How to Build Your SEO with Pillar Content

The success and reach of content marketing in the digital space are constantly evolving. This reality is driven by the fact that SEO algorithms and tracking methods are continually changing and updating the way they record data. For a business owner putting funds and effort into creating quality content that isn’t producing the expected ROI, this constant fluctuation can be frustrating, to say the least!

Take a deeper look here at some of the various ways SEO metrics are changing. Right now, let’s consider how you can implement a content strategy called “topic clusters” that will evolve with the constant tide of change in cyberspace.

What is a topic cluster?

So, first things first. What exactly is a topic cluster? It is a HubSpot term that refers to what they call a “pillar page” on your website that acts as the primary hub of content for a key subject. You are then able to link all of your related website pages back to this “pillar” containing the key information you are trying to rank for in SEO.

These connected links tell search engines that your pillar page and your website are authorities on that particular topic. As you produce more content on a key subject and continue to link it to your pillar page, search engines begin to rank that page, and your website as a whole, higher because you are providing relevant, valuable, and consistent content about that information.

To put it more simply, topic clusters help significantly boost your SEO ranking. In fact, one of the major benefits of this strategy is that it enables you to use all of that amazing content you’ve already spent hours of your time and money creating.

Effective topic clusters will provide:

• Higher rankings, traffic, and conversions.
• A greater authority with your audience.
• Improvement in the results from every piece of content you publish around a given topic.

A key factor of using this strategy effectively, however, is to create pillar pages that broadly cover the various themes you’re focusing on so that they actually connect to all the other relative cluster content that is linked to it. This allows people who want to learn more about certain information on the pillar page to click over to access more in-depth cluster content, such as blogs that will cover the topic in more detail. For example, if you have a pillar page that’s all about “how to grow your business,” a cluster content page might go into the more focused subject: “using social sharing to raise brand awareness.”

When building your pillar pages and cluster content, the important thing to remember is to take time considering and researching the specific topics and ideas you want your business to rank for. Let’s take a closer look at a few effective ways to determine what subject matter and information will be the most beneficial for you to target for higher SEO ranking.

Determining your key topics

So, how do you decide what key topic cluster you should devote your time to creating first? Start by taking a look at what your business is offering and how it relates to what your potential clients are looking for. Once you’ve determined what that is, you want to create a page focused on meeting their needs to learn more about that particular subject. If you’re not quite sure how to find this out, HubSpot offers a content strategy tool that will display the following three metrics in the core topic validation section to determine if a certain theme is worth writing about in your realm of the business world:

• Domain Authority: This is a scale from 1 to 10 that determines how authoritative your domain is and how likely you are to land on page one for that term.
• Monthly Search Volume: This is the approximate number of searches that show up each month for that term.
• Relevancy: This is a 0–100% score that tells you how relevant the topic you’ve chosen is to all the content on your domain.

Pillar page

Once you’ve decided what the primary focus of your main idea will be, it’s time to create a pillar page. A pillar page is a more extensive resource page that covers a subject in depth and links to your blogs and other various forms of quality content that offer more robust details surrounding the supporting subtopics of information. It’s important to remember to apply consistent on-page SEO best practices when creating this content pillar, such as:

• Referencing the core topic in the page title and URL.
• Placing the pillar page on the top level of your website in a space that has proven to generate a lot of organic traffic.
• Producing content with strategic messaging to convert visitors to leads or leads to customers/donors.

Another tip to ensure that everything on your pillar page can be crawled by SEO engines and discovered by potential customers is to have it readily available for consumption. Don’t “lock” it behind a requirement to fill out a form or log in with a password. Your pillar page will also gain authority by joining quality inbound links from your subtopic content.

Subtopics

Subtopics are shorter pieces of information that answer specific questions about the core theme covered in your pillar page. You can attach the following types of content to your subtopics:

• A blog post
• A landing page
• The full URL of a web page
• A link to a credible external resource

When you attach a website page, landing page, or blog post to a new subtopic, your topic cluster will keep track of how many inbound links you have referring back to your pillar page to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success.

