Category: Development

Development

Web Service: How to load test

Anybody who has used internet or visited a website must have encountered the term ‘website crash’. What exactly it is, have you ever explored? In a simple language, it is the inability of a website or a webservice to withstand load. The traffic surge puts pressure on the website server and it may fail to respond to all commands and queries received. There can be other reasons, too, like bandwidth issues, etc.

In this post, we intend to walk you through:

1. What is load testing?

2. How to do load tests

·         Creating and performing load tests

·         Other important steps in load testing

3. Load testing strategies

So, let’s begin!

a. What is load testing?

Load testing is nothing but performance testing. It involves testing how the web service or API will work in a given set of conditions. Load testing services create simulated environments to find how the web service will work in response to various types of external and internal factors.

b. How to do load tests?

Load tests require creating different types of loads that may impact functions first. The load testing services have a full-blown repertoire of loads to create. Not only do they design load testing strategies of various kinds, they also offer the intelligence of validating the tests done to their clients. The process is demarcated into various parts, such as:

·         Create a new load test

Load testing services employ automated tools to do performance tests. The tool comes with a navigation panel. Common steps involved in creating a new load test are:

a.    Go to Navigator Panel

b.    Right click on the test instance or case

c.    Select ‘New Load Test.’

d.    Enter the load test name in subsequent dialog box, for example, SampleLoadTest

This opens the LoadTest editor. Now you are all set to configure and perform the created test.

·         Perform the load test

Performing the load test involves following steps:

·         Creating a dedicated test environment for starting the load test

·         Determine load test scenarios, by preparing following criteria:

o   Prepare data report transaction-wise

o   Predicted number of user at any instance

o   Types of connections plausibly used by people

o   Types of operating systems and browsers users are likely to use

o   Web, application and DB server configurations

·         Execute tests scenarios in various combinations, monitor and collect various metrics

·         Result analysis and recommendations

·         Apply all system fine-tuning procedures

·         Repeat the performance test on all chosen grounds

Best load testing strategies

Load testing services adopt different strategies to test web service performance. Load testing is done in simulated conditions. However, there are some strategies that can help perform load tests as realistically as possible. These strategies are:

a.    Adding more virtual users: In real conditions, the web service is utilized by several virtual users simultaneously. The load testing services may create bottlenecking conditions at the login point. And, keep adding the users simultaneously.

b.    Adding different use instances:The real working capacity of the web service can be checked by exposing it to various use instances. Load testing experts can employ user data in different combinations in the web service fields. However, the focus is to be on testing service by putting different information each time. Playing back the results for the same person using various information fields interfere with the sanctity of the result.

c.    Switch from simulated to real browsers: It is nothing but leveraging the virtual users on real browsers. The process involves:

·         Understanding and assessing how the web service will work in different devices and browsers.

·         The performance check on different bandwidths plausibly used by the web service users.

·         Since the users may spend different times on various pages, the page performance comprising load time, think time, etc. can be found out.

d. Set the load duration:All users don’t access the web service concurrently. Some may have just logged in, others may be at the checkout page, and so on. The users enter their scenario, complete it, and also, the load is maintained for that duration. The tester may have run the scenario for ten minutes for a 2 min long instance. So, experience of 5 concurrent users can be assessed by using load duration time of 10 mins.

How to analyze the load test results

Load means how well a system or application can handle multiple requests coming from concurrent users. The load test results are analyzed based on the following parameters:

  1. Page Load Time
  2. Request and response throughput
  3. Response load time
  4. Errors and warnings
  5.   Hosts

a.    Page load time: A short page load time means better user experience and engagement. The web service does not take more than a second to load. Thus, the web service may enter an SLA with the developer where they agree upon having a page load time. There is a challenge of bottleneck to combat too. It arises when the page load time differs due to the nature of content.

b.    Request and response throughput: It is dependent on the amount of data the web service is required to handle. Bandwidth reaches a plateau after a certain point of data handling. The point of reaching the highest use is mostly due to firewalls. Load test allows to find what setting will be required to ensure that the bandwidth does not reach the maximum use.

c.    Response load time: This analysis-worthy point helps understand the reason why any page behaves the way it does. The response load time helps find which activity or instance is consuming the most time or resource. All the tests done in load test can be integrated into various kinds of web service performance monitoring tools.

d.    Errors and Warnings: This point of analyzing loads gives an overview of what kind of errors occur on any web service’s page and at what instance. Load testing services may make a list of all the errors and warnings that occur. Further, the analysis is done to find how the errors occur and change when the load intensifies or cools down.

e.    Hosts: The current ecosystem of web service comprises ads and analytics servers, content delivery networks, social media and syndicated content, multiple hosts are put to use. The hosts serving the web service may be a source of lag due to the response times involved in processing requests. All those lags need to be understood to take appropriate action. When any host is found painfully slow, the factors and the remedies need to be outlined.

Important tips for load testing

Online retail faces the most load on Black Friday. It is the day after Thanksgiving and is no less than an acid test for web services or applications. To manage the unprecedented situations like this day, load testing is essential. Important tips are:

a.    Test the load well in advance

b.    Test the web service’s full stack

c.    Monitor the backend results

d.    Gauge user experience

e.    Test in real life scenarios too, after testing it in simulated conditions.

Summing up,

The load is a challenge as well as the opportunity. Makers of web service find the load handy in understanding the design and functionality requirements, and any other changes it requires. They can do scaling up or down of resources by taking cues from the results of load tests.

Development

8 Trends That Will Shape Insurance In 2021

Many sectors have been exploring possibilities on how to personalize their customer’s experience in the effort to cope with the current health crisis. Structural changes across sectors are happening all around the globe. Insurance industry is no exception.

