Digital BrandingLocal Branding

Importance of Protecting Your Brand

on January 15, 2019

As a business owner, nothing is as important as protecting your identity. In a world where competition can be fierce, you can’t afford to let your guard down. Businesses spend a lot of time and money on developing their brand that they’re willing to fight tooth and nail when they see their branding being used without their consent.

Like any business asset, your brand is something that needs protecting, too. Here are the reasons why it’s important for you to protect your brand:

Increases Your Value

A brand that’s treated with importance will reflect in its value. If you fail to protect your brand, it loses its value, and any entrepreneur knows that a brand with a low value is perceived to be cheap and unreliable. For example, when another business uses your brand identity such as your logo on a subpar product, customers will eventually associate that product to you. If you didn’t secure your brand such as trademarking your logo, you could potentially lose your business because you don’t have any legal standing over that logo.

Here’s how you can protect your brand and its value:

  • Trademarking – One of the best ways to protect your intellectual property assets is by trademarking them. You can trademark your logo, slogan, designs, and even words associated with your brand as this will give you legal backing. It will also enable you to use the trademark symbol “®” in your assets.
  • File a patent for your products – If you’re in the US, you can file for a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The application will take a few months and will be examined by a lawyer for compliance. Before submitting your documents, be sure to check the USPTO database if you have similarities with other applicants. Different countries have different copyright laws; register where your company is located. If you’re operating internationally, prioritize which territory you want to register in.
  • Include an intellectual property clause on your website agreement – This clause is essential if your business operates mainly on the web or if you have a mobile application. A provision on your Terms and Condition Agreement (T&C) protects your brand from users who are looking to copy your brand or use your content elsewhere. Always remember to add a copyright notice and use the copyright symbol too.

Increases Brand Awareness

With millions of companies vying for consumers’ attention, your brand needs to stand out. Advertisements are everywhere from search engines and social media and even while playing games. Consumers are bombarded with promotions on a daily basis, which is why it’s crucial for your business to stand out. However, when you don’t take care of your brand, how can you expect other people to care about it?

Here is how you increase brand awareness while still protecting your brand:

  1. When partnering with influencers or other businesses, make sure they have a stellar reputation. Someone with a bad reputation will tarnish your brand, and it may be difficult for you to recover.
  2. Be vigilant on where your branding materials are being used by using intellectual property management software.
  3. If you can afford it, hire intellectual property lawyers who can effectively draft contracts and policies for you.
  4. Know when to walk away when an existing partner no longer shares the same brand principles as yours as this can lower awareness in the long run.
  5. Be sure to put your branding in every piece of content or product you produce.

Sets You Apart

More than having increased brand recognition, protecting your brand can help set you apart from competitors. Moreover, it will help consumers attach a specific feeling or experience with your brand. In essence, your brand is the personality of your business.

Take, for example, luxury brands. These brands intentionally make their slogans and promotional materials seem exclusive because that’s how they want people to see them. They are always careful with how they present their brand and they offer a distinct experience. The mere possession of these luxury brands can let people know the product owner’s social status. This is the reason why the knockoff business is a billion-dollar industry.

If you protect your brand, people will intentionally associate a certain level of distinction with your business. Although, in some cases, the association can be unintentional, such as the case of online customer reviews on blogs and other websites. However, if you’re always on top of your branding and you treat your brand as a valuable asset, you can remedy any negative association with it.

Conclusion

Your brand is your image to your customers, and establishing a recognizable brand is a road that’s long and full of challenges. The best way to ensure your business succeeds is by protecting your brand from infringement and thieves looking to capitalize on your reputation. Legal battles should always be your last option as these things can drag on for years. Being proactive in protecting your brand and understanding its importance to your business is the best way to secure your success.

Digital Branding

Find out what is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and why do you need it?

on January 13, 2019

In the virtual domains of the internet, nothing is truly public. The photos we share, our contact and personal details, they can all be preyed upon by phishing and scammers. Firewall or antivirus/anti-malware software can only take care of the programs, but what about when you need to secure your browsing history and habits?