The strategy of bundling content together in this format not only constructs the type of web blueprint that search engines covet, but it also provides users with more precise answers to their questions. In fact, according to Search Engine Land, voice search makes up 20% of search queries on Google’s mobile app and Android devices. Additionally, 64% of searches are four words or more, according to Ahrefs.

Topic clusters help us adapt to people’s search habits by providing a calculated, well-organized, and structured system that’s easy for search engines to crawl and understand. In turn, search engines reward you by giving your site more authority and a higher placement as a thought leader in your industry.

 

SEO Strategy

The post How to Build Your SEO with Pillar Content appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/seo/pillar-cluster-content

Why Should I Move my Business to Salesforce

If you are exploring the realm of the CRM business, you will run into plenty of CRMs, with a considerable lot of them offering the base functionalities, pointed towards compelling administration of your clients to upgrade your association with them. Anyway, what is it about Salesforce CRM that makes it so prevalent and an innovator in the market to whom small businesses are attracted and drawn towards?

In this article, we will talk about the inquiry that when should one move his business and consolidate it with Salesforce and a few features of salesforce that you have to mandatorily consider before you make the move to shift to salesforce.

Reasons as to Why Your Business Should Transition to Salesforce

1. Programming or Cloud-based?

Or on the other hand, as it were, on-premise or off-premise? Maybe the most critical thing to ponder first is actually how much information you have to oversee. The equipment has its very own arrangement of obstacles, as does programming. Distributed computing disposes of managing programming issues, and the common foundation implies it works much like a utility — you pay for what you need and get programmed overhauls and more without introducing and tried everything.

2. Exceptional Features

Despite the fact that the essential focal point of each CRM is equivalent, every individual stage is probably going to have its own unmistakable arrangement of highlights. Much like when looking for a vehicle, you’ll have to research and think about the particular highlights of each accessible CRM. Your CRM should accompany certain unquestionable requirements on your rundown. See who conveys on their guarantees, and what framework would meet your requirements.

3. Value/Budget

You are a business-situated individual, which implies that the inquiry that is likely at the forefront of your thoughts right presently is this current: “What’s the CRM going to cost me?” The value goes for CRM stretches out over the whole board, and there are even CRM arrangements that can be utilized complimentary. In any case, if your business needs extra highlights, numerous powerful CRM plans begin as low as $10 per client, every month. When you decide your requirements, you’ll have the capacity to get a reasonable picture of relating value focuses that meet your organization’s financial plan. Similarly, as with whatever else, the “you get what you pay for” rule applies here. In this way, on the off chance that you need more help and choices, you ought to be prepared to pay for it. Your business is justified, despite all the trouble.

4. Customization/Partnerships

Most CRMs are arrangements that are adjustable to your requirements. Customization is basically altering or extending the conduct of out-of-the-crate usefulness. It tends to be minor, such as changing the area of a content screen, or broad, such as making fresh out of the box new applications inconsequential to deals. While adjusting your organization to the privilege CRM, make a point to discover how rich the customization is to address your issues, both today and not far off.

5. Client Support

A CRM is speculation and is maybe a standout amongst the most vital ventures your organization will make. Thusly, it’s imperative to have reliable data and backing available to you consistently. From online apparatuses and preparing, to application improvement and day in and day out help, solid client administration ought to be a piece of your CRM buy.

6. Scalable

As your business develops, the connections you work with your clients need to develop directly alongside it. Your CRM needs the ability to scale to the biggest of groups, and the design behind the support or have the capacity to deal with a huge number of clients. You’ll need something to scale as quickly as you require, so this is another imperative component to search for.

The Correct time to Transition to using Salesforce

In a perfect world, you’ll need to progress to Salesforce while your organization is still in the start-up stage with the goal that you can have the essential establishments of your CRM built up and scale your CRM up as your business develops. Be that as it may, if your organization is making in any event, $500,000 as income, it’s unquestionably time to move up to CRM. It’ll simply get increasingly difficult the more you keep on waiting.