It is known that the most effective communication channels during the pandemic were mobile apps, messaging platforms & chatbots. Several reports from multiple sectors forecasted that AI’s initial impact would primarily relate to improving efficiencies and automating existing customer-facing underwriting and claims processes. Over time, its impact will be more far-reaching; it will identify, assess, and underwrite emerging risks and identify new revenue sources, impacting nearly every aspect of the P&C insurance industry and Medicare.

Demand for tailored products, such as business-continuity cover for small enterprises, pandemic insurance, and event-cancellation policies, will soar. Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance and Commercial insurance will see policies changes. Commercial insurance will face different types of claims resulting from injury or death.

Doing business in the insurance industry will change, as doing business is changing in all industries in all sectors lately. Insurance brokerage will be digitalized, but already there are so many changes that are inevitably leading us to the up-to-date modern insurance agencies. Self-service applications are literally your portal to all policies, documents, pink-slips, etc. Customer support is becoming so customized that you somehow create a really strong bond with your insurance agency (or agent) even though we all seek a digital (and “further”) approach.

These structural changes will interlace, on the other side, with people who use wearable technological devices. From wearables like Google Glass to internet enabled home automation devices like Nest, internet-connected devices will allow insurers a novel personalisation of services.

To rethink the offer is to survive and thrive in the business. Property and casualty insurers will need training to have a deep understanding of new potential threats for small businesses. Similarly the insurance industry will see some significant mergers and acquisitions in 2021.

Let’s see how the sector is going to be transformed from the more advanced use of trigger emails to new technological frontiers:

Triggered email campaigns

Studies show that companies using triggered emails enjoy a 34 percent increase in revenue and earn 53 percent more conversions. Similar to retention efforts, AI can also facilitate marketing efforts to target customers most effectively.

Digital services and phygital experiences

The ability to combine the physical and digital experience is to provide customers unique, highly-personalized experiences while stipulating a contract through mobile devices. Some reports even forecasted that AI’s initial impact will primarily relate to improving efficiencies and automating existing customer-facing underwriting and claims processes. AI algorithms can process data and use this data to identify potential or existing customers for re-engagement campaigns.

The switch to usage-based coverage

Working remotely will change the requirements and specifications of many insurance types. The reduced movement of people will incentivize insurers to create usage based coverage.

Security and privacy

Blockchain technology accounts for the issues of security and trust in several ways. Personal insurance data or health records could be encoded and stored on the blockchain with a private key, so that they are only accessible by certain individuals.

Green sustainability

“Sustainable insurers” will outshine competitors. They’ll strengthen their brand and update fast. Commercial insurance will be impacted. Car insurers are likely to introduce more incentives for their customers to switch to electric cars. Some may advertise their intention to stop providing cover for petrol and diesel vehicles. The fear of “greenwashing” recently started progressing, after several affairs. Today companies can’t just say that they are green, but there has to be a proof of that. Insurance agencies also need to persuade the market that, if they claim the sustainable approach – that those practices are in deed – green.

Bitcoin as a new asset class

MassMutual recently invested US$100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment fund. Plenty of other carriers will start adding cryptocurrencies to their investment portfolios.

Life and health insurances

Carriers that quickly establish a strong presence across the health ecosystem will gain a big advantage over competitors. There will be a wider insight into customer’s needs. Digital health, wellness products and services will be emphasised.

Market expansion

The insurance coverage will expand beyond traditional markets. The flat premium revenues and low investment returns predicted for 2021 will accelerate this trend.

Considering these 8 factors in time will enable insurers to align their businesses to the changing needs of their customers and deliver new lucrative products and services.

We’re living in exciting times where technology will allow us to have a complex tailormade interaction, allowing us to execute operations that were impossible beforehand without not only our physical presence, but also the physical presence of an external entity to validate the desired contract stipulation or change.

How Can Tech Adoption Improve Sustainable Business Development?
Development

How Can Tech Adoption Improve Sustainable Business Development?

Running a sustainable enterprise in 2021 is a priority for a variety of reasons. First, sustainable and frugal often act as synonyms. After all, spending fewer resources to get the same job done will benefit your budget, as well as your eco-friendly image. The second reason for going green is your PR and being able to label your brand as green.

Lastly, from both an ethical and strategic standpoint, you need to acknowledge that our planet is on the brink of an ecological disaster. This means that it won’t be long until government regulations force your business (and your entire industry) to go greener. Why not do this ahead of time and provide yourself with a sizable competitive edge?

One of the best ways to achieve this is by adopting new tech trends. Some of them are meant to make your business model more efficient. Others can outright reduce your enterprise’s carbon footprint. Let’s check some of the most relevant green tech trends to adopt in 2021.

Remote Work is Reducing Carbon Footprint

In the era of COVID-19, many people were forced to work from home for the first time. Still, even before this unfortunate series of events, there was a large and expanding population of telecommuters out there. Now that they’ve seen all the benefits of the business model, the chances are that many entrepreneurs won’t fully return to the old ways, even after the pandemic is over.

Employees who telecommute don’t have to be paid commute reimbursement. This also allows them for a larger potential talent pool, seeing how reasonable commuting distance is no longer a factor when hiring. From an environmental standpoint, this makes a huge difference since private transport is one of the world’s biggest sources of greenhouse gasses. Since most business interactions in the digital world are paperless, this is another item in favor of this business model.

Accounts Payable Automation Helps Create a Paperless Business World

Old-school invoices heavily depend on the use of paper. However, with the help of processes like accounts payable automation, it’s a lot easier to make a paperless business world. An average company may send hundreds and thousands of invoices annually, which significantly contributes to the enterprise’s carbon footprint. By digitizing and switching to eco-friendly, paperless alternatives, going green becomes a lot easier.

