DevelopmentInsightsMartechSaaS

How Modern Data Centers and SaaS are Changing Each Other

on June 14, 2019

They say the key to any relationship is the ability to bring out the best in each other. This has definitely been the case in recent years between most SaaS providers and major data centers.

SaaS evolves and data centers adapt. Data centers evolve and cause SaaS to evolve again, and the cycle repeats.

Let’s take a closer look at how this perfectly harmonious relationship has looked over the last few years. Also, if you’re currently exploring your options for a new data center, you can get more information by clicking that link. Another tip, you can take advice from companies that provide ultra-fast connectivity, business focused cloud and cyber solutions to organisations around the world like 4D Data Centres.

SaaS Cloud Computing Is Driving Data Center Evolution

In recent years we’ve seen the rise of mega-SaaS providers such as Salesforce, SAP, and Workday. We’ve also seen software companies like Microsoft and Adobe reach new heights by properly transitioning their SaaS proposals and offerings into SaaS-based solutions.

The most obvious impact is the sheer number of data centers now required to facilitate a market-wide mass exodus across all boards.

The move towards SaaS has also caused a surge of data centers moving to private cloud deployment to implement new software, using a combination of internal or hosted private clouds, managed by a third party.

According to data from Gartner Inc., 46% of data centers surveyed said they’re pushing for private clouds for deployment across all software markets over the next two years. Only 24% said they will push for a public cloud.

We’re also seeing a higher demand for the flexibility of a hybrid model of on-site data, coupled with colocation data center providers and public infrastructure as a service (IaaS). This opens the door for better efficiency through cloud bursting within a hybrid model.

How Data Centers are Changing SaaS Companies

In previous years, front-line employees enjoyed the simple convenience of a SaaS-based solution. However, department leaders may have found it difficult to get high-level data. Getting richer analytics may have been stalled or cumbersome.

This often meant that leaders would lose time to manually requesting data from the SaaS provider, followed by a frustrating cycle of FTP protocols and encrypted email attachments. Or they may have even had to wait for a manual shipment of data stored on hard disks. By the time leaders got their hands on the data they requested, it may have been outdated, devalued and stale.

However, that “trapped” data can be freed up by data centers evolving from a data warehouse to a data share-house. A data share-house takes away the waiting and inefficiency by removing the steps previously needed to manually move data around via FTP, email, or even courier. This is the end of data silos and gives everyone access to the same data at any time.

No two other industries are doing more to help each other evolve than SaaS providers and data centers. SaaS companies are constantly pushing to improve the customer experience, while they also look to solve any problems a customer may have with a data center. The same can be said for data centers, as they look to solve issues customers may have with a SaaS.

With this type of true synergy in place, it will be exciting to see where both industries are in 5, 10 and 15 years time.

Insights

How to Get Traffic to Your New Store

on June 14, 2019

Starting from the bottom can be one of the most difficult times for your eCommerce website. Not only is it hard to get backlinks, it is hard to convince people to visit your site and buy from you.

But you have to start somewhere. You need to start with one visitor before you can get a million. Similarly, you need to start from one customer before you can get a thousand. If you will let this problem faze you, you will not get anywhere.

Today, you’ll learn about 6 strategies that you can use to get more traffic to your eCommerce website. These are designed for new eCommerce website owners. So you don’t need to worry even if you don’t have a list of customers. I’ll handhold you from the bottom so that you can reach the top.

Start with Your Family and Friends

You cannot reach a hundred if you don’t start from one. So start small. Often, business owners would set their goals high. They would set their bar as high as getting a hundred customers per day right from the launch of the website. But this is a setup that is doomed for failure. After all, a website’s popularity grows over time. No one will read your blog just because you have written it. You are not as special as you think.

But there is one segment of the market where you are special. To these people, they will support anything that you will do. In fact, some of them may even bend backwards for you. The people that I am talking about are your family and friends.

If you have just launched a new website, it may be best to start with your family and friends. These people will not judge you and they will not be skeptical about what you have to offer. Sure, they may not give you your initial boost of sales but they can help you jumpstart your marketing.

Remember, every family member or friend also have their network. They also have family members and friends that they can refer your website to. The good news is that direct recommendations from family members and friends are usually stronger. This means that people tend to act on recommendations given by people who are close to them. So you should use this to your benefit if you are marketing your eCommerce website. You should use exhaust your existing network before you proceed with the next strategy.

Offer Something More than the Regular Online Store

If you have done the first strategy, you should already have at least 10 visitors or customers in your website. Getting 10 people is not that hard. As long as you have at least 5 family members or friends that know another person, you are on your way to getting 10 new people into your website.

But getting people into your website is just one part of the picture. You also need to give your visitors a reason to stay. You need to give them a reason to choose you over your competitors.

This is where most eCommerce marketers fail. Often, they will set up a website with the same items as their competitor and offer the same service. Then, they will stand back and wait for sales. When no one is coming to buy their stuff, they start to wonder. “Why are they not buying my stuff when I am already doing what my competitor is doing?”

But that’s the problem. The problem is that you are content with providing just what your competitor is providing. You don’t want to offer more. You don’t want to exceed expectations. So you stay in the safe zone hoping to be noticed.

