Reviews – Shane Barker https://shanebarker.com Tue, 13 Aug 2024 12:33:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://shanebarker.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-favicon-32x32-1.png Reviews – Shane Barker https://shanebarker.com 32 32 Vista Social Review: The Best Social Media Management Tool for 2025 https://shanebarker.com/blog/vista-social-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/vista-social-review/#respond Fri, 29 Dec 2023 16:53:19 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=81268 In today's digital age, social media has become an integral part of our lives.

Whether you're a small business owner, a social media influencer, or just someone who loves to stay connected with friends and family, having a reliable social media management tool is essential.

That's where Vista Social comes in.

With its user-friendly interface and powerful publishing, content creation, engagement, collaboration, and reporting features, it simplifies the process of managing multiple social media accounts effortlessly.

Whether you're juggling between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, Vista Social has got you covered.

Vista Social Review and Ratings

Vista Social is a powerful tool for all social media marketers, content creators, and influencers. It has everything you need for effortless social media management, from publishing to engagement, reporting, analytics, social listening, and review management.

Ease of use:
Features:
Customer support:
Value for money:

Top reasons for switching to Vista Social: It is more user-friendly, easy to use, has better reviews, and offers complete functionality for a much lower price than most social media management platforms.

Plans start from $15/month. Save 20% if you pay yearly.

What is Vista Social?

Vista Social is an all-in-one social media management tool loaded with powerful features for publishing, engagement, analytics, social listening, and review management.

It helps you:

  • Create and schedule content for all your social media accounts from one dashboard.
  • Manage your social media messages, comments, and reviews in one place.
  • Create custom, actionable reports that showcase what’s working and what isn’t.
  • Keep track of conversations that matter for your brand.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Vista Social?

Here are the pros and cons of Vista Social:

Pros

  • Vista Social offers all social media management features in one dashboard.
  • It's more user-friendly and budget-friendly than popular tools like Buffer and Hootsuite.
  • Unlike other social media management tools that have revoked access to X (formerly Twitter), Vista Social still lets you create and schedule your X posts with ease.
  • It helps you schedule content for 13 social networks.
  • The Vista Social AI assistant is impressive at suggesting captions for your social posts.
  • Most social media marketers and content creators love its integration with Canva, giving them quick access to a huge library of photos and design templates.

Cons

  • Images in the content calendar appear too small when viewed at a glance. It’s challenging to see which image goes out and when.
  • Its hashtag tool needs improvement as compared to other hashtag generators.

Who Should Use Vista Social?

Vista Social is for anyone who wants to build a solid social presence, including:

  • Social media marketers
  • Brands
  • Agencies
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Content creators
  • Influencers
  • Social media enthusiasts
  • Bloggers
  • Freelancers
  • Enterprises
  • Multi-location brands
  • Small and medium-sized businesses

Vista Social’s Key Features and Use Cases

Vista Social is a complete all-in-one solution for all your social media marketing and management needs. It offers numerous powerful features, the most diverse among all competitors.

Let’s take a look at its key features and use cases.

1. Schedule and Publish Your Content to 13 Social Networks

One of the standout features of Vista Social is its scheduling capabilities. With just a few clicks, you can schedule your posts in advance, ensuring a consistent and engaging presence on social media.

No more scrambling to create content on the spot or worrying about forgetting to post.

Vista Social takes care of everything, allowing you to focus on what matters most – creating meaningful connections with your audience.

From one dashboard, you can plan, schedule, and publish your content for Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Snapchat, and more.

Vista Social - social media content calendar and publishing schedule

Aside from posts, you can also schedule Stories. Its newest feature lets you publish Stories, carousel posts, and even Instagram collab posts.

Vista Social is also the first and only platform to offer direct publishing to Snapchat Stories and Spotlights.

You need to select your social profiles, write your post, and add the related media file. It also lets you save posts as drafts for scheduling later.

Vista Social  - social content publishing options

This social media marketing tool allows bulk scheduling as well, which means you can upload and schedule multiple posts at once by:

  • Importing a CSV file
  • Importing content from a blog or website that has an RSS feed
  • Importing news articles related to your niche from the internet
  • Importing trending content related to an Instagram hashtag
  • Importing and scheduling content from specific Instagram users, best for sharing UGC content
Vista Social bulk scheduling content for your social profiles

Does scheduling content always have to include adding a date and time?

Not with Vista Social.

This social media marketing tool lets you plan out the best posting schedule for your social profiles in advance based on optimal posting time analysis. When you add a post to the queue, it will publish next or last according to your posting schedule.

plan your content publishing times and days with Vista Social

This feature helps you schedule content faster, without the need to reshuffle your posts manually. You can just opt for “Queue next” or “Queue last” when you add new content to your posting queue.

2. Create Content That Engages Your Audience

Vista Social will cut your social media content creation time in half.

Do you spend hours on Instagram searching for audio? Or, do you face writer’s block while crafting captions for every post?

Sometimes, sourcing new post ideas could be challenging as well. Isn’t it?

Say goodbye to all of these content creation dilemmas. Vista Social is a boon for all content creators and social media strategies. It makes it as easy as a breeze to let content flow for your social profiles.

Whether you want to write captions or craft the entire social post idea with an AI generator, Vista Social lets you do it in one click. It will also suggest relevant hashtags for the post.

create social captions faster with Vista Social's AI assistant

Its AI assistant lets you translate your text to other languages to reach a global audience.

Similarly, with Vista Social’s organized library, you can save time selecting trending audios for your Instagram Reels and TikTok videos. Source the most popular songs and audio on Instagram and TikTok to align with current trends.

Label your favorite audio for quick use and apply them to existing videos.

It also lets you design graphics with its Canva integration. For your designs, source high-quality images and videos from Unsplash and Pexels, and GIFs from Giphy without leaving the dashboard.

That’s not all.

You can easily find user-generated content using Instagram hashtags and report it with proper credits, all within the Vista Social dashboard.

Find and repost UGC on your IG account using Vista Social

Other than using Instagram hashtags, you can also search for content posted by a specific Instagram account.

3. Customize Your Content for Each Social Network

Vista Social lets you plan your content across all social networks. You can preview your upcoming posts in three different views: post previews, feed view, and calendar view.

It is also easy to re-arrange your feed with its drag-and-drop feature. You can decide on the placements of your photos, videos, and Reels.

Vista Social visual Instagram planner

Personalize the captions and hashtags for each network. If the social network allows, you can also add product tags, locations, and more.

Here are some customization options of this social media management tool for different networks:

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

X (formerly Twitter)

YouTube

Pinterest

TikTok

Platform specific customizations

Post to Facebook Pages and Groups.

Post as Reels, carousels, images, videos, or Stories.

Customize thumbnails.

Pick trending sounds for Reels, videos, and Stories.

Visual Instagram planner

ScheduleTwitter threads, including links and mentions

Add video title, category, and tags.

Enable embeddable on your videos.

Add Pin description and link.

Select Pin Board.

Pick trending sounds.

Visual TikTok planner

First comment

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

First like

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Optimal send times

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Location tags

Yes

User and product tags

Yes

Hashtag suggestions

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Post sharing settings

Publish an exclusive post for your Superfollowers only.

Restrict who can reply.

Upload videos to Public, Private, or Unlisted

Enable or disable comments, Duets, and Stitches.

Audience targeting

By relationship status, country, gender, and age

By language and geographic location

URL tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

If you’re a brand or agency team, you’ll love its collaboration features 一 from saved post drafts to feedback, approvals, and final scheduling.

Ready to customize your posts for each network?

4. Increase Social Engagement and Collaboration

Increase engagement across social networks by actively responding to comments, direct messages (DMs), and reviews with Vista Social’s unified inbox.

Vista Social - one inbox for all your social profiles

You can delegate specific user messages to relevant team members for quick, efficient responses. For example, if a user complains about your service on social media, you can assign it to customer support personnel for quick resolution.

Assigning tasks will also help you track user efficiency and keep users satisfied.

Vista Social’s notable social engagement features include:

  • Smart unified inbox for all comments, messages, and reviews across social networks
  • Conversation view to track prior chats with a user
  • Assigning messages to specific team members for quick resolutions
  • Message tagging
  • Adding internal notes for team members regarding specific user messages
  • Ability to like, dislike, and delete messages from inbox
  • Option to block users

5. Track Your Social Engagement Analytics in One Place

Vista Social is an all-in-one social media marketing tool with a detailed Report section.

It provides you with detailed social media analytics and insights into your follower growth, content engagement, and overall reach. This data will help you make informed decisions to optimize your social media strategy and drive better results.

You can get a high-level overview of your performance across all connected social profiles.

cross-channel social media performance reports by vista social

Other than a unified report, get insights into:

  • The performance of Individual social posts across all social channels
  • The type of content that works well for your audience
  • How your competitors perform against your profile
  • New opportunities in your niche for tending content
  • Team performance in terms of message response times, task completion, and customer care

You can either get these reports in real-time when you want to see results or schedule reports to be delivered at specific intervals. Whether you want one-time reports or weekly/monthly reposts, Vista Social lets you track your social media performance at your own pace.

If you run an agency and manage your client’s social accounts, you can create white-label reports with its Pro+ plan.

6. Manage Your Online Reviews and Reputation From One Dashboard

Vista Social aims to help brands and content creators build trust and reputation in the market.

And to do this, posting content isn’t enough; you also need to track conversations around your brand, manage reviews, and resolve user issues actively.

No worries; it’s possible within the Vista Social dashboard.

This platform helps you manage your reviews across social channels like Facebook and Google Business and review sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Trustpilot, and OpenTable.

You can do social listening and track your audience's conversations online on social channels and forums like Reddit and engage with them. See all reviews in one view, sorted from the newest to oldest or visa-versa.

You can also switch tabs to “Not Responded” to prioritize attending reviews you haven’t seen yet.

Vista Social review management

Thank users who left kind words and try to pacify users who have had a bad experience with your brand. Try to turn them into happy customers or fans with your kind gestures.

What Do All Social Media Managers Like About Vista Social?

Most social media management (SMM) tools were built in 2010 and have struggled to keep up as the social media marketing landscape has changed. These platforms are slow to innovate, offer limited features for collaboration, and are priced higher.

On the other hand, Vista Social offers affordable plans to suit every budget. Whether you're a content creator, solopreneur, or a large corporation, you can enjoy the benefits of this powerful tool without breaking the bank.

What truly sets Vista Social apart from its competitors is its affordability, ease of use, and brand-new features. These include:

  • Scheduling for 13 social networks
  • First comment and first like scheduling for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), and more
  • The first platform to release Reels and TikTok videos direct publishing
  • The first platform to allow direct Snapchat Stories and Spotlights
  • The first platform to allow scheduling Instagram collab posts with other accounts
  • ChatGPT integration
  • Posting schedule settings and the ability to add new content next or last to publishing queues
  • Optimal posting times suggestions
  • Hashtag suggestions
  • Audience targeting options on Facebook and LinkedIn
  • Easy collaboration features like calendar notes, client data separation, user permissions, and shared social calendars

30K+ brands and agencies switched to Vista Social from the decade-old social media marketing tools, and so should you.

Vista Social’s Customer Support

Vista Social offers excellent customer support 24/7 through quick video responses and live video calls.

Their team of experts is always ready to assist you with any queries or technical issues you may encounter. Their prompt and friendly service ensures that you have a seamless experience while using the tool.

Don’t trust a tool could be this good?

Check out Vista Social reviews on G2, Trustpilot, and other review websites. Here are a couple of them for your quick read:

Vista Social reviews
Source
Vista Social customer review
Source

Vista Social: Reviewing Its Plans and Pricing

Vista Social offers a free plan, which allows you to schedule and publish content for three social profiles. However, there is a limit of 10 posts per profile per month.

For unlimited post-scheduling access and advanced social media management features, you need to upgrade to its premium plans. These cost 70% less than most of its popular alternatives.

  • Pro plan: $15/month
  • Pro+ plan: $25/month
  • A free 14-day trial for both plans.

And the good news? You can save up to 20% with a yearly billing.

Vista Social also offers a Custom plan to cater to your specific business needs. You’ll need to contact their sales team for pricing.

Comparing Vista Social with Its Alternative Social Media Management Tools

Vista Social is reshaping social management with its innovative features that today’s social landscape demands. Here is how it stands against its alternatives:

Vista SocialSprout SocialHootsuiteAgorapulse
Free planYesNoNoYes
Free trial14-day free trialYes30-day free trial30-day free trial
Premium plansStart from $15/monthStart from $249/user/monthStart from $99/month, billed annuallyStart from $69/user/month
Post schedulingAll post types across social networks, including Reels, IG collab posts, TikTok videos, and Snapchat Stories and SpotlightsScheduling option for Instagram Reels with IG audios available on mobile app only
No direct publishing for TikTok (you can schedule on desktop but publish on mobile)
Missing scheduling features for Instagram collab posts, SnapchatCan’t schedule Instagram collab posts or Snapchat Stories and Spotlights
First comment and first like schedulingYes, across social networks
Twitter (X) threads scheduling as well
NoNo first like feature
First comment option only for selective networks
First comment scheduling for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
Optimal posting timesYesYesYesNo
Posting queues for auto-publishing as per set scheduleYesNoNoNo
Audience targetingFor Facebook and LinkedInNoNoNo
AI writing assistantYesYesYesYes
Hashtag suggestionsYesNoYesNo
Review managementManage reviews on Facebook, Google Business, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Trustpilot, OpenTable, Reddit, etcManage reviews on Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Facebook, Google Business, TripAdvisor, Glassdoor, YelpMonitor keywords, mentions, and hashtagsSocial listening on Instagram and YouTube
Analytics and reportingYesYesYesYes

My Final Verdict of This Social Media Management Tool

If you're looking for a social media management tool that is easy to use, packed with features, and doesn't burn a hole in your pocket, Vista Social is a perfect choice.

It streamlines your social media management process across social networks. Whether it's TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, or Snapchat Stories, you can directly publish them from its dashboard.

From content curation and AI caption generator to hashtag suggestions, cross-channel analytics, and top-notch customer support — it offers everything you need. Try it for yourself and watch your social media presence soar to new heights.

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ClickUp Review: The Best Project Management Software https://shanebarker.com/blog/clickup-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/clickup-review/#respond Wed, 22 Feb 2023 16:00:00 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=70702
Summary
  • ClickUp is a comprehensive project management tool that lets you manage all your work processes, tasks, and communication in one place.
  • It has a free plan (sufficient for freelancers, bloggers, or 1-5 people teams).
  • Its Unlimited ($7 per member per month) and Business ($12 per member per month) plans are good for small to medium-sized businesses that require unlimited storage, integrations, and dashboards along with other advanced features like column calculations.
  • The platform also offers a custom Enterprise plan with custom solutions to meet unique business demands. You need to contact their sales team for a quote.
  • They offer a 30-day full refund guarantee if you’re not satisfied with how their platform functions.

As an entrepreneur, I understand it could be difficult to track and manage multiple projects and tasks. I have been there – struggling to manage tasks, streamline processes, and track the progress of different projects.

My team and I used different solutions, including Teamline, Clockify, and Trello. But we found it challenging to keep things organized and see the bigger picture in one view.

That’s when one of my team members recommended that we try ClickUp, and it changed the way our organization functioned. I’ll tell you how – in my ClickUp review.

Having tested and used ClickUp for over two years now, I can say that it is an all-in-one project management platform every team needs. You can see progress boards like Trello, assign and manage tasks like on Teamline, and track time spent on different tasks and projects like on Clockify.

Though onboarding took a while, and we are still learning how to use its customization and automation options, ClickUp has made our work processes more efficient.

Read on to learn more about my experiences with this platform. My review of ClickUp will help you decide whether or not it will be the right fit for your organization.

What is ClickUp?

ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and project management platform that helps you manage all of your work in one place. This includes organizing and assigning tasks, managing workflow, documents, communication, goals, and reporting.

Though my team and I primarily use ClickUp for project management and collaboration, it also offers solutions designed for product development, sales, marketing, finance, and HR teams.

In this ClickUp review, we’ll mainly discuss its project management features.

What is ClickUp Used For?

ClickUp is a project management tool that can help you streamline your workflow, improve collaboration and communication, and increase the overall efficiency of your team.

Some of the most common uses of ClickUp include:

  • Improved organization: This project management software can help you keep track of all projects, tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities in one place, making it easier to stay organized.
  • Streamlined task management: ClickUp allows you to create, assign, and track the progress of your tasks and projects. You can also automate time-consuming and repetitive tasks.
  • Efficient project management: With features like dashboards, Gantt charts, calendar views, calculation widgets, progress bars, and reports, ClickUp helps teams stay on track and manage projects effectively.
  • Real-time tracking: Keep track of the time each member spends on different tasks and projects. Set due dates to ensure everything is on schedule.
  • Effortless team collaboration and communication: Work together with your team in real time, regardless of your location. Communicate through comments and mentions within task cards to minimize confusion and keep everyone on the same page.
  • Efficient remote team working: ClickUp’s mobile app and collaboration features make it a great tool for remote teams.
  • Personal productivity checks: ClickUp allows team members to manage their to-do lists. You can assign tasks and comments to individual team members, increasing their accountability and ensuring everyone meets their respective deadlines.

    This is also helpful during performance reviews and appraisals.
  • Improved decision-making: This platform provides real-time data and insights to help you make informed decisions about the performance of your team members, the progress of tasks, and the efficacy of your work processes. You can use this data to improve project outcomes and reduce costs.

Overall, ClickUp is a versatile tool. Whether you’re a freelancer who wants to manage client work or you run a small business with multiple departments, it can help you manage work effectively.

What Are the Pros and Cons of ClickUp?

ClickUp strikes a balance between providing the right number of features and keeping it affordable for individuals and small businesses. Learning to use ClickUp to the best of its capabilities can be tough and require your time and effort, at least, initially.

Let me help you analyze its advantages and disadvantages in detail.

ClickUp’s Pros

Let’s start with discussing things that ClickUp is good at – such as its freemium features, customization capabilities, “Everything” view, and real-time reporting.

1. An Impressive Free Forever Plan

We are using ClickUp’s Business plan but I must say, they have a genuinely impressive Free Forever plan.

Unlike many other SaaS products, ClickUp’s free version doesn't restrict the number of users and the number of tasks you can create. You can access most of its features with the freemium version.

ClickUp’s Free Forever plan features include:

  • Unlimited team members
  • Unlimited tasks
  • Everything view
  • List, Board, Calendar, Table views
  • Collaborative Docs
  • Time tracking
  • Custom Statuses
  • 3 Whiteboards
  • 100 Custom fields
  • 100 Mind Maps
  • 100 Gantt Charts
  • 100 automation/month
  • Multiple assignees
  • Task checklists
  • Dependencies
  • Priorities
  • Assign comments
  • 50+ native integrations
  • Two-factor authentication

It offers one of the most feature-rich free plan we tested. It locks very few features for its expensive plans. You get all views, including Gantt Charts and Spreadsheets with the free plan. Their team offers 24/7 support with every plan.

2. Multiple Views of Your Tasks and Projects

ClickUp lets you track work from any angle by offering 20+ real-time views. You can create views for your projects, tasks, and workflows in the way that works best for your organization.

The most commonly-used views on ClickUp include Lists, Boards, Tables, Sheets, Teams, and Gantt Charts.

Here’s a quick overview of each of these views:

As we’re more of a content-focused team, we prefer Tables and Lists over other views. Having used Trello before, we also use ClickUp Boards to see the overall progress of different projects.

The best way to track meetings and time offs is to use the Calendar view, which is also the default view for our “Time Off” space.

ClickUp Calendar view for tracking time offs

I’ll discuss these views in detail when we talk about the key features of this project management software. So, keep reading.

3. Advanced Customization Options

ClickUp is a fully customizable solution that lets you adjust and customize everything based on your project needs, workflow and processes, and other personal preferences.

Its customization options include templates, themes, and the ability to create custom dashboards.

You can create custom “Dashboards” to give an overview of your work or the progress update of a particular project. The platform offers over 50 widget variations, including custom charts, workload graphs, tables, time tracking, task lists, and more.

Here’s a quick view of one such Dashboard:

In the video, you can also see how to add widgets to your Dashboard and customize its data using different filters.

Our team maintains separate Dashboards for tasks related to different members, groups, and departments. For example, we have a separate “Content Team Dashboard” for all content-related projects and tasks.

Another example of ClickUp’s customization options is its “Custom fields” feature.

You can use it to add all kinds of information you may need. This feature has helped us replace many spreadsheets we used earlier to track topic names, Doc links, word counts, and writer details for every post.

ClickUp custom fields

Bottomline: ClickUp is one of the most flexible workplace solutions I’ve tested. It fits and suffices the customization needs of most companies and teams.