Fortunately, this is far from being the only benefit of going for AP Automation. This high-tech accounting process also helps elevate your accounting’s reliability to a whole new level and ensures that your enterprise always makes its payments on time. In a modern enterprise, an accountant’s involvement in business processes goes past their traditional role. Many of them hold tops spots in small and medium enterprises, while some are getting actively involved in digital marketing. Keeping an eye on everything with the help of accounts payable automation will help increase their efficiency.

Cloud Storage and Green Hosting

Another way to ensure sustainable development in the business world is to turn towards cloud storage. For starters, it reduces the cost of doing business. Compared to the alternative, storing information on these servers is a lot greener in nature than the alternative. Sophisticated as they are, additional HDD and SSD drives are costly (for the user) and take resources to produce (from the manufacturing standpoint). When compared to servers that the cloud storage runs on, this option is quite power-hungry. If the server in question is also using green hosting options, this solution becomes even more environmentally-friendly.

Employee Training and Development

The concept of employee training and development has drastically evolved over the course of the last decade. Online courses and webinars have introduced a revolution in the world of e-learning. These concepts have evolved alongside tech trends that made them possible, efficient, and accessible. Some are even using webinars to drive their sales or get feedback on their products/services. The key thing is that this form of learning doesn’t require printed materials and a commute to the conventional classroom. Materials like e-books, whitepapers, case studies, presentations, and instructional videos are eco-friendly.

Digital Marketing

The concept of digital marketing is superior to its traditional counterpart in two significant aspects. First, it’s measurable in a way that old-school marketing never was. John Wannamaker, one of the pioneers of modern marketing, once said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” With present-day analytics, this is no longer the case.

Another advantage of digital marketing is the fact that it has a significantly lower use of paper. Email marketing and social media marketing are paperless. The same goes for blog posts. What do you think happens to billboard posts once they get worn out and have to be replaced? Promotional materials of all kinds (eventually) create waste, and not all of them are recyclable. Simply put, digital marketing is both more efficient and eco-friendlier.

More Efficient Local Collaboration

When talking about the benefits of hyper-connectivity, the majority of people focus on the bigger picture. What about being able to connect to other local businesses effortlessly? With the help of local SEO and business databases like Google My Enterprise, it is a lot easier to find local partners. In the case of local suppliers, the carbon footprint of all interactions is drastically reduced since goods and raw materials need to be transported over shorter distances. This concept also strengthens local economies, which is a significant benefit on its own.

The Breakthrough of VR

VR has all but revolutionized many industries, and one of the most prominent examples is real estate.Instead of traveling long distances to visit a home that they are interested in, people can just put on a headset and have a virtual tour of the place. This lowers the carbon footprint produced by the traffic within the real estate industry.

In terms of training and education (something we’ve already discussed), VR can provide trainees to experience simulations without any use of resources. For instance, pilots can fly without spending tremendous quantities of fuel. Furthermore, heavy construction machinery operators can practice without the risk of damaging any materials that they’re handling in the simulation. Overall, as VR technology further expands, we can expect these benefits to grow even further.

Wrap Up

By adopting new technological trends, companies are gaining a significant competitive edge. However, they’re also making their contribution to the good fight. All of the above-listed trends have more to offer than being just eco-friendly. This creates that unique win-win scenario where an entrepreneur gets to do the right thing and gets rewarded for it. Still, this is a never-ending process. There are always new ways to innovate and make your business more sustainable. Therefore, you should always be on the lookout.

DevelopmentInsights

How to Maintain Your Brand on Social Media

  • 90% of Instagram users say they follow a brand
  • 1.62 billion people visit Facebook daily
  • 92% of companies will tweet at least twice per day

Maintaining your business’ brand was never an easy task, but as social media has reached new heights in popularity, it’s another piece of your brand that you’ll need to take very seriously. Social media sees billions of users log on every day, and that means you have an incredible opportunity to reach many of those users – or at least the ones who will be interested in what you have to offer.

So, this is not a situation to be taken lightly. Having a strong social media presence can give you the edge over your competition, but it’s not as simple as logging onto Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to make an occasional post. That’s why hiring a digital marketing agency Miami is often the right move, but first, let’s take a look at some social media branding tips to get you started. 

Make a Policy

This is crucial. Having a social media policy that details everything that needs to be followed can save you from dealing with a not-so-fun digital marketing situation in the future. You’ll need to figure out what kind of voice to use and how to handle numerous different types of situations. 

Plus, since you’ll have everything in writing, you’ll have a consistent guideline for dealing with anyone who decides to take things a little too far. Your social media policy should include topics such as:

  • Security
  • Copyright
  • How to handle a crisis
  • Privacy

Keep Your Voice Consistent

Having a consistent voice across your social media platforms reinforces that these pages fully represent your brand. This doesn’t mean, however, that everything should be the same across these platforms. People expect to see a different type of post on Facebook than Twitter, even if it’s basically about the same thing. Use emoticons (check Kaomoji); they can help you out to emphasize the things you want and show some personalization.

This might involve a little bit of trial and error to discover what you want your business’ digital voice to be, but having the help of a digital marketing agency can help streamline this process.

Work on Your Bio

When it comes to digital marketing, even the small stuff counts. As someone browses through social media, they’ll be seeing many posts, but one of yours might catch their eye. It interests them so much that they decide to check out your profile to learn a little more. This is the moment you’re waiting for. This is your time to shine. A well-crafted bio can lead someone to make a purchase.

What should you include in your bio? That can be up to you, but it’s always important to highlight these areas:

  • What you do
  • Where you are
  • How to learn more

This is also a great space to show some personality, so users aren’t bored by another generic profile.