In this world where the Internet is loaded with businesses and information, it is time for you to step up and offer something more. It can come as a simple free shipping or it can be in the form of the product that you are selling. As long as it is unique and it fulfills a particular need in your target market, you are bound to make some sales.

Target Big Influencers By Featuring Them

One of the best ways to get more traffic to your website is to be featured by influencers. These people are more than just online celebrities. They have command over what people will buy or use. So if they recommend you, you can expect an influx of sales.

However, getting a big influencer to feature you is easier said than done. After all, these people are busy. On top of that, they are so used to getting business proposals that they expertly ignore them. They are so used to it that when they get an email from a business, they delete it right away.

So how can you get past their ignore zone? Here’s a secret. While influencers often appear cool on the outside, they are not as cool as you think. Just because they have cool videos or they talk cool in their blogpost doesn’t mean that they are not human. Inside is an ego that is constant need of stroking or a business owner that desperately need some sales. If you know how to approach these, then you can easily get them to promote you. 

Fortunately for you, it is not that hard to do. In fact, this is a strategy that has been done by business owners in the past and it instantly got them in the good side of influencers. All you need to do is be part of their community. Join their coaching program or buy their products. From there, you can review their products and show the world how the product has helped you.

From here, all you need to do is email the influencer. You’ll be surprised that a simple act like this can instantly gain their attention.

Get Social Media Influencers to Promote You

Let me introduce you to a different breed of influencers. These are the influencers that don’t have millions of followers yet there are people who follow them everyday. These influencers may not have a huge following but they are still called influencers because they influencer their audience’s buying decisions.

These influencers are called social media influencers. You’ll rarely see these people on television and they will often post in their Youtube channel or just update their blog. But while they may not be on mainstream media doesn’t mean that they have less of an influence. In fact, some of them have massive influences in highly targeted niches.

The good news is that reaching these influencers are not that hard. Since they are available on social media, their contact information are often shown on the Internet. From here, all you need to do is contact them.

But here’s a technique. Instead of just contacting them to say ‘Hi’, you can do something more. You can offer them your product for free. Why should you do this? It is a way to get on their good side as well as getting them to review your product for you. Of course, it’s a risk. But if they like your product, they would be more than happy to promote it to their followers.

Of course, there is a chance that the strategy will flop. Some influencers will not reply to your proposal while others will just take the free product without giving it a review. Even if that happens, you should just dust yourself off and look for the next influencer.

Free Samples Can Get You Traffic

You have seen the power of free samples in the previous strategy. This is where you send influencers some samples with hopes that you will get a review in return. While this may not work all the time, its percentage for working is pretty high. Why is that? It’s all because of the ingrained concept of reciprocity.

You see, human beings are very fascinating. While most of them close themselves off from the world, they will often open up with the slight show of care. Sending free samples can show that your business cares about them no matter how they feel. And this care can often move their hearts and make them move according to how you want them to move.

Because of this, free samples really has its power. And it is not just for influencers. I think that you can also use the same strategy for your customers. You may have already observed how free samples work in a grocery store. People tend to buy the product once they taste it. It works in the same way online. If you will give people some free samples, they are often more than happy to recommend your product to their family and friends.

Don’t Forget about Micro-Influencers

Now that we are talking about influencers, let’s stop and define what influencers are for a minute. These are people who have a significant but indirect influence in the purchasing decisions of their audience. Celebrities are natural influencers. Once people see them using or wearing a particular item, they would often like to get the same item. However, it is an entirely different world online. While celebrities may have millions of followers online, they are not the only people that you can target. There are also the micro-influencers – people who have a small but highly engaged market.

A good example of micro-influencer is a blogger in a particular niche. This blogger may not be the most popular but his website is steadily getting some traffic each month. This is an example of a micro-influencer and they are highly valuable when it comes to promoting eCommerce products.

You see, micro-influencers may have a small market but that doesn’t mean that you should ignore them. That’s because these people are more open to collaborating or promoting online stores than the big guys.

Since they are more open, their chances of agreeing to your offer is often higher. With this, you can ask multiple micro-influencers to promote you with a higher chance of success. The result? You’ll get more people to promote your site.

Have a Referral Marketing Program

If you can only use one strategy out of this guide, you should use this one. Referral marketing is by far the easiest and best way to build traffic to any eCommerce website.

Let me illustrate this by narrating the experience of PayPal. PayPal started as a small player in the industry – This means that they only have a few signups. But when they implemented their referral marketing program, everything changed.

Here’s what PayPal did. They opened a program where they will pay every person that get them a new signup. They paid real money and they were losing money in the beginning. But they didn’t care. They know that this is crucial to getting them off the ground so that they can become the primary payment processor online.

And they managed to become like that after a few years. Today, no one tops PayPal when it comes to online payment processing. It is the most used online payment platform today.

You can learn from PayPal’s story. It really helps to encourage your audience to refer their family and friends in exchange for a reward. This is the quickest way to boost your eCommerce traffic.

NOTE: If you don’t know how to code, you’ll need a referral marketing software. The software should be able to set up the program automatically for you.

Conclusion

Looking at the strategies above, you’ll find that starting from the ground is not that bad. In fact, most online businesses that already made it on top lack the tenacity of those at the bottom. So even if it is hard to get that first visitor or sale, don’t give up. Just keep on promoting. Change your strategy if needed. Eventually, you’ll break through and make that sale.

