Category: Development

Optimizing Your Small Business Office

Miley on June 16, 2020

Implementing minor changes in the office can boost your output levels. Focus on the office environment and its effect on your workers. What can you do to make them comfortable and more productive?

Just use the following techniques:

1. Technology Upgrades

Why should your employees continue to use old outdated computers when there are better versions in the market? You might think that you’re minimizing costs by using older equipment, but you’re actually losing a lot of money due to inefficiencies. Today’s typical worker bee workload requires computers with high processing power. With this in mind, it’s imperative for small business owners to use new technology to their advantage. Doing so boosts productivity, improves employee performance, and minimizes the hassles associated with using outdated tech.

2. Change the Décor

The office can inspire or demotivate your workers. If there are things everywhere, it will just seem too crowded and unnerving. While it’s best to hire someone with knowledge and experience in workplace interior decoration, there are several things small business owners can do themselves. Remove clutter from the office space. Put all files in the organizer. Add plants to the workplace to purify the air and bring nature inside. Plants can also motivate your employees because they have a calming effect. As a result, your workers will be more relaxed and productive. You should also move the desks closer to the windows since looking outside and being exposed to natural light can reduce stress.Finally, removing clutter from the office space is a very effective tool for increasing productivity, so why not learn more about the options for hiring a dumpster for a few days to clear out all the stuff you no longer need.

3. Provide Healthy Snacks

A healthy and nutritious breakfast in the morning can leave you satisfied for the rest of the day. Have an assortment of fresh fruit and other healthy foods ready in the morning and for meetings. That way, workers get a healthy start to their day and a mental boost during otherwise difficult to follow meetings. Your workers get up early in the morning to get to the office and serve customers. Some of them don’t have time for breakfast. The least you can do is provide them with healthy snacks that will give them the energy to serve your customers well.

4. Marketing Analysis

Your business cannot make money if you don’t market yourself. You don’t have to spend big. You can use paid advertising and word of mouth. Interestingly, not all of your marketing efforts will be successful. There are some that will lead to more sales than others. But how do you know them? It’s simple. Use the analysis tools provided by the search engine. Find out how customers find your business. Is it through social media or organic search? How can you improve the website layout to increase inquiries and sales? Which SEO optimization tools should you be focusing on?

5. Better Financial Management Techniques

Don’t assume that you can keep track of all the business finances because you’re a startup. Hire a professional bookkeeper from the beginning. If they’re too expensive, hire a freelancer because they are more affordable. When you keep proper records, you avoid cash flow problems. You should also keep up with the latest news in financial management because you could learn something new that could help your business.

Since your employees are still working from home, you can use this time to reorganize the office and implement the suggestions mentioned above. For example, if you take a better look at your finances, you’ll find the loopholes that make you lose money. You can optimize your business and increase your earnings by avoiding risky and wasteful financial behaviors.

Development Insights Martech

How to Create ROI in PR and Marketing in 2020

Miley on June 12, 2020

For the layman, ROI (Return on investment) is a way to measure and evaluate the efficiency of an investment. However, it is not used to measure any form on investment on a small scale, it is looking at an investment’s and company’s long-term gains. It can be difficult to calculate ROI on that scale, so this guide will show the best ways to measure it and how to use it in your digital PR strategy.

What is ROI in PR?

It is important to understand that ROI is generally split into two categories; monetary gains like sales revenue increases and earned media gains that increase a startup’s reputation and credibility. Businesses are quite familiar with a company’s monetary gains because it has existed before social media and technology. However, nowadays it is important not to neglect earned media gains if you want your startup to be successful. If you want to achieve an accurate ROI for your PR strategy, it is important to understand both.

ROI for PR today

What is a press release and what’s its purpose?

In order to understand press releases, you can take a look at the Media Coverage press kit to get a detailed understanding and step-by-step guide to write a press release. Basically, the goal of a press release is to gain media coverage by sending it to media outlets. It is one of the main components to a well-balanced PR and media strategy. Take a more detailed look by looking at “How to pitch to journalists”.

ROI’s can be a bit difficult to measure and while impressions and media mentions can provide a sense of efficiency in a PR campaign. However, they can be meaningless if you can’t contextualize the numbers around well-defined strategy goals.

It is important to understand that you need to constantly be checking your metrics because things are constantly changing whether in a negative or positive way. Just judging and analyzing your initial PR gains can be a big mistake if you are only considering site sessions or publication appearances. Metrics could lead you to believe that the PR campaign is going better or worse than it actually is.

If your site creates content designed to build social proof, looking at the metrics and amount of content impressions would be pointless because there would be another way to measure its industry credibility by lead conversion rates.

