With increasing screen time, more people are turning to blue light glasses to protect their eyes and improve sleep quality. These glasses are designed to block or filter blue light emitted by digital devices, which is often blamed for disrupting sleep. Learn how blue light glasses affect your sleep and whether they are worth incorporating into your routine.

Understanding Blue Light and Its Impact on Sleep

Blue light is a type of high-energy visible light emitted by digital screens, such as those on smartphones, tablets, and computers. It is also present in natural sunlight. While blue light during the day can boost alertness and improve focus, excessive exposure to it at night can interfere with sleep. This is because blue light affects the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep.

When you use digital devices late into the evening, the blue light exposure can trick your body into thinking it’s still daytime, which can delay sleep onset and disrupt your circadian rhythm. Over time, this disruption may lead to poorer sleep quality, making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. This is where blue light glasses come into play.

How Do Blue Light Glasses Work?

Blue light glasses are designed to filter out or block a portion of the blue light emitted by screens. These glasses often have special lenses that are coated with a yellow-tinted filter. The idea is that by reducing blue light exposure, the glasses can help minimize its impact on melatonin production and support healthier sleep patterns.

While blue light glasses are often marketed as a solution for eye strain, they are also promoted for their potential to improve sleep quality. Many users report feeling less tired and more rested after using them in the evenings, leading to the assumption that they might enhance sleep. However, it’s important to examine the evidence supporting these claims.

Scientific Evidence: Do Blue Light Glasses Actually Improve Sleep?

There has been some research into the effectiveness of blue light glasses for improving sleep, but the results are mixed. Some studies suggest that blocking blue light in the evening can help improve sleep quality. Studies have found that participants who wore blue light-blocking glasses before bed experienced better sleep quality compared to those who did not.

On the other hand, other studies have shown minimal or no significant improvement in sleep for individuals wearing blue light glasses. The effects of blue light on sleep may vary depending on the individual and the amount of screen time they engage in. While blue light glasses may offer a mild benefit for some people, they may not be a miracle solution for everyone.

Additional Strategies for Better Sleep Quality

While blue light glasses may offer some benefits, they are only one part of the equation when it comes to improving sleep quality. Here are a few other strategies that can help ensure a better night’s rest:

• Limit screen time before bed: Even with blue light glasses, it’s still a good idea to minimize screen exposure in the hour or two leading up to bedtime. Engaging in activities like reading, journaling, or meditating can help signal to your brain that it’s time to wind down.
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine: Establishing a routine that promotes relaxation — such as dimming the lights, taking a warm bath, or practicing deep breathing exercises — can help prepare your body for sleep and support a restful night.
• Optimize your sleep environment: Ensure your bedroom is conducive to sleep. Keep the room cool, dark, and quiet, and use comfortable bedding to help promote deeper, uninterrupted rest.

Be mindful of caffeine and food intake: Avoid consuming caffeine or heavy meals late in the day, as these can interfere with your ability to fall asleep.

Do Blue Light Glasses Improve Sleep?

While blue light glasses may provide some relief from eye strain and could potentially improve sleep quality for certain individuals, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Their effectiveness in enhancing sleep largely depends on how much screen time you have, how sensitive you are to blue light, and how you implement other healthy sleep habits.

In recent years, standing desks have become a popular alternative to traditional sitting desks, with many people believing they improve productivity and health. As more employees and home workers adopt this trend, the question arises: do standing desks really lead to higher productivity? Explore the benefits and challenges of standing desks to determine whether they live up to the hype.

The Rise of Standing Desks

Standing desks have been embraced by workplaces, schools, and home offices as a solution to the growing concerns over sedentary lifestyles. With many workers spending long hours sitting at their desks, there’s an increasing awareness of the potential health risks, including back pain, poor posture, and cardiovascular issues. Standing desks are seen as a way to combat these issues by allowing users to alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day.

The promise of standing desks is simple: by standing more often, you reduce the negative impacts of prolonged sitting while potentially boosting energy levels and productivity. However, the actual impact on productivity is a subject of ongoing debate. To fully understand if standing desks can improve productivity, we need to explore both their benefits and their potential drawbacks.

Health Benefits That May Boost Productivity

Standing desks offer several health benefits that could, in turn, contribute to improved productivity. One of the main benefits is reduced back and neck pain, which is a common issue for those who sit for extended periods. By standing, you engage different muscles and avoid the stiffness that often comes with sitting for long hours. Over time, this can help alleviate discomfort, allowing you to work without frequent breaks for stretching or adjusting your posture.

Moreover, standing desks can improve circulation. Prolonged sitting can slow down blood flow and increase the risk of heart disease. Alternating between sitting and standing can help improve blood circulation, reduce swelling in the legs, and prevent muscle stiffness, all of which may lead to better focus and longer periods of sustained work.

