Tag: Growth

Where is your website traffic coming from?

If you’re relying on people to find you through a Google search, search engine optimization (SEO) needs to be at the top of your priority list.

You won’t be able to generate leads for your business if nobody can find you.

Did you know 93% of experiences on the Internet start with a search engine? What happens after someone makes a search?

The top result on Google has a 33% chance of getting clicked.

That means if you’re not number one on the page, you just missed out on a third of potential traffic.

What’s even more astonishing is that 75% people won’t even click on the second page of the search results.

The reason why other websites are ranking higher than you on Google is because they are making a conscious effort to improve their SEO.

Fortunately, it’s not too late for you to get started.

There are certain things you can do to increase your chances of getting ranked higher on Google searches.

Want More SEO Traffic?

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I’ve identified the top 34 ways to improve your SEO ranking. Here they are.

1. Improve your page loading speed

Your page loading time is important for a few reasons.

First of all, if your load speed is too slow, Google will recognize this, and it will harm your ranking.

But a slow website will also impact the way your website visitors engage with your pages.

As a result, those negative interactions will hurt your ranking too.

Look at how abandonment rates increase for websites with long page loading times:

How slow is…

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Entrepreneurs, sales managers, sales executives… Everyone needs a solid sales plan to drive their income, hit their targets, and scale their business.

But a sales plan is not possible without a comprehensive sales strategy—one that covers everything from your target audience to employee morale to prospecting.

Moreover, effective strategizing and creating a sales plan is easier said than done, as not only do you need to define your sales goals but also know how you’re going to reach them.

Luckily, things won’t be that hard when you have the right guidance. Read on as I show you how to create a sales plan that empowers your sales team to perform at their highest level.

What to Expect When Creating a Sales Plan

You can have an excellent sales plan to drive profits if you follow a few simple—and not-so-simple—steps.

Here’s how you can nail your sales plan template:

• Step 1 — Forecast Potential Sales and Set Realistic Goals
• Step 2 — Research Your Market and Target Audience
• Step 3 — Chalk Out Your Customer Journey and Value Propositions
• Step 4 — Start Prospecting and Developing Strategic Partnerships
• Step 5 — Track, Measure, and Adjust

The Good

Creating a sales plan can seem intimidating. After all, there are so many nuances to consider, understand, and master.

But the thing is, there are hundreds of companies who’ve already created sales plans, leaving you with plenty of inspiration. You can mix and match different ideas to build a sales plan that is straightforward, unique, and, most importantly, effective.

Better results are another advantage. Every person in the organization will know their role, what needs to be done, and how to do it. Ultimately, this will give you more positive outcomes in the form of higher sales and improved customer relationships.

The…

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Most businesses need an EIN to operate. If you’re starting a new business, getting an EIN should be at the top of your to-do list.

Think of an EIN like a social security number—but for your business.

You need a social security number to rent or buy a house, get a job, and open a personal bank account. EINs are just like that. You won’t be able to hire employees, form certain entities, or open a business checking account without an EIN.

Fortunately, getting an EIN is relatively simple. There are several different ways to do it, and you can even get an EIN for free.

Not sure if you need an EIN? Don’t know how to get one? You’ve come to the right place. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about getting an EIN for your business.

What is an EIN?

The acronym stands for “employer identification number” and is a type of taxpayer identification number (TIN). EINs get issued by the IRS to business entities like LLCs and corporations.

The primary purpose of these unique nine-digit numbers is for tax reporting. But most banks, credit card companies, and vendors will require your business to have an EIN before allowing you to open an account or working with you.

People often confuse EINs and social security numbers (SSNs) with each other, as they are both nine-digit government-issued identification numbers. But the formatting for an EIN is different from an SSN. EINs start with two digits, followed by a hyphen and then seven more (12-3456789). SSNs follow a three-two-four digit sequence, separated by two hyphens (123-45-6789).

EINs are often referred to by many different names. Here are some common synonyms for EIN that you’ll see in different contexts:

• EIN
• Tax ID number

…

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Are you looking for multiple people to fill the same position within a tight deadline? Or perhaps you have a large number of quality applicants and don’t have the time or budget for multiple one-on-one interviews?

You may have already considered conducting a group interview in these situations, but the fact that you’ve never done it before has deterred you.

Conducting group interviews is more challenging than interviewing candidates one-on-one. It requires great leadership, lots of preparation, and some assistance from your colleagues. But the benefits of conducting group interviews do outweigh the challenges.

Today, we are going to take you through the most important steps of conducting a group interview to ensure you can pull them off without a hitch.