So what strategy did you like from the list above? What do you plan on using? If you have any questions on the implementation part, don’t be afraid to ask me.

DevelopmentInsightsSaaS

Do You Really Need to Hire a Software Testing Company for Penetration Testing?

on June 12, 2019

The United States of America proposed a budget of US $17.43 billion just for cybersecurity for the fiscal year 2017-2019. According to another survey, the firms which have 20,000 or more employees spend an average of 10.6 million US $ on cybersecurity in the USA alone. These stats clearly show the importance of cybersecurity of a company and also the country for that matter. In this blog, we’ll focus on the importance of hiring the software testing company for penetration testing. Before we move forward, you need to understand what penetration testing is and why it is important.

What is Penetration Testing?

Penetration testing also known as pen testing or pen-test is a type of testing which is specifically performed to test the security of a software or an app. Penetration testing is very important because your software or app contains very sensitive database and any kind of data leak or cyber-attack can cost you a fortune. Therefore, penetration testing is important. However, the real question is do you really need to hire a software testing company for penetration testing? In order to find out the answer, give a read to the following:

Great Talent Pool

Software testing companies make sure that they hire the best talent pool. Therefore, if you hire a company for penetration testing, then you’ll be getting the services of the domain experts. However, if you go for other options like hiring a freelancer, then there is a big possibility that companies won’t get the desired results. It is because they lack the resources which a proper testing company has.

Attention to Detail

Since you hire a company specifically for penetration testing, they will help give their best to find out all the security lags in your project. Hence, you can sit back and relax because your project is now in safe hands. They will pay attention to every single detail since they have domain experts which will ensure the quality of the project.

On-Time Delivery

Outsourcing testing company can save you a lot of time. The testing company is bound to deliver the product on time. Above all, they offer real-time testing. Hence, you make the required changes in the code and get your code check for security leaks at the same time. This makes the whole process smooth and streamlines the workflow. Hence, you are able to deliver the product at the ideal time.

Cheaper Option

You simply can’t hire a complete testing team for penetration testing for a single project. It will cost you a lot of money and efforts. Above all, you will not be able to hire domain experts since they are not that easy to find. Therefore, hiring a testing company is a cheap and convenient option.

Conclusion

Now you know all the benefits of hiring a testing company for penetration testing. Therefore, you can decide for yourself if you really need to hire a testing company for penetration testing or not.

Author Bio

Ray Parker is a senior marketing consultant with a knack for writing about the latest news in tech, quality assurance, software development, and travel. With a decade of experience working in the tech industry, Ray now dabbles out of his New York office.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

Here Are the Reasons that Web Development Is Essential for Business

on June 9, 2019

Do you want to expand your business? If so, then this place is very beneficial for you. In today’s world, the development of the website is becoming the main requirements of our business, which across different industries. As we know that some of the people are still don’t aware of this method and its importance in the business.

Nowadays customers buy their things online, that’s why on the internet millions of the consumers are present. So many companies are there who take benefit by creating their online website to attract many customers as they can. But before all these things, companies need to create their website according to the competitors. Today, we are here to tell you about some reasons for the web development which you need to know.

After knowing those reasons, you will be able to understand that Nicholls Web Consulting Adelaide SEO professionals play a vital role in expanding our business.

  • Convenience

If your website is well-developed, then it is beneficial for both you as well as your users. By developing your website, it makes your website simple and even creates it. Due to this, your site becomes straightforward; it means that every people can easily understand what you are offering them?

If the visitors know what is your exact business? And what are you offering them with the help of the website? Then it creates lots of chances that they all are converted into the customer.

  • Marketing on a global scale

If you have a better online presence with the help of the balanced website, then you can easily achieve your target. All those customers are not only from your local area, but they are also from different areas of the world. On the internet, we can see that there are millions of people who are all around the world.

You must make your website and wait to find out your website. When all the things have done, then you can easily do a conversation with your customers.

  • All-time business accessibility

If you are running the online business, then it means that your business becomes available every time. People can be able to visit your site at any time when they need. Due to these reasons, so many customers attracts towards our business. If you are doing the offline business, then you can’t get that type of ease.

  • Believable source

When you are creating your website then with the help of the web development company, make their features very easy and good approach, which is easily understandable. Due to this, you will be able to get all the important information related to your company in just a few minutes.

When people realize all these things, then it will make your site a believable source, and you must promote to your friends. It means that web development optimizes your website and makes it a credible source and a good source of information.

These are the reasons which express that web development is beneficial for business.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

5 Ways to Boost Your SEO With Visual Marketing

on June 7, 2019

Visual marketing can propel your SEO strategy, but it is often overlooked by companies who focus on optimizing their text for search engines, without giving proper credence to their visuals. Strong imagery can have a measurable impact on how your website ranks on Google.

With all the innovation we have seen in the digital medium over the last few years, Google is still the leader in determining which websites get the highest rankings, and that impacts the number of sessions the websites receive. It is with Google’s organic rankings in mind that you need to create your plan for visual marketing before you put in the time, effort, and money to design visuals, especially if you’re a small business with limited resources.

