using the Logomaker tool.

Click on “Create a logo from scratch”, select an industry, type in your company name — and the Logomaker will offer tons of logo designs.

vistacreate logo maker in action

On top of that, I like that VistaCreate works for both digital and print, so that you can make business cards, flyers, posters, postcards, and other printables in one place.

If you live in the US, you can even use VistaPrint (both companies are part of the Vista family) to have your designs printed and delivered to your door.

For now, you can use them to print posters, flyers, and business cards, with more formats coming soon.

In short, VistaCreate covers all the needs marketers might have — creating branded content for social media and ads, making a brand kit with a logo, and designing print collateral.

You can access it on both desktop and mobile, with the app available for Android and iOS.

2. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is another helpful tool to use for image editing.

If you aren’t a graphic designer but want crystal clear images with high production value, PicMonkey is one of your best bets.

Use PicMonkey as an image editing tool.

PicMonkey has a slew of diverse features.

For example, you can edit existing images that you have on Facebook, your computer, or anywhere else:

PicMonkey is an image editing tool that allows you to edit existing images.

You can also touch up specific photos with new effects.

Also, you can easily start a new design from scratch or with a preset template.

To get started, click “Start a free trial” and create your free account:

Start a free trial with PicMonkey, an image editing tool.

You can set up your new account with an email or by signing up directly with Facebook:

Sign up with the image editing tool, PicMonkey, using your Facebook account.

Once you’ve created a free trial account, you should be directed back to the dashboard to edit content:

Edit content using the image editing tool, PicMonkey.

One of the best benefits of PicMonkey is the actual photo editing ability.

For example, other platforms focus more on social media and content marketing images.

But PicMonkey allows you to use diverse filters that you’d find in an expensive application like Photoshop.

For example, you can edit things like filters, sharpening, and blurring:

Edit filters, sharpening, and blurring with the image editing tool, PicMonkey.

You can even tap into more advanced photo editing tools like curves and levels:

Use advanced editing tools in PicMonkey, an image editing tool, to edit curves and levels.

On top of that, you can touch up real-life photos of yourself or your company—if stock photos are not ideal—using awesome image editing tools:

Touch up real photos of yourself or your company using PicMonkey.

Want to add a spray tan? Who doesn’t?

The portrait photo editing tools are great and allow you to perfect any headshot for your social media or team photo for your website.

On top of that, you can add tons of cool overlays to your content.

Add overlays to your content using the image editing tool PicMonkey.

For example, if you wanted to add emojis in your picture, simply click the “PicMoji” option and click any emoji to instantly add it:

Add emojis to your pictures using PicMonkey.

You can also pick from a bunch of different existing themes and templates if you are lacking inspiration or creativity:

Use different themes or templates on the image editing tool PicMonkey.

PicMonkey is similar to other tools but lacks the diverse template and preset options some offer.

What it lacks in templates, though, it makes up for in diverse image editing capabilities.

The ability to edit things like curves and levels or touch up portrait-style photos really stands out.

PicMonkey is a great tool for the everyday person who needs detailed image editing but doesn’t want to get bogged down by advanced, technical programs.

If you want to create a beautiful photo in just a few minutes that is less focused on text and templates, this is your go-to tool.

3. Snappa

I’m also a big fan of Snappa for image editing.

See Snappa's homepage to learn more about them as an image editing tool.

Snappa is similar to other tools in that it has countless high-quality templates to start from.

But my favorite features are the countless free stock photos and high-quality icons:

Snapp has high quality stock photos and icons that they offer for free.

They are some of the best free icons I have ever seen.

One of the best features Snappa has to offer is the social media scheduling tool:

Snappa has its own social media scheduling tool.

You can share your graphics directly from Snappa in seconds, saving you the time it takes to download and schedule on a different tool.

You can even use the tool to resize existing images, which is a lifesaver when it comes to repurposing content for different platforms:

Use the image editing tool, Snappa, to resize images.

To start creating your graphics in just a few minutes, click “Create My Graphic Now” on the homepage:

Create your own graphics on the image editing tool, Snappa.

Sign up for a free account and head to your dashboard to get started.

Here, you can start to create an image based on custom dimensions:

Use custom dimensions to create your own graphic on Snappa.

Or simply choose from common template sizes meant for various platforms:

Snappa has common dimension templates that match different social media platforms.

One of my favorite uses for Snappa is the diverse selection they have for social media and PPC ads:

The image editing tool, Snappa, has a diverse selection of social media and pay per click ads.

It’s probably the one of the best image editing tools with the most options when it comes to creating high-quality ads in just minutes.

You don’t need to pay a designer outrageous prices for a few banner ads anymore.

Snappa allows you to do it in minutes.

Got a new idea for an ad on Facebook? Don’t wait 48 hours for your designer to make it.

Once you’ve picked out your desired template size, you can choose from a bunch of free options:

Choose from free options on Snappa's website to edit your images.

These templates are awesome and easy to work with.

After selecting your template, you can customize just about everything on it.

You can add high-quality background images or icons for free:

Edit background images with the image editing tool Snappa.

But the best part about Snappa’s editing tool is the free, high-quality icons.

These icons are what you’d expect from a professional graphic designer and they are all available for your use:

Snappa has the essential icons needed to edit images.

They have just about anything you can think of, from social media to emoji-style icons.

If you have a particular icon graphic in mind, you can simply search in the bar above to narrow down your results:

Use the search tool to look for specific icons you have in mind with Snappa.

And the free, professional-quality stock photos are endless:

Use the image editing tool Snappa for high quality stock images.

Snappa is an awesome tool if you love to use icons or stock photos in your work.

If you like instant social scheduling, Snappa has that, too.

Simply hit “Share” in the top-right corner and you can connect social media accounts and even send content to Buffer for scheduling:

Share your images with Snappa, an image editing tool.

Take advantage of the diverse, free offerings from Snappa if you want images that make you look like a professional designer.

4. Piktochart

Beyond just basic image editing tools for social media, Google Ads, or Facebook Ads, Piktochart is centered around infographics.

The image editing tool Piktochart is great for creating infographics.

Piktochart is one of my favorite free tools for making infographics.

Usually, infographics take quite a bit of time to create.

They are a laborious process that can require professional designers and lots of money.

But you don’t need any of that.

Piktochart is extremely simple and easy to use, and I’ve used it countless times to make infographics on QuickSprout.

To get started, click the “Start For Free” button on the homepage:

Start a free trial with Piktochart.

Once you’ve created an account, it should instantly direct you to the dashboard.

From here, you can choose between three types of graphics:

Choose between three types of graphics when editing images on Piktochart.

You can create printable graphics, presentations, and infographics.

My personal favorite use of Piktochart is for the infographic templates.

There are tons of totally free templates to take advantage of:

Choose from free templates on Piktochart.

If you want to inspect one and get a preview, simply click on the template to get a sneak peek:

Preview an infographic template that you are considering using.

If you like the design, click “Use Template” at the top:

Select "use template" when you've decided which template you want on Piktochart.

From here, you can select between multiple color schemes to fit your company branding:

Choose between Piktochart's different color themes when editing your image.

On top of that, Piktochart offers really high-quality graphics just like Snappa:

Piktochart offers high quality graphics for image editing.

You can pick from thousands of icons related to almost anything you can think of.

They also have a diverse stock photo library:

Choose between quality stock photos when editing your image on Piktochart.

Piktochart is one of my favorite infographic tools because they have some of the best free options on the market.

And they don’t try to trick you into buying anything.

What you see is what you get.

If you want a high-quality infographic editing tool, this is your best bet.

5. Pixlr

Now that we’ve covered some of the best image editing tools on the market, it’s time for one of my all-time favorites.

This tool isn’t for the faint of heart, though.

It’s meant for more experienced users who want deep customization options and who have a basic background in graphic design.

If you don’t have experience developing graphics out of a blank canvas, you might find this tool a bit frustrating.

Pixlr’s photo editor resembles Photoshop almost exactly. It has just about every editing feature you’d find in a paid tool.

Pixlr is a free image editing tool that resembles other high quality, expensive applications.

It’s a completely free tool with incredible customization options you’d expect in a high-quality, expensive application.

To get started, head to Pixlr and create a new image from scratch or open an existing one from a URL or your computer.

If you aren’t comfortable with creating designs from scratch, then Pixlr probably won’t be your go-to tool.

It requires some design elements and skills that are above the level of Snappa.

If you create a new image, you can select the dimensions to your liking:

Select your image dimensions when creating a new image on Pixlr.

From here, you start to edit a blank canvas just like you would in Adobe’s Photoshop:

Edit on a blank canvas with Pixlr.

The greatest strengths of this tool come in the form of detailed filters, layers, and adjustments.

For example, you can use it to edit an awesome image or create a new blog graphic with various options:

Create custom graphics using Pixlr.

It’s definitely not the easiest tool on the market to use, but if you are looking for a completely free tool with more customization options, Pixlr is a great one.

You can build graphics from the ground up or simply stitch them together like you would in Photoshop.

Go ahead and give it a try today!

6. Luminar AI

From Skylum, we have the first photo editor powered solely by artificial intelligence: Luminar AI.

Its goal is to take some of the stress out of photo editing by automating the process.

Bridging the gap between basic image editing tools and pro software like Photoshop, this software offers the right in-between gear. Best of all, you need no experience to use it.

Luminar AI is a great image editing tool that fits in between basic image editing tools and pro software like Photoshop.

Once you choose an image to work on, you can start making additions and enhancements.

Navigate through the templates and editing features. The specialty features of Luminar are Face AI, Landscape, and Portrait Bokeh. The software will even walk you through the process with editing suggestions it curates.

The AI portrait, or Face AI, is meant to make enhancements from shine removal to face slimming to color correcting. Highlight your muse’s smile and give them flawless skin for that “wow” level Luminar helps you strive towards.

Luminar AI offers AI portrait, or Face AI, to enhance photos.
An image of a woman smiling is being edited with skin, lip, and slim face enhancement on Luminar AI.

This is the creative influence that makes Luminar stand out from other AI editing software.

In the section that has more advanced tools, you will see options that help you replace a background or get the perfect bokeh effect. The cool thing is: This can all be done on the same photo.

With Landscape EnhanceAI, a custom brightness map is used to intelligently balance both light and color across the entire image to make it shine.

A portrait image of a dock, boat, water, and mountains and trees in the background is being enhanced using Landscape Enhance AI on Luminar AI.

Lighting is everything with photo editing. The Bokeh Effect is tough to master, getting the proper balance of light just right. Luminar AI puts you in control and makes suggestions for proper focus and blur for an aesthetically pleasing edit.

Acheive the perfect bokeh effect when editing images on Luminar AI.

When you first start using the software, it can be a bit of a chore to learn. After some time, though, you’ll remember which features are your favorite.

No matter your experience with editing, Luminar allows you to make quick edits at the push of a button. This is especially great for those of you who don’t like sitting in front of your computer too long.

One other thing about this software I like besides its ease of use: While it may be a Photoshop competitor, Luminar can be used as a Photoshop plugin.

That’s right. You can have the best of both worlds with all the aspects of each tool.

So, all around, I say it’s a tool most of you will be a fan of.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is image editing?

Image editing is the process of enhancing digital or analog photographs using various methods, devices, or programs. Photo and image editing might be different when creating graphics versus editing a picture. Scanners, digital cameras, and other image-capturing tools may produce good yet imperfect images that need further editing attention.

What are image editing tools?

An image editing tool is software that enables the editing and conversion of images to varying graphic formats. Everyone knows Photoshop as one of the most popular image editing tools, but there are many others with similar capabilities. Some specialize in removing backgrounds or are a beginner-friendly version of capabilities found within Photoshop. If you want to make an infographic, try Piktochart. Maybe you want some AI guidance when editing, try Luminar AI instead. Think of your needs or what you want to learn and let that drive your starting point for your editing journey.

How should I choose an image editing tool?

Think about the functionality you need to perform the task at hand. Maybe you need to crop, rotate, or straighten an image. Perhaps you need to correct a smile or the shading of colors of an image. You might need to create an infographic. Read up on the handy tools I mentioned in this post and choose the one that’s best to get your job done.

What are some features I need to have when editing images?

Some standard features of a basic image editor include:

  • Crop and rotation
  • Lighting adjustment (exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.)
  • Focus and sharpness correction
  • Blemish corrections
  • Red-eye adjustment

Along with some of these basic features, items you want to have especially for editing images include adding layers to create different amounts of transparency and adding elements like blur or vignette to create specific appearances.

What is photo editing?

This post-production technique of digital photography involves using photo editing tools to alter images to your desired outcome. It is the digital photography equivalent of a darkroom, where photographs are edited after they’re taken.

How to learn photo editing?

Start with photo editing tutorials to learn your style. YouTube is always a great place to start, but the software you use likely offers a tour of its features – use them to your advantage. You can avoid the need for a lot of editing by adjusting your camera’s settings as well. A higher-quality camera helps, too. With many of the tools like I’ve mentioned, the software provides step-by-step instructions telling you how to use the product in real time of your editing process. If you’re still unsure how to get started, read our complete guide on designing stunning visuals as a beginner.

How to calibrate monitor for photo editing?

This will depend on whether you have a Mac or PC

For PC: Go to Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Calibrate Display Color. Then open the software that will walk you through and give you a general screen calibration. You can also find it by searching for “Calibrate Display Color” in your Windows search box.

For Mac: With the glossy glass, it’s a bit more difficult, but setting your white point to 5500 will give your screen a warm and fairly accurate display.

What’s the difference between a photo editing tool and image editing tool?

Photo editing tools are exclusively used for manipulating images captured with a camera. Image editing tools can do this as well, but also have the capacity to work on static graphics, or potentially combine the two.

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  • Crop and rotation
  • Lighting adjustment (exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.)
  • Focus and sharpness correction
  • Blemish corrections
  • Red-eye adjustment

Along with some of these basic features, items you want to have especially for editing images include adding layers to create different amounts of transparency and adding elements like blur or vignette to create specific appearances.


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For Mac: With the glossy glass, it’s a bit more difficult, but setting your white point to 5500 will give your screen a warm and fairly accurate display.


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Conclusion

Content marketing should always include visuals.