Communicate with Your Followers

Communicating with your followers – or anyone – on all social media platforms is necessary, but putting the focus on Twitter can give your brand a lot of positive recognition if you handle things well. 

Twitter is where people tend to go if they have a question or complaint. They see it as a more natural way to communicate with someone who can help them or take care of their problem directly. If you have someone or multiple people from a digital marketing agency dedicated to solving these problems on Twitter, it will help maintain a positive image for your brand.

Be Prepared for Backlash

As we briefly discussed the importance of creating a social media policy, not everything will be a positive experience in the digital marketing world of social media. Something you tweet might be considered offensive. Something outside of social media might’ve happened that negatively shines a light on your business. It could be anything – and you have to be prepared for anything. 

Having a strategy to handle rough times and customer complaints consistent with your overall brand image can prevent a rough time from becoming awful. Mistakes happen. It’s how you respond that’s important. Having a digital marketing agency Miami on your side can help in these situations. 

Your Social Media Voice Can Bring Positive Awareness to Your Business

Some businesses just have digital marketing locked down on social media. They always have the right thing to say. They still have the funny but appropriate reply. They always show they care about their customers. These businesses have made an online name for themselves through a fantastic social media presence. By setting a plan and getting some assistance from a digital marketing agency, your business might be able to reach these heights.

Development

Blazor vs AngularJS Development: Which one is the best?

JavaScript is the most popular programming language, which is quickly changing. There is never any generic answer to which framework will work best for you! It is dependent on the project requirements and functionalities. Each Blazor and AngularJS development Company is working to build some powerful websites with their unique features.

What is AngularJS?

It is created by Google, which allows the AngularJS developers to interact with the backend and frontend. This platform is based on JavaScript, which has excellent resources available in the market. It is having the full support of Model-View-ViewModel and Model-View-Control applications which great companies already use. AngularJS also helps in building PWAs (Progressive Web Applications) with great tools to support them.

Essential features of AngularJS are:

  • It is an efficient framework that helps in creating Rich Internet Applications
  • AngularJS developers can write client-side applications by using JavaScript with the help of MVC
  • Applications built using this platform have excellent browser compatibility
  • It is open-source and free to use for the developers
  • Angular has data binding capability with HTML, which gives a better experience
  • It has reusable components that make it developer-friendly

Benefits of using AngularJS development are:

  • It has a two-way binding for immediate synchronization between model and view
  • Development of Single Page Applications is faster
  • It has a robust solution for frontend development with multiple features
  • AngularJS allows end-to-end real-time testing with dependency injection
  • It has a simple architecture that makes coding and design easier for AngularJS developers
  • It encourages shortcodes which allow developers to focus on application efficiency
  • It gives support to clear cache and other processes to enhance the performance

What is Blazor?

It is a new Microsoft web framework that lets developers code using the C#. This framework helps in building client web applications effortlessly. There are options to add a package in the Razor with the help of NuGet. Blazor has a simple approach to Angular, where you can build UI using the native components. The Client-side and server-side are written in C#. It allows the developers to share the libraries and codes providing. The platform enables the development of Single Page Applications by the usage of .NET.

Advantages of using Blazor are:

  • Usage of C# instead of JavaScript
  • Including the .NET ecosystem with the help of .NET libraries
  • Sharing the logic of the application on the client and server-side
  • Taking benefits of performance, security, and reliability of .NET
  • Build common languages, tools, and framework with a feature-rich environment

Features of Blazor are:

  • Builds the Web User Interface by using C# instead of TypeScript or JavaScript
  • Helps in building the Progressive Web Apps
  • Many reusable components are written using the C#
  • It has full debugging support on the server-side while it has certain limitations on client-side
  • Supports two-way data binding with the help of HTML DOM
  • It performs server-side rendering for better performance
  • It works offline
  • Works on the modern web browsers, which also includes mobile browsers
  • It is open source

Comparison between Blazor and AngularJS development:

Feature Blazor AngularJS
Release 2015 2010
Type Framework Framework
License Apache MIT
Developer Microsoft Google
Language WebAssembleC# Regular DOM
Testing and Debugging Blazor Testing PlaceHolder Uses Jasmine
Learning Curve Smooth and Easy Steep
DOM Incremental DOM Regular DOM
Data Binding Unidirectional Bidirectional
Support Microsoft and more upcoming community Google and Wix Developers
Production It is ready for production It might be used in production, but it is receiving changes
Code Style It is easy to get started with the development process It requires a lot of information to start the process of development

Which should be a better choice, Angular or Blazor?

Some of the consideration before making the final decision are:

  • Are you prepared to handle some problems with a platform that is newer and less mature?
  • Want to invest more time to learn Angular, which is an older platform?
  • Do you have a C# developer that helps in developing modern web applications?
  • Do you have JavaScript developers who will ease the AngularJS development?
  • What are your essential requirements in the case of features and functionalities?

Angular was earlier built for frontend developers and helped in connecting backend and frontend. After the introduction of SPA, Blazor emerged with the new structures. It is a web structure that allows running with C# with HTML and CSS, making the components, and generating SPAs.

Some of the key differences between the two platforms are:

  • Angular development is production-ready while the Blazor is still developing and changing
  • AngularJS supports Progressive Web Applications while Blazor is just a Server-side which can’t work as PWA
  • Blazor needs an active connection for each client and stores the component state server-side
  • AngularJS has more tooling support while the Blazor still is in the development process

Summing it up!

We have shared some useful information about both the frameworks to make it easier to decide which will be beneficial. You are now aware of the benefits and features of both platforms with their unique tools. Choose an experienced Blazor or AngularJS development company that is capable of handling your business requirements effortlessly.