In order to correctly use metric, you would need to give the data obtained a framework that describes your PR strategies’ purpose. Here are some that you may use to measure the ROI of your PR campaigns:

Page Impressions – Every time a page on your site appears on a Google ad or SERP.
Page Views – Every time a page on your site is clicked on a Google ad or SERP.
Page Click Through Rate – The ratio of page impressions to page views
Social Media Likes/Shares – The amount of interactions visitors have with one of your social media posts.
Bounce Rate – The ratio of single-page sessions on your site to multiple page sessions.
Average Page View Duration – The average time visitors spent on a particular page.
Goal Conversions – The number of measurable goals completed, such as scheduled calls.

USE S.M.A.R.T GOALS!

How to measure PR ROI

At the moment, there are two strategies to measure ROI in PR

Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles

The Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles has shown the importance of measurable goals and places emphasis on achievements and it does it without letting go of the less attainable metrics because there are many components of success.

It also takes into account new technology such as social media and understands its role in ROI PR and it deserves the same attention as any type of monetary ROI for PR strategy.

However, what the principles lack is that they do not make perfect and concrete steps towards a framework for ROI calculations

In spite of their clear support for quantifying returns on PR in a meaningful way, the principles don’t enable startups with a mathematical formula to draw objective conclusions from their PR efforts.

Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE)

A more simple way to measuring all ROI activity, it multiplies the amount of ad space or “seconds” mentioned on a broadcast network by a medium’s advertising rate.

The only problem is that it can be considered to be an outdated system of measuring ROI

How are we measuring PR ROI?

Here are some of the factors that people use to measure ROI in their PR campaigns, You can also get a detail look at this at “The Ultimate Guide to Paid, Earned, and Owned Media” where I discuss the important types of media and how using the combined PESO model to create a successful PR campaign.

Social Media Posts

Social media PR is key when it comes to creating a buzz around your startup.

In addition to being key to any PR campaign, social media platforms give startups:

Increased organic visibility
Improved traffic to the website
Heightened brand awareness
Faster and easier communication

For a more detailed look at how social media can be a great help, make sure to check out “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media PR” where I discuss how important it is and how to measure it through earned media.

How do we measure social media posts’ ROI?

If you’re posting to encourage people to sign up to a newsletter or webinar, then consider the following metrics your key indicators of success:

Signup conversions
Impression of signup conversion rate

If your posts are more focused around increasing your site’s reach and increasing your brand awareness:

Impressions
Click-through rate
Estimated Reach
Social Media Mentions

How to track PR ROI long term?

There are individual measures of ROI in your PR strategy, but how does it work in the long run?

There are three fields that can indicate real ROI in a PR campaign:

Brand awareness and loyalty

A continuous look at metrics like traffic and social media shares can show long-term increases and improvements in new business opportunities. It also shows the possibility of securing additional business.

It can also see the sales activities like blog posts, guest articles, social media interactions, and other forms of media outreach through the process of site engagement, becoming leads, and converting.

Industry credibility

You need to be seen as somewhat of an industry expert so that consumers of your startup believe that you are reliable and trustworthy. Trying winning earned media because it will build social proof and attract new business.

Increasingly positive reputation

Increasing your positive reputation relies on good customer experience and how that’s transmitted to the world. Getting good feedback from existing customers, for example.

You might make some short-term gains in traffic and bringing in leads, but this doesn’t necessarily convert into long-term startup prosperity.

In terms of PR ROI, we look at the social media shares/likes on positive customer experience stories and audience engagement in press release announcements regarding customer milestones.

Conclusion

It is important to see the ROI of your startup frequently so that you know where your company stands. Whether you are using the 2 strategies listed above or using social media and earned media, monitoring your business not only shows that you know what you are doing, but that you are interested to see what the future holds for your business.

We at Pressfarm pride ourselves in having the ability to create an effective PR strategy and provide people with additional knowledge of the world of PR. If you are interested in having one of our PR professionals create something that can get you business visibility, check out our pricing and packages to take the headache out of something great.

Development

What Are VoIP Softphones and Web Phones?

Miley on June 10, 2020

This guest post was provided by VirtualPBX, a developer of business phone plans for small businesses to enterprises.

Two primary versions of software-based phones exist in the world of VoIP telephony: softphones and web phones.

Today’s blog will discuss the difference between those two types. You can learn about their benefits and disadvantages to make an informed choice for the next type of software-based phone you’d like to use in hosted business phone plans.

Softphones

Softphones are computer programs built to run on specific devices. They allow you to make and receive calls from any device they have been programmed to run on, including a laptop or smartphone.

Because they’re created to run on specific devices and operating systems, they gain native performance and have easy access to the features provided by a device. This makes them fast and, for example, capable of using a device’s hardware keys (such as a computer’s number keypad) or software features (a smartphone’s touch keyboard) to better control the phone.

Softphones can easily go by another name – an app – to make them more recognizable to newcomers. A softphone app for an Android phone is similar to what’s expected from other apps. It can be found in the Google Play store and downloaded to immediately work on the user’s phone. Packages for any device and any type of operating system can be downloaded by customers to work with their chosen hosted business phone plans.