You can’t just stick a bunch of text up on a page and expect your audience to read and digest every word.

It’s just not going to happen.

Videos and images are a great way to grab their attention and get your message across.

And, like I said, Google likes them, too. A recent study on Google rankings found that images can even help you rank better.

Images should always be a focus in your content marketing and social media strategies.

They are great for driving shares and clicks that plain text just can’t make happen.

But how do you create images when you have no graphic design experience?

Thankfully for us, there are tons of free tools online that have templates and drag-and-drop style design.

These tools are amazing for creating designs in a fraction of the time without the need to learn graphic design skills.

Most of these tools have thousands of free themes, icons, and tools for you to use!

Start by using VistaCreate.

It’s one of the most popular image editing tools on the market. It’s great for fast, easy designs for almost anything you can think of.

Try PicMonkey for diverse portrait editing and more advanced tools with an easy interface.

Snappa is excellent if you want high-quality icons and integrated social publishing.

Pixlr is the most advanced of the tools, but offers incredible Photoshop-quality features for free.

Luminar brings a new concept to photo editing tools with AI capabilities.

Even a beginning designer will look like a pro with these tools.

What are your favorite image editing tools to use for content marketing and social media?

6 Best Time Tracking Software Options

Why is time tracking still a source of stress for employees, supervisors, and management?

There are only two reasons, really. They’re not using time tracking software. Or, they’re using a solution that doesn’t fit with their business.

There is no third reason.

I can say that with total confidence because there are so many good time trackers out there.

Because no one should suffer any longer, I’m going to share the top six time tracking software options on the market today.

#1 – Time Doctor — Best for Keeping Tabs on Remote Employees

Time Doctor has rich monitoring features for employees who are at their computer all day. It’s a full-service time tracker that you can use for payroll and project management software, but it really steps away from the competition by giving managers insight into what their employees are doing.

Once employees download Time Doctor, they create tasks and begin tracking time. Supervisors can see what tasks people are working on, as well as get insight on mouse and keyboard activity.

They may also enable screenshots taken at random intervals to confirm people stay on task.

Website and app monitoring is another really helpful facet of Time Doctor for both users and supervisors. You can quickly generate reports that show exactly how much time each person is spending on a website or application.

For supervisors, reports surface unproductive behaviors. With Time Doctor, you can set automatic alerts when users spend too much time on problematic websites and apps, or block them altogether.

Moreover, users can better understand their work habits and where they are losing time.

There’s a lot more than just monitoring features included with Time Doctor, as it can handle:

  • Timesheets & payroll
  • Project management & budgeting
  • Offline time tracking
  • Productivity analysis
  • Daily, weekly, monthly reports

Pricing for Time Doctor breaks down as follows:

  • Basic: starting at $6/month per user
  • Standard: starting at $9/month per user
  • Premium: starting at $17/month per user
  • Enterprise: contact sales

With people working in the office, remotely, and on the go, managers lose out on a lot of the context that goes into how employees spend their time. The number of minutes worked doesn’t tell the whole story. Time Doctor can help you fill in the gaps, even if the whole office telecommutes.

There is no free version of Time Doctor, but you can sign up for a 14-day free trial.

#2 – Clockify — Best Reporting Features

Clockify is a wonderfully simple solution for time tracking and project management. The free version is generous, and its paid plans are very reasonable.

What I really like about Clockify is how easy it is for users to get a bird’s eye view of their time entries for the day, week, or month.

Once they clock in—which they can do from anywhere—they see a complete list of their time entries.

From there, they can easily check if anything is missing or incorrect. Without having to open a new window, they can edit times and add information or tags to projects. They can also use the time sheet to quickly confirm that everything is correct each week.

The reporting features in Clockify are quite good, bolstered by users’ ability to put so much information into their timesheets.

Administrators can get a real-time view of project budgets and see exactly what each person is working on.

There are many different reporting filters available to slice the data however you like. Get a quick read of how things are progressing for every individual, team, and client.

Clockify is loaded with features to help users stay on track like:

  • Idle detection
  • Time audit
  • Required fields
  • Alerts
  • Bulk edit
  • Offline mode

The free version of Clockify allows unlimited tracking, users, projects, and reports. It has all the great viewing and editing capabilities that makes Clockify easy to use.

The paid plans, which are still a bargain, come with features that give administrators more control over who can see what, as well as advanced alerting and reporting features.

Here’s a breakdown of the Clockify pricing:

  • Basic: $3.99/month
  • Standard: $5.49/month
  • Pro: $7.99/month
  • Enterprise: $11.99/month per user

Integrations with Salesforce, G Suite, Freshbooks, and more than 50 other web apps make it easy to use Clockify for scheduling and payroll.

Shortlist Clockify if you need a budget-friendly time tracking solution with really helpful reporting features.

It’s not at the level of ERP software, for sure, but compared to other time tracking software, Clockify is fairly robust and really easy to navigate.

#3 – Toggl Track — Best for Holding Everyone Accountable

Toggl Track has a surprisingly feature-rich free forever version. For a freelancer or a consultant, this free time clock software can be used to track and invoice all their billable hours.

It’s an excellent app for personal accountability. To maintain focus, there’s an idle detector, automated reminders, and Pomodoro timer, which may change the way you work forever.

For teams, the paid plans are a little more on the expensive side, but that is because it’s able to collect and report so much information. I especially like Timeline, Toggl Track’s background tracking feature, which records time entries for any app or website you use for more than 10 seconds.

It’s an easy way to see how you’re really spending your time, and you can configure alerts to suggest tracking for specific actions, such as every time you join a certain call.

Automated alerts let you know when projects are nearing their estimated completion or are in danger of running over budget.

You can also automate email reminders for users who aren’t tracking their hours.

Toggl also has a really useful time auditing capability that helps you detect incorrect or unassigned time entries.

Some of the other features that help users save time include:

  • Time tracking across all devices
  • Chrome and Firefox browser extensions
  • Team access levels
  • Project templates
  • Google Calendar integration

Some nice features, like time audits and being able to set required fields, are only available with paid subscriptions of Toggl Track.

In addition to the free plan, which is good for up to five users, there are three tiers to choose from:

  • Starter: $9/month per user
  • Premium: $18/month per user
  • Enterprise: Contact Toggl sales for a custom pricing plan

The appeal of Toggl is that it really helps people hold themselves accountable. Between the automation and the robust monitoring, everyone is reminded of how they are spending their time.

#4 – QuickBooks Time — Best for GPS Time Tracking

QuickBooks Time is a rebrand of a super popular time tracking software called TSheets. It used to be that TSheets was separate software that had really great integration with the QuickBooks stack–now they are one and the same.

Nothing foundational has changed about TSheets now that it’s QuickBooks Time. It’s still a great choice for employee time tracking, especially if you have many people working in the field.

This is why it’s a favorite for property developers, construction companies, and other field service-oriented businesses. It’s totally fine for shift work and salaries, but the GPS tracking features are where QuickBooks Time shines.

Employees clock in from the mobile app and managers can see exactly where they are in the Who’s Working window.

You can use geofencing to set specific areas for employee clock-in and they can upload pictures and a digital signature to confirm that everything’s done.

The real-time GPS data is also a boon for company coordination.

Quickly figure out who’s closest to the job site for optimal deployments. Any changes to the schedule will trigger alerts to let everyone involved know about the new plan.

Some of the other really handy features include:

  • Drag-and-drop scheduling tool
  • Time clock kiosk
  • Facial-recognition time clock
  • Overtime tracking
  • Reporting and forecasting
  • Alert by text, email, or push notifications

QuickBooks Time has dozens of integrations on their App Marketplace. This will make it easy to incorporate your time tracking solution with other tools, even if you aren’t using purely QuickBooks products.

Pricing for QuickBooks Time is very reasonable:

  • Premium: $8/month per user, plus $20 base fee
  • Elite: $10/month per user, plus $40 base fee

Premium doesn’t have geofencing, digital signatures, and the advanced reporting features, but it has literally everything else.

In terms of a project management app, QuickBooks Time doesn’t let you get too granular, but you’ll be a master of the entire platform within a week. For workers, there’s not a lot of education needed to use it, which makes getting buy-in a lot easier.

Get a free demo of QuickBooks Time.

#5 – Tick — Best for SMB Time Management

Tick is an excellent time tracking software to help small businesses with time management.

Tick is project-based time tracking software. It integrates nicely with tools like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp, helping managers keep projects on time and on budget.

In Tick, you create projects made up of tasks. Then, employees select the appropriate project and task, entering time from their desktop, mobile device, or even their Apple Watch.

You can set budgets for individual tasks within Tick, so managers have a better idea of where time is being lost within the larger project.

You can also create recurring projects, which can close at the end of the month and auto-duplicate for the next one. This is great for individuals and companies that use retainers or provide routine services for their clients.

The reporting capabilities in Tick are helpful for budget analysis and forecasting. Searching through data is really easy, by client, employee, project, or billable versus non-billable.

A lot of users like Tick’s auto-fill search, because they don’t have to browse for what they need.

Quite simply, Tick simplifies time management. With very little work on the user-side, those in control of the budget can make decisions based on accurate, real-time information.

Other key features of Tick include:

  • Set running timers
  • Assign people to projects
  • Chrome extension
  • Invoicing and payroll integrations
  • Easy-edit time entry
  • Bulk move time entry

A word about these last two features: It used to be that editing time entries in Tick was a real pain. They’ve since updated it so you can edit time directly in reports, as well as move all entries from one task or project to another.

Tick pricing is based on the number of projects you can create:

  • 1 Project: Free
  • 10 Projects: $19/month
  • 30 Projects: $49/month
  • 60 Projects: $79/month
  • Unlimited Projects: $149/month

With every tier, you get unlimited users, clients, and tasks. It’s super affordable for any business.

I mean, if Tick saves you 2 hours, it’s already paid for several months of service.

I really recommend this product to teams that are using Trello, Asana, and especially Basecamp, which has really tight integration. It also integrates with Zapier and more than 750 other web apps.

There’s a 30-day free trial of Tick. If you think it could work for your business, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

#6 Lathem – Best Employee Time Tracking Software

Lathem is a great time tracking software for individual employees.

Lathem is an employee time tracking software platform. Tracking employee time is made easier even with remote teammates. You can manage employee hours and attendance from any location, anytime.

In Lathem, employees can use the digital time clock, their smartphone, or online time clock to log time and access their time card data whenever they choose.

Payroll processing is facilitated by the simple integration of all employee time card data with payroll software such as Intuit QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, and others. With the help of our technology, you may stop employee time theft, lessen unauthorized overtime, and guarantee compliance with wage/hour laws and the Affordable Care Act.

Other key features of Lathem include:

  • Cloud-based time clock & attendance tracking
  • Face recognition, fingerprint or badge scanner time clocks
  • Payroll integrations and easy exporting
  • Easy-edit time entry
  • GPS tracking

Lathem’s pricing is based on the number of projects you can create:

  • Standard package: starts at $35/month for 10 employees or less
  • Enterprise package: starts at $3/employee per month at a $50 minimum

For being a customer, loyalty discounts are available to you. So, it actually pays to be loyal to Lathem. With every tier, you get free setup & install support as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You can really get the most out of this product, from online to physical on-site software options. Lathem hits the mark for what your business needs in employee time tracking software.

What I Looked at to Find the Best Time Tracking Software

If you have searched for time tracking software before, there’s one thing you’ll notice right away.

All of the popular products deliver way more than simple time tracking.

Trying to keep track of all these additional features would be difficult, but they break down into four highly-recognizable areas:

  • Scheduling
  • Reporting
  • Accounting
  • Monitoring

Does your time tracker need to be connected to some or all of these areas?

Finding the best time tracking software is all about knowing how you want it to sync with your business. Let’s dive into the core features in each area.

Scheduling

To track your employee’s clocking in, time tracking software automatically logs their hours. In most cases, users fill out a timecard that says what project or client they are working for.

All of that information gets tracked in a timesheet.

In this example timesheet from Clockify, you can see how all the time entries are automatically mapped out over the week.

Clockify, a time tracking software, has a timesheet feature to help log hours throughout the week.

Some time tracking software comes with built-in scheduling tools that let you assign shifts and alert users when there’s a change in plans.

Time tracking software that’s light on native scheduling features usually has tight integration with the best project management solutions.

Look for the product that has what you need out of the box or connects with the tools you already use to manage your schedule.

Reporting

Time tracking software will let you monitor productivity and forecast budget problems well in advance.

The products I like pull all your data into clear visualizations.

In this example from Toggl Track, it’s easy to see how work is progressing and the impact that has on revenue:

Toggle Track, a time tracking software, has a reporting feature that helps people see how work is progressing and its impact on revenue.

Good tracking platforms also let you drill down into the specifics of each client, employee, and project.

The more advanced tools will let users and administrators add more detail, but all of the products on this list come with tools that will help you stay on budget.

Accounting

A lot of companies use time tracking software to streamline payroll and invoicing. By integrating with services like Quickbooks and PayPal, these tools can handle the job in a few clicks.

You can forget about long spreadsheets and good ol’ human error. Whenever you generate an invoice or make a payment, there’s a clear record of the work that was done.

Monitoring

Some time tracking software comes with monitoring features that let you check up on employee productivity.

These include location-based monitoring—such as GPS tracking—which ensures that employees are where they are supposed to be.

Time tracking software can also be downloaded to a specific tablet or desktop that serves as a time clock kiosk.

Like a punch card system of old, the kiosk lets employees enter a PIN or takes a picture to prove they clocked in on time.

There are also digital monitoring aspects to time tracking software, which can record the websites and applications a user visits while they are clocked in.

Some task management-specific software can also take screenshots at random intervals, to ensure that people are staying on task.

One quick, important word about monitoring and tracking software.

Before you deploy your new solution, have an open conversation with employees about what’s happening and why. Find alignment in the fact that tracking and monitoring will protect employees as much as the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a good time tracking app?

Of the time tracking tools I mentioned throughout this guide, my top recommendations for time tracking apps are: 

  • Clockify – Best reporting features
  • Lathem – Best for employee time tracking 

Both apps are easy to access for SMBs or freelancers. This is helpful for management to be more efficient and hands-off while employees autonomously keep track of their work.

Do these time tracking softwares work with any computer?