Another health benefit is that standing burns more calories than sitting. While the difference might seem small, over time, this could lead to healthier habits and greater energy levels, which can translate into increased productivity. People with higher energy levels tend to stay focused and work more efficiently.

The Productivity Debate: Does Standing Make a Difference?

While standing desks have clear health benefits, the impact on productivity is not as straightforward. Research shows mixed results when it comes to standing desks and work performance. Some studies indicate that standing desks can improve focus and task performance, while others suggest that standing for long periods may decrease productivity due to discomfort or fatigue.

Standing for extended periods can be tiring, and if not done properly, it can lead to new physical issues, such as foot pain or leg strain. This discomfort might result in workers feeling less productive over time, as they are forced to take more breaks or shift between standing and sitting more frequently. Therefore, the key to improving productivity might not lie in standing all day but in finding the right balance between sitting and standing.

Several experts recommend using standing desks in combination with ergonomic setups, such as adjustable desk height, supportive anti-fatigue mats, and proper footwear. These factors can help make standing more comfortable and sustainable, potentially leading to better productivity over time.

Finding the Right Balance: A Mix of Sitting and Standing

Instead of solely relying on standing desks, many experts recommend a mix of sitting and standing throughout the workday. A hybrid approach, where workers alternate between sitting and standing every 30 to 60 minutes, seems to provide the best results for both health and productivity. This balance allows employees to enjoy the benefits of standing while avoiding the negative effects of staying on their feet for too long.

Using a timer or scheduling specific intervals for standing and sitting can help workers stick to this routine. Some people find that standing for short periods helps them stay focused, while others prefer sitting for tasks that require intense concentration. By listening to their bodies and adjusting their posture accordingly, individuals can tailor their work habits to suit their personal needs.

Standing Desks Can Be Part of a Productive Lifestyle

While standing desks alone may not guarantee improved productivity, they can certainly be a valuable tool when used correctly.

Their health benefits, such as reducing back pain and improving circulation, can create a more comfortable and energized work environment. However, the real key to maximizing productivity lies in the balance between sitting and standing.

Disasters happen, and they can have crippling consequences for a business. Around 45% of businesses do not reopen following a disaster, and 25% of those that do fail within 12 months. You can’t avoid the disruption caused by a global event. But you can prepare. A business continuity plan can help you avoid the most damaging effects of an emergency and speed up the recovery process. In this guide, you’ll learn how how to create a business continuity plan. We’ll go through the process step by step.

What Is a Business Continuity Plan?

A business continuity plan is a documented set of procedures to keep a business operational or restore processes quickly in the event of a major disruption.

The disruptive event may involve anything from physical damage to the business property or a technological disaster caused by system failure or cyber-attacks. For example, if your office building was forced to close unexpectedly, how would you be able to handle communications with customers? Would you be able to relocate to a temporary location, or would your team need to work from home?

A business continuity plan addresses potential issues and establishes a plan of action to minimize the disruption to your business.

Why Business Continuity Plans Matter

Without a plan to mitigate disruption, an unexpected disaster could impact your ability to operate and threaten the survival of your business. The longer your business is unable to function, the more damaging the disruption.

Prior to the start of the pandemic, over half of organizations around the world had no business continuity plan in place. Governments around the world began to put restrictions in place in March 2020. This resulted in a huge spike in interest in business continuity planning.

But when your business is in the midst of a disaster, it is often too late to avoid or mitigate the impact. A business continuity plan can help you recover quickly and shield your core operations. For many businesses, it will be the difference between survival or failure following a disaster.

In 2013, a lightning strike caused a fire in the office building of South Carolina hosting provider Cantey Technology. The fire destroyed Cantey’s servers and made the office unusable. However, the hosting company’s clients did not experience a disruption to their service. As part of Cantey’s business continuity plan, server backups were stored at a remote data center. The disaster still had a significant impact, and the company had to relocate, but failsafe processes helped mitigate the disruption and protect revenue.

Creating a Business Continuity Plan

Creating a business continuity plan from scratch can feel overwhelming. There are lots of aspects you need to cover. It’s much easier if you break the process up into smaller, manageable chunks.

If you follow the steps below, you’ll cover all the bases you need to develop a strong recovery strategy. You’ll also be able to identify the resources and processes you need to implement the plan.

1. Define the Scope and Goals of the Plan

The first step is to define the scope of your plan and the goals it needs to achieve. The overall goal is to ensure that your business can continue to operate or that disruption is minimal. But the objectives you set will be unique to your business. For example, the objectives and priorities for a retail store will be very different from a SaaS company.

You need to think about the areas of your business that are essential to the products and services you provide to your customers. Your goals will impact the mitigation strategies you put in place and how you develop a recovery plan.