4. Enhanced Collaboration Features

ClickUp includes features like comments, task assignments, and real-time notifications to enhance team collaboration and communication. There is also a built-in chat feature.

You can rely on ClickUp project management software to stay connected with your team from anywhere and at any time. This applies to teams working both from the office and remotely.

Team members can also collaborate on ClickUp Docs and Whiteboards for brainstorming ideas and editing content.

5. Multi-Platform Support

ClickUp is available on desktop, mobile, and web platforms, making it accessible from any device. You don’t have to use a specific operating system, browser, or device to use this project management software.

It is both a cloud-based and web-based online solution. You can also download its application for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems and Android and iOS devices.

ClickUp deployment options

ClickUp’s Cons

ClickUp had its set of disadvantages when we migrated from Clockify and Teamline to ClickUp. My team and I tested it for a month before fully making the switch.

Now that I’ve already shared a few benefits of ClickUp based on my testing, let me share the challenges we faced.

1. ClickUp’s Customization Options Can Be Overwhelming

You heard me right.

I love ClickUp’s user interface, features, and top-notch customization capabilities. But most new users may find the features and options overwhelming at first, leading to a steep learning curve.

You’ll need a thorough onboarding, which is lengthy and complex, to start using this project management software to the best of its capabilities. That’s because this platform has many different features and ways to customize and organize tasks.

Even after two years of using the platform, my team is discovering and trying out new options. We still reach out to their support team to learn how to set up new-style dashboards, get better views of the overall project progress, track individual performances, and more.

But it’s important to tell here that the ClickUp team provides smooth and hassle-free support at every step of the way. They are ready to help you throughout the onboarding process and beyond.

You should check out their knowledge base and demo videos to get started on the right foot.

2. Performance Issues

I haven’t had any major issues using the platform but some users reported performance issues with ClickUp on review websites like Capterra and G2. These include occasional slow load times and updates, which can impact productivity.

ClickUp user review
Source

These kinds of user reviews should not stop you from using its Free Forever plan. Even with the paid plans, ClickUp offers great support for quick resolution and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.

3. For Advanced Time Tracking, You Need to Opt for Business or Higher-Priced Plans

As a business owner, you might want to mark time spent on certain tasks as billable. This is something you can do only with their Business, Business Plus, and Enterprise plans.

ClickUp advanced time tracking options

With free and starter plans, you can’t add labels and descriptions to the time tracked.

Freelancers and small teams may not need to differentiate between billable and non-billable hours. If you do, Clockify could be a better alternative for tracking billable and non-billable hours for free.

ClickUp’s Key Features and Use Cases

ClickUp offers hundreds of project management and collaboration features – with more added each week. And, you can customize each one of these based on your organizational needs and personal preferences.

1. Define Your ClickUp Workspace Hierarchy

ClickUp’s unique Hierarchy helps teams break projects and plans into manageable and actionable sections and tasks.

Source

Workspaces are the highest level of the ClickUp Hierarchy. It represents your entire company, organization, or business.You can create or be part of as many Workspaces as you want and switch between them using the avatar menu at the lower-left corner.

ClickUp switch between Workspaces

Under ClickUp Workspaces, you’ll find:

  • Spaces: You can use them to divide your organization into different departments, teams, project groups, or anything you want to group on a higher level. You can create up to 5 Spaces with ClickUp’s free plan and unlimited Spaces with all paid plans.
    You can set permissions for members and restrict some people from accessing specific Spaces.
  • Folders: Spaces can have different folders to organize tasks related to different projects, campaigns, or databases. 
  • Lists: Lists help you club smaller activities like backlinking tasks, content requirements for the website, other writing tasks, and so on. You can set views, custom fields, and statuses for each of your task lists.
  • Tasks: You can also create subtasks, nested subtasks, and checklist items under each task.

2. Create, Assign, and Manage Tasks

Once you’ve defined the basic Hierarchy of your ClickUp Workspace, creating tasks is easy. Just click on the “Task” button at the lower-right corner of your screen.

You’ll see a pop-up window that lets you fill out all details of the task. This includes:

  • Task name
  • The location of the task
  • Assignees
  • Task description
  • Custom fields
  • Subtasks
  • Checklists
  • Start date
  • Due date
  • Tags
clickup assign tasks

You can also create tasks using pre-defined templates and define dependencies to increase user accountability for each part of the task’s progress.

Set recurring due dates for regular tasks. For example, we have our content team meeting every week.

ClickUp recurring task

For each task card, you can add custom fields for all information you need. This may include brief Docs, progress bar, writer’s name, total word count, and so on if it’s a content creation task.

ClickUp custom fields

Add more fields or edit the existing ones from the highlighted anchor text in the above image.

Similarly, it’s easy to add subtasks and checklist items to each task card and assign them to specific team members.

ClickUp subtasks and checklist items

Another useful feature that makes our job easy is the “Status” feature for each task card. You can see the current status of each task at a glance, and talk to the person accountable for that step of the process.

ClickUp task Status

For example, if I want to know the status of all content scheduled for this website, ShaneBarker.com, I just need to go to the “Content for Shane Barker” list and group tasks by “Status.”

ClickUp task Status of a list

You can get all data in one place, without browsing through different spreadsheets. You can also filter this data by week, month, or specific date range.

3. Track Time Spent on Different Tasks and Projects

ClickUp project management tool lets you do solid up-to-the-minute time tracking and reporting. You can use it to log hours spent on different tasks and projects, and track progress in real time.

Here’s how to track time using ClickUp:

Go to any task and start the timer using the green-colored play button below “Time Tracked.” The timer will start counting up, and you can stop it whenever you want.

If you forget to start the timer or need to log time for a task that you didn't track in real time, you can log hours by clicking on the “Time Tracked” tab. Select “Manual” and add hours manually. Save your logged hours.

ClickUp manual time tracking

You can track the total number of hours logged by each person on any task.

If you want to edit any logged session timings, just click on that particular entry and tap the edit icon. Enter the desired timings and click on “Save Changes.”

ClickUp manual time log editing

4. Collaborate and Communicate with Your Team

ClickUp offers enough collaboration options so that your team can stay on one platform for all task and project-related communications.

You can add comments on individual task cards, tag multiple team members, assign those comments to specific people, and even reply in nested threads.

Along with comment threads, you can also see the details of every activity on the task card, ranging from Status changes to document updates and assignee additions.

ClickUp task activity

5. Track Project Progress

ClickUp provides a clear and comprehensive view of your project progress. This way, it’s easier to identify and resolve issues before they become more significant problems.

Select individual Folders and Lists from the left sidebar to check the progress of all tasks under them. Select “Group by Status” in the top-right corner.

ClickUp List progress tracking

When it comes to progress tracking, ClickUp’s “Everything” view is my go-to place.

You can group tasks by Status, and add filters like specific date range of the tasks and completed/active tasks. Select team members to whom the tasks have been assigned.

ClickUp task progress reporting

It’s also easy to search for tasks related to one particular list.

You can view the same data in different views that we discussed earlier. For example, here’s the Board view, which can be a good choice if you’re used to managing projects on Trello.

ClickUp progress reporting Board view

6. Create Custom Workflows to Automate Repetitive Tasks

ClickUp automation options help you create consistent processes for repetitive tasks and workflows so you can concentrate on improving other areas.

Use ClickUp’s pre-built automation recipes to automate regular tasks, Status changes, List changes, and so on. Or, set custom Statuses and fields to a task and then save the task card as a template.

ClickUp automation

For this, you just need to click on the “Save as Template” option (right below “Browse Templates”). This will save your changes to the task card as a fresh template.

You can reuse these saved templates to create tasks with similar functionality, custom fields, and dependencies in the future.

ClickUp task template

7. Integrate Seamlessly with Other Business Tools

ClickUp allows you to connect your favorite tools and apps to your workflow. This includes a hassle-free integration with:

  • Communication and collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Loom, and Zoom
  • Marketing tools like HubSpot
  • File management solutions like Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox
  • CRM solutions like Salesforce
  • Writing tools like Grammarly
  • Calendar tools like Google Calendar

You can automatically import your data from project management solutions like Asana, Monday, Trello, Basecamp, Jira, and Wrike in just a few clicks.

ClickUp’s Customer Support

ClickUp’s team values customers the most. They provide 24/7 live chat support throughout the onboarding process and even beyond that.

Based on my experience, they are quick to respond to queries about features, automation, Dashboards, and almost everything you may be finding challenging.

Other than live chat support, ClickUp also has an in-depth knowledge base, full of guides, demo videos, and help Docs. Plus, you can learn how to master ClickUp and maximize your productivity by signing up for ClickUp courses here.

ClickUp courses to master the tool and increase productivity

ClickUp’s Pricing Plans and Inclusions

ClickUp offers several pricing plans to cater to the needs of freelancers, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations.

You can start using ClickUp for free with its Free Forever plan. The plan offers access to all essential features of this project management software.

The best part is that it doesn’t limit the number of users or tasks.

Most small teams opt for ClickUp’s Unlimited or Business plans, which offer features like:

  • Unlimited storage
  • Unlimited integrations
  • Unlimited Dashboards
  • Unlimited Custom fields
  • Guests with permissions
  • Column calculations
  • Advanced automation features
  • Advanced time tracking
  • Workload management
  • Gantt charts

ClickUp’s Unlimited plan is best for small teams and $7 per member per month (billed annually). For its Business plan, you need to pay $12 per member per month (billed annually).

clickup pricing plans

You won’t need to upgrade to their Business Plus or Enterprise plan until you’re collaborating with multiple teams from different companies. These plans are mainly for teams that want to define custom roles and permissions for different members.

Enterprises may also opt for these higher-value plans for the advanced security features and 1000+ integrations that come with them. For this plan’s pricing details, you need to connect with their sales team.

If you opt to pay per month, ClickUp plans will cost you as follows:

Free Forever PlanUnlimited PlanBusiness PlanEnterprise Plan
Free$10 per member per month$19 per member per monthContact their sales team for custom pricing.

ClickUp’s new add-on: You can add ClickUp AI to any paid plan for $5 per member per month to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency of your business processes.

Comparing ClickUp with Other Project Management Software Solutions

This was all about what ClickUp is and how it can help you streamline work and improve your task force’s efficiency. Now, let’s see where it stands against project management platforms like Monday, Trello, Asana, and Jira.

ClickUp

Monday

Asana

Jira

Trello

Free plan

check
check
check
check
check

Paid plans (billed annually)

Start from $7 per user per month

Start from $8 per user per month

Start from $10.99 per user per month

Start from $7.75 per user per month

Start from $5 per user per month

Workspaces

check
check
check
check
check

Everything view

check
no
no
no
no

Tasks

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Subtasks

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Nested subtasks

Yes
no
Yes
no
no

Checklists

Yes
Yes
no
Yes
Yes

Time tracking

Yes
Yes
no
Yes
no

Multiple assignees

Yes
Yes
no
no
Yes

Dependencies

Yes
Yes

Custom statuses

Yes
Yes
no
Yes
no

Activity view

Yes
no
Yes

Embedded email

Yes
Yes
no
no
no

Automations

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
no

My Verdict

ClickUp is totally worth purchasing. You don’t have to trust my words. You can start with its Free Forever plan and test its features for yourself. Then, switch to a paid plan.

They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with their service. Based on my experience of using it, you won’t need a cashback.

For small teams, ClickUp’s Unlimited plan is sufficient, which costs $7 per member per month. If you want to use advanced automation to make complex task processes easier, you can consider subscribing to their Business plan at $12 per member per month.

I am currently using their Business plan for project management, task assignment, progress/status tracking, communication, file management, performance assessment of team members, and reporting.

Though I’ve not tested their higher-value plans, companies like Samsung and IBM are using their Enterprise plan for increased productivity and world-class security.ClickUp integrates well with your existing business tools and CRM systems, which is another plus point.

FAQs

1. Is there a desktop version of ClickUp?

Yes, ClickUp has a desktop version for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

2. Is ClickUp secure?

ClickUp offers two-factor authentication with all its plans, including the free version. With its Business plan and other premium plans, you also get Google single sign-on.

If you run a large enterprise with greater security concerns, their Enterprise plan provides you with multiple security features like:

– Mandatory two-factor authentication
– Google single sign-on
– Microsoft single sign-on
– Custom SAML single sign-on
– Okta single sign-on
– Okta support for custom roles
– Session management
– Custom permissions
– Custom roles
– Restrict public sharing
– Manage private spaces
– Restrict who can add guests
– Default personal views
– Add and remove users via API
– HIPAA compliance (Contact their sales team for this.)

3. Is ClickUp worth it?

ClickUp is definitely more value for money. Its feature-rich Free Forever plan is already a blessing for freelancers and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Both small and medium-sized businesses can get access to all project management features they may need with ClickUp’s Unlimited and Business plans. These start from $7 per member per month (billed annually).

Large corporations and enterprises may need to spend more but it’s worth the money. That’s because you’ll get top-notch security features, white labeling, custom permissions, custom user roles, and dedicated onboarding and support with those plans.

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Gong Review: Is It the Best Revenue Intelligence Platform? https://shanebarker.com/blog/gong-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/gong-review/#respond Mon, 12 Dec 2022 16:12:35 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=67713 Do you struggle to understand customer behavior and how it affects your business? Do you want to drive sales growth with real-time insights into customer interactions?

If so, then Gong is the solution for you. Not convinced? Read my full Gong review below.

Gong is a comprehensive revenue intelligence platform that helps capture customer interactions across phone, email, web conferencing, and other channels. It then uncovers what’s said in those conversations to give you insights that help you better understand your customers and unlock more sales opportunities.

Not sure if this platform is worth your money?

In this article, I'll review the Gong software to answer any questions you may have before investing. I'll discuss what Gong is, what it has to offer, and how it can benefit your business.

Let's get started!

What is Gong?

Gong is the leading revenue intelligence platform that helps sales teams unlock their full potential by revealing customer reality.

The Gong Revenue Intelligence Platform™ is unique because it captures and analyzes every customer interaction. With this data, your sales and revenue teams can make decisions based on evidence instead of hunches.

This helps companies like yours improve conversion rates, increase deal sizes, and accelerate employee efficacy.

With Gong’s conversation intelligence, you can figure out what’s going on with your customers and team, and use those insights to adapt, upskill, and hit your targets.

Want to learn more about how Gong works?

Which Platforms Does Gong Work On?

Gong’s reality platform has over 100 integrations, which means that it works well with almost any customer interaction platform. You can integrate and use Gong with your existing business toolkit, ranging from:

  • CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce
  • Automation and workflow solutions like Zapier
  • Communication platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Outreach, Aircall, etc.
  • Web conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, etc.
  • Customer success platforms like Zendesk
  • And more
Gong's integrations

Gong also offers special customer promotions on selected platforms such as Apollo.io, Cognism, and LeadIQ, so you can save on your subscription.

Gong Review: Discussing Its Pros and Cons

Gong has a lot of features and benefits, but it’s important to consider the pros and cons before investing in any software. So, let's take a look at what Gong has to offer.

Gong’s Pros

  • Easy to use for sales representatives and revenue teams
  • Comprehensive customer insights
  • Helps increase conversion rates
  • Collaboration and notes system
  • Integration with different vendors for audio calls
  • Helps improve your style of interacting with customers by offering tips and advice on engagement, talk ratio, words we used too much, etc.
  • Integrates with your existing business toolkit
  • Special customer promotions on select platforms
  • Reliable customer service, capable of resolving issues quickly

Gong’s Cons

  • Can be expensive for some businesses
  • Can be overwhelming for beginners
  • Some call coaching and analytics capabilities are unavailable in the mobile app

Gong Review: What Are the Key Features of Gong?

Gong is packed with features that make it easier for you to understand customer conversations and use them to your advantage. Let's take a look at some of the key features that make Gong so powerful.

1. Sales Forecasting Software

Gong gives you total visibility and transparency into your entire sales pipeline, so you can forecast with confidence and improve your team’s performance. It captures every buyer interaction and helps you foresee potential problems and opportunities.

Here are a few things that make Gong the best forecasting software:

  • Accurate sales forecasts. Gong's sales forecasting software not only collects data from each point of contact with customers but also analyzes where you stand in relation to the competition.
  • Total visibility into your sales pipeline. You can get information about where each deal in your pipeline stands, including the next steps and decision-maker engagement level.
  • Identify and respond to risks in your deals early. Using powerful AI, Gong lets you identify potential issues, like no one talking about the budget, in your deals earlier and helps you react quickly and prevent them from turning into big problems.
  • Review your sales pipeline at a glance. With Gong, you don't have to be part of every deal. You'll be able to get a bird's eye view of your sales pipeline with deal boards and spot any issues early.
  • A reality-based view, analyzing all your customer interactions across phone, email, instant messages, web conferencing, contracts, and more.
  • Alignment across teams, including your sales, revenue, finance, analytics, and customer success teams.

In all, you can expect to get insights about your market and customers, learn what your top-performing sales representatives are doing right, and discover risks hiding in your sales pipeline.

This will help you optimize sales operations and drive more successful customer conversations. If you’re ready to forecast which opportunities could lead to sales, you should start using Gong today.

You may also want to check out this list of tools for building a profitable sales funnel.

2. Conversation Intelligence Software

Gong's conversation intelligence software takes conversation intelligence to a whole new level. You can use it to gain deep insights into all your customer interactions across various touchpoints and see how they're impacting your sales.

Gong’s conversation intelligence is powered by AI, which analyzes your customer conversations to give you insights into topics like:

  • What are your customers saying?
  • What's resonating with your customers and what's not?
  • What trends are emerging in customer conversations?
  • What strategies are successful in closing deals?
  • What types of objections or questions do your customers ask most often?

For example, you can get recommendations like which words or topics you should cover less or emphasize more.

Gong's data-driven recommendations using conversation intelligence

You’ll also be able to discover the strategies or topics that are helping your top-performing sales representatives drive sales. This can be a good way to train your sales team.

Gong's insights about top-performing sales strategies

With this kind of data, you can optimize your customer conversations, increase customer satisfaction levels, and close more deals.

3. Call Recording Software

Gong's call recording software captures your team's customer calls via the phone and web conferencing so you can use them to replicate successful conversations with future prospects.

With this call recording software, you get:

  • A complete picture of all customer interactions on web conferencing, VOIP system, phone, in-person meetings, email, etc. for easy review later on
  • Easy access to call recordings, transcripts, and notes
  • The ability to review all customer interactions and find improvement opportunities
  • Coaching opportunities in your representatives' calls
  • The ability to identify issues and take corrective action quickly
  • Faster onboarding and training for new representatives using real customer conversations

Gong's integration with Salesforce and other CRM systems further helps you track customer interactions and follow up on leads.

You can easily stay on top of customer conversations, maximize sales potential, and improve the overall customer experience with Gong.

4. Automation

Gong’s automation feature helps you streamline your sales process, so you can focus on the most important tasks. It helps you automate daily tasks like creating customer emails and updating CRM data, and ensures that you never miss a follow up.

With Gong, your sales representatives can get a list of prioritized actions so they can engage buyers at the right times and move deals forward.

Gong's automated alerts

You'll be able to quickly identify deals that need attention and take the necessary action.

Gong’s automation features will help you reduce errors and increase the efficiency of your sales process. You’ll be able to quickly close deals and grow revenue faster.

5. Customer Success Software

Closing more deals faster is not enough. Gong also provides one of the best customer success software solutions. With this customer success software, you can track customer engagement to ensure that your customers are getting the best experience and they are able to hit their objectives.

This will help you:

  • Provide customer value from onboarding.
  • Help customers reach their objectives to increase retention rate.
  • Identify growth and expansion opportunities for your business.
  • Help new hires learn from the best of the best with call libraries.

Also check out the best customer engagement tactics that can help you grow your business.

How Much Does Gong Cost? Pricing and Plans

Gong’s pricing model depends on a few factors specific to your team and the type of licenses you choose for your team. There is also a platform fee that depends on the number of users supported.

To get accurate Gong pricing information, you need to get in touch with their team. You can start by filling out a simple form on their pricing page.

They'll give you customized pricing information for licenses with the features that are most relevant to your team's needs.

The good part is that you get to enjoy their full stack of tech integrations with all of the pricing plans so you can make the most out of your customer conversations. No matter the plan, they also offer reliable support to help you get the most out of their platform.

Gong’s Customer Support

Gong offers 24/7 customer support via email, as well as access to its knowledge base – Gong's Help Center. It has ample resources that can help you get started, understand the different features of the software, and troubleshoot problems.

You can also access guides to using Gong to the best of its potential and tutorial videos to understand how the features work. Plus, you can reach out to their support team if you have any more questions or need help.

According to customer reviews, Gong’s support team is quite reliable and helps solve issues quickly.

Who is Gong For?