This convenience of simple setup, however, also shows the greatest drawback of softphones. Every different type of device must have a softphone built for it. Even though VirtualPBX offers its Android softphone to customers, it must also offer an alternate version for iOS users in order to address that audience.

Similarly, separate versions must be created for all the devices and platforms the VoIP provider wants to address. To capture the majority of the user base, typically five versions of softphones are created: one each for Android and iOS smartphones and one each for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.

Keeping pace with changes in device specifications and operating system versions can be intensive. It requires a lot of work on the part of the VoIP provider. Still, the rewards for creating a smartphone can be great for the end user because softphones often run smoothly and require little setup.

Pros:

Often available for smartphones and computers
Integrates with native device features like Siri commands
Syncs with the device’s contact list for easy access to identified contacts
More in-depth settings control allow you to fine-tune your experience

Cons:

Intensive for VoIP provider to develop and update, so support for a specific operating system of device may be missing
Like all apps, softphones take up storage space on a device
Desktop versions typically incur a license fee

Web Phones

One growing alternative to the softphone is the web phone, which runs inside of a web browser. Typically, web phones take advantage of the WebRTC project that simplifies communication between two users of browsers like Chrome and Firefox.

Hosted business phone plan developers see a shift in responsibility from creating softphones to creating web phones. With softphones, developers shouldered the tasks of creating a specific software-based phone for every device and operating system they wanted to support. As was discussed in this article’s previous section, this process could be time and labor intensive.

With web phones, much of that burden is lifted because standardized practices and protocols allow developers to need to build only one web phone. The creators of web browsers build their products to work on most available operating systems. This allows any Firefox users, for example, to find a copy of that same browser that runs on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, or Linux devices.

Moreover, web browser creators also build in capability for WebRTC support and, of course, to support HTML standards so websites can be accessed.

What this leaves for VoIP developers to do is build a single website that uses WebRTC to connect to their phone system. Developers at VirtualPBX can focus on creating a single entry point where anyone with access to a capable web browser can make calls.

All you need as a user is a browser and a set of login credentials.

Pros:

Web phones run on almost any device
Expansion of web capability gives web phones access to hardware (like keyboards) and software (like notifications)
Updates are experienced immediately and universally since there is only one version for VoIP companies to maintain

Cons:

Lacks native performance that softphones achieve
Requires a web browser to run

Which Software-Based Phone Fits You?

Many softphones and web phones that work with hosted business phone plans have similar capabilities. For end users, the biggest questions about which ones to choose concern availability and overall performance.

Do I need native performance? Do I have a web browser that the phone will work inside?

A brief discussion with the VoIP provider will be able to assist with answering these questions and better guiding users toward a model that fits them best. Keep in mind that businesses of all sizes can benefit from both styles of software-based phones and that it’s always worth asking the service provider about the capabilities of their specific models of softphone and web phone.

Development Martech

App development vs software programming – What’s the best bachelors to study in 2020

Miley on June 9, 2020

As an enthusiast technology, people can use several gadgets, digital gimmicks & updates. But in case, if a person wants to prepare for conduct IT bachelors then they feel like Pac-man due to multiple options for study.

There are several universities which provide computer science bachelor’s degree which seems to be specialized in certain fields like IT security, data science, multimedia & gaming, etc. due to which confusion has been created in the person mind who wants to prepare for becoming experts in a specific technology. This confusion also includes two terms named as app development & software programming. Software programmers design & create a specific system as well as perform testing of their written codes to bug fixing whereas the app developers design & creates apps for mobile & computer.

Explanation of app development & software programming

The development of app sounds is related to mobile applications development firm of app means process out some steps like the testing, designing, creation & launch out the app through which users get a high level of satisfaction for their demands or provided services. Although, the development of an app is not only meant for the applications of smartphones. It means that this application applies to electronic devices as well as computer devices. The main confusion creates here is app designing is also referred to as web development for the computer. Is it correct or wrong?

Web development agencies like Ramotion know development of the web covers out a different task sets along with the operations & designing sets in contrast to this, mobile phones application include one or some functions that can be designed after research for an idea.

Software engineering is another name for the software programming which mainly deals with the writing code to develop a program based on software.there is a requirement that software programmers have specific knowledge about the coding as well as algorithms excel along with the plan for a test out every code after deploying them through which bugs fixing get easier. Along with it, software programmers have to decide about the implement changes and add some code documentation through which application attracts several users.

App development similarity or difference with software programming

There are some common skills set with the developers of app & software programmers. These sets can be defined as:

Attentions towards detail.
Having the capability to handle a high amount of pressure.
Skills related to numerical as well as a mathematical concept.
Skills of problem-solving
Creative nature
Technical skills
Programming skills.

App development is mainly focused on the user experience as well as the designing & additional features in contrast to it, software programming gives focus to the finding codes as well as introducing the appropriate codes through which quality of programming get a match.