All the software is compatible with PC and Mac devices. You don’t have to miss out on the best tools for you and your team when everything can be handled in the same software on any computer. This also means when your employees are reporting hours or project times, they have access to do so from anywhere.

Why use time tracking software?

Professional service providers, institutions that use hourly workers or freelancers, and companies that use cost-plus pricing all need time tracking software for logistics purposes. Your team members should be able to simply add time entries to tasks using project time tracking software. This is how you’ll know you are meeting a need for your company before adding another expense.

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  • Lathem – Best for employee time tracking 

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Conclusion

I don’t like to just hit expectations; I always want to over-deliver.

But my work has to be on time and on budget. It’s not possible to sustain a consistent level of service without a clear sense of how my time is spent.

The same holds true for both blue-collar moving companies and white-shoe law firms. Time is money.

Take control with time tracking software. Here’s a complete list of my top recommendations:

  1. Time Doctor – Best for keeping tabs on remote employees
  2. Clockify – Best reporting features
  3. Toggl Track – Best for holding everyone accountable
  4. QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) – Best for GPS monitoring
  5. Tick – Best for SMB time management
  6. Lathem – Best for employee time tracking

Individuals and small businesses should check out Clockify, Tick, and Toggl to see how far they can get with a free forever product.

Looking at those three options and thinking about larger teams and paid plans, Clockify is going to offer the best in-house reporting features. This can be really helpful for teams that are trying to track revenue and expenses across many projects.

For time management, SMBs are going to find that Tick has everything they need within an intuitive interface. It delivers a similar experience as Toggl at a lower cost. Choose Toggl if you want employee monitoring features, which you won’t get with Tick. You can’t go wrong with Lathem either – plus they offer online and hardware access that can be used to track time at your on-site location with 24/7 support.

If you really need robust employee monitoring features, Time Doctor is the product for you. You get a lot more insight into how users are spending their time that you will with other time tracking software.

In the field, QuickBooks Time outperforms the competition. The GPS tracking features work beautifully, and the mobile app keeps remote workers up to speed.

Which time tracking software features do you need for you and your employees?

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6 Best Time Tracking Software Options

Why is time tracking still a source of stress for employees, supervisors, and management?

There are only two reasons, really. They’re not using time tracking software. Or, they’re using a solution that doesn’t fit with their business.

There is no third reason.

I can say that with total confidence because there are so many good time trackers out there.

Because no one should suffer any longer, I’m going to share the top six time tracking software options on the market today.

#1 – Time Doctor — Best for Keeping Tabs on Remote Employees

Time Doctor has rich monitoring features for employees who are at their computer all day. It’s a full-service time tracker that you can use for payroll and project management software, but it really steps away from the competition by giving managers insight into what their employees are doing.

Once employees download Time Doctor, they create tasks and begin tracking time. Supervisors can see what tasks people are working on, as well as get insight on mouse and keyboard activity.

They may also enable screenshots taken at random intervals to confirm people stay on task.

Website and app monitoring is another really helpful facet of Time Doctor for both users and supervisors. You can quickly generate reports that show exactly how much time each person is spending on a website or application.

For supervisors, reports surface unproductive behaviors. With Time Doctor, you can set automatic alerts when users spend too much time on problematic websites and apps, or block them altogether.

Moreover, users can better understand their work habits and where they are losing time.

There’s a lot more than just monitoring features included with Time Doctor, as it can handle:

  • Timesheets & payroll
  • Project management & budgeting
  • Offline time tracking
  • Productivity analysis
  • Daily, weekly, monthly reports

Pricing for Time Doctor breaks down as follows:

  • Basic: starting at $6/month per user
  • Standard: starting at $9/month per user
  • Premium: starting at $17/month per user
  • Enterprise: contact sales

With people working in the office, remotely, and on the go, managers lose out on a lot of the context that goes into how employees spend their time. The number of minutes worked doesn’t tell the whole story. Time Doctor can help you fill in the gaps, even if the whole office telecommutes.

There is no free version of Time Doctor, but you can sign up for a 14-day free trial.

#2 – Clockify — Best Reporting Features

Clockify is a wonderfully simple solution for time tracking and project management. The free version is generous, and its paid plans are very reasonable.

What I really like about Clockify is how easy it is for users to get a bird’s eye view of their time entries for the day, week, or month.

Once they clock in—which they can do from anywhere—they see a complete list of their time entries.

From there, they can easily check if anything is missing or incorrect. Without having to open a new window, they can edit times and add information or tags to projects. They can also use the time sheet to quickly confirm that everything is correct each week.

The reporting features in Clockify are quite good, bolstered by users’ ability to put so much information into their timesheets.

Administrators can get a real-time view of project budgets and see exactly what each person is working on.

There are many different reporting filters available to slice the data however you like. Get a quick read of how things are progressing for every individual, team, and client.

Clockify is loaded with features to help users stay on track like:

  • Idle detection
  • Time audit
  • Required fields
  • Alerts
  • Bulk edit
  • Offline mode

The free version of Clockify allows unlimited tracking, users, projects, and reports. It has all the great viewing and editing capabilities that makes Clockify easy to use.

The paid plans, which are still a bargain, come with features that give administrators more control over who can see what, as well as advanced alerting and reporting features.

Here’s a breakdown of the Clockify pricing:

  • Basic: $3.99/month
  • Standard: $5.49/month
  • Pro: $7.99/month
  • Enterprise: $11.99/month per user

Integrations with Salesforce, G Suite, Freshbooks, and more than 50 other web apps make it easy to use Clockify for scheduling and payroll.

Shortlist Clockify if you need a budget-friendly time tracking solution with really helpful reporting features.

It’s not at the level of ERP software, for sure, but compared to other time tracking software, Clockify is fairly robust and really easy to navigate.

#3 – Toggl Track — Best for Holding Everyone Accountable

Toggle Track is an excellent time tracking software for holding team members accountable.

Toggl Track has a surprisingly feature-rich free forever version. For a freelancer or a consultant, this free time clock software can be used to track and invoice all their billable hours.

It’s an excellent app for personal accountability. To maintain focus, there’s an idle detector, automated reminders, and Pomodoro timer, which may change the way you work forever.

For teams, the paid plans are a little more on the expensive side, but that is because it’s able to collect and report so much information. I especially like Timeline, Toggl Track’s background tracking feature, which records time entries for any app or website you use for more than 10 seconds.

It’s an easy way to see how you’re really spending your time, and you can configure alerts to suggest tracking for specific actions, such as every time you join a certain call.

Automated alerts let you know when projects are nearing their estimated completion or are in danger of running over budget.

You can also automate email reminders for users who aren’t tracking their hours.

Toggl also has a really useful time auditing capability that helps you detect incorrect or unassigned time entries.

Some of the other features that help users save time include:

  • Time tracking across all devices
  • Chrome and Firefox browser extensions
  • Team access levels
  • Project templates
  • Google Calendar integration

Some nice features, like time audits and being able to set required fields, are only available with paid subscriptions of Toggl Track.

In addition to the free plan, which is good for up to five users, there are three tiers to choose from:

  • Starter: $9/month per user
  • Premium: $18/month per user
  • Enterprise: Contact Toggl sales for a custom pricing plan

The appeal of Toggl is that it really helps people hold themselves accountable. Between the automation and the robust monitoring, everyone is reminded of how they are spending their time.

#4 – QuickBooks Time — Best for GPS Time Tracking

Use QuickBooks Time for GPS time tracking software.

QuickBooks Time is a rebrand of a super popular time tracking software called TSheets. It used to be that TSheets was separate software that had really great integration with the QuickBooks stack–now they are one and the same.

Nothing foundational has changed about TSheets now that it’s QuickBooks Time. It’s still a great choice for employee time tracking, especially if you have many people working in the field.

This is why it’s a favorite for property developers, construction companies, and other field service-oriented businesses. It’s totally fine for shift work and salaries, but the GPS tracking features are where QuickBooks Time shines.

Employees clock in from the mobile app and managers can see exactly where they are in the Who’s Working window.

You can use geofencing to set specific areas for employee clock-in and they can upload pictures and a digital signature to confirm that everything’s done.

The real-time GPS data is also a boon for company coordination.

Quickly figure out who’s closest to the job site for optimal deployments. Any changes to the schedule will trigger alerts to let everyone involved know about the new plan.

Some of the other really handy features include:

  • Drag-and-drop scheduling tool
  • Time clock kiosk
  • Facial-recognition time clock
  • Overtime tracking
  • Reporting and forecasting
  • Alert by text, email, or push notifications

QuickBooks Time has dozens of integrations on their App Marketplace. This will make it easy to incorporate your time tracking solution with other tools, even if you aren’t using purely QuickBooks products.

Pricing for QuickBooks Time is very reasonable:

  • Premium: $8/month per user, plus $20 base fee
  • Elite: $10/month per user, plus $40 base fee

Premium doesn’t have geofencing, digital signatures, and the advanced reporting features, but it has literally everything else.

In terms of a project management app, QuickBooks Time doesn’t let you get too granular, but you’ll be a master of the entire platform within a week. For workers, there’s not a lot of education needed to use it, which makes getting buy-in a lot easier.

Get a free demo of QuickBooks Time.

#5 – Tick — Best for SMB Time Management

Tick is an excellent time tracking software to help small businesses with time management.

Tick is project-based time tracking software. It integrates nicely with tools like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp, helping managers keep projects on time and on budget.

In Tick, you create projects made up of tasks. Then, employees select the appropriate project and task, entering time from their desktop, mobile device, or even their Apple Watch.

You can set budgets for individual tasks within Tick, so managers have a better idea of where time is being lost within the larger project.

You can also create recurring projects, which can close at the end of the month and auto-duplicate for the next one. This is great for individuals and companies that use retainers or provide routine services for their clients.

The reporting capabilities in Tick are helpful for budget analysis and forecasting. Searching through data is really easy, by client, employee, project, or billable versus non-billable.

A lot of users like Tick’s auto-fill search, because they don’t have to browse for what they need.

Quite simply, Tick simplifies time management. With very little work on the user-side, those in control of the budget can make decisions based on accurate, real-time information.

Other key features of Tick include:

  • Set running timers
  • Assign people to projects
  • Chrome extension
  • Invoicing and payroll integrations
  • Easy-edit time entry
  • Bulk move time entry

A word about these last two features: It used to be that editing time entries in Tick was a real pain. They’ve since updated it so you can edit time directly in reports, as well as move all entries from one task or project to another.

Tick pricing is based on the number of projects you can create:

  • 1 Project: Free
  • 10 Projects: $19/month
  • 30 Projects: $49/month
  • 60 Projects: $79/month
  • Unlimited Projects: $149/month

With every tier, you get unlimited users, clients, and tasks. It’s super affordable for any business.

I mean, if Tick saves you 2 hours, it’s already paid for several months of service.

I really recommend this product to teams that are using Trello, Asana, and especially Basecamp, which has really tight integration. It also integrates with Zapier and more than 750 other web apps.

There’s a 30-day free trial of Tick. If you think it could work for your business, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

#6 Lathem – Best Employee Time Tracking Software

Lathem is a great time tracking software for individual employees.

Lathem is an employee time tracking software platform. Tracking employee time is made easier even with remote teammates. You can manage employee hours and attendance from any location, anytime.

In Lathem, employees can use the digital time clock, their smartphone, or online time clock to log time and access their time card data whenever they choose.

Payroll processing is facilitated by the simple integration of all employee time card data with payroll software such as Intuit QuickBooks, ADP, Paychex, and others. With the help of our technology, you may stop employee time theft, lessen unauthorized overtime, and guarantee compliance with wage/hour laws and the Affordable Care Act.

Other key features of Lathem include:

  • Cloud-based time clock & attendance tracking
  • Face recognition, fingerprint or badge scanner time clocks
  • Payroll integrations and easy exporting
  • Easy-edit time entry
  • GPS tracking

Lathem’s pricing is based on the number of projects you can create:

  • Standard package: starts at $35/month for 10 employees or less
  • Enterprise package: starts at $3/employee per month at a $50 minimum

For being a customer, loyalty discounts are available to you. So, it actually pays to be loyal to Lathem. With every tier, you get free setup & install support as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You can really get the most out of this product, from online to physical on-site software options. Lathem hits the mark for what your business needs in employee time tracking software.

What I Looked at to Find the Best Time Tracking Software

If you have searched for time tracking software before, there’s one thing you’ll notice right away.

All of the popular products deliver way more than simple time tracking.

Trying to keep track of all these additional features would be difficult, but they break down into four highly-recognizable areas:

  • Scheduling
  • Reporting
  • Accounting
  • Monitoring

Does your time tracker need to be connected to some or all of these areas?

Finding the best time tracking software is all about knowing how you want it to sync with your business. Let’s dive into the core features in each area.

Scheduling

To track your employee’s clocking in, time tracking software automatically logs their hours. In most cases, users fill out a timecard that says what project or client they are working for.

All of that information gets tracked in a timesheet.

In this example timesheet from Clockify, you can see how all the time entries are automatically mapped out over the week.

Clockify, a time tracking software, has a timesheet feature to help log hours throughout the week.

Some time tracking software comes with built-in scheduling tools that let you assign shifts and alert users when there’s a change in plans.

Time tracking software that’s light on native scheduling features usually has tight integration with the best project management solutions.

Look for the product that has what you need out of the box or connects with the tools you already use to manage your schedule.

Reporting

Time tracking software will let you monitor productivity and forecast budget problems well in advance.

The products I like pull all your data into clear visualizations.

In this example from Toggl Track, it’s easy to see how work is progressing and the impact that has on revenue:

Toggle Track, a time tracking software, has a reporting feature that helps people see how work is progressing and its impact on revenue.

Good tracking platforms also let you drill down into the specifics of each client, employee, and project.

The more advanced tools will let users and administrators add more detail, but all of the products on this list come with tools that will help you stay on budget.

Accounting

A lot of companies use time tracking software to streamline payroll and invoicing. By integrating with services like Quickbooks and PayPal, these tools can handle the job in a few clicks.

You can forget about long spreadsheets and good ol’ human error. Whenever you generate an invoice or make a payment, there’s a clear record of the work that was done.

Monitoring

Some time tracking software comes with monitoring features that let you check up on employee productivity.