2. Establish Your Continuity Team

The business continuity management team is tasked with preparing and executing the business continuity plan. The size and makeup of your team will depend on your business, but usually includes the manager, assistant manager, and a representative of each department.

Your continuity team will contribute to the plan, helping you identify core processes that need to be protected. Department representatives will also be responsible for training staff on emergency protocols.

It’s essential to have support from the top of the organization. This helps to establish credibility and buy-in throughout the company. A single team member should be designated as the leader and take ownership of the plan.

3. Identify Key Business Areas

The next step is to gain an understanding of the areas of your business where disruption would cause the most damage. Which processes are integral to your business operations?

To determine which areas are the most important, you should consider the cost to your business if the process were to fail. For example, if your website were to go offline, how much would you lose in revenue per hour/day?

It’s also important to consider how areas of your business are dependent on each other. For example, an IT system failure could have a knock-on effect on processes in your sales and marketing departments.

4. Business Impact Analysis

After you have established the critical areas of your business, you need to conduct an impact analysis. This is an investigation of the potential threats to your company and how they would impact your key business areas.

Create a document that details all potential threats and the financial costs. Interviewing department representatives can help you determine how resilient your current processes are.

5. Perform a Gap Analysis

A gap analysis helps you identify the requirements needed to keep your core business areas operational versus your current resources. It shows you what you currently have and what you need in the event of a disaster.

This will help you identify the weaknesses in your current processes. You’ll also be able to see what is needed to make your business more robust to disruption. The gap analysis should also help you to identify potential recovery strategies.

6. Establish Recovery Strategies

The previous steps should provide you with a detailed list of potential threats. Now, you need to collaborate with the continuity team to establish recovery strategies for each eventuality and how they will be implemented.

You should create a plan of action to address each type of disruption. It should detail the best way to ensure the damage to your business is minimized and who will be responsible for ensuring that specific actions are taken. For example, if a natural disaster damages your data storage, how will you be able to restore backups quickly? Who will be responsible for ensuring that data is backed up on a separate server?

Include the steps you need to take in preparation and the plan of action to speed up the recovery after the event.

7. Testing

The final step is to test the plan by conducting trial runs. Of course, some recovery strategies will be impossible to carry out in full, but you can simulate the processes to ensure the recovery plan works as expected.

Testing will help you to identify areas you may have overlooked and gain feedback from stakeholders. You can use the initial trial runs as a learning process to make the recovery plan more effective.

When all stakeholders are happy and trial runs are successful, you can begin to train employees on the protocols. It needs to be clear to staff what their responsibilities are.

To signify the importance of the business continuity plan and recovery protocols, you may want to involve a senior management figure in training exercises.

Safeguarding Your Business

A business continuity plan is one of the most important tools for making your company more resilient to disruption. If you’re proactive and follow the steps detailed above, you’ll have a solid recovery strategy in place to fall back on if disaster does hit.

But a business continuity plan isn’t a one-and-done document. As your business grows and changes, so do the potential risks and vulnerabilities. You’ll need to review your plan and ensure it still offers maximum mitigation. A business continuity plan is never finished.

Google Ads are a great way to advertise your business. Nearly 90% of people begin the search for a product on a search engine, and 90% of consumers say ads influence their purchase decisions. If you take time to create a well-planned campaign, you can make money using Google Ads. In this guide, we’ll explore the 10 most important factors for running a Google Ads campaign. You’ll learn how to find lucrative keywords and craft compelling ads that generate sales and grow your business.

1. Check for Customer Demand

First, you need to verify that people are searching for your products and services on Google.

You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to see how many people per month are searching for keywords related to your business. Keyword Planner shows you the average monthly search volume, the bid range (how much it costs to advertise), and competition for the keyword.

For a new campaign, you want to create a list of target keywords with a good search volume and low to medium competition.

2. Focus on Buyer Intent Keywords

The next step is to narrow in on “buyer intent” keywords. Is the person searching for the keyword looking to buy? Or are they just researching something related to your products and services?

When you’re building out your list of target keywords, focus on search terms where the user shows clear intent to buy. For example, the below “People also ask” section search queries show clear buyer intent.

Targeting buyer intent keywords can get your business noticed at the exact moment people are ready to click “Buy Now.”

3. Learn From Your Competitors

Your competitors can be your greatest ally. They have already spent money testing keywords and optimizing campaigns.

Using a tool like Ahrefs, you can spy on your competitors and see what works in your industry. In the example below, the competitor is currently advertising on 54 keywords in the US. You can see the average cost-per-click (CPC), search volume, and ad copy.

4. Create Compelling Ads

Your next task is to create compelling ads that encourage users to click. A good strategy is to focus on the end goal of the searcher. What goal does your product or service help them to achieve? Or what problem does it solve for them?

For example, someone searching for “toothache” is probably looking for a way to relieve their symptoms.