IT degrees help in become a developer of app & software programmer

If a person wants to become a professional developer & programmer, then there is a requirement for getting a degree in computer science. There are so many developers, who graduated from web development, bachelor’s in computing & digital media, computer graphics. All these programs contain a topic that is related to mobile app architecture, interaction design, data mining, & mobile communications.

In case of attraction towards software programming, then the things are a quite clear means there is a lot of courses for a bachelor’s degree which provides a better option for s0ftware engineering. These specific courses are mainly focused on the computer systems, modeling of advanced software programming, computer ethics, & methods for solving out numerical as well as mathematics concepts.

Career options

Both the sectors, named app development or software programming will be highly rewarded at their levels as they both can show their importance in a person’s life. This will be beneficial for the user in terms of a paycheck at a monthly level.

Apps developments based jobs

App tester
Manager of web content
Designer of UX
Developer of games
App developer

Software programming based jobs

Software engineer of quality assurance
Computer programmer
Analyst of computer system
Architect of computer network
Web developer

In terms of salary, there is no difference it means that equal amount has been paid to the app developers as well as the software developers. The salary mainly depends on the experience as well as the courses.

In the US, the average salary of an employee working at the post of a software engineer is 78000 USD per year.
In the US, the average salary of an employee working at the post of an app developer is 66000 USD per year.
In the UK, the average salary of an employee working in the field of software programmer as well as an app developer is 30700 GBP per year.

Wrap up Software engineers or software developers are highly in demand as similar to the demand for technology & science experts. This demand for developers & engineers constantly increases. These developers design a creative application that can be useful for the people through which they can use better programs over the computer & evaluate the latest ideas as well as solutions for issues related to the software. Mtoag is really a best site to get everything you need. It is crucial for website development company in USA..Our team of skilled web developers and software programmers made appropriate solutions for the project requirements.

Development Insights

AI for Recruitment Process: Pros, Cons and Key Use Cases

Miley on May 31, 2020

For some years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used by recruiters and HR professionals around the world. The kind of potential is shown to us, and AI is going to be a mainstay technology for the years to come. A large number of companies have embraced AI-based automation for recruitment and talent acquisition.

Here through the length of this post, we are going to explain the pros, cons, and some of the critical instances of AI implementation for recruitment.

Pros of AI-based Recruitment

The use of AI-based tools and software solutions for the recruitment process has become extremely popular because of the array of advantages they offer. Let us briefly see some of the key benefits of AI-based recruitment.

Process Automation: Automation in the recruitment process results in optimum efficiency, faster processing, and resource-saving. AI-based automation tools and chatbots used in the recruitment process can free a lot of time for the company’s manpower.

Boosts Engagement: AI implemented through a chatbot, or virtual assistant solutions can boost engagement of the prospective candidates throughout the recruitment process. An automated process can easily keep the employees updated and help to stay tuned to the process requirements from time to time.

Minimizing Human Bias: In any recruitment process, human bias is quite common that prevents optimum efficiency in spotting the right talents and required skills. This is where AI-powered automation tools can help. AI-based automation can help hire professionals purely based on skill and merit and keep any bias or discrimination scope at bay.

Cons of AI-Based Recruitment

Despite several key benefits of AI in the recruitment process, there is an equal share of disadvantages as well. The future of AI largely depends on how these shortcomings are dealt with. Let us have a brief look at some of the cons of AI in recruitment.

Inaccuracy: Despite the vast capabilities that AI-based tools offer, there are still a lot of inaccuracies that make the output of AI tools suffer. Many AI tools still suffer from the less reliable output because of the incomplete or non-optimized training data that does not accurately represent the applicants or the domain.

Missing Human Judgment: Since a machine is only capable of handling data, it fails to notice some crucial human traits and qualities, such as personality, personal interests, individual character, and work ethics.

The Key Use Cases of AI in the Recruitment Process

Over the years, AI has been successfully used in the recruitment process for many tasks. Some of the use cases of AI-based recruitment truly boasts of efficiency and performance optimization in a never before way. Let us have a look at the key use cases of AI in recruitment.

AI-based Recruitment Apps

Some recruitment and hiring companies now have their own mobile apps equipped with tools and all relevant UI/UX attributes. These apps equipped with intelligent AI-powered chatbots can communicate with the prospective candidates while helping with the process of screening. You can hire app developers in India who are experienced in building recruitment and Human Resource apps to optimize mobile communication and screening candidates.

Talent Hunting and Acquisition

For most businesses, talent acquisition remains a crucial challenge to win over the market competition. AI can help sourcing candidates automatically by digging into the resume databases. AI-based tools can also screen the candidates efficiently in the early stage of the process.

Screening the Recruits

AI-powered automated recruitment tools can quickly screen vast numbers of resumes and can shortlist potential candidates who are fit for the job position. Thanks to the absence of human error and bias in assessment, AI-based screening tools can sort out the right talents more efficiently.