With its comprehensive sales forecasting and conversation intelligence software, Gong is the perfect choice for sales, marketing, and customer service teams. The software is suitable for small, medium, and large businesses alike.

It can help teams close more deals, increase customer satisfaction, and optimize their customer conversations for higher success rates. That's why companies like LinkedIn, Shopify, Sprout Social, and Paychex use Gong to power their customer reality.

Business professionalsEntrepreneurs
Startup ownersBusiness owners
C-level executivesMarketing managers
Sales managersCustomer success managers
SaaS companiesTech companies
B2B business professionalsSales representatives
Customer service executivesMarketing teams

FAQs

1. Does Gong record every call?

Yes, Gong records every call. It captures customer conversations from phone calls, video calls, emails, web conferencing, and more, for easy review later on.

2. What problem does Gong solve?

Gong helps sales, marketing, and customer service teams to optimize their customer conversations and close more deals. It also increases customer satisfaction levels and enables companies to identify issues and take corrective action quickly.

So, no more:

– Holding sales teams back from closing more deals
– Inability to understand customer needs
– Unreliable sales forecasting and missed opportunities
– Unproductive customer conversations
– Poor onboarding and training of new representatives

3. Can you download videos from Gong?

Yes, you can download videos from Gong.

Gong Review: Should You Invest in This Revenue Intelligence Platform?

Gong is a comprehensive sales forecasting and conversation intelligence software that can help teams close more deals, increase customer satisfaction levels, and optimize their customer conversations for higher success rates.

It's suitable for small, medium, and large businesses alike and integrates with a variety of CRM systems and business tools. According to customer reviews, Gong's support team is reliable and helps solve issues quickly.

Using Gong software will help you gain an edge in your industry by getting actionable insights into customer sentiment, market trends, and sales predictions. In other words, Gong is a great choice for teams looking to power their customer conversations and unlock more sales opportunities. It's definitely worth investing in this revenue intelligence platform.

Do you have questions about Gong? Feel free to contact their customer support team for more information.

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Wordtune Review: The Pros and Cons of This AI Editor https://shanebarker.com/blog/wordtune-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/wordtune-review/#respond Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:29:57 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=66280 If you're a freelance writer or blogger, or if you just enjoy writing for fun, you've probably heard of Wordtune. This AI-based writing and editing tool claims to be able to help you write better and faster.

But is it really worth your time?

In my Wordtune review below, I'll help you take a close look at what this platform has to offer and whether or not it can help you improve your writing. Keep reading to learn about its features, pros and cons, and use cases in detail.

What is Wordtune?

Wordtune is an AI-powered writing assistant and editor that helps you write better and faster. It promises to make your writing clearer, more concise, and easier to read.

You can use Wordtune to improve your writing in several ways, including:

  • Rewriting or rephrasing your sentences or paragraphs
  • Making the tone of your writing more casual
  • Making it formal to help you present yourself in a more sophisticated or professional way
  • Shortening your sentences or paragraphs to convey your messages concisely yet clearly
  • Expanding your sentences to provide more detail and improve clarity
  • Editing your text for clarity and conciseness
  • Suggesting improvements in terms of grammar, spelling, and punctuation
  • Suggesting alternative words or phrases to use in your writing

As you can see, Wordtune offers a lot of features that can be helpful for writers and editors of all levels. It can help you get your words just right.

To do this, Wordtune uses a combination of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), which allows it to analyze your text and suggest improvements.

What Websites Does Wordtune Work On?

Wordtune is a multi-platform AI-writing assistant that works where you do. This means it's available as your personal writing assistant across all your favorite websites, including:

  • Google Docs
  • Gmail
  • Chrome extension
  • Microsoft Word (add-in)
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Slack (web version)
  • WhatsApp (web version)
  • Outlook (web version)

Additionally, you can use the Wordtune Editor which works across web browsers and lets you rewrite, rephrase, reword, and edit your writing in one place.

This means that you can use Wordtune no matter where you're writing, whether it's in your favorite text editor, online, on your blog, or even in a Google Doc.

Wordtune’s Pros and Cons

Now that we've taken a look at what Wordtune is and how it works, let's take a closer look at its pros and cons based on my personal testing.

Wordtune's Pros:

  • Clean user interface (UI)
  • Helps you improve your writing skills, including proofreading, tone checking, and more
  • Makes your writing clearer and more concise
  • Lets you edit your writing in one place
  • Expands your English vocabulary
  • Offers a lot of features that can be helpful for writers of all levels
  • Is available as a Chrome extension and Microsoft Word add-in

Wordtune's Cons:

  • May sometimes give suggestions in repetitive patterns
  • Allows just 10 runs/day with the free plan

Wordtune is one of the best writing tools to help you become a better writer.

Wordtune’s Plans & Pricing

Wordtune offers a free version with limited features as well as two paid plans.

With the free plan, you can:

  • Get real-time suggestions as you write.
  • Rewrite, rephrase, and edit your sentences.
  • Check the clarity and conciseness of your writing.

However, it lets you perform just 10 runs/day, which is quite limiting.

The paid plans – Advanced plan starts at $6.99/month (billed annually) and comes with the following features:

  • Unlimited runs
  • Tone correction
  • Shortening and expanding text
  • Paragraph rewriting
  • Premium support

Wordtune also offers a Premium for Teams plan that includes all of the features included in the Premium plan + the option to pay as a team. You can set up your Wordtune team account by filling out a simple form.

Wordtune's plans and pricing details

What Are the Key Features of Wordtune?

Wordtune offers a wide range of features to help you improve your writing. In this section of my Wordtune review, I'll go over some of its key features with examples.

Rewrite and Rephrase Sentences

One of Wordtune's key features is its ability to help you rewrite and rephrase your sentences. This can be helpful if you want to make your writing more concise or if you want to make sure it sounds friendly and approachable.

Here's an example of how Wordtune can help you rewrite a sentence by offering improvement suggestions:

How Wordtune can help you rewrite sentences

With their paid plans, you can also rewrite entire paragraphs, which can be helpful if you want to improve the overall tone of your writing.

Use the Right Tone to Match Your Subject Matter

With Wordtune, you can also make sure you're using the right tone for your writing. This is helpful if you want to sound more professional or casual, or if you want to make sure your writing is appropriate for your audience.

For example, let's say you're writing an email to a potential client. You can use Wordtune to check your tone and make sure it sounds professional.

Make your writing tone formal with Wordtune

Change the Length of Your Text to Match Your Writing Format

Sometimes, you may need to change the length of your text to match the format of your writing. For example, if you're writing content for a specific section on your web page, you may want to make sure it's the right length for that section.

Fortunately, Wordtune can help you with this as well. With its “shorten” and “expand” features, you can change the length of your text to match your writing format.

You just need to highlight the text you want to shorten or expand, and then click on the respective feature button, as shown below:

Shorten any text with Wordtune

The “expand” feature is also helpful when you’re having writer’s block and are falling short of words.

Edit Your Content for Spelling, Clarity, and More

If you're using the Wordtune Editor, it will check your content for a number of factors and suggest corrections, if needed. These factors include:

  • Spelling
  • Grammar
  • Punctuation
  • Repetition
  • Missing word
  • Wrong word
  • Clarity
  • Fluency
  • Vocabulary enhancement

It will also help you choose words that are more precise and easier to read. And it can even suggest ways to rephrase awkward sentences.

Using this AI-writing assistant and editor can be a great way to improve your writing skills and make sure that your content is error-free.

Wordtune Editor suggests spelling, grammar, fluency corrections

Get Smart Synonyms Suggestions with Wordtune

If you're looking for a way to make your writing sound more professional, or you just want to expand your vocabulary, Wordtune can help.

You can highlight a word and get a list of suggestions to replace it with a more fitting synonym. But Wordtune's real strength is its ability to understand the context of a sentence. This lets it offer suggestions that sound natural in the context of your phrase.

Wordtune's smart synonym suggestions

Translate Your Text into English and Rewrite It for Clarity

If you're not a native English speaker, don't worry – Wordtune can help.

Just enter your text in the language you're comfortable with and Wordtune will translate it into English. Then, it will also rewrite and improve your text so that it's clear and easy to understand.

So whether you're writing an email, a report, or just trying to communicate with friends or family, Wordtune can help you sound like a native English speaker in no time.

It currently supports translation from Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Hebrew, Korean, and Russian into English.

Here’s an example where I tested Wordtune’s translation feature to rewrite a text from Spanish into English:

Wordtune International translates text to English and rewrites it

Give it a try now and see how Wordtune can help you communicate better in English.

P.S. Try Wordtune Summarizer, which summarizes text for you using AI.

Wordtune’s Customer Support

Wordtune allows you to send them a message through the Messenger widget on their website if you have any questions or problems. Their support team typically replies within one day.

You can also find answers to commonly-asked questions and processes under the “Help” section and search for relevant answers using the “Search” feature in the same widget.

Wordtune Messenger support

You can get 24/7 prioritized service with their paid plans.

The AI-writing assistant has received 4.3-star ratings for their customer service on review sites like Capterra, which implies that they are responsive and helpful.

Who is Wordtune For?

Wordtune is a great tool for anyone who wants to improve their writing skills. Whether you're a student, a professional writer, or just someone who wants to write better, Wordtune can help you.

Some of its target users are:

  • Writers
  • Students
  • Professionals
  • Non-native English speakers
  • Marketers
  • Content creators
  • Copywriters
  • Bloggers
  • Business people
  • People who want to improve their writing skills

Wordtune Compared to Other AI Writing & Editing Platforms

Now that you know what Wordtune is and how it can help you improve your writing, let's take a look at how it compares to other popular AI writing and editing platforms. This includes comparing their features, cost, and more.

1. Wordtune vs. Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the most popular AI writing and editing platforms on the market and it offers a similar set of features to Wordtune. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms.

Grammarly's free plan focuses solely on grammar correction while Wordtune also offers full-sentence rewrites and word choice suggestions as well.

These features are available with Grammarly Premium, starting at $12/month.

But then, there is no limit on the number of spell checks and grammar corrections offered in the free version of Grammarly. And, Grammarly's paid plan also gives you access to a plagiarism checker which is not offered by Wordtune.

You can’t translate your text into English from another language using Grammarly but Wordtune lets you do that as well.

Both writing assistants can be used with Google Docs, Microsoft Word, their online editor, and as Chrome extensions.

Grammarly editor dashboard

Check out other Grammarly alternatives here.

2. Wordtune vs. QuillBot

QuillBot is an online paraphrasing tool that uses artificial intelligence to help you rewrite any piece of text. It lets you reword and rearrange sentences to create different versions of the original text.

With its free version, you can only reword up to 125 words of text and get up to 3 synonym options. You'll need to upgrade to QuillBot premium (for $9.95/month) to get the following:

  • Advanced grammar rewrites
  • Paraphrase unlimited words
  • Get up to 4 synonym options
  • Rephrase in casual and formal modes
  • Shorten and expand the text
  • Check your text for plagiarism

While Wordtune offers all other features, it lacks the plagiarism checker that QuillBot offers.

QuillBot paraphrasing dashboard

3. Wordtune vs. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is another popular grammar checker that you can use wherever you write – Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Chrome extension, and more.

So, how does it compare to Wordtune?

While ProWritingAid offers many of the same features as Wordtune, including grammar and spelling checking, it doesn't provide full-sentence rewrites as Wordtune does.

On the other hand, ProWritingAid offers comprehensive writing analysis reports to help you improve your writing as well as a style guide. And, it also offers a plagiarism checker with its Premium plan – starting at £20/month ($17/month approx.).

Whereas, Wordtune is a more affordable solution.

ProWritingAid editor

To learn more about ProWritingAid, read my detailed review of the tool here.

FAQs

1. Who created Wordtune?

Wordtune was created by AI21 Labs, a company founded in 2018 by AI experts.

The company's goal is to change the way we read and write by creating advanced AI tools and language models that can understand the context and semantics of written text.

These models are what make Wordtune different from other writing companions, as they go beyond grammar and spelling fixes to help you express your own thoughts in writing.

2. Is Wordtune as good as Grammarly?

This is a difficult question to answer, as both Wordtune and Grammarly have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Grammarly is a more comprehensive tool that can catch a wider range of errors, from spelling mistakes to grammatical errors.

Wordtune, on the other hand, is better at understanding the context of your writing and rewriting phrases or sentences to sound more natural. It also works better when it comes to helping you improve your writing style.

However, Wordtune may miss some errors that Grammarly would catch, so it really depends on your needs as a writer.

3. Does Wordtune have a free trial?

Yes, Wordtune offers a free trial and also a free plan.

With their free plan, you can perform up to 10 runs/day and rewrite your sentences or replace a word or phrase in your text. You also get limited support with the free plan.

If you want more features, you can opt for their premium plans which start at $9.99/month.

Try Wordtune Now!

Wordtune is a helpful tool that can improve your writing skills. It offers a wide range of features, including sentence rewriting, tone correction, and vocabulary expansion.

It's available as a Chrome extension and Microsoft Word add-in. You can try it for free, but the free version is quite limited. The paid plans start at $9.99/month (billed annually). This makes Wordtune the perfect choice for anyone on a budget.

The interface is designed to be simple and easy to use, so you can get started using Wordtune with no prior experience.

So what are you waiting for?

I hope you found this Wordtune review helpful. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.

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Social Cat Review: Grow Your Brand with Influencer Marketing https://shanebarker.com/blog/social-cat-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/social-cat-review/#respond Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:33:10 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=66042 I wrote this Social Cat review to highlight its potential in connecting small brands with micro-influencers, a key aspect of modern digital marketing.

Small businesses often struggle to find and contact suitable micro-influencers. Searching online yields limited results, and even when influencers are found, checking their numerous social media platforms is time-consuming. 

Moreover, reaching out is challenging as many influencers either don’t list contact information or are too inundated with requests to respond.

Social Cat aims to resolve these issues by linking small brands with micro-influencers. 

This review will explore how effectively it accomplishes this, examining its features and pricing based on my in-depth experience with the platform.

Social Cat Review: What is Social Cat and Why It Matters

This Social Cat review highlights the platform's efficiency in bridging the gap between micro-influencers and brands. Offering a straightforward sign-up process, it serves both creators and small brands seeking to collaborate.

Social Cat influencer platform homepage

Whichever option you choose, you’ll be able to create your profile in 3 to 5 minutes. You’ll need to answer a few basic questions that highlight what you are looking for. Based on your profile, the influencer marketing platform will match brands and micro-influencers.

Social Cat provides brands with exposure in front of micro-influencers daily, via a Daily Digest email system. The micro-influencers express interest in working with brands, and if the brands accept the collaboration request, it's a match!

As soon as a match happens, Social Cat makes an intro between the brand and the micro-influencer on email, and they can take the discussion forward. For brands, the beauty of this is that the micro-influencers are already engaged, since they find out first about the brands.

Pros and Cons

If you are looking for a quick Social Cat review, just look at this list of pros and cons. You’ll have a better idea of what to expect from the platform.

Pros of Using the Social Cat Platform

  • It is easy to get registered on the platform
  • Their pricing is very transparent, with a cancel anytime policy in place
  • You can set up gifted collaborations, along paid or affiliate ones
  • You can check brand reviews for different creators
  • Their customer support team manually monitors the reporting system
  • You can check previous campaigns with other brands for each creator
  • Pre-vetted micro-influencers

Cons of Using the Social Cat Platform

  • Operational in limited countries [USA, UK, New Zealand, and Australia]
  • Has micro-influencers from only Instagram and TikTok currently

Pricing

Social Cat's pricing is designed for small businesses that want to get started with social media marketing but don't have the big budgets of larger companies. For just $49/month, you can start with Social Cat and look for the right micro-influencers.

What’s more, they offer a 7-day free trial so that you can get a feel of the platform before committing to it full-time.

Here are the details of all their pricing plans:

Start-Up Plan: $49/month

  • This plan is great for those brands that just want to get started with influencer marketing campaigns. With this plan, you can get up to 10 micro-influencer matches every month.

Growth Plan: $99/month

  • This plan is great for those brands who want to add more user-generated content, brand awareness, and sales. With this plan, you can get up to 25 micro-influencer matches every month.
  • It includes: Exposure Boost – get your brand in front of more creators regularly which means more creators to pick from. Top Brand Badge – your brand will be highlighted as a top choice brand in your niche. One Dedicated Session with a Social Cat Expert.

Pro Plan: $179/month

  • This plan works great for brands that are looking to scale their influencer marketing campaigns. With this plan, you can get up to 50 micro-influencer matches every month.
  • The Pro Plan also includes all the features in the Growth Plan, and two dedicated sessions with an expert.

Social Cat’s pricing plans have no compulsory contracts. If you don’t want to use the platform, you can cancel it immediately. Think of it as a month-to-month subscription service for your influencer marketing campaigns.

Special Offer: Use code – SHANE25 – to get a 25% discount for your first month on Social Cat, available for all monthly plans.

Social Cat Key Features

I want to focus on the key features of Social Cat for this review. Why? Because when I tested it, I found that they are what makes the platform unique and worth using.

There are other platforms out there that do similar things, but Social Cat has a few key features that make it stand out from the rest.

Simple Matchmaking Process

Finding the right influencers can be daunting, especially if you're just starting out. You can spend hours scouring social media platforms, only to come up empty-handed.

That’s where Social Cat comes in. The platform will match your brand with the most relevant creators. You can focus on other tasks while they take care of finding the right influencers for you.

They have a database of over 10,000 pre-approved Instagram and TikTok micro-influencers across multiple niches. Take a quick look at the most popular niches in their creator database:

Popular influencer niches on Social Cat
Image via The Social Cat

Good Vetting Process

When any influencer signs up on the Social Cat platform, they go through a vetting process. Their team manually vets each applicant to ensure that only quality profiles make the cut.

But what are the criteria for vetting micro-influencers on the Social Cat profile? They include:

  • Profile Content: While Social Cat isn’t necessarily looking for heavily edited photos and sophisticated decor, they do need quality content.

Here are their judging criteria for profile content:

  • An aesthetically pleasing feed
  • Profile content that shows an influencer’s passions and interests
  • Products reviews where they can see a certain level of involvement in brand collaborations
  • A concise bio that reflects an influencer’s personality and interests
  • Recent Reels or Stories related to product reviews

They look for authentic engagement in the following ways:

They accept profiles with fewer followers if:

  • They have a high number of posts along with above-average content quality
  • They have a high and authentic engagement rate
  • They have good post captions
  • They have relevant hashtags
  • They have up to five brand collaborations already done

Ideally, they are looking for profiles that have a ratio of 3:1 on the number of followers vs the number of accounts followed.

One of the most important rules to get accepted on their platform is that an account with 3000 followers must follow less than 1000 accounts back, ideally less than 500. They claim that exceptions to this rule are rare.

  • Post Count: The Social Cat team reviews the number of posts on an influencer’s profile. They only approve the ones that have a minimum of 100 posts, Feed, or IG Reels.

If a profile has excellent content and a great aesthetic, they also approve profiles that may have 50-100 posts

Content Ownership Rights

As a brand, you always want to protect your investment. When you pay an influencer to promote your product, you want to ensure you can continue using that content even if the relationship ends.

On the Social Cat platform, brands have the ownership rights to use created content by the micro-influencer in perpetuity and on any marketing channel, including ads.

Check Previous Campaigns

Before you sign any influencer, you want to make sure that the content they create is on-brand for you. It’s important to know that they understand your target audience and can produce content that resonates with them.

To ensure that you find the real deal, Social Cat enables you to check an influencer’s previous campaigns on the platform. So if you're looking to work on an important campaign, make sure to check an influencer’s other brand collaborations before you match with them.

Create Gifted Influencer Campaigns

Gifted collaborations are a great way to get started with influencer marketing without breaking the bank. By partnering with an influencer who is willing to promote your brand in exchange for free products or services, you can reach a larger audience.

The Social Cat platform recognizes this fact and provides an option to create gifted influencer campaigns.

While I’ve seen a lot of other popular influencer marketing platforms, this is a unique feature that I haven’t come across often.

Creator Content Library

Want to protect your brand's reputation by ensuring that influencer content is accurate and free of any offensive or misleading statements?

The Social Cat platform has got you covered. They have a special content space where influencers can upload their content. Brands will receive the content here for download in HD to repurpose.

Creator Reviews

As a brand, it is important to see what other brands think of the creator before signing them up. This will give you an idea of their work ethic and whether or not they are reliable.

Reviews from other brands can also provide valuable insights into a creator’s creative process and their ability to execute briefs. It will help you gauge if a particular creator is a right fit for your brand campaigns.

Manually Monitored Reporting System

Brands can access Social Cat’s manually monitored reporting system to keep a tight eye on the campaign numbers. If something goes wrong, their team steps in to help you navigate through any issues.