These include location-based monitoring—such as GPS tracking—which ensures that employees are where they are supposed to be.

Time tracking software can also be downloaded to a specific tablet or desktop that serves as a time clock kiosk.

Like a punch card system of old, the kiosk lets employees enter a PIN or takes a picture to prove they clocked in on time.

There are also digital monitoring aspects to time tracking software, which can record the websites and applications a user visits while they are clocked in.

Some task management-specific software can also take screenshots at random intervals, to ensure that people are staying on task.

One quick, important word about monitoring and tracking software.

Before you deploy your new solution, have an open conversation with employees about what’s happening and why. Find alignment in the fact that tracking and monitoring will protect employees as much as the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a good time tracking app?

Of the time tracking tools I mentioned throughout this guide, my top recommendations for time tracking apps are: 

  • Clockify – Best reporting features
  • Lathem – Best for employee time tracking 

Both apps are easy to access for SMBs or freelancers. This is helpful for management to be more efficient and hands-off while employees autonomously keep track of their work.

Do these time tracking softwares work with any computer?

All the software is compatible with PC and Mac devices. You don’t have to miss out on the best tools for you and your team when everything can be handled in the same software on any computer. This also means when your employees are reporting hours or project times, they have access to do so from anywhere.

Why use time tracking software?

Professional service providers, institutions that use hourly workers or freelancers, and companies that use cost-plus pricing all need time tracking software for logistics purposes. Your team members should be able to simply add time entries to tasks using project time tracking software. This is how you’ll know you are meeting a need for your company before adding another expense.

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  • Lathem – Best for employee time tracking 

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All the software is compatible with PC and Mac devices. You don’t have to miss out on the best tools for you and your team when everything can be handled in the same software on any computer. This also means when your employees are reporting hours or project times, they have access to do so from anywhere.


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Professional service providers, institutions that use hourly workers or freelancers, and companies that use cost-plus pricing all need time tracking software for logistics purposes. Your team members should be able to simply add time entries to tasks using project time tracking software. This is how you’ll know you are meeting a need for your company before adding another expense.


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Conclusion

I don’t like to just hit expectations; I always want to over-deliver.

But my work has to be on time and on budget. It’s not possible to sustain a consistent level of service without a clear sense of how my time is spent.

The same holds true for both blue-collar moving companies and white-shoe law firms. Time is money.

Take control with time tracking software. Here’s a complete list of my top recommendations:

  1. Time Doctor – Best for keeping tabs on remote employees
  2. Clockify – Best reporting features
  3. Toggl Track – Best for holding everyone accountable
  4. QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) – Best for GPS monitoring
  5. Tick – Best for SMB time management
  6. Lathem – Best for employee time tracking

Individuals and small businesses should check out Clockify, Tick, and Toggl to see how far they can get with a free forever product.

Looking at those three options and thinking about larger teams and paid plans, Clockify is going to offer the best in-house reporting features. This can be really helpful for teams that are trying to track revenue and expenses across many projects.

For time management, SMBs are going to find that Tick has everything they need within an intuitive interface. It delivers a similar experience as Toggl at a lower cost. Choose Toggl if you want employee monitoring features, which you won’t get with Tick. You can’t go wrong with Lathem either – plus they offer online and hardware access that can be used to track time at your on-site location with 24/7 support.

If you really need robust employee monitoring features, Time Doctor is the product for you. You get a lot more insight into how users are spending their time that you will with other time tracking software.

In the field, QuickBooks Time outperforms the competition. The GPS tracking features work beautifully, and the mobile app keeps remote workers up to speed.

Which time tracking software features do you need for you and your employees?

Best WordPress Maintenance and Management Services

Make no mistake: Running a website is hard.

There are so many areas to focus on, from content creation to admin, to maintaining a site via updates. This is to say nothing of security—you (and your visitors) really don’t want your site hacked.

The good news is that WordPress maintenance services can take a load off users’ shoulders, keeping their sites up to date and allowing them to spend their time elsewhere.

These services offer support and can help with website downtime, theme modifications, site backups, and more.

I’ve put together a list of the best WordPress maintenance and management services to help you get started.

#1 – WP Buffs Review — The Best for Site Security

WP Buffs, great for site security, is an excellent WordPress management service.

WP Buffs is a top maintenance service for those who want full confidence in their site’s security. When users purchase the service, they’ll be able to use the iThemes Security plugin—considered to be one of the best security plugins available.

The plugin exists to protect a site from nasty malware and spam, but it’s also useful for its cache feature that improves the loading speed of a site—something crucially important for good rankings.

Users also have the option to back up their entire site with WP Buffs and store it in the cloud for extra peace of mind.

Other key features of WP Buffs include:

  • 24/7 site edits
  • Speed optimization
  • Ongoing security
  • Weekly updates
  • Emergency 24/7 support

On the pricing front, WP Buffs offers multiple plans. The key ones are Maintain, Protect, Perform, and then there are a series of custom plans for those with advanced needs.

Itemized, these are:

  • Maintain / Annual or monthly / $66 a month when billed yearly
  • Protect / Annual or monthly / $133 a month when billed yearly
  • Perform / Annual or monthly / $183 a month when billed yearly
  • Custom / Annual or monthly / $290 a month when billed yearly
  • Custom Pro / Annual or monthly / $373 a month when billed yearly

The iThemes Security Pro premium plugin is included from the second package onward or the Protect tier in this case. The third level of pricing, Perform, includes four daily cloud backups, priority support, and complete malware removal.

Learn more and get started at WP Buffs.

#2 – GoWP Review — The Best for Agencies

Use the WordPress management service, GoWP, if you work at an agency or are a web developer.

GoWP is an ideal WordPress maintenance service for agencies and web developers. Whether you want to expand your team or outsource more of your services, GoWP can completely support you.

It positions itself as a white-label service, which allows an agency to layer its own branding and SOPs on top of the maintenance services GoWP provides as if those services are now part of the agency’s own back end. 

The white-label focus allows GoWP to create a dedicated mailbox using a domain, provide help and support to all requests to that email, and share a white-labeled dashboard with clients.

On top of that, you have WordPress plugin updates, security monitoring, and automatic site backups with 90 days of offsite storage.

Other powerful features of GoWP include:

  • Unlimited content edits
  • Dedicated account manager (premium)
  • Dedicated WordPress developer (premium)
  • Daily security scans and malware cleanup
  • White-label help desk

GoWP has these main tiers of pricing:

  • Maintenance / $29 monthly per site       
  • Content edits / $79 monthly per site       
  • Landing page builds / $1,299 monthly
  • Dedicated developer, copywriter, virtual assistant, or designer services / Starting at $1,099 monthly

The second tier gives agencies access to a 24/7 team of experts, a support ticket dashboard, and Visual Validator WordPress updates.

The next tier jumps up in price but does provide you with a dedicated WordPress developer for it. Learn more at GoWP.

#3 – FixRunner Review — The Best for Tech Support

Use FixRunner for tech support when considering a WordPress management service.

FixRunner is a great choice for dedicated tech support.

The service features monthly support time from 90 minutes to four hours—this does depend on the plan you opt for—and additional help is available if you need it.

You’ll be able to use this support time to make all sorts of tweaks to a site, including full debugs, performance improvements, and more.

I was particularly impressed with FixRunner’s 30-day satisfaction guarantee that offers a full refund, no questions asked if you’re unhappy with the service.

FixRunner also offers:

  • Speed optimization
  • WordPress core updates
  • Plug-in and theme updates
  • Uptime monitoring
  • Security scans

The service provides plans for both small websites and bigger, enterprise-level ones. There are three core plans available for smaller websites:

  • Premium / Monthly, quarterly, or yearly / $69 monthly
  • Rocket / Monthly, quarterly, or yearly / $99 monthly
  • Advance / Monthly, quarterly, or yearly / $179 monthly

If you sign up for a full year, the price drops considerably. For example, the Premium plan drops to $49 per month.

For bigger websites or Enterprise-level business, we have the following:

  • Advance + / Monthly or quarterly / $300 monthly
  • Advance ++ / Monthly or quarterly / $500 monthly
  • Custom / Monthly or quarterly / Call for price

If you run a smaller website, I think the Rocket package is a good starting point—it includes support for online shops, on-page SEO optimization, and a faster response time for sites, making it a notable offering all around.

#4 – Valet Review — The Best for Ecommerce Store Owners

Valet is a fantastic WordPress management service for those who run ecommerce stores.

Valet should be a top pick for those that run ecommerce stores.

It’s a comprehensive service that provides manual updates and includes uptime monitoring, security scanning, and full examinations of checkout workflows, all of which help ensure everything is running smoothly for your customers.

Some of the other highlights include:

  • Code checks
  • Reports and analysis
  • Remediation for website accessibility
  • Up to five hours of dedicated support per month

The first paid plan with Valet starts at $300 per month and includes two hours of support.

should check out the professional plan that costs $750 a month but includes five hours of dedicated support every month.

The top-tier plan with Valet is the Elite Plan that offers over ten hours of support each month, and this is quite clearly catered towards large companies that have the extra funding available.

General consultations with Valet are available and cost $175 per month.

#5 – SiteCare Review — The Best for Performance Optimization

SiteCare is a great WordPress management service to optimize your website performance.

SiteCare is the best option on my list for site performance optimization. If you want a service that will optimize a site so it loads as quickly as possible, this is your top choice.

SiteCare gets to work by first looking at aspects of a site that could be causing it to slow down. This can be due to anything from poorly optimized images to faulty plugins or a web host’s quality.

Once that’s done, the service implements a series of best practices, removing the website’s weaknesses step by step until it’s responsive and efficient.

SiteCare offers the following to those that use the service:

  • Hack cleanups
  • Daily backups
  • Real-time monitoring
  • Theme and plugin updates
  • Mobile optimization

In terms of pricing, things are clear and simple. There are four key plans available:

  • Standard (annual plan only) / $82.50 per month
  • SiteCare Plus / $299 per month
  • SiteCare Pro / $499 per month
  • SiteCare Premier / $1,200 per month

The Standard plan includes access to the essentials, such as daily backups, malware cleanup, and access to support.

The more advanced plans are quite a jump, but for that, you get access to custom development hours with a specialist and a few extras such as ecommerce support and Sucuri firewall.

#6 – The WP Butler Review — The Best for Custom Plans

If you're looking for a custom WordPress management service, then choose The WP Butler.

Only want specific parts of a service? Well, The WP Butler is unique because it allows users to customize their service plan.

For example, maybe you’re just looking for caching and speed improvements but don’t require anything else.

Monthly services with The WP Butler include malware scans, daily or weekly backups, and plugin or theme updates.

The itemized one-off service includes everything from configuring HTTPS to a custom security inspection.

Additional features of The WP Butler include:

  • Weekly site reviews
  • Uptime monitoring
  • 30 minutes of development time on retainer
  • Emergency site restoration
  • Security plugin configuration

As there are quite a few options with The WP Butler, pricing varies significantly depending on what you need.

If the monthly packages are more suited to you, these come in the following tiers:

  • The Basics / $39 a month
  • The Solopreneur / $69 a month
  • The Small Business / $129 a month
  • The Company / $299 a month
  • The Enterprise / $599 a month

One-off services range from $100 to $250, and there’s even the option of a monthly retainer. With this, you pay for a set number of hours of development work each month. Lots to choose from here.

#7 – Emily Journey & Associates Review — The Best for Site Development

Emily Journey & Associates is a great WordPress management service for website development.

Don’t you want WordPress experts building your WordPress site? Then Emily Journey & Associates is who you need to call. This women-owned and led company is an excellent choice for website maintenance services if you want direct access to a dedicated website manager.

Founded in 2012 by Emily Journey, the EJ&A team has developed a reputation for its high standard of professionalism.

Companies choose Emily Journey & Associates for their consultative approach and depth of experience with the WordPress platform.

EJ&A clients can count on:

  • Direct communication with their website manager
  • A 24-hour response time during the workweek
  • Options for WordPress training
  • A strong focus on SEO

In terms of pricing, Emily Journey & Associates is among the higher-priced agencies for website maintenance services.

Their service package options are as follows:

  • Basic Website Maintenance / $199 per month billed monthly
  • Premium Website Maintenance / $450 per month billed monthly
  • Custom Website Maintenance / Pricing varies

The website managers at EJ&A are also WordPress instructors. If you’re looking for responsive website service, they’ll do the work for you or even teach you through an informative training course. This is a valuable plus when you want to understand the capabilities and limits of your website.

What I Looked at To Find the Best WordPress Maintenance and Management Services

There are two primary ways that people outsource the maintenance and management of WordPress.

One is to pay for a managed WordPress hosting plan, which means the provider takes over a lot of the technical legwork that goes into running WordPress sites. They also provide premium customer support that goes above and beyond what you usually get with web hosting.

Companies like WP Engine, Bluehost, SiteGround, and WordPress.com (not WordPress.org) all offer managed WordPress hosting plans. These can be a great way to offload your site maintenance responsibilities, though you have to pay more than you do for “unmanaged” hosting.

Not every web host offers a managed WordPress option, though, so your other option is to use a WordPress maintenance and management service.

You really want to find a single service that covers all the WordPress responsibilities you want outsourced. There’s no sense in getting more than one, which would be confusing for everyone.

Here are the core areas you need to consider.

Security Monitoring

It goes without saying how important security is for a site in the internet age. With the increase in threats and cyberattacks, knowing someone has got your back can bring great comfort.

Most of the maintenance services on this list include top security monitoring as part of their monthly packages, although not every service will.

Some, for example, might include security monitoring as an optional extra. If that’s the case, I say it’s worth the add-on cost. At the very least, get a WordPress security plugin to cover

How essential this is depends on the size of a company, but in most cases, monitoring a site for threats and knowing what to do if attacked is key. A maintenance service removes a great deal of worry here, so I think it’s a vital area to consider.

Site Optimization

Site optimization is a broad term, but in the case of WordPress maintenance and management services, I’m mainly talking about making a site more responsive and quicker to load.

A slow website can lead to people leaving sites rapidly in today’s fast-paced world, not to mention that Google actively penalizes slower websites by pushing them down in the search results.