Creating a strong link between the desired outcome and your product is marketing 101.

5. Include a Strong Call to Action (CTA)

If you want people to call or email your business, make it clear that’s what they should do next.

Make it as easy as possible for people to take the next step towards buying your product or service. Don’t make your potential customers think about what they should do next. Tell them with a strong, direct CTA.

6. Use Dedicated Landing Pages

Create a dedicated landing page that matches the search intent and copy of your ad. A landing page is a standalone web page that appears when a searcher clicks on your ad.

You want people to know they are in the right place when they click your ad and land on your website. Write an eye-catching headline that reinforces the offer made in your ad and a compelling subheading that encourages users to keep reading the rest of your page.

In the landing page copy, communicate the benefits of your product or service, use social proof to add credibility, and add a strong CTA to encourage conversions.

7. Improve Your Quality Score

Google assigns your ad and landing page with a dynamic Quality Score between one and 10. The higher your Quality Score, the higher the chances of your ad being placed in the top paid spots of the search results and the lower your cost-per-click (CPC).

Quality Score is super-important. You can find out more about Quality Score and how to improve it on the Google Support website.

In simple terms, your ad and landing page need to be high quality, not misleading, and helpful to users, matching the search intent of the keyword.

8. Keyword Match Types

There are three main match types you can choose from when bidding on your target keywords, which you can see in the image below.

For a new campaign, the Phrase match type usually provides the best results. It enables you to reach a large audience, but filters out broad search queries unrelated to your products and services.

You can also add negative keywords to stop your ad from being displayed for irrelevant search queries. For example, if you run a luxury hotel, you could block the keywords “budget” and “cheap.” This will stop your ads from being displayed to searchers looking for a low-budget place to stay.

9. Use Geotargeting

Geotargeting allows you to target people in specific geographic locations. This is important for businesses that only serve a particular area. For example, if you provide landscaping services in a specific region, you can focus your advertising dollars on the people that live in those areas.

Geotargeting can also help if you sell products nationwide. For example, if seasonality or weather conditions affect customer demand, you can target the areas where people are most likely to need your products

10. Optimization

Most campaigns don’t make any money in the first few weeks. Running a profitable PPC campaign is about learning and making continual improvements to increase ROI. Once your campaigns have been running for a while, you’ll have a clearer picture of what works and what doesn’t.

The three main areas of optimization are your ads, landing pages, and keyword strategy.

If you find some keywords generate more sales than others, see if you can afford to increase your bids. If some keywords generate clicks but no sales, think about pausing your bids on those keywords. When it comes to your ads and landing pages, you can test different variations to see what performs best and gets the most conversions.

Google Optimize is a tool that allows you to run A/B tests and make informed decisions about optimizing your landing pages.

Making Money With Google Ads

A Google Ads campaign can kick-start your new or growing business. You can get your products and services in front of your ideal customers when they are most likely to buy.

If you follow the above tips, you’ll be able to build a solid keyword list, set up precise targeting, and write compelling ads that get clicks, giving you the foundation for a profitable campaign with Google Ads.

Google Ads FAQs

Are Google Ads worth it?

On average, advertisers earn $2 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. The platform can be a cost-effective way to promote your products and services. One of the key benefits of Google Ads is that you can control your budget and stop and start advertising campaigns at any time.

Is Google Ads only search adverts?

No. Google Ads includes a range of advertising formats and campaign types. Search ads are the most common, but you can also run Display ads, Remarketing ads, Gmail ads, and YouTube ads.

What’s the difference between Google Ads and SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term strategy based on publishing content, optimizing your web pages, and building backlinks to your website to increase your ranking in organic search results.

Organic search traffic is free, but you’ll need to spend time and money improving your website to rank for your target keywords. Google Ads can generate traffic much faster than SEO. You bid on your target keywords and pay a fee when a searcher clicks on your ad and visits your website. This type of advertising is known as pay-per-click (PPC). SEO and PPC can both be an important part of your marketing strategy.

How much should I spend on Google Ads?

Most small to medium-sized businesses spend between $1,000 and $10,000 per month on Google Ads. However, this varies dramatically depending on the industry. It’s usually better to start with a smaller budget. Then, you can gradually increase your budget as you learn what works and gets the best results.

What is a Google Ads Smart Campaign?

A smart campaign is the default setting when you create a new Google Ads campaign. Google adjusts your keyword strategy and bidding settings automatically. Most PPC agencies and experts prefer manual campaigns rather than letting them run on autopilot.

Starting a small business is a dream for many Americans. But with so many things to consider, most people feel overwhelmed and give up before they even begin. Overthinking leads to inaction. If you’re serious about becoming your own boss, you need to break down the process into smaller, more manageable steps. In this guide, we’ll go through the process of launching a small business step-by-step.

