Digital technology has impacted every aspect of our lives from elections to the way we interact with friends and family. There’s an area that has been affected by digital technology the fastest – the business world.
The average enterprise company uses 1,295 saas applications. If this isn’t an example of digital transformation then what is? The challenge is that digital transformation can be a benefit or a drawback depending on how you approach it.
In this guide, you’ll learn more about digital transformation and how to approach it the right way so your organization benefits.
What Is Digital Transformation?
Digital transformation is the change of culture, processes, business model, or domain of an organization or industry. The changes occur through the adoption of digital technologies or digital technology-enabled processes.
Digital transformation has become even more prevalent since the outbreak of COVID-19. Industries that were vehemently against remote work have now become champions. Not by choice but by necessity.
Technologies that were irrelevant eighteen months prior have become indispensable. Yes, this is an extreme example but even if there wasn’t a global pandemic, it would be happening.
Beyond just using the latest technology and upgrading your systems, digital transformation can be considered part of your organizational culture. You’re willing to do away with legacy infrastructure and standardized processes no matter how ingrained they are in the organization.
The goal is to enable your people to work smarter and more efficiently. It allows you to continue to provide value to your team, your stakeholders, and your customers while staying competitive in the market.
That’s a goal businesses have had since the beginning of time. It is just called digital transformation now. – Read more
The web hosting world is super fascinating. It gives you all kinds of options to get your site out on the web.
Hundreds of companies are already competing for your business, each offering several types of web hosting plans. Understandably, things can get very confusing very fast.
Every site has a web host, but you already know that. But what some of you may not know is that not every website is hosted the same way.
It’s why you need to educate yourself about the different types of web hosting. This knowledge will ultimately help you figure out the best option for your website.
In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about web hosting and its types. By the end of it, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting won’t just be ‘geek’ terms for you.
Ready? Let’s begin.
Why the Different Types of Web Hosting Are So Important
Before diving into the web hosting types, let’s familiarize ourselves with web hosting.
Websites are hosted on powerful pieces of hardware called servers that store the websites, along with their data. Every component of a particular website is kept on a server that’s accessible through your web host. Think files, text, videos, images… you get the drift.
The servers are managed by different web hosting companies that provide the technology and server space for your website. It’s how visitors can reach your site and view your content.
The interesting thing here is that all servers are different. It’s why you have a variety of web hosting options.
While most guides cover the four main types of web hosting, we want you to get the full picture. That’s why we’ll be discussing all of the six different types of web hosting.
#1 Shared Web Hosting
Hailed as the perfect entry-level website hosting, shared hosting is when your website is stored on the same server as several other websites.
When you choose a shared hosting plan, all the domains share the same server resources, including RAM and CPU. Naturally, since all the resources are shared, this type of hosting is the cheapest, making them an excellent option for beginners or entry-level bloggers.
Think of shared hosting as living in a hostel. While you do get your personal space, you have to share resources like electricity, water, and the kitchen or living room with your roommates.
The only catch? Potential slow loading times and performance issues.
Continuing with our hostel example, you might get a little late for an interview if your roommate takes longer in the shower, right? Similarly, you can face performance issues with your website if another website on your server experiences a traffic spike. – Read more
The key to having happy customers is to provide them with credible and actionable information on using your product and extracting maximum value from it. This train of thought also applies to the act of resolving any doubts or queries that your clients face while using your offerings.
To facilitate and offer help in this regard, organizations compose data repositories to aid their clients in more ways than one. Such a service enhances the customer experience and lays the foundation for long-term customer lifetime value (CLV) and loyalty.
Creating a knowledge base is an excellent start to such an ambitious initiative. Let’s take a look at everything that it entails, its importance, and how to pick the best knowledge base software.
A knowledge base is a collection of documentation that contains crucial information such as answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs), step-by-step guides, video tutorials, process or feature introductions, how-to guides, tips and tricks, glossary, and troubleshooting help.
It acts as the primary source of information that is readily available to the users. They can refer to these inputs either to use the product or to gain more value from it. Businesses employ knowledge base software to collect, manage, update, and publish this information to their readers. And knowledge management is the act of curating such a database.