Here are five simple tips that will help boost your SEO:

  1. Write optimized alt tags
  2. Don’t use stock photos, create infographics
  3. Create accompanying text for your infographics
  4. Keep an eye on file sizes
  5. Capitalize on image shareability

1. Write optimized alt tags

Keywords are crucial to creating any piece of content, but they also make a difference to the images you use. One of the easy-to-miss steps when creating visual content is with regards to optimizing alt tags. The alt tag is a text alternative to the image attributes which allows images to show up in Google’s text searches. You can already see why this would be so important in your website’s Google ranking.

Consider uploading an image without an alt attribute or alt tag. Google’s search algorithms will not be able to read the image as it is not equipped to do so, but it can read the text you add in the alt tag section of the image. This will give Google the ability to read the image in context of your website’s text and rank the website accordingly.

Alt tags are usually easy to edit. Most content management systems allow you to change the text in the alt tag or attributes text box, so you can make adding alt text to your image part of the uploading process. Here’s an example in WordPress:

When creating your alt text, you should keep it short as Google will find it easier to index shorter tags. As you wouldn’t include too many keywords in your text content, you should avoid doing the same when using keywords in the alt tag. Search engines pick up on keyword stuffing and can actually lower your website’s rank as a consequence.

Instead, focus on using the alt tag as an opportunity to describe what is in the image with words, as alt tags are generally used for screen readers for the visually impaired. By optimizing your alt tags, you will not only boost your SEO on Google but reach out to a demographic that may not have been able to properly access your content before.

2. Don’t use stock photos, create infographics

Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/vW02fA1pnzc/infographics-and-visual-marketing

The quality of your visuals will impact the way visitors to your website engage with your content, and will, as a result, affect your SEO. But when we talk about high-quality visuals, many companies immediately turn to stock photos that are of high quality. It is not the same thing.

Because of the proliferation of stock photo providers, and the increased savviness of users, stock photos have become easily recognizable. So much so that users can become bored by their appearance on websites and may even feel that they are unable to trust a site that has not created its own visual language.

Investing in overused stock photo properties may be the cheaper option, but it isn’t the best one to use if you want to enhance your SEO. You should be working towards creating strong visuals that not only grab the attention of users but make them stay on your website. You need engaging visual content that gives visitors information in a quick, concise way, while still being attractive, and shareable.

One way to do all this is to use infographics. This is particularly true if your website is data-heavy. Infographics can relay a wealth of information in attractive and interactive ways. Venngage’s timeline Infographics give you the option to convey a variety of information – historical milestones, event calendars, product deliverables, even superhero origin stories – that will make the user experience that much more engaging.

If you want proof, use heatmaps to analyze how your readers spend time on individual pages and what images they engage with more.

Here’s an example of an infographic we created for Mention to visualize their unique research:

3. Create text for your infographics

Once you have begun using infographics to deliver your information and data in an attractive way, you need to ensure that your infographic is optimized for Google. As with images and alt tags, infographics are not easily indexed by Google without proper text accompanying it. Google’s image search will be able to index the infographic but to boost your site’s SEO, you will need the infographic, and the page it is uploaded to, to appear in Google’s text search as well.

The best way to do this would be to write accompanying text on the page featuring the infographic. This will help Google scan the text and evaluate the content so as to give the page its deserving rank. To do this, you should create written content that complements your infographic.

Here’s an example we did at Venngage. We teamed up with SurveyMonkey to do a study of logo styles, made an infographic with the results and put it on our blog. Check out the introductory text:

It is best to avoid explaining what is in the infographic because the user does not want to read a repeat of what they can easily see in the infographic. With the combination of a strong infographic and relevant text, you will add value to your page, the user experience, and to your site’s Google ranking.

4. Keep an eye on file sizes

We have stressed on the importance of good quality visuals but it is also important to keep your file sizes small when uploading them to your website. Large file sizes will slow down your website’s loading time, and that is guaranteed to frustrate users enough for them to leave your site. This is not something you want.

Beyond the user, what many companies don’t realize is that Google’s organic search ranking is also affected by site speed. The faster your site loads, the better your rank is likely to be; on the flipside, Google will penalize your site if it loads slowly.

One of the major factors in your website’s loading speed is the size of your images. You should be testing your site speed using Google’s Page Speed Insights Tool, and if your site isn’t loading quickly enough, you should take a look at your images to see whether their sizes are slowing your site down.

Here is a screenshot of Venngage’s site speed using the Google Page Speed Tool:

Some points to keep in mind about uploading images and infographics. PNGs, SVGs, and GIFs are good for graphics as well as infographics, because they maintain the quality of the image even in small sizes, while JPEGs are best for photographs. You can also use image compression tools like ImageOptim before uploading images on to your website to ensure that the site loads quickly.

5. Capitalize on image shareability

Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/X5EkhFNfmhs/image-shareability-simple-chart

Images, and infographics, in particular, are excellent for sharing because of their visual appeal and the ease with which they can be shared widely.

When you create visual content to accompany your text, it is likely that others who view it will share it with others or re-use it on their own sites, hopefully with permission and with backlinks to your site. This process not only taps into audiences that you may not have been able to reach, but the use of backlinks increases your Google ranking.

If someone uses your images without your permission, you are well within your rights to ask them to credit you. You can use Reverse Google Image Search to find sites that are using your visuals to ensure that you are receiving due credit and to find out about backlink opportunities.

