Category: Insights

DevelopmentInsightsMartechSaaS

Earn Millions by Becoming an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. Here’s How

on December 26, 2018

When we talk about the leading cloud service provider, Amazon Web Services is an example that makes our mind tick.

These services act as building blocks to be used when building an application in the cloud. Since these services work in association with one another, cloud-based applications turn out to be organized and advanced.

The demand for AWS services has grown worldwide and, therefore, this realm has opened up new opportunities for cloud practitioners. If you really want to become an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, AWS Certifications are the best IT certification to scale one’s career. Though there are other cloud service providers, for example, Google Cloud Engine, Microsoft Azure, and Salesforce, AWS is the leading cloud service provider that involves a secure network of security.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam is all that you need.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is a certification exam for cloud enthusiasts who really want to unlock the potential of the cloud to global business. This exam is for practitioners who are aware of technicalities of cloud and can convey the complete discernment of AWS Cloud. This exam allows you to test how strong AWS concepts are so that you can plan on your career ahead. Moreover, the AWS CCP certification is recommended by cloud experts to excel in Big Data and Advanced Networking.

Eligibility Criteria

The right criterion is mentioned below to appear in the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification exam:

You should have a minimum of six months experience of AWS cloud concepts no matter in what field, for example, sales, managerial, technical, financial or purchasing, etc., you have been working in.

You should be aware of IT services and what the different ways are to deploy them to implement in the AWS Cloud platform.

Exam Pattern

You would answer two types of questions in the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam. First, the paper would consist of multiple-choice questions which have one correct option and three incorrect options that can distract you and the second type of questions is the multiple-response question which involves more than one correct response out of five options.

You can even select more than one response but make sure that both answer to your question well. Focusing on unnecessary topics of AWS can become your downfall as you may choose distractor options and lose your potential marks. What you need to note here is you can guess answers, and no negative marking will be there; however, if you leave a question unanswered then deduction of marks will be there.

Exam Objectives

Clearing this exam highlights your skills at

  • Understanding of AWS cloud and its infrastructure.
  • Well aware of account management, billing, and pricing
  • Convey AWS cloud values
  • Follow and implement the basic principles of AWS Cloud Architecture
  • Understanding of shared security model, security and compliance concepts
  • Need for technical assistance or documentation
  • Can deploy in the AWS Cloud

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Subjects

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification exam comprises four subject areas you need to study. Each of the subject areas includes particular topics.

Here are the four domains that the exam consists of:

  1. Technology
  2. Billing & Pricing
  3. Cloud Concepts
  4. Security

1. Cloud Concepts

The knowledge of cloud concepts is critical to passing the Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification exam. 28% of the exam includes cloud questions related to

  1. High Availability
  2. Fault Tolerance
  3. Elasticity
  4. Scalability

2. Security

No matter whether you have worked on infrastructure or not, security is always the main concern. Therefore, the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam usually tests the knowledge of candidates by asking questions about security, acquiescence, and culpable management. About 24% of the exam involves questions about different security models, DDoS Protection, IAM- Managing users, Password policies, MFA, etc.

3. Technology

When it comes to security, the exam does not refrain from asking highly technical questions. Being an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, it is expected of you to have a handful of knowledge of EC2, RDS, SNS, ELB, S3, Lambda, etc. Do not skip this section as it covers 36 % of this certification exam.

4. Billing & Pricing

Though the section carries 12% of the content, you cannot afford to take it lightly as you will be answering questions related to the business application of AWS that includes Billing & Pricing. Furthermore, your competence in general account information, AWS support, billing, cost calculation will be tested. Keep your pool of knowledge widen enough to accommodate other exam domains, for example, AWS Cost Calculator service.

Final Words

Using shortcuts for clearing the exam won’t make sense in the long run. It’s not rocket science to pass this exam; however, your sincere approach is critical to fill gaps in knowledge. Tons of books and podcasts are available online if you are a beginner and want to dive deep into AWS Cloud. Make sure you acknowledge each subject and solve test papers to know the level of your preparation.

Good Luck!

Reference: https://aws.amazon.com/training/path-cloudpractitioner/

InsightsMartechSaaS

Essential Social Media Metrics You cannot Afford to Ignore

on December 21, 2018

Statista predicts that the number of social media users will reach 3.02 billion by 2021. Therefore, not using these channels to connect with your audience may hurt your branding efforts on multiple levels. However, as the number of your competitors investing in social media marketing (SMM) keeps growing, just creating a Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account for your business is not enough.

To rise above your rivals and improve your customer relationships, you need to set the right SMM metrics and track them regularly.

What are KPIs and why are They Important?

Do you know which social media marketing practices bring you the highest ROI? Statistics show that 90% of marketers don’t know what their most profitable SMM tactics are. This probably means that they either rely on the wrong KPIs or don’t track any KPIs at all.

Your social media KPIs (key performance indicators) are basically the values you set to monitor the performance of your campaigns. Focusing on engagement, conversions, and branding efforts, these metrics help you make wiser decisions, refine your tactics, and improve your ROI significantly.