AI Chatbots for Communication

AI-powered assistants or intelligent chatbots are playing a significant role in handling various recruitment and human resource-oriented tasks. Besides cutting short, much lengthy communication and corresponding resources, chatbots can help an organization respond faster and reduce employee hiring time.

AI for Relationships Development

These days, to attract the best talents, any organization treats prospective candidates as their customers and so focuses on building relationships through the recruitment process. AI-based automation tools in this respect can play a highly effective and efficient role.

Creating Attention-Grabbing Job Advert

Since talent acquisition is a very competitive field, you cannot leave anything to chance. The same goes for the case of job adverts for your recruitment needs. Since the job adverts make the first impression on candidates’ minds, you need to be creative and meticulous about it. By utilizing the right data and predictive analytics, an AI-powered tool can help you create the job adverts that quickly grab attention and look convincing at first sight.

The Future of AI in Recruitment

The advantages of using AI-powered recruiting tools are too many. AI, along with machine learning and predictive tools, can help organizations in everything related to recruitment and talent acquisition. The use of smart AI-powered interviewing tools helped organizations to improve the output of the HR team in terms of time-saving, quality of recruits, and better attrition rate.

At the same time, it must be admitted that the AI-powered recruitment tools are new, and they are not being used for a long time by the HR professionals around the world. So, these tools need to evolve for some time before they prove to be more efficient. It is just the early stage of AI solutions being used for recruitment, and we can expect that they will be more mature and tuned to the specific recruitment needs of organizations.

Conclusion

The presence of AI-powered tools across human resource departments across companies is extremely becoming common as AI tools are doing great in saving time and money while helping with high-quality talent acquisition. The future of recruitment seems to be inseparable with AI tools.

Development Insights Martech

Maximizing Your Impact Through Digital Advertising

Miley on May 31, 2020

It goes without saying that the Internet has become essential to modern life. Ever since its widespread use began in the 1990s, the Internet has become woven into the very fabric of our daily lives. According to Internet World Stats, there are over 4.5 billion people who use the Internet as of December 2019 – over half the world’s population. And as Internet use has become more widespread, so too have the tools we use to access it. TechJury reports that there are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world, a number that is quickly growing as smartphones become cheaper and more accessible.

This new digital culture has impacted business in several ways, but perhaps most notably when it comes to marketing. Only a few years ago, advertising was associated with print media, billboards, and television commercials, as it has been for decades. But with the advent of the online world, that’s quickly changed. Now, it’s become faster and easier for you to learn about new brands through digital advertising and social media.

To say that marketers shouldn’t underestimate the impact of digital advertising might be a bit of an understatement. Nearly every company has begun the shift into digital marketing, and those who haven’t are quickly changing gears. Compared with traditional routes, digital advertising is more cost-efficient, and in many cases can reach a wider number of people.

However, although digital marketing has become increasingly popular, getting your campaign to rise above the crowd isn’t that easy. Competition can be fierce, and many companies may find that their investments in digital marketing aren’t getting the return that they want. If you’re looking at how to make the most of the digital sphere in your marketing efforts, then here are a few tips for maximizing your impact below.

Test, Test, Test

With digital advertising being so affordable and with much of your potential market spending their time online, it can be tempting to cobble together a digital campaign and send it into the wild as quickly as possible. After all, digital is cheap, and it can’t be that hard to do, right? Well, not exactly. Like traditional marketing strategies, digital marketing has its strengths and weaknesses, and companies will have to learn how to maximize these strengths while minimizing weaknesses.

One of the methods of doing this is through a simple, but often neglected strategy: testing before launching. A simple A/B test can be the key to determining whether you’re getting the most out of your campaign or not. Digital Marketing Magazine describes A/B testing as a test that determines whether subtle changes in your campaign might influence consumer behavior. Many companies, in their rush, to get their marketing off the ground, end up forgetting this, but executing a quick test to see whether your new website or newsletter works could be the difference between success or failure for your campaign.

Maximize Impressions

Companies who make use of digital marketing are often told their campaigns should maximize their impressions, but finding the best way to do this can often be difficult. After all, with such a diversity of content and approaches, find the sweet spot of effectiveness for your digital marketing campaign is easier said than done. For many companies, it can be tempting to invest in only one or two tools. However, with digital marketing, a multiplicity of methods is better than one.

Marketing solutions company Triadex Services describes several ways that companies can trace and maximize their impressions through their mobile marketing campaigns. These methods include ensuring ads are smartphone-friendly, using tools like search engine optimization and geofencing, and researching current trends. Digital marketing requires careful investment and planning in order to be effective, and companies who put in that time and effort quickly find that those efforts pay off.

Tap into Video

If there’s one thing that’s begun to stand out in the last couple of years — even in a landscape that’s as information-rich as the Internet — it’s video. Advertisers are familiar with video in a more traditional sense, such as in a television commercial or infomercial, but it’s quickly becoming the newest plaything on the digital advertising front. Video marketing is quickly becoming popular, keeping potential customers’ attention for longer and increasing brand recognition and recall.

