SME Pals is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.

by David Mercer (updated 20 January, 2017)

Tips on how to use technology to improve your business

Top small business trends (live)

Having access to a great tool like Google Trends means that it is easy to keep an eye on how important brands and services are faring.

Since Google search is so prevalent (weighing in at about 67% in the U.S. and 90% in Europe), monitoring how popular services are trending can give some great insight into which ones are gaining market share and which are losing the race.

If you are trying to decide which product or service is the right one for your company then we have some great head-to-head comparisons of the biggest and best tools and services for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Website builders

Here's a look at our to favorite website builders, Wix & Weebly:

Looks like these two are pretty much neck and neck, which is a good indication that they are both doing great work innovating and staying competitive. Especially because this industry moves very, very quickly.

You can check out a more in-depth feature comparison of these two platform at Comparing Wix vs. Weebly.

eCommerce website builders

We've got three great competitors in the online shopping cart space - Shopify, Bigcommerce & Volusion:

When we did a proper review of each of these solutions, we found that they tended to focus on slightly different segments of the market, using slightly different approaches.

Bigcommerce looks to build a strong community of contributors and developers around its core offering, while Volusion offers strong integration with Amazon (going after a specific segment).

Despite this, Shopify seems to be running away with things through a slick, easy-to-use interface, great features, and quality support... and a superior marketing campaign.

There's a complete comparison table with all their main features, pricing, customers reviews, etc at Shopify vs. Volusion vs. Bigcommerce.

Cloud accounting

Here's a great comparison between Freshbooks and Quickbooks online:

I think in some senses this comparison is a bit misleading. On the surface of things it looks like Quickbooks is killing Freshbooks, but that's not the case. Freshbooks goes after a slightly different market in that they offer a lightweight, simple solution for small business - and they have attracted over 5 million customers.

Quickbooks, on the other hand, is well established and particularly popular in the massive US market. We answered the question is Quickbooks online the best accounting software? over in our forums a little while back, if you want a bit more clarity.

Email marketing

This is one I just don't understand - GetResponse vs. Constant Contact vs. AWeber:

I personally went through the setup procedure for both of these platforms and found GetResponse to be significantly better than Constant Contact.

There's a complete account of how good each service is from the perspective of a new client at GetResponse vs. Constant Contact.

One thing I did note is that Constant Contact completely dominates the US market, which becomes clear when you look at this regional breakdown of their brand popularity:

Seems like, for email marketing services, there is significant lock-in which means that it can be difficult to displace a company once it is established. Still, I strongly recommend you check out our review before making a decision.

Web hosting

Wow, not much competition for GoDaddy - but HostGator tries:

Size doesn't always mean you get the best quality service, but it does help when it comes to economies of scale. We did a price and quality review of 3 top Web hosting services at 3 best Web hosting companies for corporate sites.

Social media

Ok, this is a big comparison with FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ all looking to carve out an important stake in this rapidly growing market:

Well, it seems that Facebook has got things wrapped up on the social media front... although, if I were them, I would be a little concerned about the strong decline in recent years (even though there is no real competition).

Is this decline a sign of growing disinterest, or is it simply a reflection of the fact that everyone is already on Facebook?

What other interesting trends would you like us to cover? Share your requests in the comments.

Why Google is Bad for the (Small Business) Economy

Think of the Internet economy as a farmer’s field full of little green plants. Each plant represents a business, and the stuff that makes them grow is traffic (just like rain makes real plants grow).

Now, imagine that in between the rain clouds and our fledgling plants, there is a huge funnel that collects the rain and pours it over the field. Let’s call this funnel Google.

Google’s job is to make sure that all the sprouts get a fair share of water (provided they are of good quality), and that any weeds that are harmful to the ecosystem aren’t watered. All day long Google funnels rain onto various different plants in order to help them grow.

Essential Free Small Business Software

Great free software for people working from home

Having a home business, or work from home job, means that your PC will need to be packed with functionality to help facilitate day-to-day tasks.

What grumpy cat can teach you about creating a million dollar income

In case you haven't already heard, there's a little kitty out there with feline dwarfism that earns more than you do.

Grumpy cat, according to Wikipedia, seems to be raking in millions of dollars, and this might strike you as odd given how difficult it is to start a successful enterprise these days.

5 Unusual Online Home Business Ideas

Selling online is getting easier and easier every day, from a technical point of view, because the technology to handle online transactions (like online

Our favourite startup resources this year

Our favourite blogs for entrepreneurs. Pic by jakeandlindsay

Despite spending most of my time working on my own startups, I find myself drawn to reading about what other people are up to, or making use of - whether it

3 top tips to prevent spam hacks on your company website

How to prevent spammers hijacking your servers

There's nothing worse than finding out your business website has been hacked and is being used to send out bulk emails, spam visitors, or spread malicious software.

If it hasn't happened to you, don't fall into the trap of thinking that this scenario is something that happens to other people. Spam hacks are absolutely rampant.

Fortunately, the business model of spammers requires them, more often than not, to automate their hacks to seek out vulnerable Web servers and sites, because they have to do things on a huge scale to turn a profit.

The Latest Work From Home Jobs (Updated Daily)

Get the latest online work from home jobs

Find a great work from home job (with good pay) and benefit from a better quality of life with the freedom of flexible hours and the ability to work

3 tips on how to use the cloud

Among their top 3 challenges, according to most business leaders, is the ability to keep pace with new technology - like the cloud.

Being able to understand what new technology offers and how to use it to increase productivity and maintain competitiveness is not easy, because technology moves moves faster than our ability to keep up.

Small businesses, in this regard, have a distinct advantage over larger ones, and we might well be entering an age where small companies start out-competing big ones because of technology.

10 Inspirational Quotes for Entrepreneurs

It's occasionally valuable to take some time to listen to the collective wisdom of entrepreneurs, great personalities, and leaders who have distilled their k

3 Best Fiverr Gigs for Online Startups

Fiverr is an online marketplace offering a huge range of services (from the sublime to the ridiculous) that startups can utilize, for only five dollars.

If you're wondering what service could possibly offer any value for only $5, then you are in exactly the same boat I was.

Most of the services (called gigs) that are available on fiverr are probably not even worth the five bucks they charge. But, if you are willing to dig a bit deeper, there are a few gems that can save you a lot of time and money.

Ways to Save Money for Small Business

Save money with smart spending habits that will lower costs and ultimately lead to bigger profits and higher earnings for your small business.

How to Pitch Big New Clients

Recently I was fortunate enough to attend a meeting between my startup and one of the largest logistics companies in the country - so that we could pitch our new service.

The size of this client would almost be sufficient to reach sustainability and profitability in one go. Obviously landing a whale in your first pitch as a new startup is the ultimate dream come true, but it can be hard to turn it into reality.

The meeting went ok, but there were some hard lessons learned about how to pitch big corporate clients that my partners and I took away from the experience.