Now, if you’ve hired a digital marketing agency to handle your social media campaigns, you’re golden. In this case, digital marketing professionals will track the right KPIs for you and build your campaign around the results they get. However, if you’re building your SMM campaign all by yourself, measuring its performance may be overwhelming for you. As there are numerous metrics to track, you first need to learn how to choose the ones that really matter.

This is the basis on which you will further build your success in the overcrowded social media landscape.

Brand-Related Metrics

When building your social media marketing campaign, your goal is to raise brand awareness and connect with the right people on a personal level. This is why you need to track brand-related KPIs, as they help you understand how strong your brand is.

1. Brand Awareness

Brand awareness tells you how many people know about you. To measure it, you first need to determine the timeframe within which you want to measure your brand awareness and determine the brand awareness metrics to track (mentions, shares, etc.) This is where social media monitoring tools can help you, as they let you find both @direct and indirect brand mentions.

2. The Reach of your Posts

This KPI shows how many users have seen your piece of content since it was published. As such, it heavily depends on the relevance of your post, as well as when it was published.

How to measure: (the reach of a post/the number of your followers) x 100

3. The Growth of your Following

This KPI tells you at what speed your follower base expands on social networks. It doesn’t focus on how many followers you attracted within a certain timeframe, but on how quickly you gained them.

How to measure: (net new followers/the total number of followers) x 100

Engagement Metrics

Relying on your brand reach is not enough. Having thousands of followers is purposeless if they don’t communicate with the content you share. To measure the true impact of your campaigns, you need to track your target audience’s engagement, too.

By engagement, many marketers mean likes, shares, and comments. However, these are vanity metrics that make you feel special about the performance of your posts but tell you nothing about how your followers engage with them. This is why you need to put them in a broader context by combining them with the following KPIs:

1. Applause Rate

Likes are important because they indicate how many of your followers have seen your post and liked it. However, monitoring the number of likes doesn’t tell you much about people’s engagement with your content. This is why you need to keep monitoring your applause rate that shows what percentage of your followers considers your posts relevant.

How to measure: (the number of likes per post/the total number of followers) x 100

2. Amplification Rate

Your social media shares tell you how many people consider your content valuable enough to share it with their network. However, what if one post performs significantly better than the other? What you can you conclude from these numbers, except that one is more popular? You’re right, nothing. This is why you need to track the amplification rate or the average number of shares per social media post.

How to measure: (the number of shares per post/the total number of followers) x 100

3. Virality Rate

What is better- a post with 15,000 likes but poor virality rate or a post with fewer likes but a higher virality rate? The latter one, of course. Precisely because of that, you need to measure the virality rate. This metric shows you the number of users that shared your post, compared to the number of its unique views.

How to measure: (the number of shares/ the number of impressions) x 100

Conversion Metrics

Calculating the engagement metrics is only half the equation. The other half is to understand how many of your followers are eager to convert. This is what conversion metrics are for. They are critical for the performance of your campaign, as they directly indicate the effectiveness of your social media engagement.

4. Social Media Conversion Rate

This metric represents the total number of conversions arriving from social networks. It helps you understand the effectiveness of your posts and see how well your social media content resonates with your target audience.

How to measure: (social media conversions/the total sum of conversions) x 100

5. Click-Through Rate

The click-through rate (CTR) shows you how often users hit the CTA link in your posts. Similarly to other conversion metrics, its goal is to show you whether you’re targeting the right audiences and whether your posts resonate with them.

How to measure: (the number of clicks on a post/ the number of impressions) x 100

6. Bounce Rate

Calculating the CTR alone is not enough. You need to know what happens once a user lands on the page. And, this is where your bounce rate steps in. The bounce rate represents the percentage of visitors that click on the link in your social media post, land on the page, and leave it immediately, before taking any further action. If your social media bounce rates are high, this only means that you’re either targeting the wrong audience or that your landing page doesn’t meet their expectations.

How to measure: This is where Google Analytics can help. Choose Channels> All Traffic> Bounce Rate and the tool will rank your digital marketing channels by their bounce rate.

Over to You

Boosting your presence in the competitive social media sphere doesn’t happen overnight. To succeed, you need to choose the right metrics and track them regularly to measure the performance of your strategy. This will help you make wiser decisions and take your strategy to the next level.

What social media marketing KPIs do you track?

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

Most Notable SEO Trends That We Will See in 2019

on December 20, 2018

In the present day, it’s impossible to imagine a business without a strong online presence. Now, the term strong online presence is, in this day and age, almost synonymous with a strong search engine rank. Sure, social media presence also plays a huge role in one’s brand presence, yet, a potential customer is still more likely to look you up in a regular Google search than to try and find you on Facebook or even LinkedIn. With that in mind and without further ado, it’s important that you keep up with your SEO efforts in 2019, as well and there are several suggestions you need to take into consideration.