SEO
Development

Tips To Develop SEO Outreach Strategy

Search engines have become one of the largest drivers of online traffic, and this has led to the point where many online businesses focus on SEO (search engine optimization) intensively.

Today businesses are competing for the smallest market niches and shares. Hence with an abundance of service and product providers, the SERPs (search engine result pages) have become akin to a battlefield. 

This is where every brand seeks to reach the top spot and have the most traffic visiting their website, landing pages or social media profiles.

According to a recent study by Backlinko, Google uses over 200 ranking factors as part of their algorithm for ranking websites, with Google alone currently enjoying 86.86% of the global search engine market. 

Furthermore, the top result on Google gets approximately 32% of all clicks, while 49% of marketers report organic search as having the best ROI for any marketing channel.

Moreover, top organic search results on Google contain an average of 1,447 words, with 53% of US consumers using shopping search engine research to buy products online.

In light of this information, let’s take a look at some of the best SEO outreach strategies to garnish incredible backlinks for your website, store, and social media accounts.    

  • Analyze Your Competitor’s SEO Strategies

If you are new to SEO and only just beginning to unravel its mysteries, then analyzing your competitors and their strategies could help you to get a head start in the right direction. Here is what you can do:

  1. Use domain analysis tools to find your SEO competitors; for example, ‘MOZ domain analysis’ can help. 
  2. Use Ranking Keywords and Keyword Explorer to find the most competitive keywords for your domain.
  3. Find top-rated pages with the help of tools such as Ahrefs Backlink Checker.
  4. Jot down all of this data on a Windows Excel or Google Spreadsheet to keep track of every competitor.
  5. For every link that you find or discover, make sure that you jot down the SERP metrics and enter them on your sheet.
  6. Now you can develop a strategy for each link and every competitor out there so that you can outperform them in the future.

  • Benchmark Your Current SEO Performances

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It is ultimately important that you understand the mechanics behind benchmarking your own and your competitors SEO related performances. Here are some important SEO benchmarks that you simply cannot miss:

  1. The number of total pages indexed by the search engine of choice. One way to find this is by using the search query [site: website]. This will help you find the number of results for your domain. You can also use third-party tools like BrightEdge to get coverage reports.
  2. Landing pages as these are the ones where your visitors enter your site. Here you can use Google Analytics to find out how each of your landing pages is performing. 
  3. The number of keywords they still continue to be an integral part of SEO to this day. You can use Google Webmaster Tools to find your top ranking keywords and how they are performing.
  4. Backlink profile because this is the closest to the actual objective behind SEO outreach. However, your main aim is to target link authority that you can check with the help of tools like Majestic.
  5. Organic and referral visits, which you can find with the help of Google Analytics. The source is important to understand because you would know what is working and what isn’t producing results for your business or website.
  6. And lastly, we have social media, which is undoubtedly important for maintaining good SEO rankings. The more content you produce that is being shared, the stronger the indicator for Google to judge your work as having high quality and value for users.  

  • Choosing the Right Publishers

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One of the fine roads that you need to take is guest posting when it comes to link building. However, choosing the best publishers or working with them can help you get the best ROI (return on investment) for your invested time and effort. Here is what you need to do:

  1. Obviously, you would be aiming for top-rated sites with highest DAs (domain authority), PA (Page Authority), best-ranking factors, and terrific daily/weekly/monthly traffic. 
  2. Secondly, relevancy to your business matters a lot so if you are in the automotive industry, then posting in a domain that focuses on horticulture simply makes no sense. 
  3. Next, you need to focus on publishers that are user friendly, offer you the ability to log in to open-source content management systems like WordPress, and don’t create a lot of fuss.
  4. You should also focus on those publishing platforms that offer you the ability to share your work on other platforms and overall deliver an intuitive interface.
  5. Think long term, not short term. Organic posts do take their time, so make sure you are working with a reliable publishing platform, and their review ratings are top-notch.  

  • Dedicatedly Study Your Targeted Audiences

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Your target audience is one of the most crucial factors that can drive you towards success when it comes to SEO outreach. For this, you can do the following:

  1. Develop customer personas based on the study of product and services in-detail and identifying the right demographics, lifestyles, socio-graphics, and location of your candidates.
  2. Create a customer journey map for each identified customer to understand where they individually stand within the sales funnel.
  3. Perform research with the help of questionnaires and surveys that you can conduct with the help of email-marketing or by utilizing social media platforms.
  4. Verify assimilated knowledge and collected information to develop content-based strategies to carry out effective content marketing campaigns to raise maximum awareness and boost business. 

  • Focus on Creation of High-Quality Content

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These days search engines are heavily focusing on search intent and user intent. This can involve queries regarding solutions to pain points of internet users.

Even young learners who opt for a custom essay writing service look forward to high-quality content that meets their learning objectives. To help facilitate your efforts regarding the creation of high-quality content, here are some tips:

  1. Deliver relevant content for audiences that cater to their interests and preferences. 
  2. Make sure that your content focuses on resolving problems or providing solutions based on actionable tips.
  3. Include striking visuals (images, infographics, videos, and interactive media) that are in context with your text and match the resolution style of your publisher domain or your own blog.
  4. Deliver astounding facts and figures, scientific evidence, and credible information from genuine sources to back up and support your claims or arguments.
  5. Make sure that your content is extremely reader-friendly, utilizes easy to read font size/style, and makes use of white space to make even lengthier content more digestible. 
  6. Focus on providing valuable information prioritizing the user rather than producing selling content that is akin to a sales copy.  