1. Find Your Business Idea

All businesses start with an idea. But all successful businesses solve a problem.

Gyms help people get in shape and boost their self-esteem. Google helps people search the internet and find solutions. Cosmetics brands help people feel confident and express their creativity.

Make sure that your business idea solves a problem and that people are willing to pay for your solution. The number one reason that new businesses fail is because of a lack of demand.

You need to find a common problem that people are willing to spend money on solving. The bigger the problem, the more money you will be able to charge people for your solution.

2. Get Feedback on Your Idea

Once you’ve got your business idea, the next step is to get feedback from the people that would be interested in buying your product or service. The goal is to identify ways you can improve your idea and verify the need for your solution.

It’s important to get impartial feedback. Support from friends and family can help you grow your business and stay motivated, but they are not the people you want to be asking for feedback.

Alongside feedback from potential customers, you can see if there is a small business development center in your city. These organizations have experienced in-house experts that can offer free advice and feedback on your business idea.

3. Create a Business Plan

You’ll need a detailed business plan if you want to apply for a bank loan.

Even if you’re bootstrapping, spending some time creating a business plan can help you get organized and focus on the things that matter most to the growth of your business.

A study published in The Journal of Management Studies found that new businesses with a documented plan grew 30% faster than those without a plan.

Your business plan should include:

• The problem you solve
• Your target audience
• Your products/services
• A 30-second elevator pitch (what you do)
• Financial plan

Working out your startup costs and monthly overheads can help you set realistic goals and determine your pricing.

You’ll also need to work out your margins and how many sales you need to make to cover your costs. This information can help you when you set SMART goals later.

4. Choose Your Business Name

Your business name is an opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality and what makes you different from your competitors. You can use the internet to research your competitors and create a shortlist of potential business names. The key is to find something that is unique, memorable, and clear.

There’s a golden rule that applies to most elements of running a business, including choosing a name: Keep it simple, stupid.

If you look at some of the biggest success stories of the last decade, they all have simple brand names:

• Airbnb
• Slack
• Stripe

The easier your name is to say, spell, and remember, the more likely it will resonate with potential customers.

5. Create a Marketing Strategy

Having a superior product or service doesn’t guarantee success. Great marketing almost always wins out over a great product.

There are many different ways to advertise online and offline, and the best channels for you will depend on your offer and audience. Whichever channels you use to promote your products and services, you’ll want to spend some time developing your Unique Selling Point (USP).

Your USP is one of the most important parts of your marketing strategy. It’s what makes you better, or at the very least different from your competitors.

• Are you the cheapest?
• Do you use better materials?
• Are you faster?

Domino’s is an excellent example of a winning USP: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it’s free.” It differentiates Domino’s from its competitors and focuses on something people are looking for from a pizza delivery service: speed.

6. Establish Your Business Structure

The legal structure of your business impacts everything from your tax commitments to your personal liability.

There are several different legal business structures, each with its own pros and cons:

• Sole proprietorship
• Partnership
• Corporation
• Limited liability company

It’s important to choose the right legal structure for your current needs and future goals. If you need some help choosing a structure, you can learn more about each option on the website of the U.S. Small Business Association.

7. Know Your Legal Requirements

Your new business will be subject to local laws as well as the regulations that govern your specific industry.

For example, you may be legally required to insure your employees in case they suffer an injury while working for your business.

If you sell food to the general public, you will need to meet foodservice codes. These regulations can vary from state to state.

Before you open your doors to the public, it may be worth your while getting some professional legal advice.

8. Choose Your Location

The next step is to choose a location for your new business. Depending on the type of business, this could be a physical location where you sell your products and services or a simple home office or co-working space to work from, if your business will be online.

Starting your business at home can be an excellent way to keep your startup costs low. It’s also how most entrepreneurs get started. Nearly 70% of U.S. entrepreneurs started their businesses at home. Even Jeff Bezos started Amazon from his garage.

If you need a physical store, make sure you look at multiple potential locations and explore your options. Visit on different days and times to see the footfall, delivery access, and other factors that will impact your business operations.

9. Recruit Your Team

Many successful companies start as one-person businesses. But if you’re planning on growing quickly, you may need to hire employees to help your business take off.

The best way to think about recruitment is to look at the needs of your business and the gaps in your skillset. You might need some help serving customers at a physical location, or you may need a specialist with skills that you don’t have.

Think about the skills you bring to the table and the gaps you need to fill to give your business the best chance of success.

You will pick up some new skills as you grow your business, but you need to determine if it’s worth your time learning. Sometimes bringing in someone who can do the job faster and more efficiently is more cost-effective. For example, many small businesses still outsource their bookkeeping.

10. Set Realistic Goals

Optimism is a great quality for a business owner. But you need to be realistic about what you can achieve. This is especially important in the early stages.