How To Use Social Cat

Now that you are familiar with the main features, I want to show you how to use the Social Cat platform. For this Social cat review, I created a free account to give you a basic idea of the registration process and what you can do on the platform.

Please note that I haven’t actually collaborated with micro-influencers via the platform. The purpose of this review is to talk about the interface and the functionality of the platform.

On the Social Cat platform, you get two options:

  • Sign Up as a Brand
  • Sign Up as a Creator

For this Social Cat review, I am only focusing on what it is like for brands to sign up on the platform.

Step 1: Pick Your Target Audience

The first step is to pick the target audience that you want to target for your influencer marketing campaign. You can select multiple options from the ones given. For this review, I am going to choose women and men in the age group of 25-44.

target audience

Step 2: Select Relevant Topics

The next step is to select relevant topics based on your business niche. There are a lot of options so you are sure to find something related to your niche.

social cat settings keywords

Step 3: Choose Your Location

In this step, you can choose the location where your business operates. Keep in mind that Social Cat will show you content creator profiles based on the location you enter at this stage.

So, if your business is US-based but you want to work with creators in Australia, you should choose “Australia” as your choice here.

social cat settings where does your business operate

Step 4: Enter Your Business Location

When you enter your business location, Social cat tries to match you with local creators. You can also choose to skip this step if you want.

social cat settings business location

Step 5: Choose the Right Social Media Channel

Next, decide if you want to get matched with creators on TikTok or on Instagram. You can also choose both social media platforms here. For this review, I am only going with “Instagram.”

social cat settings social networks

Step 6: Choose the Type of Creators You Want to Work With

Select the niches for the influencer profiles that you’d like to see. Make sure this choice is in sync with the option you chose in Step 2.

social cat settings target creators

Step 7: Choose Appropriate Collaboration Types

You can choose the type of collaboration you’d like to have with influencers. Would you like them to showcase your product via Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, Photo Grid, or Video Grid?

You can choose all options too if you are open to all kinds of collaborations. If you’ve chosen TikTok as your preferred social media channel, these options will look slightly different for you.

social cat settings collaboration details

Step 8: Add Your Public Review Link

If you want creators to leave you a review on public review sites, you can add a link here. As a small business, it can help you gain credibility. You can also choose to skip this step.

social cat public review platform

Step 9: Select the Minimum Number of Followers For Creator Profiles

At this stage, you can choose the lowest number of followers you would like your creators to have. You can even find creators who have above 5000 followers.

social cat settings minimum followers

Step 10: Describe Your Product

Write a short description of the product that you’d like influencers to promote for you. It is recommended that you add price details here so creators can have a better idea of what you are offering.

social cat settings product

Step 11: Choose Your Campaign Goal

Pick a campaign goal that best describes what you want to achieve with your campaign: Create more user-generated content, boost awareness, or increase your sales.

social cat settings campaign goal

Step 12: Choose How You Would Compensate Influencers

Would you like to gift your products, pay a fixed fee, or offer a commission on each sale to your influencers? Pick whichever option works for you. If you are open to all three options, you can select all three as well.

social cat collaboration options

Step 13: Pick a Plan

At this step, you can choose which plan you’d like to sign up for. Social Cat gives you a 7-day free trial for all three plans listed below. The free trial involves 0 risk, if you are not happy with it, you can cancel before it transitiones to a paid subscription.

social cat plans

Once you enter your credit card details, you can access the platform for free for a week. Social Cat starts charging you at the end of the week based on the plan you choose here, if you would like to continue.

Special Offer: Use code – SHANE25 – to get a 25% discount for your first month on Social Cat, available for the monthly plans.

The whole registration is super straightforward and took me about 3-5 minutes to complete. Pretty smooth, I must say. So, what’s next?

Here is a quick overview:

Social Cat - How it works

Once you sign up, Social Cat matches your brand with creators in their database. These matches are based on the products that creators are using and what kind of brands they are interested in. The platform also takes into account your niche, location, budget, campaign goals, and other details.

They repeat the process every month until you find relevant matches. When you start getting proposals, you can decide which collaboration requests you’d like to accept.

Social Cat sends you both an introductory email to break the ice. From there, you can take the conversation forward.

Customer Support

For assistance, Social Cat has a special Help Center on their website. While I was testing the platform, I checked out a couple of articles and they are very informative. But if you’d like to write about a specific problem, you can use the Contact tab on their website.

You can also send an email directly to joe@thesocialcat.com. They typically respond within a few hours. You can also call them at +44 7933 441 043 or send them a message on Instagram.

Comparison with Other Platforms

Social Cat is unique among the best influencer marketing platforms because of its unique matchmaking process. The profile is set up such that their algorithm can understand the needs of businesses and creators.

It’s like Tinder for brands and creators, but likely to be more effective! They make a match such that both parties will be happy with the arrangement.

Upfluence, and Heepsy may be the top influencer marketing platforms out there but Social Cat has a completely different target audience.

The cost of influencer marketing can go into thousands of dollars or more. But what about those businesses that don’t have a huge budget? That’s Social Cat’s main audience.

The platform has a strong focus on small businesses that may not have a big budget but still want to reach a wide audience.

Their gifted campaigns allow businesses to get their products or services in front of potential customers at no cost, which is a great way to get started with influencer marketing.

Social Cat’s pricing model is affordable so small businesses can get started with influencer marketing more easily.

FAQs

What is a gifted collaboration?

Social Cat has a “Gifted Campaigns” feature that allows businesses to send products to influencers for free. This is a great way to get your product in front of potential customers without spending a dime.

Is Social Cat free?

Social Cat offers a 7-day free trial for their paid plans. If you would like to check out their platform before signing up for a paid plan, you can also book a demo.

What kind of influencers are listed on Social Cat?

On Social Cat, micro-influencers who have between 1k and 50k followers are listed. You can find influencers across niches from the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

How does Social Cat work?

Social Cat connects brands with micro-influencers for Instagram and TikTok marketing campaigns. Brands register and provide details about their target audience and campaign goals. Social Cat then matches them with suitable influencers, who choose to collaborate based on brand alignment​​.

How many followers do you need for Social Cat?

To be approved as a micro-influencer on Social Cat, you need a minimum of 3000 followers. This requirement helps ensure a commitment to content creation and working with small brands, although some exceptions may be made based on content quality and engagement​​.

How long is Social Cat's free trial?

Social Cat offers a free 7-day trial. This trial period allows users to explore the platform's features and see how it can benefit their influencer marketing campaigns before committing to a paid subscription​​.

Do you have a Social Cat promo code?

Yes, use code – SHANE25 – to get a 25% discount for your first month on Social Cat, available for the monthly plans.

Social Cat Review: What’s My Verdict?

Wrapping up this Social Cat review, I firmly believe this platform it's a great solution for businesses planning influencer marketing campaigns. Its ease of use and the extensive range of features it offers are particularly beneficial for small business owners. I definitely suggest considering Social Cat for your influencer marketing needs.

If you have any inquiries regarding the details shared in this Social Cat review, please post them in the comments. I’m here to help with any questions you might have.

Special Offer: Use code – SHANE25 – to get a 25% discount for your first month on Social Cat, available for the monthly plans.

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Ahrefs Review: Pros, Cons, Key Features, Pricing, and More https://shanebarker.com/blog/ahrefs-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/ahrefs-review/#respond Tue, 01 Nov 2022 16:22:29 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=65371 As an SEO marketer, I've wanted to write an Ahrefs review for a long time. It's no secret that Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools on the market. 

In fact, it's often considered the gold standard regarding link-building and keyword research. And now that I've finally had a chance to test the tool extensively, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

In this Ahrefs review, I am going to stay as objective as possible. I have used some other popular SEO tools as well, so I’ll also discuss how Ahrefs fares up in comparison to them based on my own testing.

What is Ahrefs?

Ahrefs is a website analysis tool that helps you understand your website's traffic, backlink profile, and more. If you're serious about improving your website's traffic and search engine rankings, Ahrefs is a tool you need in your arsenal.

ahrefs homepage

Ahrefs can be used by both small businesses and large enterprises alike. Its features include keyword research, competitor analysis, and site audits. 

Product Ratings

Overall:

Support:

Effectiveness:

User-Friendliness:

Value For Money:

PROS

  • Rich functionality
  • Can use it for SEO analysis of Google, YouTube, and Amazon
  • Large keyword and backlink index
  • Great data filters
  • Good customer support

CONS

  • May be expensive for small businesses

Ahrefs Pricing Details

Ahrefs Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Lite PlanStarts at $99
Standard PlanStarts at $199
Advanced PlanStarts at $399
Enterprise PlanStarts at $999

Ahrefs charges you on a pay-per-go basis if you add more data or users to your subscribed plan.

What Ahrefs Does/What Is Ahrefs Used For?

Ahrefs is a tool that can be used for keyword research, link building, and competitor analysis. It is a paid tool and is considered one of the best SEO tools on the market. Here is a quick summary of everything you can do with Ahrefs:

  • Analyze the backlink profile of any website
  • Find the keywords that are most profitable for paid as well as organic search
  • Find content that is shared the most for any topic
  • Get traffic estimations and keyword ideas for your content
  • Track mobile and desktop rankings for different locations
  • Get monthly/weekly/daily reports to track changes in rankings
  • Conduct a website audit and identify common SEO issues
  • Monitor your website health over a period of time
  • Get alerts for new or lost backlinks, keyword rankings, and web mentions

Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO tool that can easily replace several other tools. 

It provides users with new ideas for link building and content analysis, social stats and ratings, option to export data, various charts and graphs, and much more.

Optimize Your Site With Ahrefs: Key Features

If you visit the Ahrefs website, you’ll see that they five main tools/key Ahrefs features listed. All of them have a lot to offer. 

In this section, I will discuss all of them in detail so you get a good idea of what Ahrefs has to offer. Before we look at the main tools, let’s take a look at the Ahrefs dashboard.

Ahrefs Dashboard

The Ahrefs dashboard is clean and simple. It's easy to find what you're looking for, whether it's a specific keyword or your overall site performance. 

The graphs and data are easy to understand, and you can easily see how your site is performing over time. Overall, the Ahrefs dashboard is a great way to keep track of your website's progress.

ahrefs dashboard

One thing I particularly like about the Ahrefs dashboard is the ability to check your Google Search Console directly on the platform. 

What’s more, you can see GSC data that’s older than 16 months as well. Even on GSC itself, you can’t do that!

I also really like the fact that Ahrefs allows you to sort projects into folders. It keeps your projects organized and ensures that you are only sharing the specific folders with team members that need access to them. 

This is a great feature that makes project management easier with Ahrefs.

ahrefs dashboard

Email alerts are a great way to keep track of your projects and their performance. 

You can set up email alerts for each project so you can be notified when something changes or if there is an update. This way, you can always stay on top of your projects and know what is going on with them. 

Site Explorer

Site Explorer is the main tool in Ahrefs’ toolkit. You can use the Site Explorer to view and analyze how your competitors are doing in paid and organic search. 

You can also get insights in what strategies your competitors are using to get higher rankings.

Currently, the Site Explorer has over 475 million keywords and an index of over 1.9 trillion backlinks. It’s also powered by the second-most active crawler (after Google). Pretty impressive numbers, right?

So, how can you use Site Explorer? It can help you with three main SEO functions:

Organic Traffic Research, Paid Traffic Research, and Backlink Checker.

Organic Traffic Research

With this tool, you can see which keywords your competitors are ranking for in the search engines, and how much traffic each keyword is sending them. You just need to enter the URL of any website that you want results for. 

When you do this, Ahrefs tool will fetch you the volume, KD, CPC, traffic, position, and more. It’s pretty neat and organized. Here is a sample report:

ahrefs Organic Traffic Research
Organic Traffic Research

If you want to have a clear picture of how a site is performing in the SERPs over time, you can check the movements sub-category in the Organic Traffic Research section. You can also check the top pages that are bringing in the most traffic along with the competing domains for any keyword.

Before you start writing any content, you can also check out the Competing Pages section to check which other pages are ranking for the same keyword. 

However, my favorite competition analysis feature on Ahrefs is Content Gap.

Ahrefs is Content Gap

With this feature, you can get a list of keywords that your competitors are ranking for but you aren’t. Checking out what your competitors are ranking for is a great way to find new keywords that you can start targeting. 

It is possible that you could be overlooking valuable keywords simply because you haven’t thought to look for them. And with this feature, you can save a lot of time on research. 

Backlink Checker

Do you want to know how many backlinks a website has, and where they're coming from? 

To find your website's backlink profile, simply paste the URL into Site Explorer and click on the “Backlink profile” tab. This gives you access to a goldmine of data that can help you build a rich backlink profile for your website. 

Ahrefs is Content Gap

To keep track of any backlinks that you gained or lost during a specific time period, you can see the New/Lost backlinks section. 

To get the most accurate picture of your site's backlink situation, it is important to check this section on a regular basis. By doing so, you can keep track of your progress and make sure that your link-building efforts are paying off. 

Ahrefs is Content Gap

This section also has options so you can check all the referring domains, referring IPs, and anchor phrases pointing to a specific URL. You can also get a list of internal backlinks for your website along with the traffic it is fetching.

Paid Traffic Research

If you want to stay ahead of the competition, it’s important to know what they’re up to. And one way to do that is by finding out if they’re buying PPC ads and which keywords they’re bidding on. 

ahrefs Paid Traffic Research

My favorite Paid Traffic Research section is “Ads.” In just a few clicks, you can check out all the ads in the search results for any target URL. Volume, traffic, CPC, keywords – it has all the juicy details you need to learn about your competitors’ PPC strategy.

ahrefs top ads

There is also an option where you can see the top landing pages that are getting the most traffic for PPC ads. As a PPC marketer, you’ll have everything you need to create a strong PPC campaign at your fingertips.

Pages Section

Another really interesting section on Ahrefs is “Pages.” It gives you a quick glance at the top pages on any website with the most backlinks. You can also check which web pages have had the greatest growth in terms of links. 

What’s interesting is that you can also check which pages have received the most shares on social media platforms. Along with the URL, the tool shows the total number of shares on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. 

ahrefs top content

Outgoing Links

Even the Outgoing Links section is great to get an overview of any website’s outgoing links. You can check out all the websites that a URL is linking to along with their broken links, and anchor text of outgoing links.

ahrefs outgoing links

Overall, Site Explorer has some incredible tools to help you build strong SEO and PPC campaigns. And the best part is that the most complex data is presented in an easy-to-understand format

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

What makes the keyword explorer in Ahrefs unique compared to other SEO tools out there, is that it looks beyond Google. It integrates with YouTube, Baidu, Yandex, Amazon, and other search engines as well. 

Using the Ahrefs keyword research tool, you can get data for 171 countries.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

When you enter any keyword into the Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, you get comprehensive data for multiple keyword metrics including:

  • Search Volume: The total volume of searches for your entered keyword in a specific market.
  • CPC: Average cost per click that advertisers pay so that the keyword appears via paid search.
  • Keyword Difficulty: This metric gives an estimate of how difficult it is for any particular keyword to rank.
  • Clicks: This shows the number of clicks that each keyword generates. It can vary according to the search results page and the type of query you’ve entered.
  • Global Volume: Check the search volume from all markets where the keyword is entered.
  • Return Rate: Check how many times a particular user has searched for the same keyword in a month. 
  • Keyword Ideas: You can check more keyword ideas and related questions to a given keyword.

While the Ahrefs keyword tool has a lot of data, it is neatly presented. Check out a sample report from Ahrefs in the screenshot below:

Ahrefs keyword tool

Site Audit

The Site Audit feature on Ahrefs is really simple. You can enter any URL to check any technical issues you might have. Ahrefs crawls all the web pages on your site and checks for 100 pre-defined SEO issues.

It then provides a comprehensive SEO Audit report. It includes your SEO health score, top issues, crawl status of links, issues distribution, and other important data.

Ahrefs site audit report

When you scroll down, you also find a list of all the SEO issues on the site you are checking. For each issue, Ahrefs also shows details of what the problem is and how you can fix it. To check it, you can just click on the “?” button on the right side of the report. 

ahrefs seo issues

Ahrefs also has detailed reports on technical categories including Performance, HTML Tags, Social Tags, Content Quality, Localization, Incoming Links, and Outgoing Links. For each of these categories, you’ll get a visual report with multiple clickable elements.

ahrefs detiled report

When you click on any element, Ahrefs opens Data Explorer which shows a list of all the affected pages. You can check out a sample report in the screenshot below:

Ahrefs opens Data Explorer

You can also add filters to this list so that you get exactly the results that you are looking for. Understanding the correct filters to apply here might require some advanced SEO knowledge though. 

Rank Tracker

With Rank Tracker, you can set which countries and keywords you want to figure out ranking for. Using Ahrefs Rank Tracker, you can check all the keywords that you are ranking for along with the associated keywords. 

ahrefs Rank Tracker

Using this tool, you can check the following main metrics:

  • Visibility: Check the total percentage of clicks you get on your site from organic search.
  • Average Position: Check the average position for all your tracked keywords over a period of time.
  • Traffic: Check the number of searches your tracked keywords send to your website. 
  • SERP Features: Check how many keywords are showing enhanced search engine results pages where featured snippets, maps, and other such non-standard elements are added.
  • Position: Check how many results moved up or down in rankings.

Comparison with Other Tools

When it comes to SEO and link building, there are a lot of different tools out there. The most popular ones apart from Ahrefs are Moz and Semrush. All three of these tools offer a lot of features, but they also have their own unique advantages. 

Ahrefs is best known for its comprehensive database of links and its ability to track competitor backlinks. 

Semrush is great for keyword research and competitive analysis. And Moz offers powerful tools for tracking your website's SEO performance.

So, which tool is the best? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. If you need a comprehensive tool that can do a little bit of everything, Ahrefs is a great choice. 

Even for those who want to specifically focus on link building and competitor link analysis, Ahrefs should be the right pick. 

If you're focused on keyword research and competitive analysis, Semrush is a good option. And if you want to track your website's SEO performance, Moz is a great tool.

For a more detailed comparison of the three tools, you should read my blog post on Semrush vs. Moz vs. Ahrefs.

FAQs

1. Which is better, Ahrefs vs Semrush?

Both Ahrefs and Semrush are among the best SEO tools out there. They have their own pros and cons. But if your focus is on getting quality backlinks, Ahrefs should be your pick.

2. Is Ahrefs free?

No, Ahrefs is not free to use. Their pricing plans start from $99 per month.

3. How does Ahrefs get its data?

Ahrefs has its own search crawlers that work around the clock, using data from its independent database. They are not affiliated with any other search engines or similar services. 

That means they do not get their data from Google, Altavista, Alexa, and other such platforms. Currently, they have probably the largest index of backlinks and it is updated every 15 minutes.

4. Is Ahrefs the best SEO tool?

While there are other SEO tools available, such as Moz and Majestic, I believe Ahrefs offers the most accurate and up-to-date backlink data. 

In addition, Ahrefs is constantly updating their backlink database, which provides you with the most current backlink information. If your focus is on building a strong backlink profile, Ahrefs is definitely the best SEO tool for you.

5. Is Ahrefs worth the money?

As someone who's been using Ahrefs for a while now, I can say that it definitely is worth the money. The tool is constantly being updated with new features and improvements, and it really has everything you need to perform comprehensive SEO audits, backlink analysis, and keyword research.

Should You Use Ahrefs?

The answer to this question really depends on what you're looking for in an SEO tool. If you're just starting out, then Ahrefs may be a bit too expensive for you. 

However, if you're already established and are looking for an all-in-one tool that does it all, then Ahrefs is definitely worth the investment. 

If you've got the budget and are serious about marketing, then you should be using Ahrefs. In my experience, Ahrefs is unique compared to other SEO tools. 

They probably have the largest index of live backlinks in the world. This means that they are able to show you more data and give you more insights into your link-building efforts than any other tool out there.

Second, their crawler is really fast and accurate. This allows them to update their index more frequently, so you can always be confident that you're getting the most up-to-date data possible.

So, what’s the final verdict? Give it a go if you want a detailed SEO analysis.

Do you have any questions related to this Ahrefs review? Please feel free to mention them in the comments sections. I’ll be happy to answer them for you. 

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Tidio Review: Improve Customer Satisfaction with Its New AI Chatbot https://shanebarker.com/blog/tidio-chat-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/tidio-chat-review/#respond Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:12:27 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=65059 As someone who helps small businesses and ecommerce businesses grow, I am always looking for ways to help improve your customer service. 

And that’s exactly where Tidio comes in.

Summary

Tidio is an AI-powered customer service platform that helps you connect with your customers in real time. With Tidio, you can create a custom chat widget for your website, answer customer questions, and provide support 24/7.