A WordPress maintenance service can optimize a site to load quickly, making it responsive and pleasurable to use. This is important for every single site on the internet.

Almost all the WordPress maintenance services on this list include site optimization in some form, though the exact service carried out can vary.

Backups

A site that’s a victim of a cyberattack could find itself damaged and beyond repair—that’s where site backups come in. These allow users to restore a healthy and fully working version of said site.

In fact, it might not be a cyberattack, mistakes that delete files or whole databases can happen, sometimes inexplicably.

Having a maintenance service ready and waiting to install a healthy backup of a site if something goes wrong is beyond useful. It removes a lot of the stress from potentially losing everything.

Companies of most sizes will find this a vital feature, although site backups are easy enough to do if you’re an informed solopreneur—in the case of the latter, they might not need this particular service.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to put WordPress into maintenance mode?

Create a maintenance page (.maintenance file) for your blog to inform readers when it is being updated or to create a coming soon page for a new website. The front end of the blog is fully accessible to users with admin credentials. When the plugin is activated, your blog enters maintenance mode, is operational, and only authorized users can access the front end.

What is the best WordPress maintenance service for agencies?

The list of WordPress maintenance services I recommend to agencies are:

  • GoWP 
  • WP Buffs 
  • FixRunner 
  • Valet 
  • WP Site Care 
  • The WP Butler 
  • Emily Journey & Associates

What are the best ways to secure your WordPress site?

A great path to securing your WordPress site starts with choosing a good hosting company. Install WordPress plugins to help with security that can scan for malware and monitor security, activity auditing, and other features. Make sure you install an SSL certificate to help protect sensitive information. Keep everything in WordPress updated and your site secure from hackers and you’re good to go.

What do WordPress maintenance services do?

They aid with website speed optimization, WordPress upgrades, security audits, emergency support duties, and more. In addition, they provide a variety of digital marketing services, including SEO optimization, pay-per-click management, content marketing, and more.

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Conclusion

WordPress maintenance and management services can be crucially important to the right person. There’s a considerable amount of choice out there too, and knowing where to start can be difficult.

My list covers all of the key areas to consider:

  1. GoWP — Best for agencies
  1. WP Buffs — Best for site security
  1. FixRunner — Best for tech support
  1. Valet — Best for ecommerce store owners
  1. WP Site Care — Best for performance optimization
  1. The WP Butler — Best for custom plans
  1. Emily Journey & Associates — Best for site development

These are respectable choices, and thinking about exact needs can help make the decision process a little bit quicker.

There’s a lot to think about when running a site, from site backups to security and optimization.

WordPress maintenance services will allow the process to become more manageable, saving precious time for use elsewhere.

Create an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan That Highlights the Best of Your Brand

When a customer interacts with your brand on your website, on social media channels, or in person, they should have a cohesive experience.

From brand voice to visual identity, everything should be aligned with your company’s mission, values, and goals.

This approach is called integrated marketing communications (IMC).

As more and more customers use three or more channels to research a brand, integrated marketing communications are becoming more and more important.

WSo what are integrated marketing communications, and why do they work so well? In this blog post, we’ll answer those questions and give you some tips on how to create your own integrated marketing communications plan.

What Are Integrated Marketing Communications?

The goal of integrated marketing communications is to create a consistent message and brand identity that customers will recognize across all channels.

This requires a coordinated effort that includes all aspects of marketing, from advertising and public relations to sales and customer service.

For example, if a customer sees an ad for your product on TV, hears about it on the radio, and then visits your website, they should have the same experience.

Your message should be consistent across all channels, and each channel should work together to support the others.

Why is this important?

Well, in a world where 77 percent of B2B buyers spend time researching purchases online and purchase frequency is 250 percent higher on omnichannel vs. single-channel shopping, you need to make sure your message is getting through, loud and clear.

An integrated marketing communications plan will help you do just that by bringing all of your marketing efforts together into one cohesive strategy.

The difference between single channel and omnichannel order rates.

Why Integrated Marketing Campaigns Work

Integrated marketing communications campaigns work because they provide a consistent message across all channels that are reinforced with each interaction.

This type of marketing allows you to control the conversation about your brand and ensure that your target audience is seeing the same message no matter where they encounter your brand—–whether it’s through paid advertising, social media, or even in person.

Plus, integrated marketing communications campaigns are often more cost-effective than single-channel campaigns because you can leverage existing content and assets across multiple channels.

Key benefits of an integrated marketing communications plan:

  • Rreach a wider audience than single-channel experiences
  • Kkeep your brand top of mind across all channels
  • Bbuild audience trust with consistent messaging and campaigns
  • Ssave budget by reusing content and assets

If that’s not enough, research from the Harvard Business Review found that customers who use omnichannel shopping spend 10 percent % more online and four4 percent % more in-store than single-channel customers.

Integrated Marketing Communications Examples

Looking for your next great integrated marketing communications campaign? Check out these examples for inspiration.

Budweisers’ “Whassup?” Campaign

The “Whassup?” campaign by Budweiser first aired during Monday Night Football in 1999. The campaign featured characters answering the phone saying, “Whassup?” in a comical, slurred way.

While the internet was still in its infancy, Budweiser became a pioneer by directing viewers to its website.

On the website, visitors could learn how to say “Whassup” in over 30 different languages! With this new marketing campaign, only one phrase increased visitors to Budweiser’s website and sealed the integrated marketing communications campaign’s efficacy.

The campaign was a success and won the Cannes Grand Prix award as well as the Grand Clio award. The catchphrase was also featured in pop-culture hits such as Scary Movie (2000), Friends (2003), The Simpsons (2002, 2005), and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2008).

For the 2020 Super BowlSuperbowl, Budweiser brought this campaign back in a pandemic-themed re-make titled, “Whassup again?”

Domino’s “AnyWare” Campaign

Another integrated marketing communications campaign example success story comes from Domino’s Pizza.

ToIn order to increase digital orders, Domino’s created AnyWare, which allows customers to order pizza through various platforms such as a tweet, text, Ford Sync, Smart TVs, and smartwatches.

Each new way to order was introduced with its own press release and driven to the DominosAnyWare.com website.

In 2015, Dominos also launched a national TV ad campaign featuring celebrities arguing that their way of ordering was the best.

To date, the AnyWare campaign has generated 2 billion earned media impressions including spots on The Ellen Show, Jimmy Fallon, and The Today Show. The TV campaigns generated 10.5 percent year-over-year growth for the brand.

An image of an Apple Watch with a Domino's pizza tracker on the screen.
Dominos “Anywhere” Campaign.

The Martian Movie

To promote the theatertheatre release of 20th Century Fox and Ridley Scott’s, “The Martian” in 2015, a prologue campaign was created to increase awareness and excitement.

The goal of the “The Martian” prologue campaign was to build box office hype around the new film.

An integrated marketing communications strategy was built to be consumed on a variety of channels including, but not limited to: social media, video, celebrity endorsements, and traditional PR and marketing efforts.

The campaigns included a mock episode of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk from the year 2035, an Under Armour campaign showing “The Martian”‘s main character, Mark Watney, as a superathlete of the future, and mock-declassified NASA footage showing each character going through psychological testing before heading out into space.

The Martian opened number one at the box offices and had the second-highest fall opening of all time. It was also the number one movie in the U.S. for four4 weeks.

How to Create an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan

If you want to create an integrated marketing communications plan that highlights the best of your brand, here are a few key steps you need to take.

1. Get to Know Your Audience

Before you start developing your communications plan, you must takeit’s important that you take the time to get to know your audience.

Consider demographic factors, such as education level, gender, income, age, race, and geographic location. Then, think about behavioral and psychological traits, including things like interests, hobbies, and values.

Take demographic factors like education level, income, age, race, gender, and geographic location into consideration. Don’t forget about psychological and behavioral traits like values, hobbies, and interests.

Creating a customer profile that is specifically tailored to your ideal customer will help you make better decisions about your marketing campaign.

In some cases, you may have more than one customer profile for a given campaign. Sometimes, you may have multiple customer profiles for one campaign. In that case, it’s important to segment your audience so that you can tailor your message to each group.

For example, if you’re marketing a new line of environmentally-friendly cleaning products, you might have one customer profile that is interested in saving money and another that is interested in saving the planet.

Tailoring your message to each group will help you create an integrated marketing communications plan that highlights the best of your brand.

2. Set a Budget

Let’s face it, you might not be in a position to hire Neil deGrasse Tyson, NASA, and Under Armour in your first integrated marketing communications campaign.

But tThat doesn’t mean you can’t create a strong, compelling message.

The key is to set a realistic budget and then allocate your resources accordingly.

If you have a limited budget, focus on creating high-quality content that can be distributed across multiple channels.

If you have a larger budget, look for high-profile partnerships, influencer marketing, and other paid media opportunities.

In either case, make sure you have a clear plan for how you will spend your money and what your limits are.

3. Outline Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

One of the most important parts of creating an integrated marketing communications plan is understanding what makes your brand unique.

  • What do you offer that no one else does?
  • What can you do better than anyone else?

Answering these questions will help you develop a strong unique selling proposition (USP), which will be a key component of your communications strategy.

Once you have your USP, make sure it is front and center in all of your marketing materials.

It should be the through-line that ties together your various communications channels and provides a consistent message to your target audience.

For example, if you are a luxury car brand like Audi, your USP might be “Luxurious and comfortable cars delivering excellent engine performance.”

Make sure this message is clear in your advertising, social media posts, website content, and any other marketing collateral.

If you’re selling running shoes like Nike, your USP might be “The best shoes for athletes and fitness.”

Again, this should be a consistent message across all of your communications channels.

Your USP will be the foundation of your integrated marketing communications strategy, so take the time to develop it thoughtfully.

A venn diagram depicting the difference between what your customers want and what your business does well.
Use your unique selling proposition to create an effective integrated marketing communication campaign.

4. Decide Which Platforms You’ll Use

Once you know who you’re speaking to and what you want to say, you need to decide which channels you’ll use to reach your target audience.

This will be different for every business, but some common options include:

  • Eemail marketing
  • Ssocial media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn)
  • Aadvertising (digital and traditional)
  • Ccontent marketing (blog posts, infographics, eBooks)
  • Eevents and tradeshows
  • PR and media relations

Once you decide on overarching channels, you’ll also need to determine which specific tactics you’ll use on each platform.

For example, if you’re using Facebook to reach your target audience, will you primarily rely on organic posts or paid ads? If you’re using email marketing, what sort of content will you include in your newsletters?

Asking yourself these types of questions will help you create a more comprehensive and effective IMC strategy.

5. Messaging Style

While your brand voice needs to be consistent across all channels, the way you actually communicate with your audience will vary depending on the platform you’re using.

For example, the messaging you use in a Facebook ad will be different from than the messaging you use in an email newsletter.

Your tone might also change depending on whether you’re trying to build awareness, generate leads or drive sales.

Keep this in mind as you create your content calendar and start to populate it with messaging that’s in line with your brand voice and the goals of each individual piece.

Here are two examples from sneaker company No Bull, which uses different messaging styles on Facebook ads versus Twitter posts.

An IPhone screen showing a Facebook ad of sneakers.
A Facebook ad example from No Bull.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>About to take on the week like…<br>Congrats on a great finish in Dubai, Tola!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAMNOBULL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#IAMNOBULL</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustTheHorns?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#JustTheHorns</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BehindTheHorns?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BehindTheHorns</a> <a href=”https://t.co/RqlABILona”>pic.twitter.com/RqlABILona</a></p>&mdash; NOBULL (@justthehorns) <a href=”https://twitter.com/justthehorns/status/1206646654989783047?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 16, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

6. Set Your Targets and Goals

You’re almost ready to start putting your IMC plan into action, but first, you need to set some targets and goals. Consider the following:

  • What do you want are you looking to achieve with your integrated marketing communications strategy?
  • Are you trying to improve your external reach?
  • What about internal communications?
  • Is there a particular target audience you’re looking to engage?

Attaching numbers to your objectives is a good way to measure progress. For example, if one of your goals is to increase brand awareness, you could measure this by tracking the number of mentions your brand receives online.

Or, if you’re looking to improve customer satisfaction, you could survey your customers after they’ve made a purchase.

Other goals can include:

  • Email sign- ups
  • Social media follows and engagement
  • Website traffic
  • Sales or conversions
  • Phone calls
  • Event sign-ups and ticket sales

Once you have some goals and targets in mind, it’s time to start putting your integrated marketing communications plan into action!

7. Track and Optimize

Once your integrated marketing communications campaign is up and running, it’s important to track progress and optimize along the way.

Analytics are key in understanding what’s working and what’s not.

Be sure to keep an eye on your campaign goals and KPIs, and adjust as necessary. If you’re not seeing the results you want, don’t be afraid to change things up.

For example, let’s imagine you’re running an email campaign as part of your integrated marketing communications plan.

You might want to track metrics such as:

  • Oopen rates
  • Cclick-through rates
  • Uunsubscribe rates

If your open or click-through rates are low, you might want to consider changing up your subject lines or email content.

Or, if you’re seeing higher than average unsubscribe rates, that could be an indication that your content is not relevant to your audience.

It’s important to constantly test and measure the performance of your campaigns so that you can make necessary adjustments to ensure success. By doing so, you’ll be able to create an integrated marketing communications plan that highlights the best of your brand.

Frequently Asked Questions: Integrated Marketing Communication Plans

What does integrated marketing communication mean?

Integrated marketing communication is an approach to marketing that uses all aspects of a company’s communication channels to deliver a consistent message.

What are the benefits of using an integrated marketing communications plan?

The benefit of an integrated marketing communications plan is to ensure that all of a company’s marketing efforts are working together in harmony to deliver a consistent message.

What are the five forms of integrated marketing communications?

There are five main ways to market your product or service. They are advertising, direct marketing, internet marketing, sales promotion, and public relations. All of these methods can be used together to create a harmonious marketing plan.

Do integrated marketing communication plans help drive ROI?

Yes, integrated marketing communication plans can help drive ROI by ensuring that all marketing efforts are working together to deliver a consistent message. This will result in increased brand awareness and customer loyalty, which will lead to increased sales and profits.

Final Thoughts on Integrated Marketing Communications Plans

An integrated marketing communications plan is the key to success for any company.