  • Link Building Best Practices

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Without a doubt, your SEO outreach strategy is based on the creation of high-quality links to augment the SEO rankings of your website, landing pages, online store, or social media pages. Here are some best practices that you need to follow:

  1. Choose always relevant and differentiated anchor texts in your content to place links that are placed naturally and follow the context of your supporting text.
  2. Make sure you are creating content that is shareable to multiple digital platforms. This can allow users to share your post and bring in more traffic.
  3. Networking is the key to any business success. Therefore, you should leverage its power and showcase your brilliant and valiant efforts using digital platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook for business. 
  4. You can also choose to collaborate to deliver creative projects with other content curators and creators. Other than that, you can also work with social media influencers to help you spread the word and allow you a backlink from them.
  5. Get up and happening on user-generated content websites, business review and listing websites, and also use Google My Business which is great for targeting local customers.  

  • Mastering the Art of Topic Development

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Just like email subject lines are immensely significant and can increase click-through rates. Likewise, your topics are also crucial and can improve CTRs. Here is what you can do to improve your topic development process:

  1. Find subject pillars that you can tackle. These include comprehensive overview based on a subject or theme. Your subject pillars eventually evolve into pillar pages where users can browse through inter-relatable content.
  2. Choose topic clusters that you can manage. These can include a group of interlined posts that are or can be built around a broad topic such as sedans, specific brand sedans, family sedans, best mileage sedans, safest sedans, high tech sedans, etc.
  3. Or you can pick out a niche based on your visitor preferences and start building around the topics that interest them the most. 

Conclusion 

Your organic visibility on search engine matters and offers you long-lasting fruits, so have a resolute SEO outreach strategy a must for brands and businesses to survive the current competition. Manage to execute your SEO outreach strategy in a planned and realistic manner. It can help you improve your organization’s visibility, and this will lead to attracting more qualified leads. 

Outreach also serves a twofold purpose, including building credibility for your venture and making you popular amongst users. Both are highly rewarding since Google and other search engines hold these factors as extremely important in their ranking factors.

Development

The Most Important Skills Mobile App Developers Should Learn to Excel in Their Career

Mobile application development has now become a multimillion-dollar industry as almost all industries find mobile apps to be irreplaceable and an integral part of their business structures… Apart from their growth in high demand mobile apps continue to gain traction due to new technologies and innovations that continue to add and create more value for their users and businesses alike.

The vast and booming connected device landscape, which is continuously breaking new boundaries and creating new landmarks with user-focused features and capabilities, has contributed immensely to the innovation around mobile apps. Mobile apps have become so popular now that even the web is trying to appear as handy and engaging as the native mobile apps through the latest technologies like Progressive Web Apps(PWA). Moreover, mobile apps are increasingly bridging the generation and cultural gaps among people, and are contributing to the emergence of a new tech-savvy mobile audience that exists irrespective of age, gender, location, ethnicity, or other demographic attributes.

Because of these advancements, mobile app development companies now not only focus on building apps meeting the constraints and requirements of the iOS and Android platforms but also meeting the varied expectations across audiences of various types and categories. App developers should only focus on skills that help them become part of such development environments. Not only will these skills of mobile app developers, but the development projects also stay more competitive.  

Creative Problem Solving and Communication

First of all, developers need to have the necessary abilities like creative problem solving and excellent communication skills. A developer should have a comprehensive ability to communicate with their team members and clients both verbally and in writing. This is an uncompromising skill that any aspiring developer must-have, especially if they are taking on a leadership position within the group. The capability to give instructions and communicate easily are two essential qualities that will make any mobile app developer stand out in a crowd.

The second most important thing is the ability of the developer to think out of the box in terms of app conceptualization and making norms that can change the age-old cliches and bring fresh energy to the development process. This creative capability is particularly essential for nourishing problem-solving skills and troubleshooting capabilities.

Quality UI/UX Design

An excellent user interface is a must for the users to interact with an app without any friction or usability glitches. A rich user interface is capable of allowing smooth interaction and usability and is a must for continuous user engagement and business conversion. While backend capabilities are essential to maintain performance and scalability, the frontend elements like UI and UX are equally important as they can make or break user engagement, business conversion, and retention. 

The key aspects of mobile UI/UX design include a comprehensive color strategy based on color psychology, achieving a balance between visual appeal and distractions, faster loading time and responsive design, micro-interactions, and feedback mechanism with activity indicators, smooth and helpful user onboarding experience, etc.

For designing sophisticated and audience-validated UI/UX, design prototyping is an extremely important skill to possess. The UI/UX designers should have a solid command of design attributes to incorporate core usability features and elements.  

Knowledge of Agile Methodology

Agile Methodology is… A vast majority of app development projects now depend on agile methodology simply because constant iteration throughout the stages of development no longer remains a choice, but an obligation. Constant iteration helps the app clients stay updated on every change of development stages the app passes through. Besides enjoying the confidence of the clients, constant iteration also helps in reducing development errors and certain unavoidable shortcomings that could be avoided with iterations and testing way below the development spiral.

A developer now needs to have a solid knowledge about the way constant iteration and testing are incorporated into the projects. He should be completely versed in knowledge about constant development and constant deployment approaches that are part of agile methodology.

JavaScript and Few Core Languages

For a mobile app’s front-end developer, programming language skills in the most popular and widely used languages is a must. For example, JavaScript frameworks that are very popular for faster development of feature-rich apps cannot be left out as JavaScript frameworks such as React Native, Angular, Vue, and NodeJS have now become the most sought-after skill sets.  

Since JavaScript frameworks like React Native allow you to reuse components and code for multiple OS platforms, you can build apps for both iOS and Android in no time. The “Write once, run anywhere” development approach makes these JavaScript frameworks ideal for cross-platform development.

Apart from JavaScript, mobile app developers should have comprehensive knowledge and coding skills with Java and Kotlin languages used widely for Android platforms. For iOS, developers should have a solid command over Swift, C++, and Objective C languages.