1. Featured snippets

Google rank and position in search engines are a huge deal for users, yet, getting positioned on featured snippets is an even bigger deal. This is due to the fact that featured snippets appear above the first organic search results, thus occupying the so-called Position 0. In other words, in theory, it’s even better to get on featured snippets than to get the position one, even though these two things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive (they often go hand in hand).

As for getting there, there are several things you need to know. For instance, instead of going with the generic keyword phrases, you need to make keywords that start with traditional question formats like “How to”, “What is” and “How to do”. This is the most common way in which people ask questions, so, you need to format your content in this way.

The problem with this lies in the issue of competitiveness, due to the fact that the majority of your niche might aim to do the same. Nonetheless, with the right strategy and methodology, you can get ahead of them. For instance, you can go to a popular Q&A portal for your industry and the chances are that people there ask the same question over and over again. In this scenario, it isn’t that hard to imagine them repeating this question on google. This is just one hint that could put you well ahead of your competition.

2. Video marketing

The next thing you might have noticed recently is the fact that Google tends to feature more and more videos in its search results. Since June, there’s a three-video display that provides you with one more way to get through to your audience. In other words, now you have one more reason to commit to a video marketing and get your content to the top. This, paired with a traditional SEO and a position in Google Snippets can truly put you at the head of the industry. This will increase your traffic and give your brand some much-needed legitimacy.

In order to get there, you need to learn a thing or two about the YouTube SEO. As always, the starting point needs to be keyword research. Once you’re done with this, you need to ensure that people who actually click on the video decide to stay. For this, you need an attention-grabbing thumbnail and high-retention content. As soon as this is over, you can continue with YouTube on-page optimization. We’re talking about title, tags and similar metadata. Lastly, you need to promote your content on various platforms.

3. White label SEO

Another trend that will shake the world of SEO to the core is the growing importance of the phenomenon of white label SEO. You see, even though some people may boast with the ability to handle their SEO as a DIY project, the truth is that the effectiveness of this project never comes even close in quality to what an expert could achieve. In fact, with Google adjusting to the existence of SEO, the quality standards are getting higher and higher. This means that even the most basic of SEO projects now require a great number of skilled specialists. The concept of white label allows several minor companies to team up in order to create a holistic set of SEO services.

In fact, some companies like SEO Reseller Hub, specialize in white label services and are ready and willing to act as silent partners. This means that they have a primary deal with another SEO company for which they do a part of SEO services, yet, have no contact with the actual client. The client in question doesn’t even have to know that they’re involved in the process. Earlier on, we’ve talked about DIY SEO. Well, even individuals can use these services and let the white label SEO company handle some aspects that they’re ill-equipped to undertake on their own.

4. Producing quality content

This is the one trend that’s been consistently relevant for years and years and such a thing is unlikely to change in 2019 either. Namely, producing quality content is something that’s incredibly important for your SEO, seeing as how it boosts brand loyalty, duration of visit and your online presence, in general.

The problem with this particular tip lies in the fact that there’s no shortcut around it. You need to spend more time writing, scripting and editing, self-improve, test, and research your audience. You need to practice using storytelling techniques in content creation and find a way to put your audience in focus. Moreover, you need to find a way to make your content provide value to your audience. Sometimes, it’s the fact that they learn something new. At other times, it provides valuable information on the product they intend to buy/service they intend to use (review). Then, sometimes it’s all about creating an entertaining piece of content for the amusement of your audience.

In conclusion

While the above-discussed list doesn’t really have anything completely new to it, however, search engines are evolving and changing every single year. This is something that every SEO expert has to get accustomed to, sooner or later. Having experience from previous years will give you a head start, yet, there’s still a lot of new features and factors to get accustomed to. Nonetheless, if you’ve followed 2018 SEO trends, so far, the adjustment process shouldn’t be that hard.

InsightsSaaS

List Of The Most Desirable Apps For 2019

on December 17, 2018

You require a certain degree of seriousness before you decide to start your mobile business application. If you can amass it, then the time is perfectly ripe to begin, as app development offers profound business opportunities. According to analyses conducted by relevant bodies, the sales of smartphones are increasing day by day. It further explains that the number of people involving in digital interactions on a regular basis is also increasing continuously. However, before contacting some of the best app development organizations, you have to think about the type of application that will bring in profits and revenue, while engaging more users in a short period.

  1. Transportation applications

Traveling is essentiality that people want to be sure of before stepping out of the house. Your mobile app development company in India can help users decide on the right public transportation mode. The selection can be according to convenience, economy or time-saving facilities. Offline services attract more users than online ones, and you can exploit that feature to draw in customers.

 

  1. Dating applications

Researches are pointing out that the smartphone is the reason behind people becoming lonely. With a mobile application that allows a user to communicate with likeminded and interesting people, your business can race past others in no time. Your app can import users from some of the existing media platforms via a system that lets two people search out partners based on compatibility.

 

  1. Task management applications

If there is an application which users can utilize to manage tasks and make plans, then it allows the user to maintain motivational levels. A unique app like this one will remind the user of daily chores like setting up alarms, informing about housework, examinations, workouts, and others.

