The internet has made it possible for small businesses to look beyond their immediate market and expand into wider territory. It’s natural for those who sell physical products to wish to expand their market, but even those who sell services can increase their business scope with the help of today’s online tools. Success stories from small businesses can be encouraging, but at the same time the high level of competition may seem daunting at times. The following are a few tools which can make life easier as your business expands into new markets.

Web Design Tools

One of the primary focuses of any expanding business is to revamp a website to give it a wider appeal. You can use templates, ecommerce software, and downloadable templates to give your website a facelift. Another option is to hire a local web designer to help make your website more marketable. Web design services are flourishing in most cities these days, so you can find excellent web design Portland Oregon as well as larger cities like New York.

Getting feedback from visitors to your website is important, which you can accomplish with the use of tools like User Testing.com. This allows you to see a video of a real-life visitor as they interact with your site, and get feedback from their experience. Bravo Video is another tool that can be useful as you build your website, giving you easy access to customer testimonials to create credibility.

Presentation Tools

Whether you meet with clients over Skype on a daily basis or drop ship your products using several wholesalers, at some point you may need to interact with business contacts from a distance. Skype and Google Chat features are both useful tools. Free Screen Sharing.com is another tool that gives you the ability to share your screen and hold a virtual conference with up to 96 other participants. Market Wire is a great PR tool, allowing businesses to share videos and articles with a wide audience.

Accounting Tools

Enabling payments on your website is extremely important if you wish to make the move from a small local business to an international contender. If your clients are unable to pay you swiftly and safely, they will go elsewhere without skipping a beat. Using an ecommerce platform typically provides you with a full shopping cart checkout system, which can be quite helpful. Another option is to use tools like Paypal and WePay. WePay can be securely embedded into your website, and is a free way to accept payments. If you need to send out invoices for services that you have provided, then ecommerce software or tools like Harvest can help you generate and submit reports with all the pertinent details you need.

These are just a few examples of top tools that can help you bring your small business into the big leagues. Today’s technology makes it easier than ever to organize your information while reaching out to a wider audience.