Give your business the competitive edge with our Business VPN service. In this post, we’ll tell you why a VPN is the secret ingredient for your company’s success.

Virtual Private Networks, VPNs, are not only useful for expats looking to bypass Geo-blocks and access their favorite sites from back home, they also offer powerful advantages for businesses in a number of sectors– including SEO companies, financial firms, travel agencies and more.

What exactly is a VPN? An excellent question to ask, especially if you’re considering choosing one for your business. Essentially, a Virtual Private Network is a technology that allows you to set up a private, secure connection to another remote network. Initially created by Microsoft in the mid-90’s to ensure secure access for their remote employees, this technology is now readily available to the consumer and business market.

But today, VPN usage is no longer just about connecting to your office’s local network. The benefits go far, far beyond this.

In this post, we’ll tell you exactly how a Business VPN service can take your business to the next level. So without further ado, here are 11 reasons a VPN is the secret ingredient to help businesses of all shapes and sizes to succeed and thrive.

1. Easily Manage and Optimize Your International Search Rankings & Ad Campaigns

Chances are if you’re an SEO Firm, Ad agency, or even a business looking to optimize your own advertising efforts, the ability to easily view, monitor and manage your ads and relevant keywords internationally is key. But how are you supposed to do that if the web you view in your country is completely different from the way the web appears in another country? The answer is simple: a Business VPN service.

As you now know, VPN technology allows you to establish a connection to a remote server, and that includes remote servers abroad — meaning you can easily change your online location. With a Business VPN Service, you can connect to a variety of international servers and browse the web as if you were in another country.

By browsing the web as if you were in another location, you can see how your ads appear in key markets and easily observe keyword performance in target countries. In short, a Business VPN service allows you to internationally market and advertise your company to the fullest extent possible.

2. Use a Business VPN Service to Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Just as you can use a Business VPN service to easily monitor your own international ad campaigns, you can also have a look at the competition’s. Do you know that one or several of your competitors are performing strongly in a certain region? So see what they do. The ability to easily change your Geo-location online means that you can easily spy on your competition, beat them at their tactics and establish your company as an industry leader.

This doesn’t only apply to ads– but to your competitor’s online activities in general. For example, as we recently shared on Recruiter.com, this aspect of a VPN can be incredibly helpful for recruiters as well. With the use of a VPN, recruiters can more easily access a variety of international job listings and view relevant candidates internationally. This means getting the edge on competitors and making as many placements and as much commission as possible.

3. Unrestricted Access to Applications, VoIP Services and Online Business Tools

Over 60 countries worldwide censor the Internet; some more aggressively than others. Did you know that in numerous countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Brazil, VoIP calling apps like Skype, Whatsapp and Viber are currently blocked? Certain countries (China is, of course, the most well-known example) not only block VoIP apps, but also block major online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google.

It’s likely, however, that as a business, you consistently rely upon said apps to communicate and work with certain colleagues and clients. Luckily, with a VPN, there’s no reason that your office location nor travel to another country should affect your ability to converse via widely popular platforms and useful VoIP calling apps.

Since a VPN allows you to mask your actual location and browse the web as if you were in another country of your choice, you can bypass online censorship and access any VoIP app, social media network, website, and/or online office tool that you want. So, for instance, if you’re in the UAE and Skype is blocked, a VPN will enable you to connect to a US server and enjoy VoIP apps as if you were online in the States. Or if you’re in China and unable to access business tools, such as Google Docs or Dropbox, you can simply connect to a different worldwide server and enjoy all the resources you need for your business.

With a Business VPN service, there’s absolutely no need to struggle accessing certain online resources or connecting with valued clients and colleagues when necessary.

4. Effortless International Quality Assurance Testing

If you’re a business with a product, service or game that is distributed internationally online, you’ll want to be sure it is working perfectly worldwide. With a VPN, your QA team can easily change their online Geo-location to effectively check the quality of your product in your key international markets. Using a Business VPN service is an excellent way to provide your QA team with the means to make sure everything in your platform, software, service or game is working as smoothly as it should–in any location.

