Small business owners are constantly bombarded with advertising claims by mobile apps which claim to save time, money and stress.

Digital marketing expert Brian Hughes has tested hundreds of apps, for everything from time tracking to accounting to project management.

“The best apps combine intuitive visual design with robust back-end functionality that streamlines workflow, automates redundant tasks and simplifies communication,” Hughes wrote for business.com.

“When selecting a small business app, remember that this selection process is as much about your experience as your employees’ experience. Will they be able to navigate the app easily and integrate it into their workflow? How long is the onboarding process?” he asked.

“Consider the app’s interface: is it easy to use the app, or after a few frustrating attempts will your employees beg to return to manual hour tracking and spreadsheets? The right app is one that both you and your team benefits from using,” he said.

He picked his six top apps:

• Insightly. “Don’t let the simple interface fool you: Insightly’s feature-rich CRM is ideal for small businesses. Manage leads, contacts, organizations, partners, vendors and suppliers.”
• BigTime. “Time is (literally) money with BigTime, the top-rated online time and billing software for small businesses.”
• Zoho Projects. “Assign tasks, share project files and track deliverable completion.”
• Asana. Create tasks, organize tasks into projects and get instant status updates with the app’s high-level project overviews.
• Due. "Welcome to simple online invoicing and time tracking, all in one place."
• Wave. "More than one billion business owners trust Wave to track more than $60 billion in income and expenditures– and the app doesn’t cost these owners a dime."

All Business.com takes the world of apps one step further: small business owners are missing out by not ensuring they get their piece of the action. "Your business will benefit if it has its own app, as long as you ensure you approach it in the right way," All Business reported.

"To push your business forward and be seen this year means doing all you can to ensure you’re found on as many devices as possible and are as accessible as possible. The app industry is often neglected by businesspeople who think it’s just for techies and is a sector that’s hard to break into–but it doesn’t have to be."

(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).

Related Stories:

• 4 Ways to Motivate Small Business Employees and Boost Your Bottom Line
• Forbes.com: Trump Would Be the Worst President for Small Business