The Easy Parts of Conducting a Group Interview

Group interviews are the easiest way to fill a lot of positions for the same role type quickly. You’ll benefit from saving both time and money on the hiring process, while also speeding up that process if you need to fill those positions promptly.

One of the biggest benefits of conducting group interviews is that you have the unique opportunity of comparing equally qualified candidates side-by-side. You’ll also be able to observe how these candidates interact with others and observe their behaviors in dealing with multiple situations. This process can help make the successful candidate an obvious choice over others.

Recruiting the best candidates is even easier with recruiting software such as Workable. It has hundreds of job description templates, ready for you to craft a killer job advertisement. When you’re ready to advertise, it will post your open job role to over 200 job boards with the click of a single button. It will even streamline all your applications into one centralized portal. You’ll be hiring top-level candidates…

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Finding qualified candidates to fill open positions at your business can be a job in itself. Once you’ve found the perfect match, you need to officially hire them to complete the process.

Employment contracts are an excellent way to formally set expectations and requirements for new hires. These documents help protect employers and employees alike.

A solid employment agreement sets the tone for success and eliminates confusion for all crucial aspects of this new relationship.

What is an Employment Contract?

An employment contract is a legally binding written agreement that explains the working relationship between an organization and an employee.

Employment contracts are not an official requirement for the hiring process, and these agreements come in all different shapes and sizes. In many cases, a formal offer letter and signed employee handbook may be sufficient enough to cover all bases.

However, employment contracts help eliminate ambiguity in the relationship and clearly define what’s expected of the employee and employer—so it’s typically in your best interest to create a formal agreement.

The Basics of Employment Contracts

The terms of an employment contract will be unique for every new hire. Here’s a closer look at some of the most common elements to include in an employment contract:

Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This is a crucial section of every employment contract. The document must clearly describe the expectations and responsibilities of the job in question.

Rather than focusing on the position’s day-to-day tasks, focus more on the big-picture expectations and responsibilities.

For example, if you’re hiring a food server, you don’t need to add details like “take customer orders” and “bring food to the tables” in this section of the contract. For one thing, those are obvious parts of the job. For another, including too many specific details leaves the door open…

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Every state has a legal requirement for businesses to have a registered agent. This holds true for startups, small businesses, LLCs, and corporations alike.

What is a registered agent?

Registered agents are sometimes referred to as an “agent of process” or a “statutory agent.”

These services help to ensure full compliance with your state during the startup process and for the long-term of your operation as well. They are available during business hours to handle correspondence with government agencies on your behalf.

If your business gets sued, the physical address of your registered agent will be the place where this happens (instead of at the office in front of customers, employees, etc.).

Failure to maintain a registered agent service can be detrimental to your company. In some instances, the state can dissolve a business for letting their registered agent services lapse.

In some states, you can act as your own registered agent. But this means you’ll have to take on those responsibilities, and always be available during business hours. It also exposes personal details about yourself to the public, which most people want to avoid.

That’s why registered agent services are so popular. Whether you’re launching a new business or need to switch registered agents, this guide will help you find the best registered agent service for your business.

The Top 6 Best Registered Agent Services

1. Northwest Registered Agent – Best customer service
2. Incfile – Best free registered agent services
3. Swyft Filings – Most versatile registered agent services
4. ZenBusiness – Best for LLCs
5. MyCorporation – Best for small businesses
6. MyCompanyWorks – Best for switching registered agents

After extensive research, we’ve narrowed down the top six registered agent services on the market today. This guide contains the benefits, plans, pricing, and additional services…

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Bad hires are every company’s worst nightmare.

Not only do they waste the company’s resources but also jeopardize the safety of employees and customers.

To borrow from an old saying, “one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.”

Unfortunately, these bad apples escape most hiring professionals’ scrutiny by lying on their resumes. A better way to weed out these wrong candidates is to perform background checks that will comb through each applicant’s history as a true detective would.

The Easy Parts of Doing Background Check

You don’t have to go all-out when doing background checks.

If you’re only screening candidates applying for entry-level positions, you don’t need to conduct all background checks right off the bat. Similarly, if you’re at the initial stage of the screening process to filter out multiple candidates, paying for comprehensive background reports may not be practical at all.

In both instances, simple identity verification is enough. Unlike other more complicated reports, identity verification can provide background check results almost instantly or within the day. All you need is the applicant’s name, social security number, and birth date and the third-party provider can return valuable results for you.