Source – Pixabay

 

  1. Food delivery applications

When guests are only a few kilometers away from the doorstep, preparing meals in time gets tough. That is why food delivery apps are so much in demand these days. If you can create an application for grub delivery, then there is a possibility of it achieving success in an instant. Users always appreciate applications that ensure fast delivery of food from renowned and favored restaurants.

 

  1. Job hunting applications

A rather unusual idea for an app but has the potential to succeed, job search applications are essential in today’s time. It will be a marketplace where employers and job seekers can come face-to-face. Go to an application developing agency for the creation of this dream smartphone application. Entrepreneurs also use online platforms to hire full-timers or freelancers.

Source – Pixabay

 

  1. Emergency applications

A sudden and unpredictable emergency can ruin a day at any time. So, a disaster, terror or emergency warning app can be a brilliant idea. There are already multiple apps regarding coverage of unforeseen and unfavorable situations. These apps have an alert function which prepares you to face a disaster or inform relatives and loved ones. Such an application can also notify the police, fire departments, hospitals, and others.

 

  1. Gifting applications

The busy and hectic life of today doesn’t allow a person time for purchasing gifts for loved ones. An application can let you send flowers, gift cards, toys and other goodies with a single touch. It will be quite a surprise for the recipient or receiving a gift without any prior information. A user can connect to the application and select gifts, flower bouquets, chocolates, and other special items.

 

  1. Reservation applications

You aren’t always in a mood to go out for dinner, and when you have it, you can’t afford to spoil it. Most reputable and renowned restaurants remain full almost every day, and prior reservations are the only way to grab a bite. An app which allows a user to book a table with multiple options can be successful in no time. It is one such app that will have a design to meet necessities of unexpected dinner outings.

 

  1. Holiday planning applications

Now that the internet is bestowing uninterrupted knowledge and information, many people utilize holidays by planning trips. You can think about app developers to prepare an application for you that will let a user plan vacations. Such an application can contain reliable audio information that anyone can listen to. It can also have facilities like searching for restaurants, bars, taxis, buses entertainment modes, etc.

 

  1. Fitness applications

As mentioned before, the internet is the all-knowing digital partner of everybody currently. As a result, many people are finding out the pros of fitness and good health. Just as it is difficult to go to a shop to purchase a gift, finding out time to visit gyms is also negligible. For that reason, fitness applications of today are one of the favorite choices of youngsters. These apps encourage users to pursue goals of fitness, health or bodybuilding.

 

  1. VR/AR applications

There are mobile apps that companies develop based on a VR system. A user can click a picture of the interior that will undergo revamping and then compare the different objects, colors, backgrounds, or for adding an amenity like furniture. With an AR app, a user can scan a room with a smartphone camera and place the selected items to decide on the style and compatibility.

Source – Pixabay

 

Best ideas

Given above are some of the best ideas for applications in the upcoming year. As mentioned before, more and more people are relying on smartphones with every passing second. It is quite understandable that a significant number of users will join in the squad in the upcoming years. For people who find mobile applications puzzling, this article should clear everything up. After all, without knowledge of different application types, it will be almost impossible to start the business you wish to open. This topic will expand your understanding of the multitudes of applications that are flooding the smartphones of users. You also have to consider going for such applications that the customers are currently seeking. The wrong one can lead to a complete waste of your investment.

Insights

Top Tips to Consider When Relocating Your IT Department’s Equipment

on November 29, 2018

When preparing to relocate your office space, to say there is a lot to consider, organize, pack, and be on top of is an understatement. Rather than packing up your clothing, furniture, and personal items as you would when moving houses, in an office move, you are dealing with items that can be expensive, breakable or easily damaged, and contain sensitive customer and company data that can’t get lost, stolen, or ruined.

The IT department can be a very tricky area to just pick up and move and it does require some consideration and a plan. With that in mind, we’ve gone ahead and put together the top tips to consider as you work to relocate your IT department.

Don’t Even Mess with It Yourself

Possibly the best tip to offer is not to mess with relocating the IT department at all. Instead, leave it to an IT relocation specialist, which is a company that does it all for you. They will have the knowledge and skills necessary to move all the equipment in a safe and efficient manner, they can pack it in the right storage containers or vessels, they can provide full documentation of all the items being moved and track information on the assets, they can provide custom flight cases to keep equipment safe, and they may even offer transportation in a GPS tracked moving vehicle.

A professional service is ideal for companies that have a lot of IT equipment that is expensive and contains sensitive data.

Make a List of All Your Equipment

If you plan on tackling it yourself, or even if you are hiring a professional, it’s a good idea to also make a list of all your IT equipment. This should be a comprehensive list that includes all items both big and small. What this list does is help you track items as they arrive at the destination.

Are You Getting Rid of Anything

Now is also the time to look closely at your equipment and decide if it’s time to get rid of and retire anything. There is no point bringing it along with you if you don’t plan on using it in the new place. There’s a good chance you may have some out-of-date pieces that really aren’t necessary any longer.