Conclusion

Since you have perused in detail and considered the essentials for what CRM your business requires. In the wake of fulfilling everything on your agenda, it’s a great opportunity to start an exchange and timetable proposition with a CRM supplier that can satisfy every one of your needs, meet your financial plan, and move with you through every one of the changes—not simply today or for the following couple of months, yet for quite a long time to come. Adjusting yourself to the privilege CRM might be the most essential business choice you’ll ever make.

CRM

The post Why Should I Move my Business to Salesforce appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/software/salesforce-migration

Cybersecurity Training for Company Employees

For the last few years, companies have been funneling more and more budget dollars towards cybersecurity. And for good reason. When you look at the statistics, they are frightening.

To give you an idea, here are some of the latest stats for 2018.

• More than 90% of malware is now delivered by email.
• 56% of IT specialists claim that targeted phishing attacks have become their top security threat.
• A ransomware attack will cost a company an average of $5 million.
• The average time it takes an organization to find and identify a data breach is 191 days.
• 25% of all companies now have a dedicated security department.

As a business owner or leader, what can you do to prioritize cybersecurity training within your company?

Lead by Example: First, you need to lead by example. Paying attention to cybersecurity isn’t a one-time thing. It’s like maintaining your health—you need to continuously monitor and improve upon it.

Keep cybersecurity as a priority, and make sure you talk about it throughout all levels of the organization. Then practice what you preach.

Clearly, this means getting buy-in from the C-Suite. If they aren’t aware of the extremely damaging and costly impact of a security breach, make them aware. Often times, everything comes down to dollars and cents at this level, so wave that $5 million cost in front of their faces if necessary. Trust me, that will get their attention. Once they’re on board, work out a good cyber plan that meets the companies needs. Then get the budget to implement it and keep it up to date.

Educate Your Team: It’s also important to educate your team on policies and best practices and then have follow-ups to make sure everyone has adopted an integrated these policies into daily activities.

With new hires, you could highlight your cyber awareness endeavors during the onboarding process. Don’t wait to instill your mindset on the issue, do it right from the start.

Use the Right Technology: You should also endeavor to have the right types of technology in place to protect you and your company. I’m sure you already use things like firewalls and antivirus software, but be sure they are maintained and kept up to date. Another excellent piece of software that’s becoming almost as important as your antivirus, is the use of a VPN for Firefox browser.

Let’s talk a bit more about what kind of topics should be covered in cybersecurity training.

Recognizing Threats
In order to deal with cybersecurity threats, your employees need to be trained to recognize them. And unfortunately, as time goes on the types and number of threats increase. Six or seven years ago, the most typical type of threats were:

• Trojans
• Unpatched software — for example, Adobe, Flash, and Java
• Phishing attempts
• Network traveling worms
• Advanced Persistent Threats

However, when we skip ahead to the last few years, other types of threats have also become more common, including attacks against Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and against the sheer explosion of data we now have stored in our devices, computers, and the cloud. But that’s not all. Here’s a comprehensive list of the types of threats companies now need to be aware of.

• Advanced Persistent Threats
• Phishing
• Trojans
• Botnets
• Ransomware
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
• Wiper attacks
• Intellectual property theft
• Theft of money
• Data manipulation and destruction
• Spyware/Malware
• Man in the Middle (MITM)
• Drive-by downloads
• Malvertising
• Rogue software
• Unpatched software

That’s a shocking number of things to be on guard against. Clearly, companies do have their work cut out for them when it comes to training their employees on what to be aware of and how to vigilant.

It’s also important for your employees to be aware of the need for caution when logging into your company’s network from any off-site locations. Many employees are now working with mobile devices while on the road or from home, so it’s imperative for you to evaluate the procedures and management of mobile devices. Also, make it a company policy that no one ever logs into the company network via public or free Wi-Fi networks.

Reporting Threats
Have a Formal Plan in Place: Your company should have a documented plan in place for training. And it should be reviewed and updated often.