MVP Development Approach

Lastly, software development companies and clients increasingly prefer the MVP or Minimum Viable Development approach to develop audience-validated apps. With the MVP approach, an app can be developed with basic and minimum features, launched into the market, and later can be further developed with changes and value additions found by this testing. The mobile app developers of today should have a clear understanding of how the MVP approach works.

A developer team can just start preparing a strategy to build an app focusing on basic or elementary features that are crucial for the app to serve its key objective. Later on, after release as the user feedback comes in, new value additions and tweaks with the UI or UX can be incorporated. This approach has three distinct benefits as following: 

  • MVP approach will allow developers to build and release a lightweight app faster. 
  • MVP approach will help to build a simple app focusing on the basic feature and user experience. 
  • Lastly, it can always improve based on user validation or feedback over time. 

Gaining a Competitive Edge

In a nutshell, since mobile app development has now become a hugely competitive field – more than ever before – donning these must-have skills and having solid exposure is a crucial criterion for app developers in this modern market. 

Development

To Outsource Or Not? Pros and Cons Of IT Outsourcing

Hearing a lot of success stories from businesses that have outsourced some of their activities to nearshore and offshore teams? We bet you do. From cost reduction, increased productivity, improved flexibility, and scalability, to growth and profit – businesses of all sizes and from around the globe are preaching about the amazing things outsourcing brought to them.  

According to the most recent report on Clutch, about 80% of small businesses have decided to invest in their near future in this fruitful business model. And why wouldn’t they – it seems like all it does is bring the good and help overcome ongoing challenges. 

Well, not really. Those who have tried their luck with outsourcing know just how many new challenges occur and how difficult it can be to master the art of collaborating with a remote IT team. 

So before you rush to hop on this train, we suggest you first familiarize yourself with this topic by reading a guide on software development outsourcing. And once you have done that you can learn about the pros and cons that come with each. Hopefully, by the end, you will get a rough idea of whether it really would be a smart business move. 

THE GOOD

Increase in profit

Originally, a lowered cost of work was one of the primary attractions attributed to outsourcing, which is why it is so often the very first item on the list of pros. This business model allows you to hire teams from remote locations where the cost of labor is lower but the quality of services remains at a satisfactory level. As a result, you get the same (or even better) team of experts who will complete their work up to your standards and, in the end, cost you far less than a local team would.  

Greater hiring opportunities

By expanding your search for new team members to a global scale, you improve your chances of meeting talented experts who are just the right fit for your business. This approach allows you to look for candidates who tick off literally all points on your list of criteria. 

Forget about settling – continue your search until you get to meet the person who has the necessary skills and experience, and who fits within your company culture. 

Access to remote markets

By setting up remote offices across the globe, you actually build a foundation for potential expansion to that market. Think of your outsourced team as your first point of contact with local clients and customers. And not just that – think of them as a team of people who will help you get to know the target market in terms of demands, needs, and best ways to appeal to local clients.   

Higher productivity levels

Outsourcing is a tactic many businesses resort to when they wish to minimize the grunt work and relieve their in-house teams of wasting their time on repetitive tasks. Delegating them to a competent, remote team means your local personnel gets to focus on more important work. Furthermore, you are likely to see a spike in performance levels simply due to an increase in your in-house employees’ satisfaction. 

24/7 availability

A remote team that works in a different time zone enables you to remain available to your customers at all times. For this reason, the majority of businesses decide to relocate, for instance, their customer support, so that there would always be an on-call person ready to answer any urgent matters. 

THE BAD

Lack of transparency

Outsourcing a part of the business means having to trust that the remote team is performing its part of the deal as promised. Unfortunately, in some situations, it is near-impossible to oversee every step of the process they take which can, in turn, leave you with less than satisfactory outcomes. That is why choosing a reliable outsourcing partner cannot be stressed enough. 

Misunderstandings

Depending on the country you decide to outsource to, you are running the risk of creating a huge cultural and language gap between your in-house and remote teams. And if you think a translator will help you overcome the hurdles – you’re wrong. The cultural impact of one’s understanding of the task/project at hand, combined with their unique approach to an issue can cause misunderstandings and, ultimately, bad results.

Loss of control

The further you travel, the less you’ll feel in control of your team. In-person meetings will either be rare or eliminated since you will not be sitting at the next table or in the next room. To manage a remote team, you will need to employ practical video conferencing and project management tools which will allow you to communicate more clearly and gain insight into each person’s progress. 

27/7 availability

Yes, you read that right but this time, we mean that you need to be available 24/7. Because of all the above-listed cons of outsourcing, you will likely find yourself in a situation where you’ll have to oversee your people at all times. Additionally, making yourself available around the clock will be the only way to solve urgent problems and respond to questions that need immediate answers. 

Security risks

Outsourcing puts you in a position where you need to share sensitive data and thus fear potential breaches. Unfortunately, mishaps happened to others in the past, which is why we are seeing the rise in new cloud and other technologies which will allow us to make all data available to all employees without having to worry about unauthorized 3rd party access.

The pros are there to convince you of investing a part of your resources into testing the outsourcing model; the purpose of the cons is to warn you of hidden “costs” which, if not calculated properly, can prevent further growth of your business or worse – burn it to the ground.

The only question you need to ask yourself now is – are you equipped to cope?

Mike is an Australian business consulting specialist. He’s working with companies that outsource their IT maintenance. He often writes about technology, business, and marketing and is a regular contributor on several sites.

Content Marketing Process: How to Do It Right and Improve Content Results
Development

Content Marketing Process: How to Do It Right and Improve Content Results

It would be tough to succeed with content marketing without a process to guide you.