Another way to capitalize on image shareability, and to get more backlinks, is by pitching to the media or influencers. Images enhance text properties, and if you are able to create high-quality infographics that will enhance a news piece or help an influencer get more traction on their guest post, you can build a partnership that will be mutually beneficial for you and your partners. Do remember that Google has strong backlink policies that you need to keep in mind. SEO best practice says you should not request backlinks directly. Allow the relationship to evolve organically and you will most likely get the backlinks you deserve.

Conclusion

Images and infographics can make a world of difference to how your content engages with users and can help your rank on Google. Following these few helpful tips will make a difference to how your visual marketing boosts your SEO because if you are spending the time and money on creating beautiful and informative visuals, you should be getting the most out of them.

About the author

Ronita Mohan is a content marketer at Venngage, the online infographic and design platform. Ronita is interested in a variety of topics with regards to digital marketing, visual content, and online engagement, which she enjoys researching and writing about.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

3 Massive Benefits of Deploying a Sales Engagement Platform

on June 4, 2019

Technology has touched nearly every aspect of modern business, and sales are no exception. Whereas before, sales reps had to manually choose which leads to follow, schedule their follow-ups, dial their phones and log information – a process as inefficient as it was non-systematized – technology has gifted sales teams a better solution.

It’s called a sales engagement platform, and it’s an easy-to-integrate, easy-to-use software that helps your reps engage and qualify leads with greater efficiency. If your sales team is just operating with a simple SaaS CRM, you only have part of the equation: you need a way to put your CRM’s info into action and push those leads through the pipeline.

Still unsure? Here are three, massive, undeniable benefits of deploying a sales engagement platform.

Enjoy a Boost in Productivity

A sales engagement platform automates reps’ workflow and therefore, increases productivity. You can check out Vanillasoft.com for the stats (for instance, they measured a 94% increase in productivity when using their sales engagement platform) or read client testimonials – either way, the proof is pretty apparent.

How an engagement platform does this is, basically, by removing as much keyboard activity as possible. The auto-dialing and auto-email-population functions of a sales engagement platform save reps a lot of time, as does the queue-based lead routing (more on that below). It allows sales development reps to touch more leads, more often, qualifying more leads for your AEs to close.

Don’t Let Leads Slip Through the Cracks

Without a sales engagement platform, an SDR has to hunt their CRM for their next lead. Inordinately, they will choose the biggest lead in terms of size, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best lead – they overlook the mom-and-pop business hiding in plain sight in the CRM, who just expressed interest in the product, for instance.

A sales engagement platform takes the guesswork out of lead prioritization. With queue-based lead routing it constantly pushes the next best lead up to the top of your SDRs’ lists, meaning that the moment they’re done contacting the last lead, they are onto the next best one. It also means that “speed to lead” is optimized – that is, the time it takes SDRs to make the first contact, a metric that is of crucial importance to successful engagement.

Develop & Automate an Effective Sales Cadence

If you’re unfamiliar, sales cadence is a term used to describe the choreography of touch points a salesperson makes to engage a lead. Together, the number of touches, the type of touch (email, phone, voicemail, SMS, etc.) and the timeline of the touches create a cadence.

Without a sales engagement platform, that cadence can be all over the place, totally at the mercy of an SDRs whims. With one, however, you can automate the cadence, and ensure that each prospect receives the right amount and type of touches, over the right amount of time.

If your sales team isn’t already making use of a sales engagement platform, maybe it’s time to try one out. It’s not simply about modernizing for the sake of modernizing – it’s about better productivity, more qualified leads and an automated sales cadence.

DevelopmentInsightsSaaS

7 Modern Techniques of SEO That Will Work for You This Year

on June 3, 2019

There is no denying the fact that search engine optimization is definitely a significant thing, which needs to be embraced by the website owners, who want their sites to gain a high rank on the search engines. In order to get high rankings and also boost traffic, it is crucial that you employ the ideal and best strategies of search engine optimization. However, one important thing that you have to understand is that the modern techniques of SEO are responsible for focusing on both the search engines as well as the experience of the users. Furthermore, Google is also responsible for updating the algorithm and what you need to understand is that the tactics that were being used by the professionals almost 5 or 10 years ago are not at all going to be effective right now. A proper and ideal approach is crucial.

Given below is a list of the modern techniques of search engine optimization, which is definitely going to work in a positive manner for you.

Optimize the site and make it mobile-friendly

If you are interested in experiencing the ideal outcomes of search engine optimization, it is mandatory to ensure that your website is completely mobile-friendly. If you are asking why you need to understand that Google has updated the algorithm in 2016 and mobile-first indexing has become one of the most important ranking factors of SEO. According to www.thenextscoop.com, 55% of the customer conversations are responsible for happening within a single hour of conducting thorough research on mobiles.

You need to understand that currently, billions of people are using mobile devices constantly. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that your site is optimized, so that you get a high SEO ranking.

Concentrate on SEO optimization locally

Another important technique that you need to keep on your mind is that it is imperative that you concentrate on local SEO. Currently, the ‘near me’ searches have seen a lot of popularity because each and every user is looking for services and products, which are near them. You do not need to sell anything online in order to try local SEO. The main objective is that users need to locate your business. It will be easy for users to locate you when your contact details, as well as directions, are given on the website. If your business is completely online, you need to optimize the site for the local searches. This is one of the most effective SEO strategies.