Train your staff to report any sort of security incident. Make sure they are willing and able to make these reports and create a culture that encourages it.

First of all, make sure your staff is aware there will be no negative impact when reporting. If they feel they will get in trouble, that increases the chances of them not making a report, and something that could’ve been dealt with becomes critical. So be sure to minimize any anxiety with regards to reporting.

Secondly, make sure your staff is aware of the positive impacts of reporting a threat. That it will ultimately contribute to the better of the company.

And finally, always maximize accessibility for reporting.

Don’t Stop There. Offer Continuous Training: This applies to everyone in the organization and should be specific to their jobs and the technology they use. Obviously, everyone needs to be aware of the vulnerabilities of email and mobile devices, but some employees may require more specific training.

Since cyber threats continue to evolve, it’s important that training keeps pace.

Assign a Few Advocates: Every department should have at least one person who advocates the company’s cybersecurity culture. This doesn’t mean a spy, but someone who has an awareness of dangers and can help to keep others in the department motivated and vigilant as well.

Life-like Training Exercises: We all know the best way to learn something is by doing it. So launch some simulated real life-like attacks at the company and see how employees deal with it. This can be done department by department, where attacks are specific to the job, and what they may actually face.

Once they’ve lived through it and responded—hopefully in the manner they’ve been trained—they have the opportunity to offer feedback and share what kind of lessons they learned. What kind of implications a similar—but real life attack—could have on the company, and ultimately their jobs.

Whatever manner of training you choose, be sure to reward your employees every time they do something that thwarts an attack. Even if it’s just spotting a phishing email. On the flip side, realize that some employees may receive hundreds of emails a day, and asking them to spot that one potentially dangerous email could be hard.

On top of training your employees, here are some other key tips.

Recognize that it’s not just your employees that you may need to educate and train. Any business partners or third-party vendors who may have access to your network need to get proper training as well. They need to understand the real threat of cybersecurity and how to handle it. So it’s imperative that anyone you have a business relationship with has some form of training.

Cybersecurity is ever-changing. It’s a little bit like playing whack a mole. For every threat you think you’ve protected yourself against a new one pops up. So realize that you’re going to need to remain up-to-date and educated.

As a reminder, I’ll reiterate something I said above:

• A ransomware attack will cost a company an average of $5 million.

Can you afford to be complacent when it comes to cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity

The post Cybersecurity Training for Company Employees appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/it-security/company-employee-training

How Australian Marketing Companies can Open a Space in the Latin American Market

The marketing industry is one of the world’s most lucrative, with businesses spending close to US$100 billion a year on digital marketing campaigns alone, according to Reuters. Firms operating in the marketing sector will, naturally, want to capture the attention of as many businesses as possible and build long-term partnerships with companies, whether they’re offering content marketing, SEO, advertising management, or social media management, but as the world becomes increasingly globalized and competitive, offering your services in one state or country alone is not enough to ensure long-term growth and to guarantee success.

An increasing number of Australian marketing businesses are taking their services global, by working with businesses from around the world to increase their presence and grow their market share. Below, we outline just some of the reasons why you should do the same, and share why Latin America is a great starting point if you’re rolling out an international strategy.

Growing Relationship

Home to 33 countries and a population of more than 620 million and growing, Latin America may not be a region you consider when expanding your marketing business internationally, but the area is of growing importance on the world stage. As well as a number of free trade agreements and partnerships, the two territories share the Australia-Latin America Business Council, which promotes and encourages trade and investment between Australia and Latin American countries. This not only makes it easier for you to find and exploit opportunities on both sides but serves as a starting point to promote your Australian marketing services.

Australian companies looking to expand into other markets, for example, are more likely to choose an Australian digital marketing agency with expertise in the Latin American region, so opening a branch office in the country can serve you well and allow you to attract local businesses who are in need of international marketing services when they head to LATAM.