Tidio recently launched AI chatbot called Lyro will resolve 70% of customer problems without human intervention. Lyro is a major leap forward in customer service as it learns from your FAQs, is easy to implement, and provides 50 free AI-driven conversations.

Tidio’s AI-powered chatbot only forwards 30% of the queries to customer service agents, freeing them to solve complex tickets faster.

You can even use Tidio’s Live chat widget to increase sales. The chatbot can offer personalized discounts to your website visitors based on their activity.

Combine AI and human support to deliver excellent customer service.

One look at their website, and you’ll know that it is very promising.

But is Tidio the right fit for your business? 

This detailed review post of Tidio will help you decide. In this Tidio chat review, I talk about Tidio’s user interface, live chat features, and new AI chatbot – Lyro. Read it till the end to figure out the pros and cons of this conversational customer service platform.

What is Tidio?

Tidio is a customer service software solution that helps you communicate with your website visitors in real time. It can help you increase sales, user engagement, and customer satisfaction.

Tidio customer service platform

With Tidio’s conversational AI, live chat, and helpdesk, you can provide excellent customer service and support to your customers.

This brings us to the question: Who should use Tidio?

Any business that wants to reduce the number of customer service issues, increase sales, and improve customer satisfaction should use Tidio.

I tested the platform and it does have amazing features related to:

  • Live chat
  • AI chatbot 一 Lyro
  • Helpdesk
  • Multichannel communication
  • Customer service team performance analytics
  • And more

In this Tidio chat review, I will try to cover all aspects of this customer service platform well.

What Are the Pros and Cons of the Tidio App?

I know a lot of you want an overview of what’s awesome and what’s not so great about the platform. So, I came up with a few key points that I think are important to consider when deciding if Tidio is right for you.

Pros

  • It's very user-friendly and easy to set up.
  • Tidio offers a free trial so you can try it out before committing to a paid plan.
  • It offers 50 free Lyro conversations. The AI can answer multiple questions during a customer interaction and those would be counted as 1 conversation credit.
  • It is compatible with multiple operating systems 一 Windows, Linux, mac. You can also use its web version.
  • It is mobile-friendly.
  • Tidio offers multiple customization options.

Cons

  • Tidio can be a bit pricey for some people. Though it offers a free plan, its premium plans start from $29/month.
  • With Tidio’s free plan, you only get email support.

Tidio: Reviewing Its Pricing Plans, Fee, and Payments

Tidio has a few different pricing options, all of which are very affordable.

The most basic plan is absolutely Free and includes all of the essential features you need to get started with live chat and Lyro conversations.

Tidio Free plan pricing details and inclusions

If you need more features, like analytics and chatbot templates, then you can upgrade to one of the higher-priced plans. The best part is that you don’t need a credit card to try their premium plans.

Plus, a 7-day free trial is available so that you can get an idea of what the platform offers before you decide to subscribe to the paid plans.

Tidio pricing plans

Here is a quick overview of all the pricing options available for Tidio:

  • Free plan: $0/month
    • This plan is great for freelancers or micro-companies who want basic functionality.
    • You get 50 free Lyro conversations and 100 chatbot triggers with this plan.
    • Support only over email with this plan.
  • Starter plan: $29/month
    • You get 100 live chat conversations and 500 chatbot triggers with this plan.
  • Communicator plan: $25/month per seat
    • This plan is great for small companies or ecommerce businesses who want Shopify integration, unlimited conversations with the live chat feature, and customer team performance analytics.
  • Chatbots plan: $29/month
    • This plan is great for businesses that want access to a visual chatbot editor, readymade chatbot templates, and the option to add 2K-40K chatbot triggers.
  • Lyro addon: Starting from $39/month
  • Tidio+ plan: Starting from $394/month
    • This plan is perfect for large-cap businesses or enterprises that need multi-website support, email marketing, and custom integrations.
    • With this plan, you get chatbot-building assistance and a dedicated customer success manager.

Special note: You can start a free trial and get 20% off for any subscription plan on Tidio with the coupon code, “SHANEBARKER.”

Tidio Live Chat and AI Chatbot Features

In this section, I will cover all the main features of Tidio live chat and chatbot, and discuss its user interface, integrations, and customer support based on my personal testing of the platform.

I want to give you a comprehensive overview of the tool so that you can understand what Tidio is all about.

For this Tidio chat review, I set up a free trial account. Since it’s a fresh account, you’ll see 0 leads and no analytics. But you’ll get a good idea about what Tidio has to offer in this review post. 

User Interface

Tidio has a clean, modern interface that's very user-friendly. 

When you sign up for a free account, Tidio asks you to enter some basic information – your name, email address, and company details. 

In the next step, they recommend the best chatbots based on your industry. You can even customize the message that you want to send your visitors.

user-friendly onboarding process of Tidio

In the last step for setup, you can even choose to install the Tidio code on your website.

install Tidio code on your website

It’s a quick and easy setup – won’t take you more than five minutes.

After you sign up for Tidio, you are taken to a neat dashboard. The dashboard is divided into tabs for different areas of the app, and you can easily switch between them.

As you can see in the screenshot below, it shows you your acquired leads, monthly chatbot limit, and number of visitors on your page.

Tidio insights about your website visitors, chatbot monthly limits

Apart from the dashboard, the black panel on the left has five other options: Inbox, Chatbots, Vistors, Contacts, and Analytics.  

Visitors Tab

Whenever a visitor sends you a message, you’ll be notified in the Visitor’s Tab in the Unassigned section.

Tidio unassigned section in the visitor's tab

Here, you’ll see a uniquely generated visitor ID along with their email address and their name. 

Next to the name of the visitor, Tidio shows the name of the operator handling that particular conversation.

Tidio name of the operator handling the customer query
Image via Tidio

If it doesn’t appear, that means no one is handling that conversation. It’s your cue to assign someone to handle it or do it yourself!

You’ll also see a flag that indicates the country that your visitor’s IP address is from. In addition to this, you’ll be able to check the browser and the URL that they are viewing.

Automated Lyro Conversations

Lyro is the first conversational AI chatbot for small and medium businesses. It represents a major leap forward in customer service and will be able to solve up to 70% of customer problems automatically.

Tidio's AI chatbot - Lyro's conversations

You can use Lyro conversations starter pack to offer personalized assistance to your website visitors.

Here are the key points you need to know about Lyro:

  • This new conversational AI chatbot from Tidio learns from your FAQs within seconds and formulates complex answers to solve your customers’ problems.
  • The AI stays within the boundaries of your knowledge base and you can update its information at any time.
  • Lyro is easy to implement and doesn’t require training.
  • You can use a playground environment to see how Lyro will respond to your customer questions and adapt your FAQs accordingly.
  • You can activate the AI in under 3 minutes.
  • It supports your customers 24/7.
  • You and your audience can try this out with 50 free AI-driven conversations. Lyro can answer multiple questions during a customer interaction, and it will account for just 1 conversation credit.
Activate Tidio Lyro to solve customer problems with AI chatbot

Chatbot Elements

If you want to see the chatbot elements that Tidio offers, you can click on the “Chatbot option” from the black panel on the left. 

The platform offers templates of four different types: Strategies, Increase Sales, Generate Leads, and Solve Problems.

Let’s see what each of these categories has to offer. Let’s start with “Strategies.”

As you can see there are three templates each to increase sales and solve problems. What I like about these templates is that each one is designed to help you achieve a specific goal.

Tidio chatbot strategies

Increase Sales

This option has twelve different templates. Whether you are an ecommerce owner looking to show a new discount to your visitors or provide product recommendations, there is a template for you.

increase sales with Tidio chatbot

Generate Leads

For lead generation, Tidio has templates through which you can send the latest news updates or collect user information via subscriber forms. 

What’s surprising is that they have a special bot for real estate websites. Using this bot, you can create qualified leads and prepare a personalized offer specifically for your customers.

generate leads with Tidio chatbot

Solve Problems

If you want to answer customer FAQs, then this category of chatbot templates from Tidio is for you. It has special templates for restaurants and online stores.

Solve problems with Tidio chatbot

You can also use Tidio’s AI chatbot, Lyro to solve a majority of your customer problems. It will pick info from your FAQs to answer queries in less than 15 seconds.

If you don’t find any chatbot template that suits your needs from the list above, you can also create chatbots from scratch.

You can click on any of the three categories under the “My Chatbots” option and select the “Create from Scratch” option. Let’s see the “Generate Leads” option.

create chatbots from scratch with Tidio templates

Next, you can choose how your visitors can engage with your bots. From the given options, I am selecting the first one – “First visit on site.”

Set triggers for Tidio chatbots

This takes us to the drag-and-drop chatbot builder wherein you can see three main columns: Actions, Triggers, and Conditions.

tidio chatbot triggers, conditions, and actions

These are all categories of nodes – which are considered building blocks of chatbots. When connected in a logical manner, they program the chatbot to take action at a particular time. 

Check out the screenshot below to understand what Actions, Triggers, and Conditions are all about.

understanding tidio chatbot actions, triggers, and conditions

By using different permutations and combinations of these, you can create a fully functional chatbot in this drag-and-drop chatbot builder. 

A complete Tidio chatbot design will look something like this:

Tidio chatbot design

While it does have great customization options, keep in mind that you can’t send videos, audio, or attachments through the Tidio chatbot.

Users

What if you want to take a look at all the users who have interacted with your Tidio chatbot? From your dashboard, you can click on “Go to Contact List.”

Tidio contact list

When you do that, you should see a list of all users. Since I don’t have any yet, this section is empty. 

But you can there is an option to export the data or even delete specific contacts. You can even add filters based on location, campaign status, channel, and other parameters

This is a great way to create a list of contacts for targeted campaigns.

Tidio contact lists for targeted campaigns

Messages

With Tidio, you can’t send broadcast messages or sequences. However, you can use conditions in your bot flow to tailor your messages to specific audiences. 

What’s more, Tidio has multi-language settings. So, you can create chatbots in different languages, including Danish, Dutch, German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, and others.

To use a different chatbot language, you can follow this path: Settings > Translations > Select Language

Tidio language settings

AI & NLP

For absolute beginners in the chatbot industry, here is some context:

Natural language processing is one of the types of artificial intelligence that attempts to recognize and comprehend natural language spoken by people on a daily basis. 

With NLP, chatbots can answer inquiries submitted in reply to phrases entered by users.

Without NLP, chatbots have to rely only on pre-made decision flow charts. It may not provide accurate information. So, obviously, you want a good chatbot that provides reliable information. 

How can you add an NLP trigger to your Tidio bot?

For this, you can use the “Visitor says” node.

add NLP trigger to your Tidio bot

Once you add this node to your chatbot flow, you can add the appropriate conversation language and topic. If you don’t find the relevant topic listed, you can opt for “Custom.”

Lastly, you can add trigger words and phrases that trigger this bot. If you want this trigger to work efficiently, you should add as many phrases as possible.

The more you feed their NLP engine, the better the chance of getting the required response.

Multi-Channel Communications

By now, you already know that Tidio enables you to add bots to your website. But that’s not all. It also has Instagram and Facebook Messenger integration. So, you can create chatbots for these social media platforms as well. 

This means you can directly send product integration to FB Messenger or IG users’ DMs.

Tidio bot integration with Facebook and Instagram

Tidio Integrations

Tidio integrates with some of the best tools out there, including:

  • Shopify
  • WordPress
  • Squarespace
  • Magento
  • Wix
  • BigCommerce
  • WooCommerce
  • PrestaShop
  • Joomla
  • Google Analytics
  • Mailchimp
  • And others

Marketing

As I discussed in the previous section, you can use Tidio for Instagram marketing and Facebook marketing. With chatbots on these two platforms, you can boost your leads and get more conversions.

Analytics

The analytics feature is only available in the higher-tier plans for Tidio. 

The platform provides insights into the following:

  • The total number of conversations
  • Conversation trends
  • Busiest hours
  • Response time 
  • Satisfaction ratings
  • Customer team operator’s performance

I like how easy it is to check the number of conversations on a daily or monthly basis. Here is a sample graph for daily conversations on Tidio:

Tidio conversations tracking

If you want a more detailed conversation report, Tidio also provides an hour-to-hour breakdown

In this Tidio review, this feature gets extra brownie points because you can use it to plan your operator’s schedule once you see a specific pattern emerge.

Tidio conversations hour-to-hour breakdown

And if you want to keep a tab on user experience, you can take a quick look at the response time. It tells you how long a customer has to wait before they receive a reply from an operator.

Tidio first response time analytics

If you give users the option to provide ratings after their interactions, you can also check the Satisfaction Ratings.

Tidio customer satisfaction rate tracking

If you find that there are a lot of negative ratings, you can check each of these conversations to see what went wrong. 

Alternatively, you can check positive ratings to see what your visitors are happy with. 

tidio positive ratings by customers

In addition to this, you can get an analysis of each operator’s performance based on the response rate and satisfaction ratings on Tidio. 

Ecommerce

For ecommerce businesses, Tidio provides integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and PrestaShop.

Tidio also offers specific chatbot templates that can help you upsell products or services and reduce cart abandonment.

Chatbot Templates and Cloning

As we discussed in the previous sections, Tidio has over 25 chatbot templates that make it easy for users to create bots in minutes. Even if you are creating a chatbot from scratch, it is possible to duplicate chatbot elements on Tidio for quicker creation of new chatbots.

Chatbot Performance Optimization

If you want to optimize your chatbot performance, A/B testing is the way to go. At a quick glance, it might seem like Tidio doesn’t offer this feature. However, there is an option that enables you to do it.

You can set up A/B testing on your Tidio chatbots with the “Randomize” node.

When you use this node before a message, half users will get response A while the other half will get response B. 

tidio chatbot performance optimization

By comparing the click-through rate, you can optimize your chatbot.

Tidio Support

Tidio’s customer support team is available 24/5. You can reach them via the following channels:

  • Tidio panel
  • Tidio homepage live chat support
  • Email at support@tidio.net

There is no phone support available but they are pretty quick to respond via the live widget. If you email them, you can expect a response within 24 hours on weekdays.

Tidio vs. Zendesk: Which Customer Service Platform is Better?

If you're researching live chat software for your business, chances are you've come across both Tidio and Zendesk. Both are great options with their own unique features, but which one is the best for your needs?

To help you decide, let's take a look at Tidio vs Zendesk.

Tidio Overview

We have already discussed that Tidio’s live chat and new AI chatbot allow you to communicate with your website visitors in real time. It's easy to use and set up, and it has a number of features that make it a great option for businesses of all sizes.

Small businesses that are on a tight budget can really benefit from their Free plan. You can leverage multiple chatbot templates with different use cases to start the conversations. Or, you can also let their new AI chatbot 一 Lyro send the initial responses.

According to stats provided by Tidio, Lyro responds to queries faster than a human can, and it only forwards 30% of questions to human agents.

tidio lyro answers 70% customer problems

Also, Tidio’s advanced paid plans have ecommerce integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce, making it a great option for ecommerce businesses.

Using this platform, you can focus on getting leads from Instagram and Facebook as well.

And the best part?

You can now get 20% off on all of their paid plans by signing up with my link.

Zendesk Overview

On the other hand, Zendesk is a live chat tool with rich functionality. But all of it comes with a hefty price tag. This Tidio chat alternative does not have a free plan but their paid plans start from $55 per agent per month

While they have limited features for ecommerce businesses, they provide a ton of integrations with the top business apps. 

Using their platform, you can get leads from WhatsApp, WeChat, LINE, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms. 

So, which one is better: Tidio or Zendesk?

It depends on your budget and needs. For bigger businesses that have a huge budget and need advanced features, Zendesk is the way to go. Otherwise, you should consider using a Zendesk alternative.

For freelancers and small to mid-sized businesses, Tidio offers more value for money. Even for larger enterprises, Tidio can help build reliable chatbots and provide great live chat customer service.

Tidio’s new conversational AI chatbot 一 Lyro is a huge advantage as well. It can help you attend multiple customer queries even during peak seasons, without extra hiring.

Tidio Chat Review: What’s the Final Verdict?

Overall, I am extremely happy with Tidio. The interface is clean and user-friendly, the features are robust and cover all my needs, and the customer service has been responsive and helpful. I hope that this Tidio chat review was helpful in understanding what the tool has to offer. 

I think it's a great choice for small businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking for an affordable, all-in-one solution to help them communicate with their customers.

Their new AI chatbot allows you to handle peak-season customer questions without hiring more people in the customer service team.

If you have any questions based on this Tidio chat review, please feel free to mention them in the comments section. I’ll be happy to answer them for you. 

P.S. You can start a free trial and get 20% off for any subscription plan on Tidio with the coupon code, “SHANEBARKER.”

FAQs

1. Is Tidio chatbot free?

Yes, the basic plan for Tidio is free. You also get 50 free Lyro AI conversations.

2. Is there a Tidio chat app?

Yes, you can download the Tidio app on your desktop. It is compatible with Windows 7, 10, 11, and macOS. The Tidio chat app is also available for iPhone and Android devices.

3. How to download Tidio

Here are the steps you can follow to download Tidio:

– To get the desktop app, go to Settings and click on the “Desktop & Mobile” section.

– Click on the relevant option: Download for Windows, Download for Linux, or Download for macOS.

4. Does Tidio work with WordPress?

Yes, Tidio works with WordPress.

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LeadsBridge Review 2025 : Is It Good For Omnichannel Marketing? https://shanebarker.com/blog/leadsbridge-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/leadsbridge-review/#respond Thu, 31 Mar 2022 12:51:50 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=51636
LeadsBridge Review: The Summary Box

LeadsBridge is an omnichannel marketing platform that enables you to synchronize your lead data, target custom audiences, and track your leads in offline and online settings. Using it, you can automate your processes, boost your productivity, and increase your sales.

Product Ratings
Overall:
Support:
Effectiveness:
User-Friendliness:
Value For Money:
Pros
  • Ease of integration
  • Great customer support
  • Multiple advertising platforms included
  • Option to get custom integrations
  • Free plan available
  • Demo available
Cons
  • Setup can be confusing
LeadsBridge Pricing Details
LeadsBridge Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Free Plan$0/month
Pro PlanStarts at $22/month (Billed annually)
Business PlanStarts at $999/month (Billed annually)

Detailed information on LeadsBridge pricing plans here.

LeadsBridge Review: Key Features

  • Lead sync
  • Online-to-offline lead tracking
  • Custom audience targeting
  • Multiple integrations
  • GDPR and CCPA compliant
  • Alerting and debugging
  • Real-time sync
  • Email receipt
  • Filtering options

Who Should Use LeadsBridge?

  • Marketers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Digital Marketing Agencies
  • SMBs

And anyone who wants to:

  • Get more leads
  • Leverage marketing automation
  • Create an effective omni channel strategy
  • Build a digital advertising strategy

How Did I Come Across LeadsBridge?

If you’re a marketer, you already know how annoying it can be to manually import or export lead data. I was looking for marketing technology that enables companies to make this process less tedious. That’s when I came across Lead Sync – one of the main product offerings from LeadsBridge.

I was intrigued because I could see that it works with LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms, TikTok Lead Ads, Facebook Lead Ads, and Google Lead Ads. So, I went to their website to find out more about what LeadsBridge has to offer.

Here is a snippet from their homepage:

leadsbridge screenshot
Image via LeadsBridge

A quick glance tells you that it is a platform designed keeping in mind the needs of advertisers who want to make the most of business data. There are lots of integrations available, so I can tell that you can get a complete view of your sales funnel.

With their easy integrations, you can create your very own marketing ecosystem and get a bird’s-eye view of your sales funnel.

Detailed Review: How to Use LeadsBridge

If you’ve read my LeadsBridge review up to this point, you already know that LeadsBridge is a platform that connects marketing and advertising tools with CRMs and email marketing software to help fill the gaps.

Mind you, it’s not a lead generation software program. It only aids in the acquisition of customers as well as improves internal communication. But how does it do all of that?

Some of the key features of LeadsBridge include real-time sync, segmentation, filtering, lookalike audiences, custom integration, and more.

In this section of my LeadsBridge review, let’s take a detailed look at the platform and what it can do for you.

1. Lead Sync

Lead Sync is the soul of LeadsBridge. It is a real-time integration tool that allows you to sync your lead data in real time with your most used marketing tools.

With this tool, you can collect leads and move them through the pipeline seamlessly. As soon you get a lead, you can even start segmenting it from different lead sources, including:

  • Instagram Lead Ads
  • Facebook Lead Ads
  • LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads
  • TikTok Lead Generation
  • YouTube TrueView Lead Form Extensions
  • Google Ads Lead Form Extensions

What’s more, you can send your leads auto-responses and SMSes automatically. For a more efficient workflow, you can segment your leads and distribute them at your convenience. It also comes equipped with advanced data mapping and options for filtering leads easily.