Many new businesses don’t make a profit in the first year. The first few months are about building brand awareness and increasing your customer base.

One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated and focused is to set SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. These are the types of goals that you should be targeting.

For example, a SMART goal could be setting up a website within a week or increasing your customer base by 20% in 60 days. Your goals will be unique to your business, but make sure they are SMART.

Starting Your Journey as a Business Owner

Launching a new business is one of the most rewarding things you can do. You’re at the beginning of an exciting journey. There will be ups and downs, but you’ll be carving your own path and building something from the ground up. Use the above steps to set your new venture on a solid foundation.

The process of finding and analyzing search terms (keywords) that users enter into search engines (like Google) for the purpose of using the data for a specific purpose. Keyword research is the foundation of search engine optimization (SEO) and getting your website found online. But choosing the right keyword research tool isn’t easy. There’s a huge range of tools on the market, with some costing hundreds of dollars per month. In this guide, we’ll reveal the best SEO keyword tools to suit every budget and level of experience.

1. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is a powerful keyword research tool. You get the essential data you would expect (search volume, keyword suggestion, etc.), but you also get an in-depth breakdown of the pages that currently rank for the keyword.

It shows you exactly how many backlinks are pointing to competing pages. You can also see estimates for organic clickthrough rate (CTR) – the number of searchers that click on the organic search results. This is super-useful information to help you decide if a keyword is worth targeting.

Along with Keywords Explorer, Ahrefs comes with a host of other SEO tools to help you improve your ranking.

• Pros: Full suite of SEO tools, in-depth keyword data, responsive customer support.
• Cons: Expensive, steep learning curve.

2. Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest does everything a keyword research tool should do and more. You can see search volume data, keyword difficulty, competitor backlinks, and keyword suggestions.

It also has some useful features that you don’t get from other more expensive tools. For each result in the SERP, you can see estimated traffic, a breakdown of social media shares, and a domain score.

The Ubersuggest Chrome extension is another great feature. You can do keyword research directly on the search engine results page (SERP), which streamlines workflow.

• Pros: icon: Beginner-friendly, great value, lots of useful SEO tools, 7-day free trial.
• Cons: Data is not always reliable, Tiered pricing with usage limits.

3. Google Keyword Planner

Google’s Keyword Planner doesn’t offer anywhere near the number of features you get with other tools. But it does have two significant advantages: It’s afforable, and the data is directly from Google.

Enter your seed keyword and you can see average monthly searches, competition, and a list of keyword ideas.

You can also see the metric “top of page bid.” This shows the amount advertisers are bidding to appear in the paid search results for the keyword. The higher the bid, the more valuable the keyword.

To access Keyword Planner, you’ll need to sign up for a Google Ads account.

• Pros: Reliable data, good for local SEO keyword research.
• Cons: Designed for advertisers rather than SEOs, limited data and features.

4. Moz Keyword Explorer

Moz does a great job of finding unusual keyword ideas. The Keyword Explorer also has some helpful features to help you decide if a keyword is viable.

The Priority metric uses search volume, organic CTR, and competitor analysis to assign each keyword an overall rating out of 100. A high Priority score indicates that the potential rewards outweigh the difficulty, and it could be a good keyword to target.

Moz helps you avoid being overwhelmed by data and focus on the metrics that matter.

• Pros: Makes data easy to understand, full suite of tools, one month free trial.
• Cons: Navigation could be more intuitive, expensive.

5. Jaaxy

Jaxxy is a standalone keyword research tool. It doesn’t have a lot of features, but it’s good at what it’s designed to do: keyword research.

Enter your seed keyword, and Jaxxy will return a long list of keyword ideas. You can see the search volume, traffic estimates, and competition.

There’s also a rank tracker feature that tracks your website’s keyword performance.

• Pros: Clean interface, unique keywords, free trial.
• Cons: Data could be made clearer, more expensive than similar tools.

6. SEMRush

SEMRush is one of the most used keyword research tools. It’s easy to see why it’s so popular. You get in-depth data and a massive list of keyword ideas.

The Keyword Magic tool makes it super-easy to refine your results and speed up the keyword research process.

You can filter out keyword ideas according to competition, search volume, specific words, and more. Overall, this means you can create a list of target keywords much faster.

SEMRush also comes with a host of other tools to help you improve your SEO performance.

• Pros: Great range of industry-leading tools, In-depth competitor analysis, Time-saving filter options, Save if you opt to be billed annually
• Cons: Search volume is sometimes exaggerated, expensive, Interface can be clunky.

7. Keyword Tool

Keyword Tool is one of the best standalone keyword research tools you can buy. It combines an easy-to-use interface with a good range of features.

If you’re looking to upgrade but don’t feel like you will get the most out of a top-tier tool like SEMRush, Keyword Tool is a great option.