A Virtual Private Network or the VPN is a very popular platform along with other system tools which have become a vital component of the desktop, laptop and Smartphone set up for individuals who want to maintain complete privacy while on the internet. VPNs are affordable and easy to use; it is the perfect solution to online bans by the government and ISP (Internet Service Provider) or for watching the Netflix show that is not available in your region. For a complete guide into the various VPN services, you can install for your browsing requirement log on to FastestVpnGuide.com today!

How does it work?

For an average internet consumer, the chances are you don’t know much about private browsing. You might want to keep your activities private or access web-pages that have been banned by your government or the Internet Service Provider. Maybe you want to download and watch a movie using the illegal torrent services. Installing a trusted VPN is the way to go in such cases.

Let’s elaborate!

There are different types of VPN services available for the millions of internet users. Your employer might offer you one at the workspace for remote working, or you can install one at your place for enhancing your online privacy and avoid any form of internet censorship. The VPN service offers you encrypted connection for your desktop/laptop/smart device with a server situated at any location which is completely immune to any online snooping and advertisement tracking.

If you install a VPN service on your platform of choice, you can circumvent various location-based restriction for web browsing sessions and protect your browsing history and data from commercial surveillance by the ad trackers. Additionally, you can keep your activity completely anonymous, as long as you don’t sign in to your account.

The advantages of using a VPN service

Secure browsing on public networks

Having a secure connection when using the public Wi-Fi networks is something all of us want. But the truth is no public network is safe and fool-proof. When you are out shopping, traveling or a cup of coffee, many of us use the free Wi-Fi services to go online and check the social networks, e-mail and even pay bills. As long as the browsing is unencrypted, you can fall prey to phishing scams and theft of your personal data like the bank account and card number. Malware from the router can also find its way into your device. If you want to overcome these problems and browse the internet securely over a public network install a VPN service on your platform today!

Location-based restrictions

Depending on the part of the world you reside in, some services, web-pages, and streaming links might be censored or banned by the government or the Internet Service Provider (ISPs). These location-based restrictions are a thorn in the side when it comes to accessing the internet which is basically free to use for users all over the world. A proxy server can circumvent these difficulties, but it results in very slow browsing and data streaming. However, with VPN services you can specify a local server from the hundreds of available servers and stream your favorite series and events securely free from the location-based restrictions.VPN services can also be employed to browse for data and pages without raising a red flag at the government security apparatus. Every online action is private with VPN services.

Shop safe and cheap

You should install VPN services to shop safely and save a lot of money. Firstly, with a VPN service, all the browsing and activities are anonymous and encrypted. Therefore all your private account details and online transactions are safe from phishing and online scammers waiting for people to slip up. Secondly, VPN services can allow you to modify your source location which might offer up discount prices for you when you are doing online shopping. Some products are available at discount pricing depending on the location of the purchase. With VPN services you can get the best deal for yourself while shopping online. What’s more, you can even get cheaper air tickets the same way! Installing a VPN service is the best way to save a lot of money in today’s day and age.

Improve your online gaming experience

This one is for the hardcore gamers involved in multiplayer FPS battles and other strategy games. VPN browsing allows you more bang for the buck when it comes to the speed of the connectivity. No more graphics locking and refreshing of the game stream. All you need to make sure is that the VPN server you are using for gaming purposes is local and is capable of handling the load to avoid speed and bandwidth issues.