Create a Plan for the New Space

Before the move actually takes place, you will also want to create a floor plan for the new space as far as the IT equipment goes. This will provide you with a guideline so you can place items in their proper spot. What this means is that you can get organized and set-up a whole lot faster in the new space.

As you draw up the plan, you’ll need to think about things such as where the power ports are, the phone lines, the internet lines, where people will be sitting, where the copy machine and printer will be, and so on. If you are using a professional moving service, you can then share this floorplan with them. While making your floor plan, take the opportunity to direct the flow of traffic within the new space. Dispose of surplus equipment that would otherwise be left lying around the office, or keep them in a storage unit where they can be stored in optimal condition. If you are worried about the cost, you’ll be glad to know that this wouldn’t set the company back by much. There are cheap storage units in Manchester, London, Brighton, or anywhere else you may be.

These tips will help to ensure that moving the IT department goes as smoothly as possible.

Insights

You still have the power to excite customers and claim the profits: try experiential marketing

on November 26, 2018

Customers have always wanted to spend money and buy new things. There have been no exceptions to that. However, the current retail landscape is different from what it was five years ago. Modern customers are not ready to spend their hard-earned money on just about anything. They want to invest in experiences and make memories. They are no longer satisfied with the look-and-shop experience most e-commerce companies are offering. They want something more tangible. That is why the old brands are reinventing themselves in new ways that appeal to the customer groups, old and new. Several new companies are starting out with event-based activations and experiential marketing campaigns

How is the market going through a massive change?

A fresh study from the Harris Group shows that over 72% of the millennials would rather spend money on experiences than on material buys. It has managed to jolt the traditional retailers, who were relying on the conventional show-and-tell marketing format until about now. That trend shows how much the expectations of the potential customer is changing with time. At the same time, top experiential marketing agencies have created new opportunities for the emergence of new market leaders. It is the beginning of a massive shift in the market, and that is precisely what maximum marketers of tomorrow were awaiting.

Retailers are finally ready to take advantage of the changing preferences and trends of the market. In fact, there is a record shift towards experiential marketing and event-based brand activation ideas in the last couple of months. Brands want to make more connections, boost sales and engage their customers in building a loyal consumer base. Research shows that positive emotions are the glue that holds a customer base together.

What is so special about engagement marketing?

Experiential marketing can be a campaign, strategy or event that engages the customers with the promise of a unique experience. Whether you’re top experiential marketing agency suggests a live band performance, an exclusive talk show with a celebrity or a brand activation campaign with the presence of social media influencers, it is the exceptional experience that will help your brand stand out. It can include anything and everything from free classes to free food! One thing is common between old-school marketing and new-age experiential marketing – the customers love free stuff. So, when organizing an experiential marketing event, do not skimp on the goodies for your customers even when you are providing stellar experiences.

Who should be investing in experiential marketing?

Experiential marketing is not just for those businesses that involve customer interactions on a daily basis for generating revenues. Cafes, restaurants, fast food chains, and health food outlets do benefit tremendously from event-based activation and marketing stunts, but product-based retail services including cosmetics, skincare, hair care, clothing, fitness accessories, and travel accessories also enjoy a positive boost from event-based strategizing of marketing and promotions. As a result, almost all brands are making plans to incorporate experiential marketing in their strategy in the oncoming days. In short, all businesses have the potential to benefit from a well-crafted on-ground marketing strategy. 

It gets the customers talking among themselves

Another important aspect of experiential is word-of-mouth marketing. Consumers talk to each other through various web forums, e-commerce discussion forums and they follow the reviews and ratings on e-commerce sites. About 73% of the consumers share pictures of their new products while writing reviews and 49% are likely to share the videos of the events during the activation. It is easy to become the talk of the town when you have celebrities and influencers endorsing your products during the launch. It is imperative to craft a memorable experience, so your target audience has good content to share. Without enough content generation, even the best social media marketing strategies and SEO agencies will not be able to take you far.

It facilitates communication between brands and customers

Real-life, offline events help these companies establish real relationships with their potential buyers. With experiential marketing, it is not always about pushing sales or driving the customers to the POS. It is about providing something tangible to the consumers. Your consumers are right now yearning for something more than product quality and at-home delivery. You need to conduct extensive market research to find out exactly what your customers want. It can be an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience of your kitchen, a free sample of your new coffee drink, a photo shoot with their favorite influencers or an Instagrammable event! The possibilities of experiential or event-based marketing are endless, and it is time you tapped into this infinite potential.

Experiential marketing creates an engagement loop for the customer community, where the online customers interact with the offline ones. There is a thorough blending of the review channels, and the reach of a brand multiplies from breaking the silos of digital, land-based and online marketing down.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

Update Your Dealership Website For Holiday Sales

on November 21, 2018

The holiday season is upon us once again and that means a huge boost to sales in every industry. Of course, the auto industry is no different. Whether it’s for a gift, due to sales promotions, or because of a big yearly bonus, people seem to welcome any excuse to purchase a new vehicle at the end of the year.