In a nutshell, Lead Sync ensures that you can generate and nurture your leads effortlessly. Wondering how it works? Here’s a quick explanation:

Step 1: Use LeadsBridge to integrate Google Ads lead form extensions, Facebook Lead Ads, TikTok Lead Generation, and LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms with your CRM.

Step 2: When users interact with any of your ads on these platforms, LeadsBridge gathers and syncs all the data with your chosen CRM.

Step 3: Act on the lead data as soon as possible so you can get more conversions.

Sounds simple, right? When you sign up on the platform, all you need to do to set it up is add the source and the destination. Check it out here:

leadsbridge app connect
Image via LeadsBridge

Next, you can choose to connect via a Simple Bridge or a Complex Bridge. If you want fast automation, a Simple Bridge is the way to go.

leadsbridge choose bridge
Image via LeadsBridge

Once that is done, you can connect your apps, and set the automation up. It’s an easy setup that will hardly take five minutes.

Since we are discussing lead data, it’s important to know if your data stays safe. On their website, LeadsBridge claims that they do not store any data and that their platform is GDPR and CCPA compliant.

The platform is designed for ease, so it comes with a host of integrations that will help you get a 360-degree vision of your marketing funnel. Some of the marketing and CRM integrations that come with LeadsBridge include:

  • Facebook Lead Ads
  • TikTok Lead Generation
  • Mailchimp
  • Leadpages
  • Instapage
  • Google Ads Lead Form Extension
  • Salesforce

… and more

2. Audience Targeting

LeadsBridge’s main tools for Audience Targeting include:

  • Facebook Custom Audiences
  • Google Customer Match
  • LinkedIn Matched Audiences

This feature allows you to collect data from your existing customers that are entered in your CRM. By connecting segmented lists and combining different data sources, you can create accurate audiences.

To create a more targeted audience, you can use specific filters and formulas on the platform. Once you identify your evergreen audience, you can also retarget them or create lookalike audiences. This feature is especially useful if you are trying to upsell or cross-sell your products.

3. Online-to-Offline Tracking

While tracking marketing data online, you're only getting part of the story. Although you may still make offline sales, it's nearly impossible to determine which online campaigns are working and which aren't.

LeadsBridge solves that problem with this feature. It enables you to add Facebook Conversions API and Google Offline Conversions Tracking right away with the platform.

4. Platform-to-Platform

As we discussed before, LeadsBridge enables you to link your marketing stack to make teams more effective and eliminate data silos problems by automating the whole process with our platform-to-platform technology.

While the platform already offers multiple integrations, I love the fact that they offer an option to get custom integrations as well. A big thumbs up for that!

LeadsBridge FAQs

Q1. What does LeadsBridge do?

A. With LeadsBridge, you can automate your sales and marketing flow by connecting a specific source like Facebook or Google Leads Ads with another destination like Salesforce or your CRM software program. You don’t have to connect or import these leads manually. Instead, sales personnel can check leads as soon as they arrive.

Q2. How much is LeadsBridge priced at?

A. You can get started with LeadsBridge for $0. Their Free Plan does not require you to even have a credit card. Using it, you can move your leads across different platforms in real-time.

For advanced features, you should use their paid plans. Here are the ones you can choose from:
Pro Plan (Self-Service): Starting from $22 per month (Billed annually)
Business Plan (Managed Plan): Starting from $999 per month (Billed annually)

Q3. Why should you use LeadsBridge?

A. LeadsBridge is a powerful tool that can help businesses connect with their customers and potential leads. It’s a great way to keep track of all your marketing efforts in one place as it allows you to connect new leads with your CRM software or other important programs.

Q4. How can you cancel your LeadsBridge account?

A. You can change your plan at anytime by logging in to your account, clicking on your account name and going to “Billing,” and then clicking on “Upgrade your plan.” From there, click on “Pro” and you can choose how many leads per month and how many bridges you would like. You can also contact the LeadsBridge team for a custom plan.

If you want to cancel your current LeadsBridge plan without deleting your account, you can switch to a Free plan.

If you'd like to delete your account, login to your account and click on the menu in the top right side of the page. Then select “Your Account” and click on the “Delete Account” button.

Q5. What is Lead Sync in LeadsBridge?

A. Lead Sync allows you to interact with your leads in real-time, and move them through the pipeline more quickly and efficiently.

Q6. Which integrations does LeadsBridge offer?

A. Here are some of the integrations that LeadsBridge offers:

HubSpot
– Facebook Lead Ads
Mailchimp
– Zoho CRM
– Salesforce
Keap
– ConvertKit
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
– Nimble
– Facebook Dynamic Ads
– Instagram Lead Ads

… and more!

Q7. How many Ad accounts can you connect on LeadsBridge?

A. There's no limit! You can connect LeadsBridge with as many Facebook, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn Ad Accounts as you want.

Q8. Does your data stay safe when you use LeadsBridge?

A. By design, LeadsBridge is secure and private. LeadsBridge takes the security and privacy of our users' data very seriously, using sophisticated security measures.

For more information, check out their policy pages:
Security Policy
Privacy Policy

Q9. Is LeadsBridge CCPA and GDPR compliant?

Yes, LeadsBridge is fully compliant with the GDPR and CCPA standards. To inquire about anything further, you can check out their Contact Us page.

What Are Others Saying?

“LeadsBridge is kind of like Zapier except they have awesome customer support, more customized integrations and overall, more reliable. Customer support is where they shine, I started using them almost 2 years ago and they have created a few different custom integrations for me and have helped troubleshoot integrations with me several times.“
Shannon R., Blogger

“If you are looking to sync Facebook Leads directly into a dashboard, email, or a CRM, LeadsBridge is a must. It takes a snap of a finger to set up and once you are used to setting up Bridges, you will be able to fly through them. And on the odd occasion you encounter any troubles, the live chat functionality of the support is amazing and means you will always be looked after. ”
Nickolas R
Social Media Manager (Via G2)

“We are a digital agency who has been using LeadsBridge for almost a year and we absolutely love the ease of use in setting up accounts and the reliability of the delivery of leads to our clients.”
Kyle T
Marketing and Advertising (Via GetApp)

“Perfect integrations between Facebook and Salesforce. Mostly for lead ads campaigns on Facebook but they recently launched custom audience integrations as well which helps updating even offline conversions.”
Ardalan Z.
Sr. Online Marketing Manager (Via Capterra)

LeadsBridge Review: Case Studies

In this section of my review of LeadsBridge, let’s take a look at some case studies to understand the effectiveness of the platform.

Case Study #1: Truck Driving School Saw 300% Increase in Conversion Rate

The main challenge for Roadmaster Drivers School was to grow its search coverage and generate high-quality leads by matching students with the courses they might be interested in. They wanted to achieve a bigger volume of qualified leads at a lower CPA.

For this, the company started testing lead form extensions on their Search campaigns across key markets with LeadsBridge. In their ad, users could click on the “Apply Now” button and reach a pre-filled form to submit their inquiry.

Through this system, the company could streamline their conversion process and capture the overall demand for those interested in new opportunities.

After they started using LeadsBridge, the company saw the following results:

  • 300% increase in their conversion volume
  • 50% decrease in their CPA

After they implemented these lead form extensions, Roadmaster generated the maximum leads from the Search campaign.

You can check out more about the case study on their website.

leadsbridge case study 1
Image via LeadsBridge

Case Study #2: Templafy Increased their ROI by Approximately 475% With LeadsBridge

One of the fastest-growing tech companies in Europe, Templafy used LeadsBridge to generate more leads. It is a cloud-based document asset management system. They wanted to leverage LinkedIn to get more paying customers.

For this, they used LeadsBridge for LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms. Here is the massive growth they saw because of the campaign:

  • They generated 15 to 25 marketing qualified leads (MQLs) per week.
  • They were able to convert these MQLs into active sales opportunities at a rate of 20%.
  • Over four months, the total cost per MQL reduced by 55% and the cost per sales opportunity decreased by 43%.
  • Their ROI rose over 475%, approximately.

To learn more about this case study, you can check out their blog post.

Case Study #3: Totalplay Saw an Increase of 20% More Leads After Using Google Ads Lead Form Extensions From LeadsBridge

Totalplay is one of the main telecommunication providers in Mexico that offers TV, telephone services, and high-speed internet across 20 main cities in the country. They were facing a tough time acquiring high-quality leads from their digital marketing campaigns.

To generate more leads, they decided to use Google Ads Lead Form Extensions from LeadsBridge. As a result, their sales closed at approximately a 20% higher rate.

LeadsBridge Review: What’s The Final Verdict?

LeadsBridge is here to make the lives of all marketers easier. It’s super helpful, saves your time, and makes the process of lead generation more efficient. Sure, the pricing may seem a bit high for smaller businesses but it does provide rich functionality to justify that price point.

Another bonus? LeadsBridge support – their team is responsive, friendly, and extremely patient. You can count on them to help you with bugs whenever you need them.

Plus, they have a free version if you don’t want to pay but use the features. If you are a business that uses a CRM and other digital marketing tools, you should at least give it a try.

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Similarweb Review 2025 : Is It the Best for Website Analysis? https://shanebarker.com/blog/similarweb-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/similarweb-review/#respond Fri, 25 Mar 2022 10:56:53 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=51524
Similarweb Review: The Summary Box

Similarweb is an advanced platform that can help you check your clients’ as well as competitors’ web performance. Through this digital intelligence tool, you can also check engagement rate, traffic sources, keyword ranking, and other important metrics.

Product Ratings Overall:
Support:
Effectiveness:
User-Friendliness:
Value For Money:
Pros
  • Ease of integration
  • Concise reports.
  • Rich functionality.
  • Multiple paid plans.
Cons
  • Limited features in free trial
Similarweb Pricing Details
Similarweb Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Research Intelligence PlanFree
Research Intelligence Premium PlanEssential: $249/month
Advanced: $449/month
Ultimate: Custom Pricing
Sales Intelligence PlanPlease contact their sales team
Investor Intelligence PlanPlease contact their sales team
Shopper Intelligence PlanPlease contact their sales team

Similarweb Review: Key Features

  • Keyword research
  • Competitor analysis
  • Web industry analysis
  • App category analysis
  • Search intent analysis
  • Website analysis
  • Company analysis
  • Mobile app analysis
  • Segment analysis

Who Should Use Similarweb?

  • SEO Specialists
  • Marketers
  • Digital Marketing Agencies
  • SMBs
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Agencies
  • Bloggers

OR

  • Anyone who wants to improve their SEO strategy
  • Anyone who wants to track web analytics

How Did I Come Across Similarweb?

I was reading up on the latest SEO trends in 2022 and came across Similarweb in an online article. What struck me about Similarweb was that you can analyze any industry and get the latest trends about it.

Being curious, I decided to give it a try. For industry research, they have three main features. Check them out here:

similar web features
Image via Similarweb

In addition to this, they also have a host of other tools for shopper intelligence, sales intelligence, investor intelligence, and more. Even before I started to use the tool, I understood that it’s rich in functionality.

While having so many features is awesome, I wanted to mainly focus on two aspects: SEO and competitor analysis. In this review, I’ll discuss features that are related to them.

To get started, I went to their homepage and entered my domain name in the analysis search bar. From traffic and engagement to geography and digital marketing channels, the free report has it all. I can even check visits on my website over a specific time period. Check it out:

similarweb check visits
Image via Similarweb

Detailed Review: How to Use Similarweb For Website and Competitor Analysis

As soon as you log in to Similarweb’s Digital research Intelligence platform, you get a complete overview of their offerings. Here is what you can see.

similar web offerings

For a complete overview, you can enter your domain name in the search bar on the homepage. Sounds straightforward, right? Here’s what I got to see when I entered “shanebarker.com” into the search bar:

similarweb overview

As I keep scrolling, there’s a lot more to check out:

  • Visits over time
  • Geography
  • Marketing channels
  • Organic search
  • Referrals
  • Paid search
  • …and more.

It’s a treasure trove of SEO knowledge that you get just with a few clicks.

What I really like about Similarweb is that all the data is presented in a visually appealing way. It is presented with colorful graphs and lists that are easy to navigate. On the left, there is a toolbar that lets you check out the other important metrics in detail.

Here’s what you can see on Similarweb’s screen:

similarweb left toolbar

As you can see in the screenshot above, there are five main categories: Website Analysis, Segment Analysis, App Analysis, and Company Analysis.

Let’s check out the first option here. In the Website Analysis section, I want to check out my audience demographics and their interests. Here is the demographic distribution for my website based on data from November 2021 to February 2022:

similarweb demographics

My main audience is in the age group 25-34. When it comes to gender distribution, there is almost an equal distribution. Almost!

Next, let’s check out the industry and topic distribution. I love this feature! Using it, I figured out that “google,” “social media,” and “business” are some of the top words that appear in high density on my website.

similarweb industries

Now that is an insight that can shape up the way I choose blog post topics. Even for my SEO strategy, it’s a good guiding point.

Moving on, Segment Analysis and Competitor Analysis sections are available only in the paid version. So, I can’t include them as a part of this review here. What is still available is the App Analysis part.

Here’s how it works on Similarweb:

You can enter the name of any app in the search bar to get insights into their digital strategy. Let’s try to find out what Facebook’s strategy is like based on their mobile app data:

similarweb app analysis

In just one month (January 2022), Facebook’s app has had 71.3 million monthly downloads. Isn’t that crazy?

similarweb app performance

In the same section, you also get to check out audience interests, engagement, ranking history, and more. Most of these features are locked, so you can access them only in the paid version.

Next, let’s take a look at the Market Analysis section. It’s right above the Competitive Research section in the left-side toolbar.

similarweb market analysis

I want to check the latest trends for the “Online marketing” industry. As you can see in the screenshot below, Similarweb shows the top five leaders. For the rest of the list, you need to opt for the paid version.

similarweb tends

Another interesting feature that Similarweb has is the “App Category Analysis.” using this feature, you can find market trends and audience interests for any category.

Let’s try out the results for the “Games” section. You get to see all the top mobile apps for the Google and Apple stores.

similarweb top apps

There’s a lot more to Similarweb but most of it is for the paid option. Before committing to the paid plans, make sure you give the free version a go!

Similarweb FAQs

Q1. Is Similarweb free?

A. Yes, Similarweb does have a free version. Their Research Intelligence plan is free. You can check it out from their pricing page.

Q2. How reliable is Similarweb?

A. In my experience, the data from Similarweb seems quite reliable. All the traffic estimates and engagement metrics seem on point. You can also compare it with results from other SEO tools if you are not sure.

Q3. How does Similarweb collect data?

A. Similarweb collects data in four different ways:
Direct Measurement – Similarweb collects data from millions of mobile apps and websites to share first-party analytics.
Contributory Network – Similarweb has a collection of products that can aggregate anonymous behavioral data from devices.
Partnerships – Similarweb works with global organizations that can collect “digital signals” over the Internet.
Public Data Extraction – Similarweb comes with an advanced algorithmic engine that can capture and index public data from multiple apps and websites.

For more information on how Similarweb collects data, check out this post on their website.

Q4. How does Similarweb calculate traffic?

A. Similarweb calculates traffic from multiple sources. They use public data sources, third-party data providers, as well as anonymized panel data from different browser extensions that are located on visited sites. Along with this, Similarweb also uses indirect data that they get from website owners.

Q5. How can you cancel Similarweb’s free trial?

A. You can terminate your Similarweb subscription from within the platform. Alternatively, you can also send an email requesting the cancellation of your subscription at billing@Similarweb.com.

Q6. What do you use Similarweb for?

A. You can use Similarweb for content marketing and SEO analysis. It’s a tool that can help you estimate the exact amount of website traffic you and your competitors get. You can also check out traffic sources, competitors, search keywords, and more.

Q7. How much does Similarweb cost?

A. You can create a free account on Similarweb for a limited period. Their paid plans start from $249 per month. They also have multiple custom plans that you can discuss with their sales team.

Q8. Can you connect Google Analytics with Similarweb?

A. Yes, you can connect your Google Analytics account to Similarweb. You can choose either of the two connections: private or Public. Here is how you can connect to Google Analytics from within the Similarweb platform:
– Log into your account
– Connect via the Google Analytics icon
– You can also look for the, “Is this your website?” prompt on these pages (Engagement, Traffic, Website Performance, Marketing Workspaces, Dashboards, others).

What Are Others Saying?

“I love that I can find lots of data on competitors and create an overview of the industry that I am studying. It is also super accurate and allows you to monitor the results of your marketing campaigns constantly.”

Roberto R, Growth and Intelligence Analyst (Via G2)

“It is used by our strategy, SEO, analytics, business development, and media teams.There are multiple platforms in the space, but Similarweb PRO is definitely one of the top three.”

Jonathan Kagan, VP of Cogniscient Media (Via TrustRadius)

“Similarweb makes it easy to learn all kinds of traffic data about any website. It's incredible to see how websites rank, how many visitors came to the site, and where the traffic is coming/going. A very useful tool for e-commerce professionals! If you are looking for a tool that can help make sense of the way websites/online ads function, Similarweb is it!”

Sameer G, Sr Customer Business Manager, Amazon US (Via G2)

“Similarweb PRO helps me to compare our linking strategies and marketing efforts to our own. I love how intricate the engagement metrics can be if you take the time to learn. Platforms like these all seem overwhelming at first, but Similarweb PRO leads you in the direction to make decisions that will benefit your company.”

Mark Anderson, Digital Marketing Specialist, Team Blinds (Via TrustRadius)

Similarweb Review: Case Studies

You’ve read my Similarweb review and what others have to say about it. But what about the results?

In this review section, let’s take a look at some case studies. It’ll help us understand how Similarweb is impacting businesses.

Case Study #1: How Airbnb Used Similarweb to Penetrate the Israeli Market

When Airbnb was set to enter the Israeli market, they wanted to understand what their competitors were doing. Using Similarweb’s Industry Analysis module, they identified the top local leaders in the hospitality industry.

Using the tool, they even sorted out their final list by the overall change in traffic. They tracked it all over the course of two months to understand top players and their growth strategies.

Similarweb data showed Airbnb that the following strategies were working for the top players in the market:

  • Advertising with local online news publishers
  • Running AdWords display and search campaigns
  • Building partnerships with strong niche websites
  • Engaging in local social media networks via organic and paid campaigns

Based on this analysis, Airbnb decided that they wanted to allocate most of their resources to social media marketing, partnerships, and display and search ads.

They focused on specific publishers, keywords, partnerships, and social sites that were the top traffic sources for their analyzed competitors.

With this data, Airbnb was able to identify key competitors, optimize media buying, plan a successful PPC and social media campaign.

Case Study #2: How Staysure Pivoted their Digital Strategy Amid COVID-19 Crisis With Similarweb

At the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the travel industry was faced with changing rules and a lot of cancellations. For those who were still flying, travel insurance became necessary.

With the help of Similarweb insights, Staysure introduced fresh product features that could provide information on cancellations, repatriation, and medical expenses. They relied on this tool to get real-time updates on the competitive landscape as well.

They used Similarweb’s Industry Analysis module to find out which keywords people were using the most across the travel industry. Through the tool, they found out that people wanted to know if other people were still traveling and what was the industry breakdown for hotels, cruises, and flights.

With Similarweb Dashboards, they could create specific groups for airport parking, airlines, hotels, general travel, train businesses, and other categories. This enables them to get a 360-degree bird’s eye view of the entire travel marketplace and its trends.

In addition to this, they also used it for customer segmentation and competitor benchmarking. They tracked their competitor’s marketing strategies via Similarweb’s Marketing Channel analysis. They reviewed their engagement and traffic and found out what was helpful in driving visitors to their site.

Based on the analysis, they found out that they didn’t just need to change their marketing approach. Instead, they needed to change their product offering.

Case Study #3: How Admitad Affiliates Use Similarweb to Identify Highly Qualified Leads

Admitad Affiliates was using keywords like “10 online shops in France” on Google to discover new partners or distributors.

However, it was very tedious and unproductive. So, they decided to experiment. They used Similarweb’s extension to get an idea of the total traffic that was going to their partners.

To find new partners, their company checked key metrics like website category, monthly visits, and country on Similarweb. Based on that, they could qualify better partners for their professional network.

This helped them save time that their sales representatives would have otherwise spent on prospecting. It ensures that they spend that time on selling.

Similarweb Review: What’s The Final Verdict?

Similarweb has a lot to offer in terms of web analysis. Along with the rich functionality, what I liked about the tool is that it condenses complex data so that even a newbie SEO analyst can understand what’s happening on their website.

But is it better than Semrush, Ahrefs, or the other SEO tools out there? It definitely is in the top league. If you find it better or not, that’s subjective. But I can vouch for the fact that it has some amazing features.

With Similarweb, you can keep a tab on industry trends which can help you shape your SEO strategy in a better way. That’s one of the major highlights for me.