You can filter keyword ideas according to search volume, difficulty, specific words, and other metrics.

Keyword Tool also provides a competitor analysis tool. Enter your competitor’s URL, and you get a breakdown of the keywords they currently rank for.

• Pros: Beginner-friendly, competitor analysis, reliable data.
• Cons: Expensive for a standalone keyword research tool, limited data with basic plans, no free trial.

8. KWFinder

KWFinder is a beginner-friendly tool that’s a great option if you want to upgrade from a free tool like Keyword Planner.

You won’t find any special features that you get with top-tier SEO tools, but it’s super-easy to use and does everything you need a keyword research tool to do.

The interface makes it really easy to find keyword opportunities. Enter your seed keyword, and you’ll see a long list of keyword ideas. Each keyword on the list has a difficulty score, search volume estimate, and trend data. You can also filter results to create a list of keyword opportunities quickly.

• Pros: Intuitive interface, Easy to find keyword opportunities, Great value.
• Cons: Data is not always reliable, only two day money-back-guarantee.

9. Serpstat

Serpstat is an all-in-one SEO tool that comes with a robust keyword research tool.

You get a list of keyword ideas with a detailed breakdown of the search volume, competition, and keyword difficulty. You’ll also see a graph from Google Trends showing the interest in the keyword over time.

One of the tool’s best features is the Competitors Graph – a visualization of the websites that are competing for the keyword. High domain rating competitors are displayed as big bubbles. If the keyword has low competition, you’ll see lots of smaller bubbles. This can help you to see if a keyword is viable quickly.

• Pros: Full suite of SEO tools, Unique data visualization, 4 different tiers at very different price points.
• Cons: The interface can be clunky, No social media data.

10. Long Tail Pro

Long Tail Pro is a pleasure to use. Add your seed keywords, and you get a solid list of keyword ideas.

Unlike some other tools on the list, it automatically filters and sorts results based on difficulty.

It shows you long-tail keywords with low competition. This enables you to find viable keyword opportunities with minimal effort.

You can also analyze your competitors’ websites to see their keyword strategies and find opportunities for content. For professional marketers, keyword research is the most popular way to come up with ideas for content.

Long Tail Pro also comes with a SERP analyzer, backlink checker, and a rank tracker to monitor your SEO performance.

• Pros: Easy to use, automatically sorts keyword ideas, accurate data.
• Cons: No free trial, Usage limits on basic plans.

Which is the Best Keyword Research Tool?

The best keyword research tool depends on your budget, what you need the tool to do, and how often you’ll be using it. If you sign up for an expensive all-in-one SEO tool and only use the keyword explorer a few times per month, you’ll be wasting money.

For beginners operating on a budget, Google Keyword Planner offers accurate data and is free to use. Ubersuggest offers a good range of tools without costing too much. For a standalone keyword research tool, you can’t go wrong with KWFinder. And if you need a robust SEO tool with the best features, SEMRush is the most expensive, but it’s also the best on the market.

When you hear about a website being “brought down” by hackers, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is usually the culprit. If you’re the target of a DDoS attack, the damage to your business goes beyond the loss of revenue while your customers can’t access your website. It can take years to rebuild trust with your customers and repair your reputation. In this guide, we’ll examine what a DDoS attack is and what you can do to get your website back online.

What Is a DDoS Attack?

A distributed denial-of-service attack is a type of cyberattack used to disrupt the availability of a website to end-users. A hacker uses malware to control multiple compromised devices and flood the target website with requests. Ultimately, this overwhelms the server, and the website becomes inaccessible.

This type of cyberattack is becoming increasingly common. The number of DDoS attacks worldwide is expected to exceed 15.4 million annually in 2023, up from 7.9 million in 2018.

The first noticeable sign of an attack is that the website suddenly becomes much slower or is unavailable to users. However, there could be a legitimate cause behind a spike in traffic that causes these performance issues.

One of the biggest challenges in identifying and repelling a DDoS attack is that it can be difficult to separate legitimate website traffic from compromised attack traffic.

How To Mitigate a DDoS Attack

Prevention is often the best form of defence, so we’ll discuss how to protect your website from a DDoS attack and what to do in the event of one.

1. Know What a DDoS Attack Looks Like

The faster you recognize a DDoS attack, the quicker you can mitigate the effects and get your website back online.

You should familiarize yourself with your average website traffic profile. If you know what your average number of visitors looks like, you can spot an unusual spike that could be a sign of a DDoS attack.

Analyzing your traffic in more depth may reveal that lots of traffic is coming from a single IP range – indicating that the traffic may be artificial. The same goes for large amounts of traffic that share the same geolocation or device type.

If you are receiving lots of requests for a single page on your site, that could indicate that the traffic is not natural.