Every dealership manager knows that this is the time of year to ready their location for what could be their busiest selling season – usually that week between Christmas and the New Year. It takes weeks of planning to deliver successful holiday promotions aimed at driving up foot traffic to gain an advantage over the competition, but one massive part of today’s market that’s easily overlooked is a dealership’s website.

Passive Versus Interactive Online Presence

A website can be much more than an advertisement meant to lure customers to the door. If all you’re offering is a selection of photos or digital flyers meant to entice customers to keep on clicking – or leave home and physically travel to your dealership – then your strategy may be holding you back. Why should your website just sit there waiting for clicks when you could employ a technology that allows your sales team to interact with new customers?

24-hour Live Chat Services

The simple addition of new dealer chat software can open up a satisfying range of experiences for anyone browsing your website. Within seconds of finding your site, a small window will appear in the lower corner of the screen, immediately connecting that potential customer with a live operator.

Better Customer Service

In today’s world of automated customer service, it’s nearly impossible to avoid annoying chatbots and connect with an actual person in real conversation. Live operators on dealer chat software can give your customers the rare satisfaction of feeling respected and assisted online. They’ll also have access to your dealership’s local inventory while allowing your sales team to jump into chats to provide enticing incentives and further information about individual vehicles.
The major benefit of this personal interaction is that it allows operators to help customers find exactly what they’re looking for, at a price range that’s tailored to suit their budget. This may not result in instant sales online, but it will allow you to generate excellent leads for your in-house sales team.

Customer Information

With the ability to track analytics on your website, operators can keep a personal profile on any customer that registers. You’ll get well-informed documentation on every potential buyer based on information gathered by live operators and data collected from their browsing habits. This dual strategy allows you to make informed suggestions for your clients and increase the potential of leads.
If you’re holding out on updating your dealership’s website with more interactive technology, you’re giving the competition an enormous advantage on the online market. All it takes are a few clicks for online customers to find a competitor with more attractive online services and you’ve lost them for good. Instead, update your website with the latest features to increase your holiday sales and jump to the top of online automotive sales.

DevelopmentInsightsSaaS

Top 5 Amazing IDEs for .NET Developers

on November 19, 2018

Great variety of wide-known companies works with .NET. Among them are Dell, Accenture, HCL, Epic Systems. What is .NET and why is it so beneficial to create a product on this platform? Efficient and successful software development framework .NET is a platform for easy desktop and web application engineering. This free platform used for many various types of application providing environment for programming connected to most software development phases.

.NET goes well with business, as it involves a great range of tools like web-based services, desktop software, and cloud infrastructure support. The .NET can be divided into three branches: .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin. The whole group of these implementations is called .NET development platform. The .NET can work with C#, VB.NET, C++, F# programming languages and ASP.NET tool, which is among of the best web development tools for building web pages and websites with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and server scripting. 20 years have gone from the time the very first .NET was launched and this platform keeps gaining its popularity with companies’ to hire .NET developers for in-house or outsource work – find more information.

.NET Implementation

Fast forward and we’ve got three types of .NET implementation. Each of them has its features and kinds of products that can be created on these platforms.

The .NET Framework is the origin embodiment of the platform with three main app models – Windows Forms, WPF and ASP.NET Forms.

.NET Core was presented in 2016. This cross-platform is a rebuild of .NET Framework. Products from this platform can be used on both Linux and OS X, so they are not tied only to the Windows family. ASP.NET Core and Universal Windows Platform are also included in .NET Core.

Xamarin is the third implementation for mobile applications and Mac products development. From the very beginning, this platform was designed independently from Microsoft, but in 2016 the company made it a fully open source branch.

For simple and complex data, the structure of the .NET platform has a huge collection of class libraries. Hundreds of written codes by other developers are there, altogether with specific libraries for security, encryption, and database access.

IDE’s for .NET Development

IDE is an Integrated Development Environment that helps to facilitate the development of an application. There are some very useful and popular tools for .NET developers to advise:

Visual Studio is integrated with .NET including the specifics of language environments, from its earlier versions (VS 6.0). It is one of the most commonly used development environment as it provides single IDE for all .NET applications. Editing, compiling, debugging are available for a multiple-document interface. You can make your design up-to-date by placing the controls in the layout the display of the application. Visual Studio .NET supports Intellisense and code refactoring. Plug-in architecture helps to add tools for domain languages.

Visual Studio (for Mac) is newly created .NET IDE for Mac. It was launched as Xamarin Studio with a lot of additions. It is planned that the IDE will have precisely the same centerpiece code of editor like Windows VS has. Text editors will be easier to work with – for instance HTML, CSS or Razor. Unique Mac user interface and user experience altogether with Mac icons of Visual Studio native app will impress you. You can develop there with Xamarin and cloud development with .NET Core and ASP.NET Core.