Forbes writes that video marketing is increasing in importance, thanks to the ability to customize content and personify brands, as well as its high ROI. Video offers companies the ability to track their results, engage with customers, and become easily visible and recognizable. If you haven’t thought about using video in your materials, now might be the best time to start.

Development Insights

10 Amazing Benefits of Online Learning (Infographic)

Miley on May 22, 2020

Thanks to rapid advancement in technology over the last few decades, online learning has been growing exponentially. It is now possible to become an expert in any subject without ever leaving your own home. Whether you wish to further your career with training, complete a degree, or learn for fun. Distance learning has multiple advantages over traditional education methods. Online tuition provider Tutorful outline some of the positives associated with e-learning including flexibility and value for money!

Infographic on 10 benefits of online learning

Development Insights Martech

How Content Marketing Can Get Your Startup Off the Ground

Miley on May 22, 2020

If you’re getting a business up and running, you know how many tasks are involved. You have to secure funding, create a reliable system to track revenue and expenses, hire good talent, and line up help with software development (see https://www.bairesdev.com/insights/python-development-services).

At the same time, you need to immediately start building brand awareness to stand out from the competition. One of the most powerful and cost-effective ways to accomplish this task is to use content marketing.

What Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing involves publishing valuable, high-quality content pieces, like blog posts, videos, and podcasts, that offer solutions to your target audience’s problems. Unlike traditional marketing plan, this method doesn’t focus on selling products or services to customers, but instead builds brand awareness and develops trust, which can result in loyal customers.

This cost-effective approach can work well for many types of business but is especially useful for startups. While it costs 62% less than traditional marketing methods, it can yield three times the leads per dollar spent. It can also help attract and retain good talent.

You Need a Content Marketing Strategy

Before you start producing content, you need to develop a solid strategy using the following steps:

1. Research target audience

Identify and learn about your target audience, since you will build content around how you can help them:

What are their demographics (age, gender, location, income)?
What are their interests and hobbies?
What are the problems they face that your products or services can solve?

2. Determine content type

Use surveys, interviews, and analytics to discover what types of content your target audience prefers to consume. If they like to read about solutions, focus on creating blog posts, articles, newsletters, and case study reports. If your audience is more visually oriented, consider infographics, videos, and images. For those who want to listen to information, there are webinars and podcasts. Keep in mind that the best choice for your audience might be a combination of different types.

3. Develop objectives

It’s essential to know up front what you want to accomplish. Your objectives should be specific, measurable, and realistic and relate directly to your general business goals.

Some common content marketing objectives include:

Brand awareness, which can be measured by assessing changes in website traffic
Customer education and engagement, revealed by the number of shares and comments on social media
Brand loyalty, which shows up in the form of repeat purchases and referrals

Build a Content Marketing Plan

Once you know your objectives, you need a plan for how to achieve them. The following are possible plan components:

Keyword research

Identify a set of terms that your target audience is searching for. Aim for three to five core keywords, along with a longer secondary list. You’ll expand these keywords into topics to cover in your content pieces.

Make sure to include relevant SEO terms so your audience can find your content through organic search. Ideally, the keywords should be high traffic and low competition.

Content calendar

Scheduling content helps maintain consistency in quantity and quality, which is key to good results. Use a tool, such as Google Calendar or a project management app, to create and manage a content calendar. Ideally, you should plan out content for the coming year, but even a few months at a time can be helpful.

Assign each content piece a target keyword, topic and title, creator, completion deadline, publishing date, and where it will be published.

Where to publish

Where you publish content should be based on where your target audience goes for information. Some options include:

Your website, perhaps in a special content section
Relevant social media platforms and groups
Email newsletters with exclusive content for subscribers
YouTube, where users perform 50 million searches a day and there is less competition for keywords than on the Google search engine
Third-party sites relevant for your niche and audience

Gather Resources to Create Content

Someone will need to create your content pieces. While you can try to do it yourself, you’ll likely need to outsource some or all of it or build a dedicated in-house team. Typical roles you’ll need, depending on the type of content, include writer, editor, graphic designer, and videographer.

Develop guidelines for your creators to follow, including a chronological checklist with specific deadlines, design standards to promote a consistent look, and an editorial process.

Some affordable content production tools can help, including Google Docs for collaborating, Google Keyword Planner to find the best keywords, Mail Chimp for targeted emails and newsletters, and Grammarly to correct errors.

Measure Your Success

To accurately measure success, you’ll need key performance indicators (KPIs) based on your objectives. Make sure to include incremental milestones to assess progress along the way. You can create a “scorecard” with performance benchmarks for each content piece.

Examples of KPIs include:

Lead generation
Traffic to website
Increase in money spent per sale
Social media follower growth and engagement
Search engine rankings

Check regularly how your content performs related to the KPIs, then promote what does well and adjust what doesn’t. You can use your best performing topics for new posts by creating a different type of content (such as making an instructional video based on a successful blog post topic).