Remember that Australia is an export-heavy country; as a whole, businesses in the country export 21.27% of their GDP to other nations, and as globalization hots up and markets like China and India become saturated, finding and promoting new trading relationships not only allows you to deliver digital marketing services in new territories but hold onto clients who were perhaps planning to pull back their marketing spend and retract from Asian markets.

 

Low Barriers to Entry

Ease of entry is another key reason for Australian marketing companies to open a space in the Latin American market, with company formation a simple and straight-forward process for Australian nationals. Once you have decided on the most appropriate legal structure (there are four to consider for Australian foreign nationals in Latin America), you can complete a company name search to ensure your trading name is available, and then prepare the company bylaws before obtaining the official company books. Registering the company with the local authorities is also relatively straightforward depending on your country of expansion, as is obtaining a company tax ID and opening a corporate account.

What’s perhaps most interesting to note is that there are a number of companies that will aid in your international expansion, so if you have limited experience of operating in foreign markets, don’t speak the language or need help recruiting staff, you don’t have to go it alone.

 

Opportunities for Cross-Country Marketing Campaigns

In the past several years, there has been an explosion in Latin American cuisine in Australia, demonstrated by a growing number of Mexican and Peruvian restaurant outlets opening in the country. Latin American businesses are expanding into new markets as they become more financially agile, and Australia is one of those markets. Should you choose to enter into a Latin American market and build a local presence, you’ll naturally become the first port of call for LATAM entrepreneurs wanting to expand into Australian and New Zealand markets.

The most exciting part is that the food and drink industry is just one of many growing sectors, with opportunities in a whole host of industries for Australian-LATAM trade and expansion. In the energy market, renewables are becoming a hot topic, and countries like Costa Rica are flying the flag, able to share their knowledge in new markets. The mining sector is another key area of interest for Australian entrepreneurs, with LATAM offering unparalleled natural resources, to which Australian investors and mining companies can take advantage of.

The agricultural industry is perhaps the biggest tie between Australia and Latin America, and although small farmers are unlikely to require digital marketing services, the offshoot brands that emerge from natural resources and products will. Targeting craft beer brands, vegan and vegetarian food brands, and eco-friendly clothing brands will help you score a range of new clients and position your business as a true leader in the Latin American/Australian market.

 

Hunger from Australian Businesses

Finally, Australian marketing companies should consider the hunger from Australian brands, who are increasingly turning to foreign markets to ensure growth. Australian universities, for example, are promoting their courses to Latin American students, whilst the retail sector is also benefiting. More than $2,732 million in Elaborately Transformed Manufactures was imported into Australia from Latin American last year, with Latin American companies using Australia to add new revenue streams to their bow. However, the vast majority of those Latin American companies have limited experience operating in Australia, and so partnering with an Australian marketing company who has expertise in Latin America makes sense to them.

 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re based in Australia, Latin America or elsewhere in the world; the digital marketing sector is a global beast. However, being able to access new clients both in your home country and internationally can help you to unlock growth and diversify in an increasingly crowded industry, and offer your clients new opportunities to boot. Don’t delay – get started promoting your marketing services in Latin America today, and you’ll benefit for many decades to come. Localize, be reactive to change, and you’ll no doubt find success.

Digital

The post How Australian Marketing Companies can Open a Space in the Latin American Market appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/digital-marketing/australian-companies-expanding

Top 6 social media mistakes business owners make

Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/m0oSTE_MjsI

Social media is the most important aspect of any business. Nowadays it is hard to find an enterprise not using Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn to promote its products or services, increasing its customer base. Competition transferred online in recent years. Many businesses use a public network to build their brand through customers’ engagement. Every post has some purpose and audience interaction becomes more important than ever.

When everything is done right, business expands, brand strengthens and communication with customers improves. As a result, a number of customers, ROI and publicity increase. Unfortunately, if something goes wrong, your reputation might be ruined, the clients start working with competitors and profits drop down.

With that in mind, here are the most common mistakes new business owners make and some advice to overcome them.