Improve the experience of the users

If you want to see your website gain more traffic as well as obtain a high rank in the search engines, you need to ensure that it is extremely user-friendly. When your site is going to provide a visitor with an ideal experience, he will definitely want to spend a lot more time on the site, which is responsible for improving the rank of your website on the search engines. Google is also responsible for identifying the total time that a particular user spends on your website.

If Google identifies that any user is spending a long time on your website, Google will ensure that more relevant results are provided to him. However, in order to make sure that a user is spending more time on your website, it is crucial for you to post high-quality and relevant content.

Maximizing on social networking platforms

If there is an ideal SEO technique, which can help in boosting the rankings, it is undoubtedly social media marketing. If you consider the trends and the statistics of the usage of social media in the last 10 years, you will understand that the total numbers of users are going to keep increasing with each passing year.

This means that your business should have the ideal social media presence as well because it helps in promoting brand awareness and also, it will become easier for you to interact with the target audience. In addition, social media profiles are also responsible for appearing on the search engines. If all your posts are capable of attracting the readers, it is obvious that your rankings are also going to improve. If you are looking for an SEO expert in Adelaide, ensure that you have knowledge about this technique.

Ensure that you are not ignoring YouTube SEO

YouTube is also a search engine, which has the second most popular after Google. If you did not have this knowledge, now you know that ranking on YouTube is also imperative. YouTube is also searched by millions of users each month and if you are attempting YouTube SEO, there is a chance that your site is going to rank on the top of the reputed search engines as well. It can help in improving traffic with the total number of views that you receive. However, you definitely need to get YouTube subscribers and ensure that YouTube videos are search engine friendly.

Rely on the SEO tools that are available

A digital marketer has sound knowledge about the importance of search engine optimization tools. They help in getting a clear grasp of the performance of a website, and they help in analyzing, fixing errors, and generating site reports.

Numerous tools are responsible for performing different functions that can help in boosting the SEO rankings of a site. You need to ensure that you are using them accordingly; however, you also need to understand that you will come across both free as well as paid tools. These tools will help in managing as well as optimizing your website in the best manner.

Link building

Another modern technique of SEO is link building, which is not going to fade away anytime soon. The reason behind this is that every search engine is responsible for considering the backlinks to be an important factor of ranking. In addition, link building helps in driving organic traffic to your site, which is crucial as well.

Conclusion

In order to ensure that your business is gaining success in the online world, SEO is necessary. Make sure that you are considering the SEO techniques that have been mentioned above so that you are on the right path.

Development

Agile Development Tips to Supercharge Your Development Projects

on May 31, 2019

Agile is the way forward. More and more development teams and startups adopt Agile as a methodology. Paired with approaches like continuous delivery, Agile development is a project management method that will completely change the way you handle projects.

Agile as a method is also very flexible. It is a method that is primarily implemented in app or web development, but you can adopt Agile to manage other types of projects too. To supercharge your development projects from the start, you want to keep these next few tips in mind.

Get Management Support

One thing you cannot live without when implementing Agile is the support of top management. Agile is a very top-to-bottom project management approach, which means you will have to get approval of your superiors with every iteration of the development project. That approval process is a known bottleneck in many Agile workflows.

Getting the support of top-level management from the start is also beneficial for the projects you are managing using Agile. Projects can be completed faster and more accurately, which means iterations can be released to the market at an equally fast pace. You will be surprised by how many new features you can introduce once the ball is rolling.

Involve More People

The more your team members understand the Agile method and how it is best implemented, the more effective your implementation of Agile will be. According to the survey of agile adoption, 60% to 25% of the time has reduced operation management This is where bringing everyone up to speed and getting all stakeholders involved is highly beneficial.

Today, you can provide team members with Agile training sessions. The courses and different programs available on the market are designed for people of different backgrounds and understanding levels, so there is a training course for everyone (not just the project managers).

Eliminate Hardware Bottlenecks

Providing developers with capable hardware for both development and testing is a must. Investing in better development and testing devices will yield substantial results. For starters, you no longer have to worry about the development machine not powerful enough for the entire team.

At the same time, you can go through iterations faster thanks to faster deployment and testing. Rather than waiting for the right time to test new microservices, for instance, you can have them deployed in a local machine and tested immediately.

Once the pods – the microservices – are completely stable and bug-free, you can continue with deploying those pods to the cloud and updating your app or web service. The process also results in zero downtime and higher user satisfaction.

Implement Continuous Delivery

Continuous delivery is a crucial part of the Agile method. While there are different approaches to adopt when implementing Agile, CI/CD remains the most attractive one for teams of developers. Combined with the use of containers like Kubernetes, continuous delivery becomes the best way to go through multiple iterations quickly.

With Kubernetes and CI/CD, you always have the option to revert changes if needed. More importantly, you don’t have to alter the entire app for the update to be committed. You just need to update certain pods or microservices, and Kubernetes will handle everything else for you. There are also training programs on how to fully maximize the benefits of using Kubernetes in an Agile environment.

Put Emphasis on Results

Another thing to remember about Agile as a method for managing projects is its near absolute focus on results. When you use Agile to manage projects, you are expected to combine resources and come up with the right features to add. Executing the development of those features is something that needs to happen quickly as well.