You can also look for patterns to see if anything looks unusual. For example, if you experience large spikes in traffic at regular intervals, it could indicate that a DDoS attack is ramping up.

2. Defend at the Network Perimeter

Once you have confirmed your website is being targeted, there are several ways you can slow down the attack.

The first measure is to rate-limit your router. You can assign a bandwidth restriction to specific connection types or categories of traffic to stop your server from being overwhelmed.

You can also add filters that tell your router to drop packets from sources of the attack and implement a more aggressive timeout for half-open connections.

The challenge with a DDoS attack is that traffic usually comes from an extensive range of IP addresses. It can be difficult to determine which IPs are legitimate and which are part of the attack.

These tactics can prevent your website from being brought down, but DDoS attacks are getting more sophisticated. The above measures may buy you some time, but they are unlikely to stop a DDoS attack entirely.

3. Contact Your ISP or Hosting Provider

Your next option is to contact your ISP or hosting provider and inform them of the attack.

If you use a hosting provider, your corporate network will be separate from your website server. This means you will still be able to use your company email, VoIP phones, and other services that use your LAN.

You may find that your ISP or hosting provider has already detected the DDoS and started to implement mitigation measures.

This usually involves “blackhole filtering.” The packets being sent to your web server are dropped rather than being forwarded to your website.

Blackhole filtering acts as a basic firewall that keeps all traffic from reaching your server. Unfortunately, this means legitimate traffic will also be dropped, and real visitors will be unable to access your website.

4. Traffic Scrubbing

The vast majority – over 97 percent – of DDoS attacks last for less than an hour:

If your website is under sustained attack, your next option is to engage an internet security company that offers a traffic scrubbing service.

Traffic scrubbing works by intercepting the traffic trying to access your website and filtering out malicious packets. As a result, legitimate traffic is forwarded to your website, and malicious traffic is blackholed.

There is an impact on performance for end-users, but the alternative is that your website would be completely inaccessible due to the server being overwhelmed.

Traffic scrubbing services can be expensive. It will depend on the size and duration of the attack as to whether it is worth engaging an internet security specialist.

In 2018, GitHub was the target of one of the biggest ever DDoS attacks. However, the company had a documented playbook on how to deal with a DDoS attack and quickly sounded the alarm to its cybersecurity partner Akamai Prolexic. By using traffic scrubbing, Akamai Prolexic was able to get the GitHub website back online within 20 minutes.

5. Use a Content Delivery Network

When you use a CDN, your website files are cached on multiple servers around the world. This means that your website visitors can access the website files on the server closest to their location, and loading time is significantly reduced.

A CDN can also help to protect your website from a DDoS attack.

Because the CDN redistributes your website traffic to multiple servers, it can prevent malicious packets from reaching your origin server and bringing down your website. Instead, the cached version of your website is used, and your origin server is left untouched.

In many cases, the capacity of the CDN network is enough to handle the size of the DDoS attack. CDN providers usually offer additional security features to help mitigate DDoS attacks, including network perimeter protection.

It’s still possible for a DDoS attack to reach your server, but a CDN does offer an extra layer of protection.

6. Be Aware of Secondary Attacks

A DDoS attack is often used as a distraction tactic for an even more damaging cyberattack. While your attention is focused on mitigating the DDoS and getting your website back online, a hacker can access your server. According to a survey by internet security company Kaspersky, 56 percent of companies that have been the target of a cybercrime believe that a DDoS attack was used as a smokescreen for other criminal activities.

It’s important to see the bigger picture and make sure there are protections in place to mitigate data theft and other nefarious activities that could be performed during a DDoS attack.

7. Create A DDoS Response Plan

Like any other risk to your business, you should have documented protocols on how to respond if you are hit with a DDoS attack. Staff should be trained on how to respond when a DDoS attack is detected.

Make sure all contact information for ISPs and hosting providers are readily accessible and up to date. If you have a contract with an internet security service provider, make sure their contact information is available to staff.

8. Test Your Response With a DDoS Simulation

Once you have drafted a playbook, consider running a simulation DDoS attack to test your strategy and identify ways you can improve your response.

You’ll need to inform your ISP or hosting provider of the DDoS simulation and make sure it doesn’t breach the terms of your contract. In addition, some companies require you to use approved DDoS testing partners.

Find Support Today!

DDoS attacks are a persistent and evolving cybersecurity challenge that can have wide-ranging consequences for organizations of all sizes. While prevention cannot be guaranteed, understanding how DDoS attacks work, recognizing the signs, and implementing proactive strategies can reduce the risk and impact of these incidents.

Regular monitoring, a scalable infrastructure, DDoS protection services, and a solid response plan are critical for managing and mitigating the effects of DDoS attacks. As technology advances, staying informed and prepared is essential in defending against this constantly shifting threat.