Failing to place professional on a social media manager role

Small companies frequently have a limited budget. Consequently, they hire young people with no experience in SMM manager roles, believing interns will be successful. Unfortunately, such decisions lead to disaster in most cases. SMM market develops at the highest possible speed. Some new techniques and methods appear each month. In such a fast-moving environment, a young specialist with limited knowledge on the topic will not be successful. He has to compete with experienced professionals and in this tough game, he will definitely lose.

It’s crucial to hire a person who has a strong background in SMM and learns every day small companies do not have time for experiments. Your strategy should be strong and its implementation effective from the first post. In such a case, only a professional manager will bring business to the top.

Not committing to posting on a regular basis

Irregular posting is among the most common mistakes new business owners make. The algorithms do not show posts to each potential client. Not all customers see the content you post even if you do it consistently. But when companies forget about their SMM activities after several months of posting, the consequences might be devastating. In the best case, you are to start campaigns from the very beginning, losing the engagement. In the worst case, you will lose all your followers.

How to simplify your life and guarantee consistent posting? The answer is fairly simple. Just make a schedule and follow it. You can create a posting plan in Excel or other programs. Then each day you would have to consult the schedule, placing the right post at the right time. The drawback of such an approach is its dependence on the human factor. You might simply forget to look through the schedule one day. You might not have much time for posting or your SMM manager gets ill and this day your posts will not appear. Here, smart posting tool helping to automate your public network publishing becomes a perfect solution.

For example, you can use PromoRepublic social media platform. This popular tool conveniently coordinates all your publishing activities on a public network.

The more you post, the more engagement you receive. Finally, you make your life easier and effortlessly create smart content for your audience raising their engagement day by day.

Failing to place the metrics on your SMM campaigns

Many new businesses starting public network posting, do not analyze how their campaigns are performing. They do not understand which content forms to choose, which media platform works better and which channel raises engagement. Obviously, companies waste investment and are unable to improve campaign effectiveness.

Establishment of proper metrics within each post can definitely help to overcome this problem.

Some useful metrics include:

• Page likes – the number of people who liked your post. They can be paid, coming from Ads campaign or organic, coming naturally without advertisement
• Post reach – the number of people who have seen your post
• Engagement – unique people who shared, liked and commented on your post

The placement of metrics will not guarantee the immediate success of your campaigns. But this information will help you to reallocate the budget to more effective forms of content, including videos. You can also be sure that all the funds work in the way you want them to.

Not responding properly to negative feedback

Worst communication with the public network audience is to respond inappropriately to criticism. It is common practice when people do not like your services. They might share some negative experience with your company. Here, the important thing is to respond to these claims in a proper way. You cannot answer unprofessionally or rudely.

Your role as a brand ambassador is to protect your interests, being attentive to followers. You should show empathy to your clients’ and put substantial efforts to find the best solution to their problems even in a very complex situation.

Advertising too much

Each business finds public network as a promotion place and starts SMM campaigns to sell their products or services. Unfortunately, people are overwhelmed by an advertisement. It comes from every channel and many people avoid the hard sell. They look for valuable and engaging content.

The role of social media changes. You have to follow the simple 80/20 rule when only 20% of your publications focus on direct marketing. Do not sell products and services from the first contact with the audience. Remember 80% of your posts have to be really social. Try to communicate with your potential buyers, building a relationship with them. Only when you establish strong relationship try to introduce your products or services. Smart content is key to success in social media.

Using too many social media platforms

It is a common practice among small business owners to start their SMM campaigns at all platforms simultaneously. In most cases, you do not have time to post or fail to engage with followers through each social media channel. Remember that all accounts have to be active if you require audience interaction and want to build a strong relationship.

The solution is to investigate your customers as a first step. You have to verify which public networks they use and pick the most popular ones. In reality, one or two platforms are enough for a start. Develop and investigate one platform, building a strong relationship with followers. Gaining brand ambassadors on one site you can start working on a new one.

Step up into future social media game wisely

Public networks are an outstanding marketing instrument for small company owners. They help to develop strong customer relations, build brand awareness and raise ROI. You can compete with big companies, find your niche and speak directly to customers who can become your brand ambassadors.