Importance of Knowledge Bases for SaaS Products
If you have a business FAQ page, you may think that you are all set on the knowledge base front. However, that is less than the bare minimum expected from you in this customer-centric age.
A knowledge base is particularly vital for SaaS products where the learning curve can be quite steep. Similarly, based on the application, the skill and expertise required to operate the SaaS product may also vary. Hence, merely resorting to the standard FAQs may not make the cut if you wish to position your business as “user friendly.”
Here are a few solid reasons for developing a strong knowledge base for your SaaS product:
1. It Supports Success Stories
Naturally, your customer’s success with the SaaS product primarily depends on how effectively they can utilize it. And knowledge base acts as the foundational pillar to this success story. An insightful knowledge base offers beyond basic guidance – it unlocks efficient ways to carry out the intended task and deliver spectacular results.
2. It Reduces Customer Churn
In case it isn’t obvious enough, an unhappy customer is bad for business. And a user’s sense of frustration aggravates when they find themselves at a loss of using the product you offer.
Resolving their issues right at the earliest stage can nip this problem right in the bud. And the best way to ensure that they remain hooked to your product is by offering upfront value through query resolution. Once they notice that they are deriving continuous value and benefit directly from the product or through its use, they will be more open to renewing or expanding the subscription.
3. It Cuts Down the Load on Customer Service Executives
In an age when organizations are trying to cut down labor costs and reduce manual intervention, having a knowledge base comes as a boon. The self-servicing capacity of the knowledge base can reduce the load on your customer service or technical support team. As a result, only high-level escalations will require their attention, improving their service quality.
4. It Positions Your Brand as a Domain Expert
Given that you are the creator of the SaaS product, you should also develop a repute as a reliable source of information on everything related to it. Having an enlightening knowledge base can establish your stand as a domain expert and an industry leader. Once you stake a claim as an informational authority, you can gradually develop your product as a formidable brand that needs no introduction – essentially, it is marketing at no extra cost!
5. It Attracts Traffic
Interestingly, your knowledge base can earn you organic traffic in several ways.
For starters, it can act as a hotspot where you can add keywords and use them to rank on search engines. Secondly, since it resolves customer issues or offers solutions to their queries, you will gain credibility through relevance, further skyrocketing your rankings. Finally, your domain expertise can also translate to improved ranking and greater visibility.
Knowledge Base Checklist for Start-Ups
If you are checking out a knowledge base software to host your SaaS product details, here is a quick checklist of questions and considerations that you should deliberate upon before making your pick:
Where does your current knowledge reside? How does one access it?
Where do you stand in terms of documenting all the available knowledge?
When was the last time you updated your knowledge base?
How often would you like to update this information?
Are there any restrictions while granting access to the knowledge?
Does the knowledge base software offer search functionality?
Who shall be accessing and using the knowledge that you make available?
Do you require multi-lingual support?
Can readers, staff, and customer service executives collaborate on articles or discussions to improve the information quality?
Can you disable comments, reviews, and ratings on certain products or posts?
Who is the competent authority to review the knowledge base? How often should it undergo review?
Does your knowledge base software collect any vital statistics and reports regarding its usage?
Do you offer subscription services wherein the readers can sign up to stay up-to-date on all discussions?
Does the knowledge base software offer Cloud support with adequate backup?
What are the security parameters available to maintain data protection and confidentiality?
Does the knowledge base software possess enough room for branding and customization?
How easy is it to navigate through the knowledge base?
What is the information density ratio for the knowledge base?
Fortunately, most knowledge base software solutions come equipped with features and functionalities listed as considerations above. They can enrich your customer experience and cultivate brand loyalty.
Concluding Thoughts
An information-rich knowledge base could be the “it” factor that propels your business as customer-centric. It also makes your product worth the investment as users can derive immediate results. However, to make it happen, you would require an equally competent knowledge base software to help staff and users alike. So choose wisely, as it will indirectly affect your bottom line!