Putting emphasis on results lowers the stress you put on your team. While quality is still a primary factor to take into account, getting great results becomes something that can be achieved without making the development project too complicated.

This is also where the support of top management matters. Every result needs to be checked and approved and having top managers who are involved in the decision-making process supporting your move towards Agile will be a huge plus as you work on more iterations in the future.

Adjust Your Cycle

You don’t have to stick with the conventional cycle of Agile development. In fact, there is no Agile rule that you cannot break if it means adapting the method for your own team. Seamless integration of the Agile method is far more important than following best practices.

For example, you can do a Go or No Go for every feature that passes the ideation stage. This means development can focus on individual features rather than a big update. As a result, those smaller features can reach the market (and the users) much faster.

Adjusting your cycle also works in reverse. When you see a drop in quality as you push for more iterations, perhaps it is time to extend deadlines and make adjustments to the way the project is managed. You are safeguarding the success of the whole project by doing so.

Integrate Automation

Automation is your best friend whenever you need to boost output without expanding the team. Automation comes in different forms these days, and integrating automation with existing workflows is very easy to do. You can, for instance, automate Git commits or organize notes into project documentation without doing it manually.

Automation is about to expand to more areas of the development project too. Automated testing and monitoring are already very popular on the market, so it is only a matter of time before more parts of the development tasks get automated and streamlined.

Speaking of streamlining tasks, automation also lets you focus on the more important tasks and understand the bigger picture clearly. Some teams even go as far as being able to spot errors before they have real impacts on the rest of the system.

Get Ready

One last thing you must never forget about implementing Agile is the people. Are your team members ready for Agile? Do they have what it takes to succeed in the new environment? Will your team members adapt to Agile as well as you did?

Answer these questions and you will be able to set an effective team ratio based on functions required in your project. You will always have the right UI designers, capable UX designers, and smart programmers, making getting closer to your dream app – and development workflow – easier.

One last thing you will need is perseverance. There will be challenges to face along the way. Some team members may complain about the complexity of Agile as a system. Agile is also not the easiest method to master, but mastering it is well worth the time, money, and effort spent. Mastering Agile will transform the way you work. Soon, more startups will adopt this method and start rolling out updates on a regular basis. You and your company can too. Once you adopt the Agile method, you will not want to return to conventional project management.

Products

6 Unique Industries That Use Creative Packaging

on May 30, 2019

In the early days of product labeling and packaging, product package was a container and the label was only for explaining the details of a product. With time, the packaging and labeling industry has changed a lot. Now, the packages along with labels have become crucial and are meant for drawing customers’ attention. Packaging and labeling have to lure the consumers so that they can pick up a particular product from the store shelf.  With the changes in the responsibility of product labeling and packaging, the importance of graphics designers has increased. The designers have to use their creativity in the design of product package and labels.

A custom designer works with a large number of companies and corporations to fulfill their labeling and packaging need. With the support of its team members, such a firm supports its existing and upcoming businesses to promote their brand with its personalized labels and stickers. The post has mentioned six industries that are using stickers and labels to advertise their business brands. The unique industries are as follows:

1. Water Labels

Like air, water is essential to living life. People of all ethnic and age groups use a bottle to carry water with them when they are out of their home. Due to which, many players, from small to big, are in the business of packaged drinking water. Bottled water is used for business, social events, and tour & travel. It can be for personal or promotional use.

Whatever your purpose is, you need to label your water bottle. Your label can include a business logo and details if you are in a trade or you want to promote your business via water bottle labels. Further, the label carries a text message. Whether it is a message or logo, everything should be fine to leave a good impact. Custom water bottle labels will work great for your social or business purposes.

2. Wine Labels

Whether you are a wine manufacturer or you are a consumer, you need to customize your alcoholic drinks. As a manufacturer, you need to label your wine bottles with their names, tastes, and quality. You, a consumer/party organizer, want to label wine bottles as per the choice of your guests/invitees. Here you need a professional designer who can carry out the associated tasks very well. You can contact a reputable company like iCustomlabel, for your need for custom wine labels. With the support of such a firm, you will be successful in fulfilling your needs.

3. Beer Labels

In America, beer has a special place in drinks served at parties. People love serving it whether they are throwing a party for their birthday, graduation, wedding, success or any achievement in their personal as well as professional life.

To give a personal touch to your party, you want to label your beer bottles. Your beer label has a design along with provoking message. With custom beer labels, you can easily carry out such a task. A company engaged in designing custom labels can offer you unlimited pre-designed labels and stickers to choose from. You can easily select the best and unique one for your need.

4. Canning Labels

Containers are essential utensil for people from the kitchen to varied product manufacturers. They are useful for keeping oil, spice powder, pickles, sugar, and several other household and commercial goods in a good condition for a certain period. When you talk about your spices and food items, you need containers in a large number, and you need to label them for easy recognition of goods kept inside. Most of you love personalizing this too. With custom canning labels, you can easily do it. A custom label designing company offers labels in various sizes – 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 inches – that can fit any jar. Further, the company can customize the design and print the item name on your request.