5. More Effectively Utilize Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting is a common practice used by websites to deliver different content to different users based on their geographic location. Customizing one’s site to respond differently to users in this way, with native language text, images and native currency, can be a powerful marketing tool and greatly increase your conversion rate.

By connecting to a VPN server and changing your perceived geographic location online, you can not only see how other competitors are managing Geo-targeting, but also how your Geo-targeting efforts are working as well. In short, a great Business VPN service will allow you to make the absolute best targeted efforts possible, and drive your business’s revenues in any region.

6. Bypass IP Banning

As a company, you may want to not only employ traditional marketing efforts, but also more aggressive guerrilla marketing tactics via popular forums and social sites. The issue is that many of these sites, including Facebook, have systems in place to recognize your IP address, your unique identifier online. Should you post too frequently, their servers will deny you access and block your efforts by blocking your IP address.

The good news is that if your business has a VPN service, it’s very easy to avoid this. When you connect to a VPN server, you not only change your online location, but also your IP address. This means that you can browse through the VPN service’s various IP addresses, rather than your own, and eliminate tracking, monitoring and blocking from website owners. So feel free to post as much content as you want, on any site.

7. Add an Extra Layer of Data Security with a Business VPN Service

Unlike proxy services, a VPN service not only offers benefits associated with changing your online Geo-location, but also enables one to browse the web through a secure, bank-level encrypted connection. This aspect of a VPN is crucial for businesses, especially considering that in the last year data breaches cost companies on average $3.8 million dollars. As a matter of fact, this cost has been rising over the years– with a 23% increase since 2013. Small businesses are particularly at risk, with 71 percent of cyber-attacks taking place at businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

You may have reliable IT security systems and Internet Service Provider in place, but don’t forget that some of the most reputable sites (including The New York Times, eBay and Yelp to name a few) are not using HTTPS as the standard. This means that information exchanged over these sites is not encrypted, and therefore more easily stolen by hackers and snoopers.

With a Business VPN Service, you and your employees can enjoy a bank-level encrypted Internet connection at all times, on any site– regardless of whether the site provides encryption or not. This aspect of a VPN could be invaluable to the safety and security of your company and your clients’ valuable data.

8. Work Safely While on Business Travel

It’s clearly very important to be able to connect to Wi-Fi regularly and catch up on emails while you’re on business travel and working abroad. While public Wi-Fi hotspots at airports, hotels and cafes are convenient, they are actually quite dangerous — both on a professional and personal level. The reason being that these networks are completely unsecured, leaving your personal information vulnerable and increasing your chances of being the one person every 2 seconds that falls victim to identity theft.

As our CEO and Co-founder, Amit Bareket, remarked in a recent interview with VPN authority VPN Mentor: “The methods used by hackers, snoopers and governments are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and there are more and more windows of opportunity for them to take advantage of unsecured data.”

Over Public WiFi, snoopers and hackers can see what you do on unencrypted sites (sites without HTTPS at the beginning of the URL address) as well as which encrypted sites you access. They can also install software on your computer which can capture confidential information like usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and even email and search history. Not a pleasant thought, right?

When you connect to a Business VPN service, however, you direct your traffic through a secured network. This means you can enjoy the peace of mind that all your company’s data and sensitive financial information, as well as your own, is completely safe and sound.

9. Security and Limitless Access for all BYOD Devices

With the rise of personal electronic devices and telecommuting, many businesses are now operating with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies. It’s likely your business is one of them. And you wouldn’t be alone — recent data reveals that 84 percent of Americans work remotely from home once a month, and a whopping 90 percent of Americans use their personal smartphones for work. While this kind of freedom can be financially beneficial and encourage employee productivity, it can also pose serious cyber and data security risks.

With BYOD and telecommuting practices, your business must now rely on your employees to be security savvy when using their own, personal devices. And of course, it’s very hard to fully control how an employee will use their own personal device when out of the office. For example, if one of your employees conducts business over an unsecured Public WiFi hotspot, they, albeit most likely not realizing it, risk leaking confidential company data because, as mentioned above, these networks are unsecured and susceptible to snoopers and hackers.