SharpDevelop is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for .NET Framework applications. The IDE supports the creation of applications written in C#, Visual Basic.NET, and IronPython. It is in free access and provides code completion, code generation, project templates, and a form designer. It can be also compatible with Visual Studio Express if to use the same solution file format.

.NET Reflector is the class browser that explores and analyzes bugs through your application to see where the problem is – whether it is your own code, aside libraries, or components used by your application. With the help of this IDE, you can look inside the assemblies of any third-party platform to see the way they working.

Quest Comparison Suite for SQL Server Increases productivity and reduces costs protecting your data. You may simplify performance management and centralize administration. The IDE helps you to manage single/multiple database platforms.

Learning the .NET Framework

Microsoft gains a lot of credits for is how to learn .NET in an easy way for programmers as Microsoft Developer Network site has many resources for developers with documentation in details and sample code on different languages for using. It can be videos on Pluralsight for learning both the language and the web/mobile and Windows application code. Get acquainted with C# Yellow Book. This is a must-read for a solid base in programming. But practice goes at once, so the best way to get started is to take a project and start building.

The typical setup for a .NET application uses Visual Studio as the IDE. Editing, compiling, debugging are open for use in this IDE. Visual Studio for Mac is in process of development, but it’s already available with a variety of peculiar features of the iOS system. SharpDevelop creates applications in C#, Visual Basic.NET, and IronPython languages. It is in free access and provides code completion, code generation, project templates, and a form designer. A web developer can facilitate the process of programming and check on any bugs their application to see where the problem is. The last but not least IDE for .NET developers in this top 5 is Quest Comparison Suite for SQL Server. Controlling productivity and evaluating of data protection is available with this platform. Microsoft provides the variety of useful IDE’s for a developer that mean even bigger possibilities for getting involved in .NET development.

SEO Process Diagram
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SEO Basics Small Businesses Should Know

on November 17, 2018

The market nowadays is highly competitive and crowded with various businesses. Small businesses that are new to the market will have difficult times competing against other companies that have already built their presence on the market and are favoring good incomes. However, just because something is difficult, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. There’s always a way for small businesses to outrun even the more-developed competitors. A good example of this is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO allows companies to establish their online presence, visibility, and awareness, among other things.

Simply put, SEO helps your website become more visible and accessible on search engines, such as Google. The main reason SEO is important is that, as mentioned before, the online market is highly competitive and overcrowded, which means that your business needs to find a way to stand out and cut through all that noise. Moreover, aside from being a cost-effective marketing strategy, SEO provides many more benefits to businesses. However, it takes a bit of time before the results kick in. That being said, here are a few SEO basics small businesses should know.

The importance of keywords

Every small business must know how important keywords in SEO are. Keywords are the core of every SEO effort. They are words or phrases that match the content on your website and individual pages to that of user intent on search queries. Ranking for the right keywords will bring you closer to your target audience. For instance, if you own a small business that focuses on dog food, you’d want to rank for keywords that have “dog” or “food” in them.

You must also consider long-tail keywords most commonly used by your audience when searching for dog food online, such as “the best dog food” or “affordable dog snacks”.  Comprehensive and detailed keyword research is simply a must for your SEO strategy. That includes conducting a competitive analysis to determine which keywords your main competitors are ranking for as well. The more you understand which keywords to opt for, the more successful your strategy will be.

Local SEO

Many small businesses are mainly competing on their local market before they grow enough to tackle the global one. That’s where local SEO is crucial. Local SEO strategy slightly differs from a regular one, as its primary focus is on your local market. You must adapt content, keywords, your business information, and other factors to match the needs of local customers. For example, you must update your business information, such as location, phone number, address, work hours, etc. on Google My Business listings feature.

It’s also important to sync that information with other local business listings. For instance, if your small business is in Hong Kong, you must ensure your local SEO strategy is optimized for local customers and that you have your business information on every local business listing. However, Hong Kong is a big and busy place, so you might consider opting for SEO services in Hong Kong to help you with creating a local strategy. Once you’ve established a good presence on the local market, you can aim for expanding your dealings to an international or country-wide scale.

Content is king

Yet another SEO basic every small business must know about is content. Content is king and there’s no doubt about it. The main reason content is considered as the most important factor in SEO is that it delivers value to your customers or target audience through information, entertainment, and education. Content is crucial for SEO both on your website and outside of it. Website content helps you provide relevant information to visitors while helping you include keywords your rank for into it, in order to boost rankings for your pages and your website in general.

Moreover, content is vital for your off-page SEO activities, such as guest posting and link building, as it helps build authority, credibility, and exposure. What’s more, content is the number one ranking factor alongside backlinks, according to Google. In short, there’s no SEO without good-quality content. However, not just any content will do. In fact, when developing content for either your website or off-page activities, you must ensure that it’s top quality and highly relevant to your target audience.

Website performance

Every business these days needs a website, small business included. Without a website, you simply don’t exist in the online world and you certainly won’t need SEO. Most of your SEO efforts are regarding your website. However, all of that is in vain if your website isn’t performing well. In other words, you can simply say that website performance is a ranking factor as far as search engines are concerned. But what is that? Simply put, customer satisfaction on your website is a ranking signal and there are plenty of performance factors that influence customer satisfaction in the first place.