Periodically review your overall strategy to make sure you’re still using the right message in the right places to reach the right audience.

In Summary

Content marketing is a smart approach for startups who want to build visibility and promote brand awareness on a limited budget. Successful content marketing is a slow and steady process, but if you maintain consistency and quality, you’ll see success over time.

Development Insights SEO

MilesWeb – Perfect Web Hosting For Web Developers

Miley on May 22, 2020

Being a web developer is not an easy job, every time a website demands new changes and you need to keep your heads on it. Web developer looks after various tasks like coding, management of the website, updating site with new applications, etc. In the middle of all this chaos, a developer might not get time to look after the web hosting issues, or he might think that it is not his work. Yes, as a site owner you cannot blame a developer for that because web hosting is a service offered by web hosting providers that work separately. Web hosting is definitely an important parameter of a working website but is often neglected. So, if you are a web developer reading this article, and if you are frustrated with some web hosting services then this article is for you.

Most of the web developers look for a cheap web hosting company that offers great reseller hosting plans so that the developer can start their own hosting company, well this article will help you too.

MilesWeb has a large customer base of web developers who are happy with the services they are getting. So, today, I thought I should reveal some points about MilesWeb.

MilesWeb

The company was started in the year 2012, with an aim to provide web hosting at very cheap rates without compromising over its services. Their shared hosting plan is a popular one in the market, where you get unlimited hosting starting at just Rs.40/month.

Within this short term, the company has now reached many hearts due to its integrity and outstanding support.

MilesWeb for developers

If you are a developer having a good customer base, then you must broaden your horizon by starting a web hosting business. That means you can now provide everything under your brand, right from domains, web hosting, and sites. If you are thinking the same way, then reseller hosting is structured for you only.

The important thing is, all the reseller plans from MilesWeb come with a 100% white label so that you can sell all the products under your brand name. All you have to do is, just buy hosting from MilesWeb and sell it to your customers, under your brand name and price. This is one in a million opportunities for developers to start their web hosting business.

C:\Users\ADMIN\Desktop\Images and Plans\Unlimited reseller hosting India.png

Additionally, reseller hosting from MilesWeb ensures that a user doesn’t require any lump-sum amount, our huge infrastructure, also don’t need to spend on servers or to hire employees, as everything is managed by MilesWeb on behalf of you. This also ensures that in any process while dealing with your customers, MilesWeb maintains a 100% white label and provides service under your brand name. You can gain more information about them by directly initiating a chat from their website, the technical support team will help you properly.

MilesWeb offers a wide range of products like shared hosting, VPS hosting India, reseller hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, etc. All these hostings come with a lot of best-hosting features, and the following are few of them:

1) Free SSL certificate

As a web developer, you must be knowing the importance of HTTPS symbols padded on a site. To ensure the safe transmission of data, MilesWeb provides a free SSL certificate with every web hosting account bought from them.

2) SSD storage

SSD storage speeds up websites so that visitors can have better site experience. A fast and smooth loading website gains more visitors than a site hosted on outdated hard drives.

3) Latest PHP and MySQL

A developer knows how many times he needs to update the software running on the website. But, all web hosting plans from MilesWeb offers the latest version of PHP and MySQL and they get updated as soon as the latest version releases, this eases the work of the developer.

4) Protection against virus

A website is prone to viruses if it is working on the internet. This doesn’t mean, you don’t need to have a working website, because proper protection can save a site from any misfortune. MilesWeb servers are scanned on a daily basis that protects each and every site hosted on them from all types of malware.

5) Free website migration

Migrating a website is very tedious work. One single mistake can break the whole website and lose its data. So, if you want to switch your hosting to the MilesWeb server, then just contact their technical support team, and they will migrate the website on their server without any data loss.

You can see, MilesWeb being a web hosting company, takes the responsibility of various technical work so that a user doesn’t have to invest special time in it.

Want to try MilesWeb?

If you want to free yourself from the burden of web hosting issues, then MilesWeb is an answer to you. The plus point is, the hosting comes with 99.95% uptime, 24/7 technical support, and 30 days of a money-back guarantee.

Development Insights Products

Stolen Vehicle Recovery with Thatcham Insurance Approved Trackers

Miley on May 13, 2020

The continuous efforts of car manufacturers, tech companies and police forces to combat vehicle theft across the UK led to a steady decline in the number of stolen vehicles between 2003 and 2014. Improvements to built-in vehicle safeguards and enhanced car security systems helped to stop criminals from breaking into and getting away with our precious vehicles. However, in 2014, a simple security oversight with the introduction of keyless entry systems – which were supposed to improve our quality of life – fuelled a drastic increase in vehicle theft throughout the UK. Criminals adapted quickly to the emerging technology, finding a simple and inexpensive way to steal vehicles with keyless entry systems in under a minute, without even needing to touch the key.