By creating a plan that outlines the main ways to market your company and product, you can ensure that all of your marketing efforts are working together to deliver a consistent message.

This can result in increased brand awareness and customer loyalty, which can lead to increased sales and profits.

The end result? A more successful company that is better able to compete in today’s marketplace.

How have you found success with integrated marketing communications?

10 Best Email Marketing Softwares for Small Businesses

Ninety-nine percent of email users check their inbox every single day. 

That’s more high-intent traffic than any other avenue or platform you can use to reach your audience.

When people sign up for your email list, they are giving you permission to sell them. You can market to them for as long as you want until they unsubscribe.

Today, some small businesses have fallen into the trap of believing that email marketing isn’t beneficial. Don’t be one of them.

Eighty-one percent of small businesses see great results when they use email to acquire customers, giving them a key competitive advantage.

Let’s look at the best email marketing software you can use to achieve your goals.

1. Best Email Marketing Software for Multi-Channel Marketing: Omnisend

Omnisend is a popular marketing tool that caters primarily to small e-commerce businesses. It helps put everything in one place including your:

  • SMS marketing
  • social media marketing
  • email marketing

A study performed by Dot Digital shows the importance of email marketing in the e-commerce niche. They found that email yields an approximate 42 dollar return on every dollar spent. 

With Omnisend, you can easily create emails using a variety of templates and drag-and-drop editing tools—perfect for new and novice marketers.

This email marketing software is also great at helping you increase conversions by using discount codes, scratch cards, and various informative add-ons (like PDFs).

Key Features:

  • Pre-built templates for attractive emails without coding or advanced email knowledge.
  • Workflows that help you replicate top-converting email strategies.
  • Lead generation pop-ups that increase ROI.
  • Analytics dashboard for fixing mistakes and identifying opportunities.

Pricing:

One of the best features of Omnisend is its pricing structure. It’s free for up to 500 emails per month (perfect for small businesses) and 60 text messages. This includes automation, recommended workflows, and A/B testing.

Best Email Marketing Software for Multi-Channel Marketing - Omnisend

2. Best Email Marketing Software for Free Users: MailChimp

At one time, MailChimp was exclusively used as an email newsletter platform. 

Today, it’s a complete CRM platform that allows you to design landing pages, email capture forms, and much more. Its range of features helps small businesses stay organized and execute marketing strategies.

However, be warned. MailChimp does have limitations on the number of lists you can create and how accurately you can segment your audience. 

This requires you to have a firm understanding of your customer avatar.

Key Features:

  • Loaded with hundreds of integrations (for sites like Shopify).
  • Boasts a CRM product suite of automation tools, behavioral targeting, and more.
  • Provides appointment booking.

Pricing:

If you need an email marketing tool to help you scale on a low budget, MailChimp is a great option. When you are just starting out, you can access its wide range of features for free.

However, when your list is scaling and you’re ready to start spending, you can purchase plans for up to 10,000 emails a month. With email users expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025, now’s the time to act.

Best Email Marketing Software for Free Users - MailChimp

3. Best Email Marketing Software for Segmentation: ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is the best email marketing tool for selling products to lots of different target audiences. 

Its segmentation capabilities allow you to easily separate your contacts into lists and customize your marketing for hyper-personalization (which reduces opt-out rate by 50 percent.)

Using “[Name]” at the beginning of an email simply isn’t effective anymore. You need to actively write a copy that caters to an individual’s specific pain points and concerns.

ActiveCampaign helps you organize your list, target effectively, and create emails that convert.

Key Features:

  • Design and write emails that convert for specific audiences.
  • Personalize emails based on various audience segmentation variables.
  • A/B test to identify what converts and what doesn’t.
  • Landing page builder.

Pricing:

While ActiveCampaign doesn’t offer a free plan, it is transparent and upfront with its costs. For $9 per month, you get email automation, content creation support, unlimited sending, templates, newsletters, and data-backed reporting.

Best Email Marketing Software for Segmentation - Active Campaign

4. Best Email Marketing Software for Scaling Up: Drip

An average cart abandonment rate of 69.82 percent leads to missed sales opportunities that small businesses can’t afford to lose. 

When you want to scale, Drip is one of the highest recommended platforms out there. It has plans for businesses of all sizes, so your spending will only grow as you do.

The cost is uniquely catered to you based on the size of your list at the time you subscribe.

If you’re simply “dabbling” into email marketing, you can get started with Drip. If you already have a list of 10,000 email subscribers that you want to start making use of, don’t worry, they have a plan for you too.

Key Features:

  • The editor has both templates and drag-and-drop features.
  • Data insights provide behavior-based automation.
  • Email and website integrations.
  • Industry-leading customer service.

Pricing:

Drip offers a 14-day free trial and, from there, it determines how much you pay based on the size of your list.

For example, at $19 per month, you can have 1,500 contacts and unlimited emails. At $209 per month, you can have up to 15,000 contacts and unlimited emails.

Best Email Marketing Software for Scaling Up - Drip

5. Best Email Marketing Software for Email Design: Stripo

Not every business needs complicated email software. Stripo does one thing and does it well.

It’s an email builder designed to integrate with other platforms like GetResponse and MailChimp. Use Stripo to access beautiful templates that allow you to create on-brand marketing messages. 

Key Features:

Pricing:

Stripo offers a “free for life” plan that provides access to free email templates, learning software, and email support. From there, you’ll have to upgrade to the basic plan of $15 per month.

Best Email Marketing Software for Email Design - Stripo

6. Best Email Marketing Software for Lead Generation: OptinMonster

At one time, OptinMonster was nothing more than a WordPress plugin. 

Today, it’s a standalone email marketing tool with many features like opt-ins, pop-ups, triggers, templates, testing tools, integrations, and analytics.

It’s the best option for businesses that want to generate leads simply because of the versatility of the campaigns you can run. Examples include an exit-intent popup, floating bar, or fullscreen slide-in. 

They have a lot of gamified options as well. If most of your target audience is Gen Y or Z, their attention spans are between 8-12 seconds. Not quite long enough to read an email. 

Gamification increases retention times, click-throughs, and conversions.

Key Features:

  • Great drag-and-drop templates.
  • Extensive integrations.
  • Gamified emails.
  • HTML and Java editing.

Pricing:

OptinMonster is so much more than an email marketing software. At just $9 per month for the basic plan, you gain unlimited access to marketing campaigns, segmentation, integrations, and a website if you don’t already have one.

Best Email Marketing Software for Lead Generation - OptInMonster

7. Best Email Marketing Software for Contests and Promotions: Wishpond

Wishpond is one of the most comprehensive email marketing tools we’ve looked at so far. If you can dream it, they offer it. 

Wishpond has integrations for e-commerce, email marketing, and automation.

It also has a comprehensive landing page builder loaded with features including promotions, and a dashboard for implementing social media growth into your email marketing. 

The tool also offers online forms for you to do surveys and ask your audience what they’d like to see or hear more of. It’s a great option for small businesses with high-ticket offers.

Key Features:

  • Landing page builder with templates and customizations.
  • Easy-to-design contests and promotions.
  • Referral suite with lead captures, generation options, pop-ups, and link sharing.

Pricing:

Wishpond is $75 per month for the basic plan.

This price tag comes with a red flag: don’t use this tool if you don’t already have an established email list of at least 100 people.

8. Best Email Marketing Software for Automation: Sendinblue

Sendinblue’s goal is to help you automate email marketing to save costs and protect your bottom line. It offers a comprehensive CRM, email templates, landing pages, and even social media integration—all in one place.

Email has a 60 percent conversion rate compared to social media’s 12.5 percent, but it can take a long time to design and execute a successful strategy. With Sendinblue’s guidance, you can truly have the “best of both worlds” with this email marketing tool.

Automation is the main thing that stands out about Sendinblue with its great workflow, targeted campaigns, triggers, and lead scores.

Key Features:

  • Integrations with e-commerce platforms.
  • Automation elements.
  • WordPress plugin with a 4.5-star rating.
  • Free CRM system.
  • Multi-channel marketing.

Pricing:

Affordability takes centerstage with Sendinblue. Their free plan contains an email template library, email personalization, design tools, campaigns, and up to 300 emails a day. From there, the light plan is $25 per month with no sending limits.

Best Email Marketing Software for Automation - SendinBlue

9. Best Email Marketing Software for Funnels: GetResponse

Sometimes you need to build your sales funnel before you build an email list, and that’s what GetResponse is all about. You can build your entire funnel using its email marketing software, and even implement a live chat feature on your site.  

Key Features:

  • Powerful automation enables detailed list segmentation.
  • Plenty of testing options to figure out what converts.
  • Funnel and landing page builder.
  • Live chat, social media, and SEO features.

Pricing:

GetResponse has a complicated pricing structure simply because of everything it offers. If you simply want to send emails and build one landing page, you can use the free plan for up to 500 contacts. If you want to unlock the automation and segmentation features, you’ll need to get their “Marketing Plan” at $48 per month.

Best Email Marketing Software for Funnels - GetResponse

10. Best Email Marketing Software for Content Creators: ConvertKit

Best Email Marketing Software for Content Creators - ConvertKit

According to ConvertKit, creatives sent 16 billion emails in 2021. That’s 530 every second.

How do you get noticed among all that noise?

When you want your personal brand to stand out, ConvertKit’s features will appeal to your audience. It offers a landing page builder, solid deliverability, and support for content creators.

The downsides are limited templates, lack of reporting, and a hefty price tag.

Key Features:

  • Run targeted campaigns.
  • Sell digital products and build your subscriber/follower base.
  • Simple to use and super basic.

Pricing:

ConvertKit offers a free plan but it’s incredibly limited. From there, your email list determines a price. When you hit 3,000 subscribers you need to upgrade to a $49 per month plan, allowing you to use funnels and sequences. To get newsletters and any decent data reporting, you’ll have to purchase a premium plan.

Frequently Asked Questions About Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses 

What's the best email marketing software for small businesses?

Omnisend is the best email marketing tool for small businesses because it combines the right amount of features with an attractive price. Through it, you can execute a multi-channel marketing strategy and scale your revenue. 

Is email marketing beneficial to small businesses?

Email marketing is an incredible tool for small businesses and personal brands. Its average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent means that you are likely to see great business success from investing in high-quality and well-written emails.

Can my small business use email marketing software for automation?

Absolutely, tools like Sendinblue and Drip offer great email automation and triggers that help you make the most of your marketing efforts without requiring lots of time and attention. 

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Conclusion: Email Marketing Software Drives Real Results

It’s clear that email marketing software can help small businesses grow

When someone subscribes to your email list, you have their permission and it shows that they’re interested in whatever it is you offer.

Why not make the most of their engagement and sell to them?

Use the best email marketing software to build your list, increase your conversions, and ultimately, generate more revenue. 

Which email marketing software have you used? What do you like most about it?

The 15 Best A/B Testing Tools That Are Guaranteed to Boost Your Conversion Rates

What is your website’s conversion rate? What about your paid ads, forms, and landing pages?

No matter your conversion rate, there’s a good chance it could be better.

That’s because user preferences change over time. People get burned out by seeing the same ads and images, and styles change. Even the platforms where users hang out can shift.

There’s only one way to know if your ad, landing page, CTA, or entire website could convert better—and that’s to test it.

According to Invesp, 71 percent of companies run at least two A/B tests a month.

A B Testing Tools - 71 percent of businesses run at least two tests a month

However, only one in eight A/B tests drive significant change. That means a lot of companies are running A/B tests but not seeing results. A/B testing tools provide the framework and data you need to run better tests.

Why You Need A/B Testing Tools

A/B testing tools streamline the A/B testing process by making it easy to design, launch, and analyze tests. Is it worth the investment, though?

If you want to see real results with A/B testing, I strongly recommend using A/B testing tools. They can help by:

  • Tracking data: It can be hard to track clicks, conversions, and other significant KPIs. Many A/B testing tools track the data to ensure you have access to the information you need to make critical business decisions. They’ll even generate snazzy reports, so you look smart to your boss or clients.
  • Protecting your SEO: A/B testing won’t impact SEO—if you do it correctly. A/B testing tools help ensure your tests don’t run afoul of Google’s rules.
  • Automating testing: The more full-featured tools leverage automation to ensure testing is as efficient as possible. For example, automatically turning off ads that aren’t performing well, so you have more time to focus on running your business.
  • Streamlining the test creation process: Creating A/B tests can be time-consuming. It’s easy to get caught up in the details (Should this button be blue or green? Is this CTA good enough?). A good A/B testing tool makes building, launching, and tracking your tests easier.
  • Increasing your conversion rates: The most significant benefits of using A/B testing tools? They can help improve your conversion rates, lower bounce rates, and drive more sales. That’s because most offer recommendations based on AI or proprietary data.

If you’re still not sold, let’s look at how subscription-based mobile phone provider Ben used A/B testing to drive conversions.

Why You Need A/B Testing Tools - Example Ben

Ben began offering its customers access to the latest mobile devices in addition to affordable data and voice plans. They wanted to make sure customers knew they could choose the color of their phone, not just the model.

However, the company wasn’t sure how to share that news with customers. Using VWO, they ran two tests—one with the color palette under the phone image, and another with a menu option alongside the subscription choices.

After running the test for two weeks, they found that allowing users to choose the color option alongside their plan increased conversion rates by more than 17 percent and reduced customer calls to change device colors.

One simple test resulted in a large increase in conversion rates. Now, imagine if you continually ran tests like this. A/B testing tools make that possible.

The Best A/B Testing Tools

There are a ton of options when it comes to A/B testing tools. In fact, the A/B testing software market is expected to be worth $1,151 million by 2025, which means finding the right tool requires sifting through dozens of options.

No single A/B testing tool will work well for all businesses. An enterprise e-commerce site, for example, has far different needs than a local plumbing company.

To help you find the right one, we’ve analyzed the top A/B testing tools to compare features, pricing, and ease of use.

1. Google Optimize: Free A/B Testing Tool With Solid Features

Pricing: Free

Google Optimize is Google’s free A/B testing tool. The platform integrates with Google Analytics, making it easy to see how changes have impacted site performance.

With Optimize, you can create, launch, and track A/B testing performance all in one tool. If you’re already using Google Analytics or other Google tools, it’s simple to launch and set up your first test.