For example, website speed is a factor for both SEO and customer satisfaction. Sluggish websites won’t rank well on search engines because most consumers aren’t patent enough to wait for your pages to load. In addition, mobile friendliness is also an important factor. If your website isn’t responsive or mobile-friendly, you won’t have good rankings. Other factors include navigation, security, user-friendliness and so on. For website security, install an SSL certificate that encrypts the information pass between browser and server. Therefore, if you want your SEO strategy to succeed, you must ensure your website is performing well, to begin with.

Every small business must know about the basic rules regarding SEO. If you don’t understand how it works or you don’t understand its purpose, then you won’t be able to utilize the full potential of SEO.

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Why Should Every Blog Start With a Coming Soon Page?

on November 15, 2018

Should you create a coming soon page before you start your blog? Our answer is a definitive Yes.

Why do I need it?

There are several mammoth reasons to start off with a perfect Coming Soon page. This may sound intimidating right now, as it is an extra step to take before you launch and start earning money that you probably haven’t considered yet. However, once the benefits of having it are there in the back of your mind, we are sure you won’t be able to resist the temptation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saeCtruLgz4&feature=youtu.be Imagine this: you have spent hours and countless nerves figuring out the best possible website for your blog. You have picked the theme, set up all the widgets you would like to have, or you have spent quite a bit on your developer to do that for you. Your initial blog post is perfect, though you wish you had the time to remove those three words from paragraph or two. The launch date is today, and you are thrilled. Yet, you are the only one (or maybe the developer, too) that gets to enjoy the hard work, simply because no one else knows about your blog but you! The perfect website has no initial momentum, and no matter how many times you click “refresh” on your statistics page, the number of views is still one – you. This can get quite depressing, and you may feel as if both you and your website are circling around in the endless black hole of the internet. You sigh, as you realize the tremendous work ahead of actually promoting it and getting visitors to your website. This is where everyone who has used the Coming Soon page gets to say “I told you so”. This tremendous work could have been done beforehand, or even better, it would have happened on its own. Let us prevent the terrible scenario before it happens to you.

Guests are coming – clean it up!

What is worse than a non-existent website? A website that is a total mess. No one wants to see that. However, the ugly truth is, you cannot create something without getting your hands dirty. To get the perfect website, it will be in the ugly duckling phase for quite some time. The bigger of a perfectionist you are, the longer the perfect website is going to take. You don’t want your customers to see the work in progress, because you know no one wants to part with their money. For that reason, the website should look flawless, not scammy. You want to look credible, professional and like someone who knows what they are doing, so that they will put their trust – and money – in your hands. You need a Coming Soon page. While the whole website can take several weeks to set up, with a free Coming Soon plugin for WordPress, you can set up an immaculate Coming Soon page in a matter of minutes. Even though it takes just a couple of minutes, it will not look hastily done – it is a single page after all, with just enough information on it. Hide the work in progress and have your customers wait for your website with an awesome first impression. If you have a Coming Soon page, you don’t have to worry about losing your credibility over a bunch of typos, disproportional images, or a non-working map.

Get them to talk to you

Get the people that are interested in what you do or offer behind and cheering for the website before it is even a website. You might have a number of social media followers, but what do you do with them? They are no good just on Instagram (or Facebook, if they are old school). Give them a link they can work with – the link to your “in progress” website currently in the Coming Soon status. Make sure to add the “Subscribe” button, or some other Call to Action form of your choosing. You need them to give you their email. Once you have the emails of your interested social media followers, it is extremely easy to get them excited about your launch date, blog posts, product or services. At that point, all you need is a great newsletter and you won’t have to install additional plugins for the job. If this is set and done before the launch, your website will not be a part of the black hole, but rather a rabbit hole for your potential customer to get lost in. There is another side to this. You could be getting some traffic on your Coming Soon, but without actual content on it, it seems that these people won’t get back once the content is there? Make sure to use social media icons, and divert your potential clients to places that are less in progress, such as your Facebook page.

Reserve your spot at Google Search results

You don’t want your customer to go to the competition just because you haven’t launched yet? We don’t want that to happen, either. The Coming Soon page can help you get organic traffic, even before you have something concrete to say. You know your keywords and what your customers search for. Even if you don’t, the plugin that you can use to create the page can give you a helping hand with your SEO. So, why don’t you get a stronghold on that and make sure that you are the solution that they will see first? Once they land on your page, you want to keep them there, or at least get their email address. You can do this by making sure that your Coming Soon page is impeccable. Put up a theme that looks beautiful and relates to what you do to get the most out of the first impression. It will help with minimizing the chance of them hitting the “back” button. Use the theme to add the most descriptive and informative elevator pitch you’ve got. You want them to know what you do and why you should be the one to help them. This should be enough for them to take the bait, and leave you with their email address so that you can start the conversation!

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