Of course, it has a long learning curve. So, if you are planning to move to Similarweb, I’d recommend that you invest some time into going through their educational resources.

Should you give it a try?

RIGHT AWAY!

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Wincher Review 2025 : Is This the Best Rank Tracker in the Market? https://shanebarker.com/blog/wincher-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/wincher-review/#respond Wed, 02 Mar 2022 01:10:49 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=41260
Wincher Review: The Summary Box

Wincher is a powerful Search Engine Optimization tool that lets you stay abreast of your search engine rankings. It also comes with other great features like keyword research, keyword rank tracker, and on-page optimization tools.

Product Ratings
Overall:
Support:
Effectiveness:
User-Friendliness:
Value For Money:
Pros
  • Easy to Use
  • Accurate Rank Tracker
  • Quick Reports
  • Daily Updates to Ranks
  • Possible to Track Page Rankings
  • Finds Keywords You Already Rank For
Cons
  • Could Do With More Features
Wincher Pricing Details
Pricing PlanPrice Per Month (Monthly)Price Per Month (Annual)
Starter€29 ($35)€24 ($29)
BusinessStarts at €59 ($71)Starts at €49 ($59)
EnterpriseStarts at €249 ($300)Starts at €199 ($240)
Quick Review

Wincher is a great SEO tool that does what it’s best at — helping you out your online business with keyword research and rank tracking on search engines.

It doesn’t have the bulk of features that the top  keyword research toolkits like Ahrefs and Semrush feature but it sticks to its roots extremely well.

You can track your keywords seamlessly using it and get a daily snapshot of where you stand when it comes to your  keyword rank on search engines.

Additionally, it helps you conduct keyword research and optimize your website for on-page factors as well.

What’s more?

It also helps you get a look at your local keyword rankings on Google so that you can modify your local SEO strategy accordingly. You can even see where you stand in comparison to your competitors.

This works out as a great tool for agencies as you can seamlessly create customized SEO reports for your clients using the tool.

Want to learn more about Wincher?

Get a free trial of the tool by clicking on the button below.

Wincher Review: Key Features

  • Rank Tracking
  • Keyword Research Tool
  • Competitor Analysis
  • Page Rankings
  • Customized Reports
  • Keyword Groups
  • Annotations to Track Changes
  • Daily Ranking Updates
  • Tracking Multiple Websites
  • Volume and Traffic Data
  • Downloadable Ranking Reports
  • Manual Keyword Addition

Who is it Designed For?

  • Individuals
  • Agencies
  • SEO Professionals
  • SMBs
  • Large Businesses

Why Do I Like Wincher?

There are numerous tools out there that can help you with rank tracking and search engine optimization (SEO). However, most of the popular ones have many features that you might not need to use regularly or at all.

Thankfully, there are quite a few tools that can help you with keyword research and rank tracking alone. However, many of these tools are plagued by inaccurate data.

Additionally, many of them don’t provide up-to-date Google search engine ranking updates.

Wincher, on the other hand, helps me track thousands of keywords across multiple websites. Another thing that I particularly love about Wincher is the fact that it updates the keyword data every day.

What’s more?

Whenever I need to generate a report for one of my clients, or even for my own website, the process is an absolute breeze.

Additionally, it helps me track my SEO progress against that of my competitors to get a better idea of where I stand and that’s what makes Wincher even more special to me.

Want to give it a try?

Get a free trial of Wincher below.

Detailed Wincher Review:

When you’re taking care of your website’s SEO, it’s important to know how you’re faring.

By tracking your search engine performance continuously, you can understand whether your SEO strategy is working or not. Accordingly, you can make changes to it to improve its effectiveness.

That’s where an SEO tool like Wincher can help you.

It helps you track keyword rankings, conduct keyword research, and more — all with ease.

So, here’s an in-depth look at the tool.

1. Rank Tracker

When you publish content on your website, you need to know how well it’s performing in terms of SEO. That’s where rank tracking comes into the picture.

Wincher’s rank tracking tool allows you to track your keyword rankings with ease. All you have to do is head to the keyword tracking tool and add keywords.

The tool detects some keywords that you already rank for as well; the rest can be added manually.

Once you add the keywords, the tool automatically fetches your website’s rankings for each of them. Along with the rankings, it also shows you the keyword search volume and the traffic it’s driving to your website.

And the best part?

This keyword research data is updated every day, so you know exactly where you stand. The tool also shows your daily position changes and the average position.

Additionally, you can choose to get on-demand ranking updates if you don’t want to wait an entire day for them too.

What’s more?

As this data is regularly updated, it’s highly accurate and that, in turn, makes it better and more reliable than the data provided by other rank trackers as the data there isn’t updated daily.

The data accuracy is extremely important as all your decisions and strategy modifications depend on this ranking data. Poor data could lead to bad decisions.

Rank Tracker

But the best part about Wincher is that it’s not just a keyword rank tracker.

Wincher also makes it extremely easy for you to find out how well each page on your website is performing when it comes to SEO.

You can see the number of keywords each page is ranking for at a glance on the “Pages” tab. Additionally, the tool shows you their average position, the total volume of the keywords, and the traffic they’re driving to the page.

What makes it even more interesting is that the tool shows you the best keyword for each page as well. This helps you understand which keyword is the most important for you to keep driving traffic to that page.

Rank Tracker 2

Additionally, it also offers the keyword grouping feature that lets you group numerous keywords into separate groups. Through keyword grouping, you can see how those keyword clusters perform.

2. Keyword Research

Finding the right keywords for your content is very important. They play a crucial role in helping you rank higher in search results and reach the right set of people.

To conduct keyword research, it’s thus essential to have the right set of tools that can provide accurate information. Wincher can help you with exactly that.

It provides you with suggestions for keywords based on your rankings. You can then start to dive deep into the keywords you already rank for and figure out which ones need to be pushed higher.

Note how the below keyword table lists the numerous keywords I already rank for.

(Try Wincher for free. Get a free trial today! )

Keyword Research

What’s more?

You can also find new keywords by opening the “Related Keywords” tab. All you have to do is enter a seed keyword and the tool will come up with a list of related keywords from which you can select the one that suits you the best.

Keyword Research 2

It’s also possible to connect your Google Search Console account to Wincher to get more details on the keywords that you’re already ranking for. You can optimize your posts even further for these keywords to rank higher.

Taking things further, Wincher also provides a free version of the same tool as well.

3. Competitor Research

The best way to get a better idea of where you stand in comparison to your competitors, you can also leverage the competitor research option offered by Wincher.

You can add a competitor and the platform will fetch their traffic and keywords. Then, you can see how you compare head-to-head. This can help you figure out how to outrank them for each keyword and improve your rankings.

Additionally, you can also see your competitors’ traffic and average keyword rankings.

(Want to give it a try? Opt for Wincher’s free trial today! )

Competitor Research

Apart from these features, Wincher also makes it extremely easy to create reports. You can seamlessly select all of the parameters that you want in the report and create the PDF.

It’s also possible to schedule them so that you don’t need to go through the operation over and over again.

It also has a free on-page SEO checker that you can use to analyze your pages for optimization. Based on the results, you can make changes to your pages and optimize them further.

What makes Wincher even better is that you can ask queries to their support team through the live chat and that makes support super accessible.

Want to give it a try?

Click on the button below to start your free trial of Wincher.

What Are Others Saying About Wincher?

“I like Wincher because it is fast, easy to manage, and has a very competitive pricing structure. Additionally, It can save a lot of money. It's not another keyword tracker because of the reporting module, scheduled reports, and keyword suggestions. You may discover much more using Wincher daily.”

Lukasz Zelezny, SEO Keynote Speaker and Social Media Consultant, founder of SEO London.

“Wincher is one of the most user-friendly rank trackers on the market. It’s incredibly easy to use while providing enough functionality to meet all your keyword tracking needs.”

Bojan Maric, Director of SEO at Content Distribution

FAQs

Q1. What is Wincher?

A. Wincher is a feature-packed SEO tool that helps you track your keyword rankings daily.

It provides you with the tools that you need to assess the impact of your SEO efforts and also gives you the ability to compare your performance against that of your competitors. Wincher also offers a keyword research tool.

Q2. Which SEO tool is best?

A. The best SEO tool out there is Wincher. This tool helps you stay updated with your keyword rankings and also makes it easy for you to conduct keyword research.

The accuracy of the ranking and traffic data makes it one of the best SEO tools out there — especially because this data is updated daily.

Q3. How do you track SEO?

A. There are a number of ways to track the results of your SEO efforts. Some of the most prominent ones are:

– Keyword rankings
– Website traffic
– Organic click-through rates (CTR)
– Bounce rate
– Average session duration
– Position changes

Q4. What are SEO ranking tools?

A. SEO ranking tools are tools that can help you figure out where you stand when it comes to your search engine rankings.

They can help you track your rankings for each keyword that you target. Additionally, you can see how well your pages rank, on average, for all the keywords that they rank for.

Q5. What are the SEO techniques?

A. Some of the best SEO techniques that can help you rank higher in searches are:

– Create high-quality content.
– Speed up your website.
– Optimize your site for mobile.
– Get backlinks from high-authority sites.
– Focus on high search volume, low competition keywords.
Publish guest posts.
– Secure your website.

Q6. How do I check the traffic for keywords?

A. Rank trackers like Wincher can make this process extremely easy. All you have to do is search for the keyword and the tool will show you the traffic that the keyword is currently driving to your website.

Q7. How do I find my popular keywords?

A. There are several ways of going about it. For instance, you could check Google Search Console to identify keywords that are driving clicks to your website.

However, the best way forward is to use a keyword tracking tool that can help you find the keywords for which you’re ranking high in search results.

Q8. Which are the best SEO tools for a beginner?

A. Here are the best SEO tools that beginners can use:

– Wincher
– Semrush
– Google Search Console
– Google Analytics
– PageSpeed Insights
– Ahrefs

Q9. How do beginners do SEO?

A. Here are some things that beginners should do for SEO:

– Conduct keyword research.
– Create high-quality content with keywords.
– Track your rankings.
– Add an SSL certificate to your website.
– Create an XML sitemap using a plugin.
– Develop a logical URL structure.

Q10. How is keyword performance measured?

A. Keyword performance is measured by rank tracking. This involves tracking your website’s rankings for each keyword that you’ve targeted. For that, you can leverage a rank tracking tool like Wincher.

Wincher Review: What’s the Final Verdict?

Tracking the progress of your SEO efforts is important. You need to have a clear idea of the results that your SEO strategy is driving. That’s where rank tracking tools like Wincher can come in handy.

This tool is specially built for rank tracking and provides highly accurate and updated data on your keywords. You can also get a snapshot of the traffic that they’re driving to your website.

What’s more?

It helps you conduct keyword research so that you can figure out which keywords you should be incorporating into your posts for building links.

You can also add competitors and see where you stand in comparison to them. Accordingly, you can optimize your strategy.

Finally, it simplifies reporting for agencies as you can create reports with a few clicks and also schedule them.

So, what are you waiting for?

You can try Wincher for free. Click on the button below to get started.

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Pinpointe Review 2025 : Everything You Need to Know https://shanebarker.com/blog/pinpointe-review/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/pinpointe-review/#respond Wed, 02 Mar 2022 01:00:21 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=27413
Pinpointe Review: The Summary Box

Pinpointe is an easy-to-use email marketing software solution that can simplify email marketing for your organization. Be it a small business or large company, this email marketing tool is a great fit for all.

Product Ratings
Overall:
Support:
Effectiveness:
User-Friendliness:
Value For Money:
Pros
  • Quick Support
  • Advanced Tracking Features and Statistics
  • Great Testing Tool
  • Good Email Deliverability
  • Free Trial
  • Tiered Account Structure
  • Collaboration – User Roles and Permissions
Cons
  • No Free Account
  • Needs More Templates for Email Builder
Pricing Details Based on Number of Contacts
Number of ContactsPricing (Per Month)
10,000$74
25000$150
50,000$245
75,000$365
100,000$480
200,000$898
Quick Review

I like Pinpointe for one main reason: It’s amazing for companies that need to handle a large number of contacts and emails.

Additionally, it offers a cost-effective tiered account structure that allows multiple teams with numerous individual accounts to use the tool. You can set their roles and access individually through their account manager.

It’s great at what it’s built for — email marketing. Using it, I’m able to send hundreds of thousands of emails per hour. This helps me reach a large number of people quickly, especially when the emails are time-sensitive.

The numerous integrations that Pinpointe offers make it adaptable for nearly every email marketing campaign. This greatly simplifies your work and can improve your productivity.

Very user-friendly and can be used by even those who have little or no HTML knowledge for designing emails. It also offers sub-accounts to help you oversee multiple users.

Great reporting and testing features help you keep track of everything and make it easy to optimize your emails too.

The customer support team also hits the right spots with prompt responses; they’re extremely helpful.

Pinpointe Review: Key Features

  • WYSIWYG HTML Editor
  • Email Campaign Previewer
  • Spam Score Checker
  • Drip Email Autoresponders
  • Organized Subscriber Lists
  • Synchronize with Salesforce
  • Google Analytics Integration
  • Detailed Campaign Results
  • Lead Capture Forms
  • Deliverability Overview
  • Live Email and Phone Customer Support
  • Email Testing Features
  • Drag-and-Drop Email Builder
  • Surveys

Who is This Email Marketing Platform Designed For?

  • Small-Sized Businesses
  • Bloggers
  • Medium-Sized Businesses
  • Startups
  • Enterprises
  • Webmasters
  • Agencies

How Did I Stumble Across Pinpointe?

When I started out, my subscriber list was small and manageable. However, as my traffic started to grow, so did my subscriber base.

I had to send out more emails and manage a large number of subscribers too.

With such growing requirements, I started looking for email marketing tools that could be scaled up with ease and offered easy methods for designing and sending emails.

Additionally, I needed a platform where I could create my emails without any coding or web development, and yet, if needed, could use code as well.

This is when I came across Pinpointe. It’s a software solution that can help you design, manage, and analyze your email marketing campaigns.

I decided to give the email campaign tool a shot and figure out how it could help my email marketing campaigns.

So, here’s a detailed review of Pinpointe based on my experience using it. In this review, I walk through the main features of the platform for email campaings, along with its pricing plans.

Detailed Review: How Can Pinpointe Help You?

Do you want an email marketing platform that is capable of sending out hundreds of thousands of emails every day?

Well, even if not so many, do you need a platform to manage your contacts and scale up your email marketing?

I know I do.

And that’s exactly what Pinpointe helps you achieve. It’s a versatile email campaign tool that can help you achieve all your email marketing goals.

Whether your company is small or large, its tiered structure makes it easy for you to get multiple teams onboard. This makes it perfect for publishers, universities, multi-divisional agencies, and more.

It has a variety of plans, from which you can choose the one that best fit requirements of your email campaigns.

This is a versatile tool for all things related to email marketing.

In this section, I’ll review the main features that Pinpointe has to offer and how you can use them in email campaigns.

1. Email Design

Pinpointe makes email design a simple task. It features a WYSIWYG, (What You See Is What You Get), email editor.

Using it, you can create stunning emails without any knowledge of coding. It also has loads of free email templates which you can customize in minutes.

But this is just one of the two options that the platform offers. The other option being a simple drag-and-drop email builder. This makes the process faster and easier too.

Once you’ve designed your email, you can run unlimited inbox previews with built-in inbox previewing technology by Email on Acid.

You’ll be able to see how it’ll appear on a variety of email clients such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, and more.

What’s more?

If you want to edit the email HTML code, Pinpointe has an option for that as well. You can switch to the HTML view and fine-tune the code to perfect your email.

It’s also possible to import and format text, create tables, incorporate graphics, add trackable links, and more.

Pinpointe also gives you the option of personalizing your emails using custom fields alongside wonderful email templayes.

But that’s not all.

You can also create multi-part emails using this tool. That way, you’ll be able to create HTML and text emails.

On choosing this option, Pinpointe figures out the appropriate format based on the inbox of the receiver. This ensures that all of your receivers are able to view your emails at any time.

Next, let’s take a closer look at how you can create emails.

You can get started with Pinpointe here.

How Can You Design Emails Using Pinpointe?

You can choose between the classic WYSIWYG editor and the drag-and-drop builder. I personally prefer the latter for its ease of use.

Step #1: All you need to do is pick relevant email templates and start customizing them to create emails for your email campaigns. You can filter templates based on your niche too.

pick a relevant template Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Step #2: Once you open an email template, you can start editing it right away. You can drag and drop the elements where you want and edit the text boxes with ease.

It’s also possible to add different blocks to an email and customize it further. The tool also gives you the option to add your own HTML code.

email and customize Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Step #3: Once your email is ready, just hit the “Spam Check” button, and the platform will show you your spam score. It also suggests the reasons for the score so that you can rectify them to lower the score.

Spam Check button Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Step #4: After that, just tap on the “Inbox Preview” button to get an overview of how the email will appear in different inboxes and on different devices.

Step #5: Once you’re ready to go, just click on “Quick Send.”

Quick Send Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Book a free live demo of Pinpointe now.

2. Autoresponders

Pinpointe lets you create drip email campaigns using its autoresponders. Using them, you can create drip emails that will be triggered when a certain event takes place.

You can create a drip marketing sequence of emails that will be sent out automatically to your subscribers over a certain time period.

You can manage cross-selling, upselling, cart abandonment, product trials, and more through these autoresponders. It’s also possible to design the autoresponder sequence to nurture your leads to become customers.

So, let’s take a look at how you can create a drip email campaign.

Start your free trial now to test Pinpointe.

How Can You Create Drip Campaigns?

Step #1: From the dashboard, head to Automated Emails and select “New Drip Campaign.”

Step #2: Next, you need to name the automated email and filter it based on the trigger. You can choose from a wide variety of triggers such as Opened Email Campaign, Clicked on X Links, and more.

Opened Email Campaign Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Step #3: You need to then select the details of the automated emails. These include the sender details, sending options, advanced options, and email content options.

Quick Send Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

What’s next?

Step #4: You need to build your email using the email builder. After which, you will get the list of your automated emails for your drip marketing and drip campaigns.

Step #5: You can then add a new automated email or sequence till you’ve completed it.

add a new automated email Pinpointe Review

Image Via Pinpointe

Schedule a live demo of Pinpointe now.

3. Segmentation

Using Pinpointe, you can create and manage your email lists.

But that’s not all.

You can even segment the email lists using various fields so that you can filter out and send emails to only those people in your list who should actually receive the email.

Using Pinpointe, you can segment your audience on the basis of their previous activity in other email campaigns too.

This behavioral target can reduce the likelihood of spam complaints and opt-outs as the emails will most likely resonate with the receivers.

Now, let’s take a look at how you can create email segments.

How Can You Create Email Segments?

Creating email segments in Pinpointe is a breeze.

Step #1: All you have to do is go to the dashboard and tap on “Contacts” and click on “Manage Segments.” This will bring you to the segmentation page.

Step #2: Tap on “New Segment” to create your segment.

Step #3: You will then be asked to name the segment and select the email list that you want to segment.

Step #4: After that, you have to add the segmentation rules based on which the segmentation will take place.

That’s it! Your segment will be created.

Create Email Segments Pinpointe Review
Image Via Pinpointe

Such simple features are great for folks (like me) who want to simplify their email marketing.

Apart from these, Pinpointe offers loads of other great features for email campaigns, such as easy website integration, high email deliverability, Salesforce integration, and more.

However, what stood out to me was their onboarding process. They took a personalized approach to it and helped me out with everything necessary to get me started with my email campaigns.

This included importing data, full training that included training videos, and more. They were always up for meetings whenever needed as well. This made the entire process seamless.

What Are Others Saying About Pinpointe?

“Pinpointe’s system has given us the opportunity to market our products with confidence. Our email campaigns are not only delivered in a timely manner, but our deliverability rates have increased and we can easily capture the data we need to generate future sales.”

Julia Comitale, Marketing & Communications Executive | KMI Media.

“ Pinpointe’s cloud-based email marketing system allows us to completely automate the process of delivering high-value campaigns to our end customers, on behalf of our entire distributor network.”

Joyce Kaneta, Internet Training | Hunter Douglas.

Pinpointe FAQs

Q1. If I opt for the free trial, will my card be charged?

A. No. You don’t need to provide your credit card details while opting for the free trial. You’ll get 1000 email credits in your trial too. They won’t bill you unless your account is converted into a full account.

Q2. Is there any limit on the number of emails that I can send every month?

A. While the limit for the number of emails is completely dependent on the plan that you opt for, there is a defined limit for the number of emails you can send each contact.

You can’t send more than 10 times per month to each contact on your email list.

Q3. Which payment methods does Pinpointe accept?

A. You need to pay for all Pinpointe services upfront. You can choose to opt for the monthly payment option or pre-pay for 6 months for a 10% discount.