This so-called “relay theft”, in addition to the other known ways to break into vehicles, has exacerbated the situation to the worst it has been for years. Since 2014, the West Midlands has seen a shocking 214% increase in theft rates, while London remains the UK’s worst location for theft with a 61% rise in stolen vehicles. However, car owners aren’t totally helpless against these prolific thieves.

Here are some simple tips for preventing car theft:

Keep your vehicle locked at all times
Invest in effective anti-theft systems
Keep your keys safe, hidden away from out of sight
Keep your keys in a Faraday pouch overnight as a precaution against keyless theft
Choose safe parking locations for your vehicles, even for shortstops
Keep valuable items out of sight to not provoke a theft attempt

While these tips should be practiced by all drivers, a skilled auto thief can still get past these security measures and get away with your vehicle. Considering the time and money we invest in our vehicles, it’s worth investing a bit more to install a superior security system to guarantee their safety. High-end vehicle trackers accredited by Thatcham Research can protect your vehicle against even the most skilled criminals on the streets. With effective security measures against theft and a 96% stolen vehicle recovery rate, these sophisticated systems are one of the best – if not the best – vehicle security systems on the market.

Do you really need a Thatcham Vehicle Tracking Device in the UK?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is a resounding yes. In 2017/18 alone, 112,174 vehicles were stolen in the UK, and according to the Met Police, 50% of stolen vehicles are never recovered. Unless you have a Thatcham vehicle tracker fitted in your vehicle, there’s a good chance you’ll never see your car again should you fall victim to vehicle theft. Thatcham Research Centre is the industry authority on vehicle security systems in the UK. Thatcham certifies vehicle security devices through careful analysis and a stringent testing procedure and categorizes the approved devices according to the level of security and features they offer.

Reliability and Accuracy

Thatcham tracking devices are equipped with advanced GNSS chips that utilize multiple orbital satellite networks, including GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS. The ability to pick up signals from different satellite systems improves the accuracy of Thatcham vehicle trackers, which helps immensely to locate a vehicle in an emergency situation or if targeted by theft. Even if an adept thief steals your vehicle and drives it to a remote location, your Thatcham-approved tracking device will keep broadcasting its precise location.

Driver Recognition

Vehicle owners are given two encrypted driver identification fobs as per Thatcham standards for Category S5 and S5+ tracking systems. The fobs are vital in detecting a theft attempt if a vehicle is stolen without using the keys. As soon as a vehicle’s engine is started without the tracker recognising the proper driver identification tags, an alert is issued to our monitoring centre. The teams at the monitoring centre will immediately contact you to confirm if a theft has actually occurred, and upon confirmation, our staff will contact the authorities on your behalf and facilitate the recovery of the stolen vehicle by providing real-time location updates. Driver identification has multiple uses for businesses as well; for example, the driver recognition tags can be utilized to prevent unauthorized vehicle use for companies that operate a vehicle fleet.

Remote Immobilisation

Remote immobilization is one of the most powerful security measures against vehicle theft, and especially useful when the police are in pursuit of a stolen vehicle. It allows vehicle owners and on-call teams at the monitoring center to stop a stolen vehicle’s engine remotely, rendering the car useless once it comes to a complete stop. The employees at the monitoring centre can then guide the authorities to the location of the immobilized vehicle with pinpoint accuracy for a safe and speedy recovery. Thatcham-approved tracking systems offer multiple additional layers of security – one of which is that the ignition can be turned off to prevent the vehicle from starting without authorization from the owner.

24-Hour Monitoring Centre

Thatcham-approved vehicle tracking devices are effective against all known methods of vehicle theft, including the all-too-popular relay theft, replicated car keys and the hacking of onboard computers. The 24-hour monitoring center is always on alert for any theft attempts against your vehicle, and the experienced staff on-site will immediately contact the responsible parties to confirm the threat to your vehicle and take appropriate action. 24/7 surveillance is one of the core security measures provided by Thatcham vehicle tracking systems – it ensures that one of the employees is always keeping tabs on the movements of your vehicles, and they will immediately contact you in the event of any suspicious activity.

Conclusion

Vehicle theft is one of the inevitable truths of living in the UK – your vehicle is at constant risk of being targeted by organized criminals and opportunistic thieves. Thatcham approved vehicle tracking systems are designed with the most effective security measures in mind, offering a wide range of tools that are instrumental in protecting your vehicle against theft. They integrate the powerful tools of GPS tracking technology with Thatcham security protocols to provide car owners in the UK with the highest level of security that today’s technology has to offer. With a recovery rate of close to 100%, Insurance GPS trackers are unrivalled in recovering stolen vehicles compared to other vehicle protection systems. Whether you have a high-end performance vehicle or own a vehicle fleet, Thatcham vehicle tracking systems are the best solution on the market against the experienced car thieves roaming the streets of the UK.