Intelius is a leading provider that can run unlimited background checks for a fixed monthly fee. The basic background checks it provides offer insights into a person’s employment, education, criminal records, marriage, and any lawsuits, bankruptcies, or liens associated with his name.

The reports are limited but enough to whittle down your candidates before you move on to comprehensive yet more time-consuming reports.

The Difficult Parts of Doing Background Check

Background checks are covered by federal, state, and county laws that oftentimes overlap with each other.

It becomes more complicated when the company hires across multiple locations where laws are…

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Everyone gets sick. But what happens in the workplace when an employee misses work due to an illness or injury? Do employers need to compensate them for time missed?

There are specific laws that govern the answers to questions like those. Failure to abide by these sick leave regulations could land your business into some serious trouble with compliance issues and labor laws, so you must understand how these laws work.

This guide will help clarify common sick leave laws so you can determine whether or not the law applies to your business or unique situation.

What Are Sick Leave Laws?

Sick leave laws are the rules and regulations for employers that determine whether or not they need to pay employees who miss work due to being sick. Depending on the location, things like preventative care, diagnoses, an existing health condition, an injury, caring for a family member, and more could all fall under the scope of being “sick.”

According to the US Department of Labor, there are no federal laws that require paid sick leave. However, federal law does require certain employers to offer unpaid sick leave to employees who meet certain criteria.

Other sick leave laws vary by state, county, and city regulations.

The Basics of Sick Leave Laws

Sick leave laws can be a bit confusing, especially if you’re a beginner. But the following sections will cover the core components of sick leave laws to help you understand the topic with clarity.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act)

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993—better known as FMLA—is a US labor law that provides eligible employees with job protection and unpaid leave due to qualifying medical or family-related reasons.

FMLA does not require employers to pay employees who miss time for sick leave, but their…

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Historically, incorporating a business has been a time-consuming and expensive process. Business owners had to hire attorneys, fill out complicated paperwork, and wait months before their legal entity was officially formed.

But not everyone has thousands of dollars laying around to hire a lawyer, and most people aren’t comfortable filing incorporation paperwork on their own.

The solution? Online incorporation services.

With an online incorporation service, anyone can form a C-corp, S-corp, nonprofit, or other corporate entity types directly from their computer.

Just answer a few basic questions about your business, and the service provider will handle the rest. Online incorporation services prepare and file your incorporation documents directly with your specific Secretary of State. They also provide crucial resources like legal consulting and registered agent services.

In short, you can get everything you need to form a legal business entity from an online incorporation service—fast and cheap.

But which one is the best? We’ve identified and reviewed the best online incorporation services on the market today. Use this guide to determine the perfect option for you and your business.

The Top 7 Best Online Incorporation Services

1. LegalZoom – Most popular online incorporation services
2. Incorporate.com – Most versatile
3. Northwest Registered Agent – Best customer service
4. MyCorporation – Best for small business
5. ZenBusiness – Best incorporation service for simplicity
6. Swyft Filings – Best for nonprofits
7. Incfile – Best cheap incorporation services

The following reviews contain more information about the use cases, benefits, packages, and pricing for each service on our list:

#1 – LegalZoom — Most Popular Online Incorporation Services

• Starts at $149 + state fees
• S-corp and C-corp
• Lifetime customer support
• 100% satisfaction guarantee

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More than 400,000…

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Recruiting new talent and conducting job interviews can be a daunting task for those without experience. The recruitment process takes time, energy, and a lot of administrative work, and conducting the interview itself can feel just as nerve-wracking for you as for your applicants.

But the process doesn’t have to be so daunting or arduous. With the help of the right recruitment software and some interview preparation, you can recruit top-level talent and conduct killer job interviews relatively stress-free.

So if you want to conduct a smooth-sailing job interview, stick with us, as we tell you exactly how to do it.

The Easy Parts of Conducting a Job Interview

Even if you’re not a particularly social person, the easiest part of conducting a job interview is that you have common ground with the applicant–you already work for your company, and they want to. That gives you a good starting point.

You get to share your passion for your line of work, the company’s goals and values, and paint an ideal picture of the job role to new candidates. Furthermore, you get to be a part of shaping the future of the company by choosing which candidate brings the most to the table.

Recruitment can be an arduous process at times, but with the right tools it doesn’t need to be. Breezy HR is an end-to-end recruiting solution designed to help you attract and hire top-level talent efficiently and stress-free. Breezy HR provides you all the tools you need to recruit, organize, and keep in touch with all your candidates.

The Difficult Parts of Conducting a Job Interview

When it comes to conducting a successful job interview, preparation is key, particularly when it comes to formal interviews with a multi-step…

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