For this reason, it’s a must for any business to provide their employees with easy-to-use VPN softwares on all their devices. With the right service, all your employees will have to do is connect with one click and continue their online activities as usual. VPN applications allow your employees to encrypt and secure their online traffic— no matter where they browse. Additionally, as an added benefit, they will be able to enjoy unrestricted access to their favorite content, streaming entertainment and apps while they travel for business abroad.

10. Anonymous Fraud Investigation

Fraud in online transactions is an issue that plagues nearly every company offering their services online. With a Business VPN service, you can mask your actual IP address and browse with one of your VPN Service’s IP addresses, making you anonymous online. This is a powerful tool that will allow you and your employees to conceal your online identities and spy on fraudsters trying to take advantage of your company over the web.

11. Bypass Online Price Discrimination and Save

Whether you’re a small business owner or a travel agency, the ability to bypass online price discrimination can be a powerful benefit for your business, and not one that should be quickly overlooked. Online price discrimination is a very real Internet phenomena where service providers such as airlines, rental car companies and software subscription services charge different prices based on a user’s geographic location.

With a Business VPN service, however, you’re able to change your IP address to match that of a country with a lower cost of services. That means businesses can benefit from saving hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on business travel and/or expensive software subscriptions; and travel agencies can get the edge in business by offering their clients the absolute best rates and deals. Instant savings: what business can’t benefit from that?

How to Choose the Right Business VPN Service for Your Company

Now that we’ve explained the benefits of a VPN, here are some key factors to keep in mind to ensure you choose the right VPN service for your business:

Server locations: If you’d like to make sure you can completely and fully enjoy the benefits of accessing different markets online, be sure to select a server with a wide variety of locations in the strongest markets worldwide.

If you’d like to make sure you can completely and fully enjoy the benefits of accessing different markets online, be sure to select a server with a wide variety of locations in the strongest markets worldwide. Speed: Be sure the service connection is fast and without disruption. Given the pace of your business, you wouldn’t want to use a VPN service that moves at a snail’s pace or consistently drops the connection.

Be sure the service connection is fast and without disruption. Given the pace of your business, you wouldn’t want to use a VPN service that moves at a snail’s pace or consistently drops the connection. Easy, Cross-Platform Functionality: Make sure the VPN service you choose is simple and easy- to-use so you and your employees don’t have to spend time messing with different settings. Equally as important, is that the service offers applications for every device. As a business, you’ll want to be able to use the service comfortably from laptop to tablet to phone. So choose a VPN that will work seamlessly across all platforms.

Make sure the VPN service you choose is simple and easy- to-use so you and your employees don’t have to spend time messing with different settings. Equally as important, is that the service offers applications for every device. As a business, you’ll want to be able to use the service comfortably from laptop to tablet to phone. So choose a VPN that will work seamlessly across all platforms. Bank-Level Security: This is important. One of they key benefits of a VPN is the security it offers, so make sure the Business VPN Service you choose is using one of the highest available levels of encryption.

This is important. One of they key benefits of a VPN is the security it offers, so make sure the Business VPN Service you choose is using one of the highest available levels of encryption. Protocols: VPN Protocols offer the means by which your internet traffic is tunneled to a remote server. Given this, it’s important to choose a service that offers a variety of different, cutting-edge protocols to meet all your location and service needs.

VPN Protocols offer the means by which your internet traffic is tunneled to a remote server. Given this, it’s important to choose a service that offers a variety of different, cutting-edge protocols to meet all your location and service needs. Customer Service: You can have all the amazing tech and benefits you want, but without proper customer service and support, what good is it for? Be sure to choose a Business VPN service that offers top-notch customer service for all your company’s needs.

Ready to try the benefits of a VPN Service out for yourself? If you’ve never experienced our service, we invite you to request a demo today. See for yourself how dedicated VPN service can take your company to the next level, and truly be the secret ingredient for your business’ success.