You can have original, interesting, and engaging content on your site, but if no one but your content team knows about it, it will not help you achieve your goals.

Why?

To effectively answer this question, ask yourself:

Why do you spend time writing content?

If you are like most marketers, you write content to get it in front of your target audience. You want them to read, engage, share, and, most importantly, act on your calls-to-action.

Now, if your target audience never sees this content, what good does it offer your business?

For this reason, you need to start thinking about your content marketing process, and how it can help you strategize, create, distribute, promote, and track content performance.

But what is a content marketing process?

It’s an organized plan that enables you to ensure every piece of content you produce drives positive results.

Best of all, this plan has distinct and important stages that help you create engaging content, publish it on channels your audience visits, and promote it effectively.  

And what’s more?

You can track the results of your process and refresh each stage for relevance and effectiveness.

But how can you create this process?

Can you ensure it effectively boosts engagement while delivering positive returns on your investment?

You can if you use the detailed guide in the infographic below. Check it out for information on the five crucial stages of a content marketing process and effective tactics to apply during each.

Author Bio:

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in influencer marketing, content marketing, and SEO. He is the co-founder of Attrock, a digital marketing agency. He has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, influencers with digital products, and a number of A-List celebrities.

Social connects: Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram

What's the best way of promoting a WordPress blog?
Development

What’s the best way of promoting a WordPress blog?

Today, websites and blogs have become the face of your brand. In this digital & tech savvy world people prefer to create the WordPress blog to develop their brand image. Only providing the correct information through your blog is not the end. You need to take care of the fact that your blog has reached the right place and to the right person. You need to be serious about your promotion while promoting a WordPress blog.    

To drive the traffic in your blog you need to do proper marketing of it. You need to build awareness regarding your blog site. The more you spread your brand message the better will be your brand promotional activity. Using some effective marketing techniques, you can spread your brand message very easily. You need to optimize your blog post so that you can get a better response from your target audience. 

Different Ways of Promoting a WordPress Blog    

Several ways are there using which you can easily promote your WordPress blog. Therefore, let’s explore the ways that you can employ to promote the WordPress blog one after the other to get a better insight into it.     

1.Create an Engaging Content 

You need to ensure that you maintain the quality of your content in an engaging way. You need to ensure one thing that you have the right experience in the same niche. Your blog post must solve the problem of the readers and provide them with the right solution for which they are craving for. You need to ensure one thing regarding your blog is it must fulfil the requirements of your target audience. You must provide them the most desired content that they are searching for in your website.  

2.Install the Most Suitable Theme      

The overall look of your blog can create an impact in the minds of your target audience. The visibility of your blog site can make or break the image of your brand. Web design can create the first and the last impression in the minds of your target audience. The theme of your blog must reflect your brand message. The theme must match with your industry category that you are dealing with. It must make sense to your investment. You must search for the themes that should showcase your brand in a better manner.     

3.Social Media Marketing    

On different social media platforms, you need to market your blog post like Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and StumbleUpon in order to drive more traffic to your website. On your relevant groups you need to share your post and blogs on a daily basis. You need to set up your Facebook page where you need to add all your targeted visitors. You need to share your links and posts on your Facebook profile. On your blog posts you can share your icons to develop your brand image so that the brand promotion becomes easy for you.       

4.Customize the Permalinks    

You can optimize your content when the URL of your blog post remains relevant along with the keywords. Automatically WordPress can generate the permalink and before you hit the publish button make sure that the keyword reach is readable. This will help you to develop the perfect blog post for your brand. The blog post will enable you to develop the perfect content that you may require to make sure all your business needs are served well as per your expectations. You are investing your money in your blog site and the permalinks can help you to develop your search results on various search engines.     

5.Use Guest Posting   

Guest posting is a way to write articles and blogs to some other website and drive traffic to your website by making fruitful link building. It can promote your blog to multiple platforms in order to boost the presence of your blog. It will help you to create a large population base of your blog online. Just you need to drive more traffic in a short span of time. It will help you to develop your search result as it will increase the traffic on your website in a small span of time and your search results will also become higher. 

6.Create A Search Optimized Blog Post    

You need to rank higher on Google, Yahoo and on other search engines. It can be done successfully by optimizing your titles and the descriptions of your blog posts. Proper placing of the keywords in the right place can help you to optimize your brand value in a better manner. A Searchable blog post can provide you a rewarding career that can help you to build your brand image in a better manner in a short span of time. Hence, you can promote a WordPress blog in a better manner.   

7.Make Use of YouTube Videos    

You need to make use of your YouTube Videos to develop your brand image if you are a solopreneur. Hence, you can develop an audio-visual message to promote your brand image. Better to say you can use this platform of YouTube to create a brand value in a better manner. Hence, you can easily share your brand message to your target consumer in a small span of time. Hence, True to play in with your options that you get while promoting your WordPress blog online in a better manner. 

Conclusion  

Hence, from the above information it is clear that if you want to promote a WordPress blog then you need to think creatively and from out of the box. If you want more information related to this then you can visit the official website of site 123 review in a better manner. Therefore, if you want to promote your brand in a better manner then you can easily develop a WordPress blog site to increase the visitor and traffic for your website in a better manner. Just you need to build upon your concept in a better manner. In this regard, you need to make sure that your WordPress site is engaging enough to grab the maximum attention of your target audience. 

Author Bio
Mashum Mollah is a tech entrepreneur by profession and passionate blogger by heart. He is on a mission to help small businesses grow online. He shares his journey, insights, and experiences at Blogstellar.com. If you are an entrepreneur, digital marketing professional, or simply an info-holic, then this blog is for you. Follow him on Instagram & LinkedIn