Main features include:

  • Ability to run several types of tests, including, A/B, multivariate, split URL, server-side experiments, and personalization.
  • Visual editor allows you to easily create tests.
  • SEO features to keep your tests from impacting your ranking.
  • Detailed reporting tools, including customizable reports and an experiment summary for a high-level or granular view of test results.
  • Built-in or customized objectives to set goals for your tests.
  • Experiment manager to see how tests perform over time and schedule experiments in the future.
  • Integration with all other Google tools including Analytics, AdSense, and Search Console.

Getting started is easy. Simply head to the Google Optimize page and click “Start for Free.” Once you accept the terms and conditions, you’ll be prompted to create your first experience.

Select the type of test you want to run, choose the URL, and then design your test.

best ab testing tools google optimize

There are a few drawbacks to Google Optimize. For starters, you can only run five experiments at a time. A few reviewers say the A/B testing preview tool is difficult to use and has a few bugs, which is another thing to consider.

For smaller sites that don’t need to run more than a few tests at a time, however, Google Optimize is a solid option.

2. Optimizely: Paid A/B Testing + CRO Tool for Fast-Growing or Enterprise Brands

Pricing: Call for a custom quote. According to Capterra, plans start at $50,000 a year but may be less for smaller sites.

When it comes to full-features A/B testing tools, Optimizely is one of the best on the market. This powerful tool offers a wide range of testing and tracking features, including:

  • Ability to run A/B and multivariate testing.
  • Advanced testing, including coding.
  • Exclusion groups enable you to run multiple tests on the same page without impacting SEO or UX.
  • Targeting and personalization dig deeper into the customer journey.
  • Powerful visual editor allows marketers to create tests—no dev needed.
  • Drag-and-drop templates to make creating tests easier.
  • Detailed reporting tools to highlight which experiments impact performance.

Optimizely is powerful—but it can also be intimidating for first-time testers. If you don’t have a large site and haven’t run A/B tests before, Optimizely may be challenging to use. However, if you have a large site and want to dig deep into your data and find out what customers really want, it’s worth a closer look.

To get started, reach out to their customer support team. They’ll ask for information about your website and traffic and then explain the full scope of features. Their team can also provide a customized demo so you can see the tools’ true potential.

3. AB Tasty: AI-Driven A/B Testing + Experimentation for Enterprise

Pricing: Call for a custom quote. TrustRadius reports pricing starts at $40 per month.

AB Tasty is an AI-powered A/B testing tool designed to help your business drive more conversions while providing world-class UX. They are trusted by more than 900 enterprise companies, including Sephora, Papa John’s, Walmart, and USA Today.

While it might not be ideal for smaller sites, it’s a good fit for enterprise companies looking to improve A/B testing and run more out-of-the-box tests.

Core features of the platform include:

  • The ability to run A/B and multivariate testing on mobile, app, or desktop platforms.
  • AI-powered targeting allows you to create incredibly granular segments based on user behavior.
  • Drag-and-drop text editor makes it easy to test any feature of your site, from the navigation bar to coding.
  • A broad range of goals including actions like demo requests, browsing behavior, and conversions.
  • Bayesian statistics engine doesn’t just track tests; it helps you understand the significance of tests by offering gain probability and media value.
The Best A/B Testing Tools - AB Tasty

There are a few drawbacks. AB Tasty doesn’t currently offer heat map tracking, while Optimizely does. Personalization features are in a separate tool, so it could cost more. Since they don’t list pricing on the site, it’s difficult to say for sure.

They also don’t support testing for paid ads, while Google Optimize does.

Is AB Tasty right for you? I don’t recommend it for smaller sites or those just getting started. It’s a full-featured tool with tons of options and ways to test, so it’s a great choice for enterprise companies, especially those in e-commerce.

4. Apptimize: Omni-Channel A/B Testing for Mobile-Focused Customer Journeys

Pricing: Contact for custom pricing. However, they do offer a 30-day free trial.

Having an app is good for business. A recent study found that 57 percent of shoppers prefer shopping in an app over other channels. However, A/B testing on apps is more challenging.

If you have an app or a buyer journey that crosses platforms, Apptimize might be a good solution for A/B testing. Apptimize provides A/B testing tools for web, mobile, OTT, and in-store. They specifically focus on testing for companies with frequent product rollouts, such as software companies.

Is it the right fit for your business? If your customer journey crosses platforms, it’s a solid option. Features include:

  • Robust A/B, multivariate, split testing, including in-person, in-app, website, and mobile sites.
  • Access controls and permissions limit who can make changes.
  • Funnel analysis to see how your test impacts conversions and other goals.
  • Activity dashboard to quickly see historical testing stats.

In addition to A/B testing tools, Apptimize offers features for workflow management to make the entire process smoother.

Overall, the Apptimize website is a little light on specific features, but they do focus on helping product teams test and personalize rollouts and manage new features.

If your goal is to figure out which color CTA button to use, this tool isn’t for you.

If you are constantly rolling out new features, want to better understand who your customers are, and want customers to enjoy a personalized experience across all devices, Apptimize is worth a try. Plus, they offer a free trial, so you can see if it’s a good fit.

5. Adobe’s Target Testing Tool: Full-Featured, Enterprise A/B Testing + Personalization Tool

Pricing: Contact for custom pricing. Plans vary based on product options, volume, and whether you need omnichannel testing. No free trial.

Adobe Target is a full-featured testing platform that allows businesses to test the entire customer experience, including images, copy, UI, apps, layout, background colors, and more. It can also test personalization’s impact, which is essential considering personalized CTAs convert 202 percent better than default CTAs.

Adobe Target includes:

  • Strong A/B testing features allow you to test just about every part of the user experience.
  • Visual composer makes it easy to create and run tests.
  • Multivariate and multiarm bandit testing to funnel traffic to the most successful experience earlier in the process.
  • Easy to set up, guided workflow enables you to quickly set up, test, and launch.
  • The ability to test on the client-side, server-side, or both.

Target also integrates with other Adobe products in Adobe Experience Cloud, so this is a great option if you’re using Adobe for analytics, insights, and content.

According to online reviews, Target is not beginner-friendly, so it’s probably not ideal for those just starting out. However, if you’ve used other A/B testing tools or are familiar with Adobe’s suite of tools, you likely won’t have any issues. Adobe also offers plenty of training modules to get you up to speed.

6. Intelligems: A/B Test Pricing for E-Commerce Stores

Pricing: Contact for pricing.

Most A/B testing tools focus on titles, headlines, and button colors. When it comes to driving e-commerce conversions, however, pricing can have a huge impact on conversion rates. Intelligems is an A/B testing tool designed for Shopify store owners to test pricing changes.

Does dropping your price a few cents impact conversions? What about raising prices? The only way to find the perfect price point is to test.

With Intelligems, you can easily test how pricing and features like Subscribe and Save impact LTV, checkouts, and long-term growth.

The Best A/B Testing Tools - Intelligems

Features include:

  • Easy-to-use test creator so you can test and launch tests faster.
  • Sophisticated data collection is turned into an easy-to-read data dashboard where you can see results at a glance.
  • A flexible testing structure allows you to see how shipping, discounts, and pricing (or any combination of the three!) impact a range of data points.
  • Expert recommendations ensure you develop a solid strategy based on expert insights.

This tool is relatively new but could be a game-changer for e-commerce stores. They are accepting suggestions for new features, so hopefully, they’ll expand testing options in the future.

7. VWO: Similar Features to Optimizely, but More Affordable

Pricing: Contact for full pricing, but Capterra reports pricing starts at $199.00 per month, which is far below Optimizely’s rate.

VWO is another full-featured testing tool similar to Optimizely and Google Optimize. If Optimize isn’t quite enough for your needs, but Optimizely is too pricey, VWO may be the perfect fit. It offers sophisticated testing funnels that are insanely customizable at more affordable rates.

VWO features include:

  • Create and launch tests for a range of tests, including A/B, split URL, multivariate, abandoned carts, and landing pages.
  • Targeting based on audience, behavior, campaign, and context.
  • Drag-and-drop test creator.
  • Engagement tracking and goal setting.
  • Customized visual reporting tools.
  • Mobile website testing.

VWO also tracks more than just traffic and conversions. It also leverages advanced tracking methods such as heatmaps, pageviews, screen activity, and user interactions.

The platform offers three plans, with higher plans offering additional features like campaign scheduling and custom JavaScript targeting.

One drawback is the lack of data storage. Heatmaps tests, for example, only store testing data for 60 to 90 days according to some reviews.

8. Unbounce: Landing Page Builder With A/B Testing Tool

Pricing: Paid plans start at $90 a month for up to 500 conversions and 20,000 visits. Unbounce offers a free 14-day trial.

Most of the tools we’ve covered so far are stand-alone A/B testing tools. You add a tracker to your website, then you can build, test, and launch A/B testing.

Unbounce is a little different. It’s actually a landing page tool with A/B testing baked into its software. Want to test your PPC landing pages? Test the impact of personalization? You can do all that—and a lot more.

A/B testing features from Unbounce include:

  • Unlimited A/B tests on all landing pages.
  • Easy-to-use test builder. Just duplicate your current page, change the elements you want to test, and launch.
  • Performance comparison tool to determine which page wins out.
  • A/B test sticky bars to determine which offers drive better results.
  • Smart builder that creates landing pages in just a few minutes.

Compared to full-featured A/B testing tools like Optimizely or VWO, Unbounce definitely lacks features. However, if you already use Unbounce or are considering it for landing pages and sticky bars, the A/B testing features are a strong selling point.

Unbounce is also more affordable than other testing tools, making it ideal for dipping your toe into A/B testing.

9. Facebook’s Experiments Tool: Free Tool to Test Social Ads

Pricing: Free to test, though you will pay for ads.

Social media ads can drive conversions, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website. However, it can also be challenging to tell which headline, offer, CTA, or image is responsible for driving clicks (and conversions).

When you consider the average conversion rate for Facebook ads is 9.21 percent, it’s clear there is plenty of room for improvement.

Recently, Facebook launched their Experiments Tool, designed to make it easier to A/B test paid ads on the platform. Brands can test campaign groups, campaigns, or ad sets against each other and easily see which performs better.

The Best A/B Testing Tools - Facebook Experiments

To get started, create your Facebook ads first in Meta Business Manager (aka Facebook business manager). Then, head over to Experiments Tool. Click Tests to get started and then select A/B test.

You’ll be prompted to select the ads you want to A/B test, schedule your campaigns, and name the test. You can also determine how Facebook should choose a winner based on key metrics like cost per result, cost per conversion, cost per 1,000 people reached, and cost per purchase.

When you’re done, it will ask you to review your testing parameters before launching your test.

This tool is important for two reasons: First, it’s straightforward to use, which isn’t the case for some of the more full-featured A/B testing tools. It’s also one of the few tools that allow you to A/B test social ads to optimize performance.

Currently, the tool doesn’t appear to work on Instagram, but hopefully, they’ll add that feature.

10. Ominconvert’s Explore: CRO + A/B Testing for E-Commerce

Pricing: Plans start at $167 per month.

For e-commerce, A/B testing is about more than testing CTA button copy or seeing if a top sticky bar converts better than a bottom sticky bar. It’s about pricing, product pages, images, mobile vs desktop, and so much more.

While most tools on this list work in any industry, Ominconvert was built with e-commerce sites in mind. Features to check out include:

  • Ability to test more than one website at a time.
  • Fast, professional support with a four-hour response time.
  • Advanced segmentation using JavaScript, cookies, UTM parameters, data layer attributes, and more.
  • Exit-intent and triggered overlay testing.
  • A/B and personalization testing dig deep into the customer journey.
  • CDN cache bypass using a dedicated browser extension.

You can also set and track as many goals as you want and gain insights into why specific tests aren’t working.

It’s worth noting this is not a tool for beginners; it can be code-heavy at times and requires a pretty decent understanding of your site’s backend. However, it’s also affordable at $167 per month. Ominconvert is used by several powerful brands, including Samsung and ING, so they definitely know their stuff.

11. Nelio A/B Testing: Powerful A/B Testing Plugin for WordPress

Pricing: Plans start at $24 per month for up to 5,000 views.

More than 455 million websites use WordPress—and you might be one of them. If you’re looking for an A/B testing tool that plays nice with the most popular CMS on the market, you’re in luck.

Nelio AB offers powerful A/B testing tools right in your WordPress dashboard. No more switching tools, integrating a dozen platforms, or getting lost trying to figure out how to set up a split test. Instead, you can click and install Nelio AB in just a few minutes.

Here are a few features Nelio AB provides:

  • Unlimited experiments to test pages, headlines, menus, themes, CTAs, widgets, and more. Pretty much any part of your WordPress site can be tested and improved.
  • No technical knowledge is needed. You don’t need to know how to code, how to read Java, or even what makes a test statistically significant.
  • Easy-to-read reporting tool provides insights and results with the click of a button.
  • Test finer details of your site using CSS testing (if you’re into that kind of thing).
  • Track how users navigate your website using heatmaps, scroll maps, and confetti.
  • Define goals and conversions to track what actually matters on your site.
  • Integrate with most of your other plugins, including JetPack, W3 Total, and WooCommerce.

While it’s missing some advanced features (like detailed segmentation), it still offers plenty. The fact that it lives in WordPress makes it convenient to use.

12. Freshworks: A/B Testing for Multichannel Engagement + Automation

Pricing: Free for up to 100 contacts; paid plans start at $19 per month.

Want to improve conversion rates? Personalization should be part of your marketing strategy. According to Salesforce, 66 percent of customers expect companies to understand their needs and expectations.

Freshworks can help you provide the custom experience your customers crave. It’s not an A/B testing tool; rather, it’s a CRM with built-in automation features, including A/B testing, split testing, and segmentation.

In addition to running tests, Freshworks also provides:

  • email marketing campaigns
  • landing pages
  • event tracking
  • marketing reports
  • chat campaigns
  • CRO testing

Freshworks also offers A/B testing features such as split URL testing, landing page optimization, segmentation, and detailed reporting. While the tool lacks more advanced features like heatmaps, its built-in A/B testing features make it worth a look, particularly if personalization is important to you.