Just remember that even small social media mistakes might ruin your reputation. Prepare thoroughly for each campaign, investigate your target audience and do not forget about the lessons you learned from common mistakes business owners make.

Social Media

The post Top 6 social media mistakes business owners make appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/social-media/business-owner-mistakes

Watch Out For Correction in Form 26AS

It is expected that everyone might have filed the ITR (Income Tax Returns) and if not file it as soon as possible because the due date of filing it is nearing. The ITR must be filed before 31st July and it might also be changed by the government as per the situation. Form 16 has to be filed and apart from this, the individual must also check other documents too.

The Form 16 will contain all the TDS (Tax deducted at source) details of the employers but they must also cross check with the Form 26AS which contains TDS details from different other deductors. It is very important to cross check the Form 26AS to check the errors.

Given below are the steps to correct the errors in the ITR smoothly:-

What is a TDS certificate?

The person whose TDS is deducted gets a certificate that contains all the details like the amount deducted and many more. The amount that is in the TDS certificates must be the same as shown in Form 26AS. If the figures do not match, then the deductee has to face many consequences as the IT department can investigate it. So it is very important to check the figures for Form 26AS with the TDS certificates.

Errors in the Form 26AS

To check the Form 26AS before filing the ITR is somewhere helping the individual as he will get to know about the errors if any. Neha Malhotra, Executive Director, Nangia Advisors LLP informs “This could be due to various reasons such as, non-filing of TDS return by the deductor or non-payment of TDS by the deductor, quoting wrong assessment year or wrong PAN, providing incorrect challan details in the TDS returns submitted by the deducted, not depositing TDS to the Income Tax Department, deducting TDS but not depositing it in favor of the co-owner in case of joint ownership, etc.”. This type of error causes over or underreporting of income or taxes in the Form 26AS which will result in the investigation by the IT department.

How can errors of PAN be corrected?

If in any case the PAN has been written incorrectly, then one can correct it. Mr. Gupta informs “This error could come up if either the PAN has been wrongly quoted in the tax payment challan or the bank has made an error in entering the PAN while digitizing the challan data or the bank has not uploaded the digitized information to TIN (Tax Information Network). To address this, one can use the challan status inquiry facility provided at TIN website to verify whether the challan bearing Challan Identification Number (CIN) given in the counterfoil available with you has been uploaded to TIN. In case you observe that the PAN available in the uploaded data is not your PAN, you may approach your Assessing Officer in this regard”.

What happens if there is a mismatch between the Form 26AS and TDS certificates?

Many times, it happens that the figures of TDS certificates does not match with Form 26AS. The salaried person must check the TDS certificate that has been given by the employer as the Form 16. Malhotra said “There are several reasons for mismatch between Form 26AS and the TDS certificates (Form 16/ 16A), some of them are non-filing of TDS Return by the person deducting TDS as a result of which TDS does not properly reflect in Form 26AS, quoting of the wrong TAN of deductor or wrong PAN of the deducted, non-provision of challan details, furnishing incorrect amount of TDS, etc.”.

How can one get the errors corrected?

If an individual file the entry incorrect such as the PAN or the amount will delay the ITR filing. So to avoid the delay, one must get the errors corrected before filing. Malhotra said “Practically, the remedy for rectifying the mismatch lies in requesting the deductor to reconcile the same. You will have to request the deductor to revise the TDS return. The deductee has no power under the Act, to enforce the deductor to the revision of the returns so wrongly filed”.

If there is a difference in the TDS certificate which has been issued by the bank that has your fixed deposit then ask the banker to correct it. He also added, “TDS certificates should be accurate as they may be required to be shown as proof of TDS claimed, in case your return gets picked up for scrutiny”.