5. Cigar Labels

Cigars have a profuse impact on occasions like birthdays, bachelorette parties, weddings, corporate events, golf tournaments. People like you love adding special or funny messages to cigar bands. You do it to draw the attention of others or want to make the event unforgettable. The use of custom cigar stickers and labels is the best way to personalize your pals. The organization engaged in designing the finest quality of custom cigar bands and stickers offers numerous choices. It can design and print every cigar sticker as per your offered specifications. From the personal or corporate event, the agency uses the correct branding approach to light up your occasion.

6. Champagne Labels

Champagne is one of the most prominent elements in your occasions like birthday, ring/wedding ceremony, bachelor party or corporate event. As an organizer, you want to make it unique by giving a heart-touching feeling. In this, you keep your style and elegance in your mind. The company involved in designing labels and stickers can help you maintain your elegance and style in the event with its custom champagne labels. You will have numerous options to choose the best one.

Conclusion

You can contact a company engaged in designing custom labels and stickers. It can serve you as per your exact need whether you come from any industry or business sector. You will have complete satisfaction from the work done for you.

Insights

Real Estate Is Investment You Won’t Regret – it Is For Everyone Who Sells and Buys

on May 24, 2019

Real estate is a term used to describe the process of buying of a property, building a house or a building in it, and selling it at a higher price to another. Real estate is very popular in the US, and a few millionaires made their money through this. Real estate means the whole process of buying land, selling land, and building on the land. Real estate has gained a lot of importance because people are very interested in buying new land, building a house on it, and selling it at a higher rate to someone else. In certain countries, you can obtain residency or citizenship by investment, after buying real estate in the required conditions. 

If you are in the business of real estate you must know that you need specific measures to promote your business. It is a crowded market so you need to make sure that you reach to the right people. T some point you will need to promote your business or site at relevant platforms. Here you can take the help of professionals to aid you.

There are different kinds of real estate. Let’s take a look at them

Residential real estate

The residential estate is one in which the property is solely used for residential purposes, these buildings are built keeping in mind for a single family, or the families can live together in an owned property but live in different flats, or they can be built to accommodate only one family. It depends on the wish of the client. Residential real estate helps in getting the people with money their ideal place to live in.

Commercial real estate

Another kind of real estate is the commercial estate this includes shopping malls, hospitals, educational center, hotels, and even apartment buildings can be called commercial real estate’s because they generate income. The commercial estate is the estate which is used to generate income, and people who own these properties are either millionaires or billionaires. Those who are interested in this trade set to gain a lot of money through these estates. It’s to be mentioned that commercial estate also benefits those who have a share in the building.

Industrial real estate

The industrial real estate includes property that deals with manufacturing; it also includes warehouse any property used for the distribution of goods is known as an industrial estate. These estates are generally very big, and they generate a lot of money. These kinds of estate are generally used for the distribution of goods, research, and production. Industrial real estate could be owned by a single person or by multi persons.

Land

The land is a great asset. If someone decides to buy land, they are investing in the right place because the value of land increases every year. Land can essentially mean just vacant land or ranches and working farms. It’s the best asset to own. Barren land or ranches, they generate a lot of income. A real estate developer would always advise his clients to buy land over anything else.

What the agents do

The real estate agents are those who specialize in real estate they are the ones who advise businesses, homeowners and investors on what to buy when to buy and when to sell they know the market flow so well that they know who stands to lose and who stands to gain. To know more about optimizing your real estate site you can check Clicks Geek. There are two types of real estate agents –

Sellers

The seller agents are those agents who will help buyers buy their best property, these sellers have contacts, and through their contacts, they help the buyer buy their best deal, although going through an agent will cost you a few, but you’ll get the best deal. Seller agents will help renovate your homes so they are perfect for the customers and you get a well round check for your property. Seller agents compare your property through the comparative listing of recently sold, also known as comps, the agents are skilled in negotiation too so they can help you sell the place at the best rates.

Buyers

The buyer agents are skilled in helping you buy the properties at the best prices. Knowing the competitive markets, these agents are skilled at getting you a place of your dream with a price to match. They are avid negotiators too so they can help you get the best deals. They will assist you with everything in the buying process from the legal procedures to the inspection. Although you might have to spend a few dollars to pay them, you get the best-priced home because they have done their research and they compare the prices of the different houses you’re willing to buy.

How to invest in real estate

Real estate is a growing industry, and anyone who is either selling or buying property is directly or indirectly associated with real estate. If you are an investor, you’ll want to invest in real estate because it helps you earn a fortune. If with the help of an agent or your research you will know the prices of the properties, they can be industrial property, commercial or residential property the goal is to gain, therefore investing in the right property is important.

Many realtors became successful millionaires through real estate. It is a known the fact that barren land will cost less than a residential property and the residential property will cost less than commercial property and so on so forth. So if you don’t have big bucks then investing in the barren land is advisable, and the land will cost more within a year or two, and you can sell the property then and buy a residential property. So knowing when and where to invest is very important.

Briefly

Therefore real estate agents or realtors stand to gain a lot from real estate because they’re aware of the fluctuating market they know when and where to invest and help others too in the process for a few bucks’ .therefore realtors have become millionaires and billionaires and the US market gains a lot from real estate.

Finally

Finally, it is to be seen that the US economy stands to gain a lot from the real estate. As shown in some studies, they profit a lot from real estates, and the real estate companies are flourishing.

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