They accept the following payment methods:
– American Express
– Discover Card
– VISA
– MasterCard
– ACH

Q4. Can I export my subscriber list if I cancel my account with Pinpointe?

A. Yes, Pinpointe gives you complete control of your subscriber list, and you can export it with ease into a text file or to other applications.

If you don’t want to export your list and instead want to delete all your information, you can do so as well.

Q5. Does Pinpointe support Google Analytics?

A. Yes, you can seamlessly track all of your email marketing campaigns through Google Analytics when using Pinpointe.

Q6. Can I add my HTML to Pinpointe?

A. Yes, it’s possible to create customized HTML code and then import the code into Pinpointe. Alternatively, you can use their WYSIWYG editor.

Q7. Is training available?

A. Once you sign up, Pinpointe provides detailed email marketing training videos to explain the platform. This should help you get started.

But that’s not all. Pinpointe also gives you full onboarding training to help you get accustomed to the platform. Additionally, they provide an online help manual and knowledge base.

If you need anything more, you can always reach out to their customer support team through email or live chat.

Note: They offer a concierge onboarding service for free on all accounts over $99/mo. They will migrate your data, and import your top campaign designs and images/logos into Pinpointe. The service is available via chat, email, and phone.

Pinpointe Review: What’s the Final Verdict?

While there are many email marketing platforms out there, I feel that Pinpointe is a cut above the rest.

I love the fact that it provides a multitude of options for designing emails from which you can choose the ones with which you’re the most comfortable.

The pricing plans and seamless UI of the platform make it a powerful tool to handle your email marketing campaigns.

Pinpointe has everything you need to create successful email marketing campaigns. It has email list handling capabilities, automated emails, split testing, and survey tools too.

I would love to recommend Pinpointe to you for your email marketing campaigns.

Do you have any questions about this email marketing tool? Have you used Pinpointe before? Please share your questions and reviews in the comments section below.

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Bluehost Review 2025 : What Makes It a Popular Hosting Provider? https://shanebarker.com/blog/bluehost-reviews/ https://shanebarker.com/blog/bluehost-reviews/#respond Tue, 22 Feb 2022 01:52:06 +0000 https://shanebarker.com/?p=36198
Bluehost Review: The Summary Box

Bluehost is a renowned web hosting platform that’s recommended on the WordPress website. You can host one or many websites on this web hosting service with ease.

Product Ratings
Overall:
Support:
Effectiveness:
User-Friendliness:
Value For Money:
Pros
  • 1-click WordPress Installation
  • 24/7 Support
  • Free Domain Name for 1 Year
  • Free SSL
  • 99.99% Uptime
  • Fast Loading Speed
Cons
  • Free Website Migration Not Available
  • Expensive Domains
Pricing Details

WordPress Hosting

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Basic$3.95
Plus$5.95
Choice Plus$6.95

WP Pro

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Build$19.95
Grow$29.95
Scale$49.95

WooCommerce Hosting

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Starter$6.95
Plus$8.95
Pro$12.95

Shared Hosting

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Basic$3.95
Plus$5.95
Choice Plus$6.95
Pro$13.95

VPS Hosting

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Standard$19.99
Enhanced$29.99
Ultimate$59.99

Dedicated Hosting

Pricing PlanCost (Per Month)
Standard$79.99
Enhanced$99.99
Ultimate$119.99
Quick Review

Bluehost is one of the only three web hosting services that has been recommended on the WordPress website, and that says a lot about the hosting services offered by Bluehost.

It offers a plethora of hosting services and plans and a competitive 99.99% uptime.

What’s more?

It also makes it easy for you to manage your websites through its elaborate control panel that lets you get detailed insights into your websites.

With superior loading speeds, you can expect your websites to load at blazing fast speeds for your visitors, thus improving the user experience too.

Lastly, the 24/7 customer service is on-point and you can expect your problems to be resolved quickly.

Bluehost Review: Key Features

  • Free Domain Name
  • Free SSL Certificate
  • 1-Click WordPress Installation
  • 24/7 Customer Support
  • Cloudflare Integration
  • 99.99% Uptime
  • Free Website Builder
  • Unlimited Bandwidth
  • Unlimited Websites
  • Free Domain-Specific Emails
  • Site Manager
  • Customizable cPanel
  • FTP Access
  • Hotlink Protection
  • Secure Shell (SSH) Access
  • Web File Manager

Who is This Chatbot Platform Designed For?

  • Small Businesses
  • Medium-Sized Businesses
  • Enterprises
  • Ecommerce Businesses
  • Bloggers
  • Agencies
  • Individual Entrepreneurs

How Did I Stumble Across Bluehost?

I’ve been trying out various web hosting services over the years to find out which one suited my website  and online store the best.

When my website’s traffic started growing, the server started getting overburdened and the site was plagued with slow loading speeds, which gave a bad experience to my visitors.

I decided to look for a new web hosting provider that was not only reliable but could also support my massive traffic and load my website quickly.

But that was not all I needed…

It was also essential to ensure that the web host had minimal downtimes so that my website would remain up all the time.

Finally, the most important parameter was that my web hosting company should be compatible with WordPress hosting as my website is built on it.

That’s when I came across Bluehost, which ticked all the boxes for me.

I’ve used it for quite some time, and to help you decide if it’s the right web host for you, I’ve put together this Bluehost review.

Detailed Bluehost Review:

Are you looking for a reliable web hosting platform for your website?

The numerous web hosting services out there can make it difficult for you to figure out which one to sign up with.

Bluehost is one of the most prominent names that will pop up when you’re looking for web hosting services.

One of the oldest providers in the world, Bluehost started back in 1996 and has been recommended by WordPress since 2005.

But is it worth all the hype that it has generated?

Let’s find out.

1. Technical Tests

To test the reliability of Bluehost, I used a dummy website (https://loveinmemory.com/).

I ran a few tests to figure out the effectiveness of Bluehost’s web hosting for WordPress.

1. Speed Test

The loading speed of your website is extremely important from the user experience and SEO perspective.

In fact, the importance of page loading speed has increased so much that starting 2023, Core Web Vitals such as Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and First Input Delay (FID) are going to become ranking parameters.

So, it’s essential to make sure that you choose a web hosting provider that delivers superior speeds.

And how did I test Bluehost?

I used Pingdom and Google PageSpeed Insights to test the loading speed of the website.

For Pingdom, I set the location to San Francisco.

Here are the results that I got from Pingdom.

Pingdom
Image via Pingdom

The fast loading speed in spite of the large size of the page is testimony to Bluehost’s speed.

Similarly, on Google PageSpeed Insights, the website gave a score of 62, which is fairly decent considering the size of the page.

Google PageSpeed Insights
Image via Google PageSpeed Insights

P.S. You can get Bluehost for just $3.95/month now.

2. Uptime

It’s critical to ensure that your website remains up most of the time. Downtimes can damage your user experience and you might lose out on some customers or visitors due to them.

The web hosting provider that you choose dictates your website downtime more than anything else.

So, it’s essential that you choose a web hosting service provider that can give you maximum uptime

Bluehost mentions that it delivers 99.99% uptime.

But does it live up to that figure?

To find out, I ran an uptime test on my dummy website to figure out if there was any downtime. For this, I used Uptrends

Uptrends
Image via Uptrends

As you can see from the image above, while the page loading speed might be slower in some countries, the website is available everywhere.

This confirms that Bluehost does deliver on the 99.99% uptime promise.

3. Server Response Time

The server response time is a critical element of your website’s speed.

If your server takes too long to respond, it’ll result in a long page loading time. This, in turn, can put off your website visitors.

In order to get a clear picture of how fast the Bluehost server responds, I used a tool called Bitcatcha.

This helps you find the server response time without loading any website data like the other page loading speed tools.

Bitcatcha
Image via Bitcatcha

As you can see, when it comes to the server response times, Bluehost delivers right on-point. The slowest server response time is just 4 ms, which makes it exceptionally good.

And that’s not all…

When you compare other web hosting platforms head-to-head, Bluehost delivers supreme performance too.

Bitcatcha 1
Image via Bitcatcha

2. User Experience

The thing I like the most about Bluehost is the user experience that it offers.

1. Dashboard

When you log in to your web hosting account, the intuitive dashboard makes it easy for you to find anything and everything that you need.

You can see your website and its thumbnail in the center of the page and can log in to WordPress directly from there.

This way, you don’t need to go through the process of going to your WordPress login page.

Bluehost Dashboard

But wait, there’s more.

You can find all the important navigational links below that.

Be it the cPanel, File Manager, phpMyAdmin, or even Databases, you can do it all from there.

Additionally, you can also navigate to the “My Sites” page from where you can manage all your websites.

It’s also possible to create a new website, browse your themes and plugins, or access support from Bluehost's website builder.

2. Manage Website

You can also manage your website directly through Bluehost without having to go to WordPress. To do this, all you have to do is click on “My Sites” on the left sidebar. From the page that opens, select “Manage Site.”

When you do this, you’ll be taken to the website manager that will look like this:

Bluehost website manager

There, you’ll be able to see how many plugins, users, updates, and themes are on your WordPress site.

You could then move to the Marketing Center through which you can run a Google Ads campaign directly from Bluehost.

By going to the “Users” section, you can seamlessly get information about all your website’s users, including the admins.

Bluehost website manager 1

And there’s more…

On navigating to the “Backups” section, you can check all the backups of your website that have been done through CodeGuard that’s offered by WordPress.

This feature takes a backup of your website every day to ensure that you can restore it whenever you need to.

All you need to do is click on “Restore” and Bluehost will do the heavy lifting for you.

Bluehost Backup

Want to control your website’s performance?

Bluehost makes it possible through the “Performance” dashboard.

With Bluehost, you can also leverage Cloudflare’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) without having to register for it separately.

On the “Performance” tab, you can choose between Bluehost’s server and Cloudflare CDN for your website. You can also control the caching settings based on the type of website that you have.

Bluehost Performance

Bluehost also makes it easy for you to manage the security of your website. All you have to do for this is to navigate to “Security.”

There, you can manage all the security features of your website. These include SiteLock and SSL, among others.

You can also scan the core files of your WordPress installation to detect any file integrity issues you may have.

Bluehost security features

From the website manager, it’s also possible to manage all your plugins without having to log in to the WordPress dashboard.

You can turn the plugins on or off directly.

You can experience the convenience of Bluehost now for just $3.95/month.

Bluehost security features 1

And finally, Bluehost also gives you total customization power for your website directly in the website manager.

How can you unlock the power of this website builder?

All you have to do is go to “Settings.” There, you can turn on or off automatic updates to your WordPress core, plugins, and themes.

Additionally, you can place controls over your content and the comments on your website.

For example:

If you’re building out your website and need to show a “coming soon” page, you can set it up with the click of a button.

It’s also possible to delete your website files permanently.

Bluehost security features 2

3. Customer Service

One of the things that makes Bluehost one of the best web hosting providers out there is that they provide stellar customer service.

The customer service team is available round-the-clock and you can reach out to them through multiple channels as well.

Be it live chat or calls, they’re available 24/7 to help you resolve your questions.

But wait, it gets better…

This service is extended not only to the registered members but also to new customers who might still be considering buying hosting from Bluehost.

Be it website migration or even the simplest of issues, the customer support team helps you through it all.

3. Hosting Plans Overview

Bluehost provides WordPress, Shared, VPS, and Dedicated hosting options. With all the plans, you get a free SSL certificate and domain for 1-year.

Let’s look at the major features offered by each.

WordPress Hosting

With every WordPress hosting plan, you get automatic WordPress install and updates.

Some of the features offered for each WordPress hosting plan are:

  • Basic: This plan allows you to host a single website and gives you 50 GB of SSD storage. Along with this, you also get 25 subdomains, 5 parked domains, and $200 in marketing credit.
  • Plus: You can create unlimited websites with this plan and get unlimited storage, parked domains, and subdomains with it.
  • Choice Plus: Choice Plus provides all the features offered in the Plus plan and also gives you access to CodeGuard Basic.

WP Pro

WP Pro takes WordPress hosting to the next level. Here are the plans offered:

  • Build: This plan includes free themes, daily backups, malware removal, domain privacy and protection, a marketing center, and Jetpack site analytics (Basic).
  • Grow: With the Grow plan, you get business review tools, Jetpack ads integration, Bluehost SEO tools, 10 GB video compression, Jetpack Premium, and Blue Sky ticket support.
  • Scale: Elastic search, PayPal integration, Blue Sky chat support, unlimited video compression, and backups are some of its best features. You also get Jetpack Pro with it.

Ecommerce Hosting

Using ecommerce hosting, you can run your online stores with ease. Here are the plans that are offered:

  • Starter: With this plan, you get one online store, 100 GB of SSD storage, an installed storefront theme, domain privacy and protection, and a free setup call.
  • Plus: You can host unlimited online stores and get unmetered storage too. Along with other features from the Starter plan, you also get CodeGuard Basic.
  • Pro: Along with all the features offered with the Plus plan, you also get Bluehost SEO tools.

Shared Hosting

Bluehost offers four plans for shared hosting. They are:

  • Basic: You can host one website using this plan and get 50 GB of SSD storage. However, you do get unmetered bandwidth, 5 parked domains, and 25 subdomains.
  • Plus: This plan lets you host an unlimited number of websites and gives unmetered bandwidth and unlimited storage, domains, subdomains, and parked domains. You also get Spam Experts.
  • Choice Plus: Along with all the features offered with the Plus plan, you also get domain privacy and protection along with CodeGuard Basic.
  • Pro: The Pro plan offers all of the features that the Choice Plus plan offers. However, it gives you high performance, two Spam Experts, and a dedicated IP.

VPS Hosting

With VPS hosting, you can get superior website performance. Here are the plans offered:

  • Standard: With this plan, you get 2 cores, 30 GB of SSD storage, 2 GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth, and 1 IP address.
  • Enhanced: The Enhanced plan offers 2 cores, 60 GB of SSD storage, 4 GB RAM, 2 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP addresses.
  • Ultimate: With the Ultimate plan, you get a 4 core server, 120 GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 3 TB bandwidth, and 2 IP addresses.

Dedicated Hosting

Bluehost also offers dedicated server hosting packages from which you can choose the one that fits your needs. Here are the plans:

  • Standard: In this plan, you get 500 GB mirrored storage, 4 cores @ 2.3 GHz, 5 TB bandwidth, 4 GB RAM, and 3 IP addresses.
  • Enhanced: The Enhanced plan gives you 1 TB mirrored storage, 4 cores @ 2.5 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 10 TB bandwidth, and 4 IP addresses.
  • Premium: Lastly, the Premium plan offers 15 TB bandwidth, 4 cores @ 3.3 GHz, 1 TB mirrored storage, 16 GB RAM, and 5 IP addresses.

What are you waiting for?

Select your plan from Bluehost now.

What Are Others Saying About Bluehost?

“I chose Bluehost because their services integrate with WordPress.org, and I was able to easily host my site with them. Their sign-up process is fairly quick and setup does not take previous knowledge in website hosting. If I did not know the answer to a question, I was able to quickly search the question and answer forums and find the answer. This made for a customer-friendly atmosphere that made me comfortable setting up my first website.”
Katelyn R
Blogger
“Bluehost is easy to use and much more affordable than other hosting platforms. I also love that if I ever have trouble with something the customer service is available on an instant chat and have always been able to help me get my problem resolved. Bluehost is great for small businesses just getting started or experimenting with web hosting on your own.”
Collin Berg
Lead Web Developer, SJI Associates

FAQs

Q1. Is there a minimum contract duration?

A. Yes, when you purchase web hosting from Bluehost, you need to subscribe to your web hosting plan for a minimum duration of one year. Alternatively, you can buy the hosting plan for two or three years too.

Q2. Does Bluehost offer a free trial?

A. No, however, Bluehost does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. This means that you can try out their web hosting plans and cancel the subscription before 30 days to get all of your money back.

After the 30 days, your plan will renew at the special introductory rates.

Q3. Does Bluehost offer free website migrations?

A. No. If you already have a website that’s hosted by another web host, Bluehost doesn’t offer any free website migration services. You could, however, opt for a paid migration service.

Alternatively, you can contact their reliable customer support staff and they can help you through the steps involved.

Q4. Which payment methods does Bluehost accept?

A. When it comes to payments, Bluehost makes the process of buying your web hosting plan extremely easy. They offer a variety of payment options such as:

  • Major Credit Cards (American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa)
  • PayPal
  • Checks (US Only)
  • Money orders in USD

Q5. Does Bluehost support webmail?

A. Yes, Bluehost supports both POP3 and IMAP webmail clients and has three webmail solutions including Roundcube and Horde.

But here’s the real deal:

Most of their plans also let you create an unlimited number of domain-specific email accounts.

Q6. Is there a limit on the number of websites that I can host on Bluehost?

A. Yes. If you choose the Basic plans, you might have a limit on the number of websites that you can host on Bluehost. However, most plans let you host an unlimited number of websites, even with shared or WordPress hosting.

Q7. What are the modes through which I can reach out to Bluehost’s customer support?

A. One of the biggest advantages of Bluehost is that you can reach out to their customer support team 24/7.

And that’s not even the best part.

You can get in touch with the customer support team by either phone or live chat. This way, you can get your troubles resolved right away.

For complicated issues, the team will reach out to you by email once the issue has been resolved.

Q8. Does Bluehost provide Microsoft 365 emails?

A. Yes, when you purchase hosting plans from Bluehost, certain plans offer a 30-day Microsoft 365 registration.

However, if you want, you can purchase Microsoft 365 email from Bluehost. The plans for this start from $2.99 per license per month.

Q9. Why use Bluehost in 2025 for your online business?

A. Website loading speed is of the utmost importance and has even become a ranking parameter on Google.

That’s why it’s important to use a hosting platform that offers good speeds and Bluehost excels at that by providing blazing fast speeds.

Q10. Is Bluehost a good web host?

A. Bluehost is a great web hosting service. In fact, it’s one of the only three web hosts that have been recommended by WordPress.

With great uptimes and fast loading speeds, it’s one of the finest out there.

Q11. Can I trust Bluehost?

A. Yes, you definitely can trust Bluehost for your website’s hosting. In fact, it’s trusted even by WordPress and is one of the three hosting providers that WordPress recommends.

Q12. Why is Bluehost so cheap?

A. Bluehost is cheap because you get a steep discount when you’re buying one of their hosting plans for the first time.

However, when it comes to renewals, the rates are similar to those of other popular hosting services.

Q13. Is Bluehost good for beginners?

A. Bluehost is a great platform for beginners. Their portal is designed to help you handle your website without the hassle of getting into the technicalities.

The intuitive dashboard also makes it easy to manage multiple websites.

Q14. Is GoDaddy better than Bluehost?

A. While both GoDaddy and Bluehost are great web hosts, Bluehost clearly takes the cake, especially when it comes to WordPress websites. It’s recommended by WordPress while GoDaddy is not.

Q15. Which Bluehost plan is best?

A. While the Basic plan of Bluehost is the best choice for anyone who’s just starting out, the best plan for slightly more experienced people is the Choice Plus plan, which includes loads of features and lets you host unlimited websites.

Q16. Is Bluehost better than WordPress?

A. While WordPress.com is a great way to host your website, it gives limited flexibility as it’s not self-hosted.

On the other hand, WordPress.org gives greater flexibility and they recommend Bluehost for self-hosting websites.

This makes Bluehost the better choice of the two.

Q17. Can you cancel Bluehost at any time?

A. Yes, you can cancel Bluehost at any time. However, for cancellations after 30 days, you don’t get any refund.

On the other hand, for cancellations within the first 30 days, you get a 100% refund on your hosting service charges.

Q18. Can I pay Bluehost monthly?

A. No. Unfortunately, Bluehost doesn’t offer any monthly payment plans. You need to purchase a subscription for a minimum of one year.

The maximum duration for which you can purchase a subscription at once is three years.

However, if you opt for VPS Hosting, Ecommerce Hosting, or Dedicated Server Hosting, Bluehost does offer monthly plans.

What’s the Final Verdict?

Bluehost is one of the finest web hosting platforms and definitely lives up to the “Recommended” tag that bestowed upon it by WordPress.

Quick server response times and fast page loading speeds can help you improve your user experience and also improve conversion rates.

With a 99.99% uptime, you can rest assured that your visitors won’t have to face downtimes.

Wait, there’s more…

The fluid user interface makes it easy for you to manage your website with ease.

Without even logging in to WordPress, it’s possible to manage your plugins, security, performance, and more from Bluehost.

The stellar customer support team is available 24/7 through live chat and by phone, and they can solve your problems with ease.

Finally, the features offered with each hosting plan make it worth every penny invested in web hosting.

Do you have any questions about the Bluehost review? Let me know in the comments.

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