Check the Authenticity of Form 26AS

Before taking the Form 26AS from the banker or other tax deductors, check the authenticity of the form. Malhotra said “As directed by the Circulars of Central Board of Direct Taxes, it is mandatory for all deductors including a banking company to issue TDS certificates after generating and downloading the same from TRACES Portal. Certificates issued in any other form or manner will not comply with the requirements referred in the Income-tax Act 1961 read with relevant Rules and Circulars issued in this behalf and will thus be invalid. Only the TDS certificates (Form 16/16A) downloaded from TRACES are valid. These certificates, downloaded from TRACES, are in a specific format.”

Filing with revised form 26AS

After the revision of the TDS, upload it and the correct figures will be seen in the Form 26AS and after this only, the ITR can be filed. Malhotra said “Note that it does take some time for the person who has deducted your TDS to file revised TDS return. Even after uploading the Revised TDS Return, Form 26AS to does not instantly get updated”.

What you should do

Before filing the tax, match the figures of Form 26AS with Form 16 and Form 16A. Gupta said ‘TDS certificates in Form 16 and Form 16A are equally crucial and it is essential to compare the entries in Form 26AS with those in your TDS certificates to make sure you are claiming the right credits and also offering all your income appearing in Form 26AS to tax’.

Tax Forms

The post Watch Out For Correction in Form 26AS appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/finance/business-finance/26as-form-correction

5 Ways Millennials are Changing the Business Economy of Today

Millennials are the generation that is shaping the business landscape in the world. Currently, people that belong in this group are the biggest workforce legion that supports and change everything.

Why millennials are so special? What impacted their behavior and personality?

Millennials, who also are known as a Generation Y or Gen Y, are special because they are born and are living in a period that has been shaped by new technology and communication platforms. These conditions impacted how they think, their creativity and how they build and grow business. Today, everything is happening in the online world.

Businesses, offer their products and services online and they completely abandon the physical stores and the old ways. Nowadays, it’s easy to create a website with a website builder for service business and offer your value on the market. Having all of these opportunities affected the business community and improved how we do everything business wise.

Millennials are the ultimate game changers, here is how they reshaped the world in the last 30 years.

1.    Modern Work Environments

Working 9 to 5 is a thing from the past. Flexible working hours is something that is practiced these days. We all have different habits and ways of doing things, flexible working time is here to support that uniqueness.

Millennials figured out that micromanaging and too much control is demotivating people at their working places. What we all need is the freedom to arrange our working hours the way we want to and work whenever we feel like it during the day.

This change gave us more productive and effective workers and a healthier working environment. The new environment also offers full employee nurture by offering free healthy food and sports.

2.    Social Conscious Companies

In the past, we’ve witnessed an economy where it was all about the profits. Business owners didn’t really think about the effects of the environment and how they can help the society they operate in.

Luckily, things have changed. Millennials know that is important to support the environment. We are all part of this world and we need to work together to improve it and make it a better place for living.

All the new companies, modern startups help society in some way. These actions not only help us in building a better future but it also affects the mental health of the employees of the company in a positive way.

3.    Diversity and Inclusion

Finally, after years and years of struggle and fight, businesses are treating people with different backgrounds equally. Things have not improved 100% unfortunately, however, we are living in a time where most of the companies are treating all races and ethnicities the same in the work environment. The results and the skills are all that matter, physical form is a thing from the past.

4.    Ideas Matter

Millennials are creative. They support the opinions of their employees and allow creative expression. The old way of conducting tasks is gone. We value more leaders, art and fresh ideas. Creativity is the main pillar of each company regardless of the industry it belongs to. You can apply creativity in almost any business segment.

5.    Working Smarter

Doing things faster is something that has been part of the new millennial businesses. We have the tools and the technology to support the processes better, therefore, we are able to perform business task faster and be more efficient. Ultimately, millennials managed to increase efficiency by 50% with using new project management tools, smartphones, computers, and technology overall for the business activities.  Since things became digital, we are able to do a lot more and do it in a smarter way.

The post 5 Ways Millennials are Changing the Business Economy of Today appeared first on Tweak Your Biz.

source https://tweakyourbiz.com/business/millennials-change-economy