13. A/B Testing Significance Calculator: See How Much Different Tests Impact Sales

Pricing: Free.

A/B testing tools offer a ton of data. Unfortunately, understanding the data can be a challenge. Is Test A actually better or did it just get more traffic? Do you even have enough traffic to make a decision?

That’s where my A/B testing calculator comes to the rescue. Plugin your test results, and see exactly which landing page, CTA, headline, or website drives better results.

The Best A/B Testing Tools - AB testing Significance Tool NeilPatel

With the click of a button, you can see how much impact your recent test had on sales. Want to check the result of a multivariate test? Click the “Add Another Variation” button to see how three, four, or more tests stack up.

14. Title-Generator.com: Title Generator to Find New Titles or Headings to Test

Pricing: Free.

Testing titles and headlines is a sure-fire way to increase conversions and make sure blogs, landing pages, email, and web pages perform well. Coming up with snappy new titles, however, can be a challenge.

That’s where a title generator tool comes in handy. Simply input your main keywords and the tool will generate a list of 700 headlines.

The Best A/B Testing Tools - Headline Generator

Review the list, decide which fits your content or ad the best, and add it to your A/B testing workflow.

As you can see from the image above, many are adjustable based on the content, so use these as inspiration, not set headlines you have to use.

15. Ad Headline Idea Generator: Free Tool to Generate Paid Ad Headlines to A/B Test

Pricing: Free.

When it comes to paid ads, there are several areas to test—the headline, image, ad copy, and landing page. If you have trouble coming up with different ad headline options, this tool can help.

Inkforall’s Ad Headline Idea Generator uses AI to generate ad headlines and copy. Simply enter your current ad, log in via Facebook, Google, or Microsoft, and the tool will generate a new ad using the information you’ve provided.

The Best A B Testing Tools - Inkforalls Ad Headline Idea Generator

While the AI isn’t perfect, it’s an easy way to find new ad formats to test. I do recommend reading and editing the AI generation—they definitely aren’t perfect. If you’re struggling to develop different ad versions to test, this tool is good for inspiration.

A/B Testing Tools Frequently Asked Questions

How do A/B testing tools work?

A/B testing tools generally offer a visual interface and tracking features to help businesses set up, run, and track the performance of tests. Most tools require you to add a tracking pixel to your website to track test performance.

Can you do A/B testing on social media?

Yes, but it requires a different setup than A/B testing on your website. Most social platforms support A/B testing on ads in their business center where you can test ad creatives, copy, or images.

You cannot A/B test post engagement or conversion directly. However, you can test social traffic impact by using A/B testing on your landing pages.

How do you get started with A/B testing?

The first step of A/B testing is goal setting. What do you hope to improve? Do you want more traffic, higher conversions, more social engagement, or something else? Then, make a hypothesis to test.

What elements should you A/B test?

Simply put, any elements! Do you think changing the CTA will improve conversions? Do you want to see if a different landing page image will increase demo sign-ups? Once you know what you want to test, choose one of the A/B testing tools from the list above and launch your test.

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Conclusion: A/B Testing Tools

A/B testing is the cornerstone of building an effective digital marketing strategy. These 15 A/B testing tools will help you build, launch, test, and record the results. If you’re just getting started with A/B testing, you can’t go wrong with Google Optimize. It’s easy to use, works with other Google tools, and allows you to run up to five tests at a time.

If you need more features or want a tool that does more than just run A/B tests, one of the other tools on this list might fit your needs.

Did your favorite A/B testing tool make the list? If not, share it in the comments.

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients

Your digital marketing agency can only perform as well as its suite of tools allows.

If you create bad client SEO reports, you can’t offer the latest and greatest recommendations to improve their websites.

That’s where Ubersuggest comes in.

As an SEO and website analysis tool, Ubersuggest offers the optimal suite of reports to its users. You can then use these reports to advise your clients and make optimizations.

In this post, we’ll explore why agencies love Ubersuggest and take an in-depth look at the various uses for its reports and tools.

Why Agencies Love Ubersuggest For Client SEO Reporting

Ubersuggest is an SEO and website auditing tool that offers both free and paid plans to individuals and agencies alike. Its popularity has grown in recent years, now boasting over 50,000 users!

When it comes to digital marketing agencies, Ubersuggest is an invaluable tool for evaluating client websites. It offers a suite of reports and tools including keyword research and analysis, technical SEO, and even site speed.

Its breadth of reports makes it a great tool for agencies when first evaluating a client’s website. However, don’t be fooled by the variety of reports. These reports also offer significant depth that enables agencies to really dig into the data so they can offer invaluable insights to their clients.

8 Ways Agencies Use Ubersuggest

While we can discuss Ubersuggest’s various reports and tools, it’s most helpful to understand agency use cases. Below are eight ways agencies use Ubersuggest for their marketing clientele.

1. They Create Multiple Projects Per Account

Agency analysts are constantly juggling a handful of client SEO projects at a time. With Ubersuggest, your agency can create one project per client per account. This means you can manage up to 15 clients at one time within your agency account.

To create a new project is simple:

  1. In the Dashboard section of the tool, click on “New Project” in the top right.
  2. Enter a domain and website name.
  3. Select the language/country for tracking purposes.
  4. Add keywords to rank tracking either by manually entering them, copying and pasting, or uploading a CSV file.
  5. Type in your client’s top competitors or choose from the pre-populated list.
  6. Choose your tracking preferences and decide how much hands-on help you’d like from Ubersuggest’s team of specialists.

You’re all done!

Once you’ve created multiple client SEO projects, you can toggle between them for easy tracking.

2. Run Technical Audits

Did you know only 15 percent of websites operate at an acceptable page speed? While there’s more to technical audits than site speed, it plays a big part.

A technical SEO audit is an easy way to find low-hanging fruit for your client. Each audit will call out various technical SEO elements, including header and title tag duplicates, SSL certificate errors, lack of meta description, and poorly formatted URLs.

The best news of all is that you can run an SEO audit in as little as three minutes with Ubersuggest. Here’s how.

Go to our SEO site-auditor or select “Site Audit” from the left side of the Ubersuggest tool:

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients - Run Technical Audit

Enter the URL to be audited and then select “Domain” for a full site audit or “URL” for a page-level audit.

Click “Search.”

You’ll notice the audit is split into three sections:

  • Overview
  • Site Health
  • Site Speed

The Overview section will cover on-site SEO elements, search traffic, keywords, and backlinks.

Site Health is a highly actionable section that breaks down your domain by page level. This will run you through the various issues and errors present on your client’s website so you can action them immediately:

site health for client seo report

This section provides key takeaways you can provide to your client so you can provide value upfront. This will improve their website as well as increase their trust in your services.

The Site Speed section is self-explanatory. It provides a loading time for both desktop and mobile, as well as a breakdown of the time it took to load each page element:

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients - Check Site Speed

A technical audit is a great tool that gives you and your client actionable items to impact their overall site performance.

This has been proven to be an invaluable resource to agencies and their clients alike.

3. Complete Keyword Research

With a tool like Ubersuggest, you can ensure you’re targeting the right keywords for your client’s SEO.

Don’t believe us? Take the word of NinjaCat, a digital marketing performance management platform, which saw a 124 percent increase in its keywords ranking on page one.

Most marketing agencies understand the importance of well-researched and targeted keywords. As is so often the case with clients, though, keyword research is not a top priority. As such, your clients may be sticking with just a handful of keywords that aren’t fully optimized or ideal for targeting.

How can you help? With Ubersuggest, you can become the expert in your client’s SEO needs in minutes. Just ask your client for their list of current keywords and plug them into the Keyword Ideas report:

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients - Keyword Ideas Report

This Ubersuggest client SEO report offers all manner of keyword optimization angles, from new keyword ideas to related keywords to target to questions your client should aim to answer when writing a blog post. This will help you to narrow down high-traffic, low-competition keywords for your client to target.

The initial keyword audit isn’t all, though.

You can also sign up for notifications so you can know when keywords are growing in popularity and when it’s best to target them in your organic and paid campaigns.

4. Competitive Analysis

E-commerce sales in the U.S. grew 14.2 percent in 2021. Without a proper analysis of the competitive landscape, though, how can you be sure you’re capturing (and will continue to capture) your share of this growth?

The importance of your client’s SEO competitive analysis, therefore, cannot be overstated.

The more your client knows about their competitors, the greater understanding they can get of their strengths and weaknesses. Only with this information can your clients then work to carve out their industry niche.

Where should you begin? With Ubersuggest’s Similar Websites report.

The Similar Websites report will show you which keywords competitors are currently ranking for. It will also provide a list of similar keywords that your client shares with their competitors, as well as keyword gaps, estimated traffic, and the number of backlinks to your client’s competitors.

With this information, you can build out a full one-to-one comparison of your client to their top competitors.

  • Where do they fall short?
  • Where do they excel?
  • What steps can they take to see improvement in their rankings, traffic, and conversions?

5. Rank Tracking

If you want your client’s website to be found, it has to rank on the first page of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Why?

Only 0.78 percent of Google searchers click on results from the 2nd page and the CTR only worsens as you go deeper.

To improve your client’s SEO, you need rank tracking.

Rank tracking enables you to keep a pulse on your client’s website rankings so you can track and react accordingly. Once your client has begun to implement changes to their website and their keyword strategy, it’s more important than ever to keep track of site performance and ranking.

Ubersuggest’s Rank Tracking report will provide an overview of performance changes, including:

  1. The number of keywords that have moved up in rankings over time.
  2. The number of keywords that have moved down.
  3. The total number of keywords changed.
  4. A graph of the average position.
  5. Current search results rankings for your tracked keywords.
  6. Detailed information on your tracked keywords for each client.

For optimal performance tracking, you can also have this report emailed to you and your client on a weekly basis.

To use this report, select the client dashboard and then select “Rank Tracking” from the left-side menu. You can then track ranking based on custom date ranges, region, and selected keywords:

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients - Rank Tracking

The best thing about this report is you can keep a tab on overall site performance as well as keyword-level performance so you can identify your client’s SEO drivers and draggers.

6. Link Building

According to an analysis of 11.8 million Google search results performed by Backlinko, the #1 result in Google has an average of 3.8x more backlinks than positions two through ten.

In simplest terms, the more high-quality backlinks to your website the higher your site will rank above similar websites with fewer backlinks.

Link building is no longer about quantity, but quality—and it’s an important part of client SEO reports.

The higher the domain authority of the backlinks to your site, the greater bump in SERP rankings your site will see. This is why a solid link building strategy is key to success.

Where can you begin to advise your clients? With Ubersuggest’s Backlinks Opportunities report:

How the Best Agencies Use Ubersuggest to Deliver Better SEO Reports to Their Clients - Link Building

This report will give you an idea of what sites are currently linking to competitor websites.

With this information, you can gain an understanding of the types of content high-quality sites are looking to link to. In some cases, your client may need to create such content for this strategy to work.

As your client works to build their backlink profile, you can run the Backlinks Overview report. This will show them:

  • your clients’ domain authority
  • how many domains are linking back to them
  • number of backlinks to your client’s website
  • change in backlinks and referring domains over time
  • new and lost referring domains and more

As clients typically rely heavily on marketing agencies for backlink support and opportunities, both of these Ubersuggest reports are crucial to your decision-making process and goal completion analysis.

7. They Use the Chrome Extension

The Ubersuggest Chrome extension has over 300,000 users.

As busy as agencies can get, they’re more likely to use the tools that are most readily available. That’s why so many agencies love Ubersuggest for client SEO reports, especially when it comes to the Chrome Extension.

The Ubersuggest Chrome Extension enables you to make the most of your research time.

That’s because you can learn key information while performing live searches on Google, YouTube, and Amazon, including:

  • paid and organic analytics
  • mobile and desktop search numbers
  • related keyword suggestions

Beyond the search results, you can also perform an SEO analysis of your client’s website and their competitors in real-time. This information can then supplement the reports you pull from Ubersuggest to provide even greater insight to your clients.

8. They Use the Google Analytics Integration

Google Analytics is used by 85.9 percent of all websites whose traffic analysis tool is known. With that in mind, Ubersuggest has been optimized to integrate directly with the analysis powerhouse.

Google Analytics is an invaluable tool for client websites of every type. With Ubersuggest, you can connect your clients’ Google Analytics accounts to their ongoing SEO reports.

Alongside the other data provided by Ubersuggest and its various dashboard modules, you can also see:

  • organic visitors
  • historical traffic data
  • data for mobile and desktop browsers

You will also have the ability to see the data for the day, week, or month so you can truly tailor it to your analysis needs for any given moment in time.

Using the Google Analytics integration is easy:

  1. From your client’s dashboard, click “Connect with Google.”
  2. Select the account to sign in with, or select “Use another account” if the account you need isn’t listed.
  3. Select the property and click “Connect.”

From here, you will see additional modules added to the dashboard with that property’s Google Analytics data.

How Agencies Use Ubersuggest Frequently Asked Questions

Where does Ubersuggest get its data?

Ubersuggest gets its data from various sources, most notably the Google Ads API and Google Suggest. Its integration with Google Analytics also provides an additional source of data for analysis. This makes it a great tool for conducting client SEO reports.

What is the main use for Ubersuggest?

As an SEO tool, Ubersuggest offers brands and agencies the opportunity to reverse engineer the SEO techniques of their competitors. You can see what works for your competitors using the suite of reporting tools and make educated decisions based on the data.

Can I use Ubersuggest for free?

There is a free version of Ubersuggest that allows users to perform three searches per day for keyword analysis, competitor analysis, and site performance. For agencies managing multiple client SEO projects, you will need the paid version.

Is Ubersuggest software?

Ubersuggest is a web-based SEO tool. You can access it on any computer as long as you have internet and your account login details.

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Conclusion: How Agencies Use Ubersuggest For Client SEO Reporting

Ubersuggest is an easy-to-use tool with in-depth reports which enable you to offer a best-in-class client SEO report.

When you use Ubersuggest as an agency, you can manage multiple clients’ websites with just a few clicks.

Best of all, you can see how your recommendations are affecting your clients’ websites in real-time.

While client SEO changes can take time to have a huge impact on rankings, there are plenty of other metrics to track, including traffic, backlinks, and site speed.

Which of the above reports are you most excited to run?