Private and secure voice calls and online chats

Typically any VPN service will keep your voice calls, video calls and chat messages secure and safe from online snooping. The encryption services provided by the VPN are top notch and challenging to hack into. Are you afraid that your voice chats, video calls and messages over the common platforms like the WhatsApp or the VOIP (voice-over-IP) can be made public? Use VPN services to keep your communication 100% secure and anonymous. Remember you can use VPN can be used for messaging and calling over all the social network platforms including Skype, Google Duo/Hangouts, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

Sensitive research without interference

There is a lot of government interference these days when it comes to browsing for sensitive content be it educational or entertainment. Even with torrent service, we are seeing a large number of bans over the last few years. The internet is supposed to free and easily accessible to all parties. Invest in a VPN service and through anonymous online browsing, get the power of information back at your fingertips today.

There are numerous advantages of browsing through VPN than not using one. Read, research and invest in a VPN service today to keep using the internet the way it was meant to be!

Digital Branding

How can SEO help your business get more exposure?

on January 13, 2019

SEO is basically a search engine market, many businesses in today’s world are using SEO, and everyone goes for the option of SEO as it has many benefits. There are many benefits of SEO that no one could even imagine. Everyone is concerned about the thing that they will be using, and if you are confused about that, you can check out the posts on the same topic.

In SEO making the choices for keywords is an important game. People basically are looking the products that you have uploaded on your website, and if the stuff that you upload is good, then that will increase the goodwill of your website. SEO targets the traffic, and it is its major work if the files are properly optimized and managed it’s like a cherry on the cake, you are good to go for your well-done website.

There are many benefits of opting for SEO services which can easily catch your attention and make you invest in it. Let’s find out the unlimited range of benefits you can gain if you opt for the SEO service:

Cost-effectiveness

The other platforms which provide traffic on your websites such as social media advertisements, hoardings, and e- media are way more expensive than SEO. You will not be able to get the results from other platforms as soon as you can get the results from SEO. It is much more cost effective and cheaper as compared to other platforms of advertising.

SEO is much better than all the other stuff that is known for bringing traffic on your website. It has proved it over from the time when it came into consideration but selecting the best SEO Company is a must.

Increase organic traffic

SEO companies are known to increase the visitor’s traffic on the website as they are designed in the way that it can increase the visitors’ traffic on your website. Increasing the visitors is not an easy task, but it’s the work of SEO companies, and they are expert in their work. They have years of experience and are efficient in their work. They work with a strategy so that they can solve several problems at a time.

The Fort Lauderdale SEO agency experts work effectively to provide a range of benefits. You can get the results of SEO companies really quick as compared to all the other platforms of the same stuff. Several platforms offer the same sort of things as SEO companies, but they are not able to deliver the results as soon as an SEO company.

Target the market

SEO companies target the market in your field so that you can be on the top amongst all the other websites that provide the same products as you do. They focus on a particular market it is called a nice market, and they majorly focus on niche keywords. At times, you may see that your competitors or rival’s traffic is increasing and that may convert to sales; you need to check your techniques for the same.

SEO experts or professionals kind of have a lot of experience to handle all the different problems at the single time, and that experience makes them learn a few strategies so that they can improve your website in a manner that you will reach to the goal as soon as possible.

Techniques

The SEO professionals go for some tactics and techniques that they are experienced in so that they can solve the problems and create or design the website according to the needs of the people which are availing for the SEO. They have some techniques through which they can make the website look good and make the website look attractive at the same time. They majorly focus on all the factors that are used to design the website effectively.

Such techniques could be used in a way that the businesses that are going for the option of SEO companies do not face any problem related to the same. Some of the SEO companies also refund the amount if the business is not able to get any positive results through the company.

More exposure

In today’s world where business is growing and is being established day by day, every business needs more exposure. SEO is not used by a single sort, but several kinds of people use companies but all over the world for their businesses. Every business wants people to know about its products, awareness in any business is very important. The business when comes into consideration it needs to be known by people, every business needs to be popular to be successful.

In the arena where everyone is looking for different platforms of advertisements, SEO has proved itself the best platform for the same. Businesses need to be known amongst all the people so that the products of the business could be sold.

It will make your website look attractive

SEO will help your website look attractive and good. As they have many tactics and tricks and experience through which they can solve many problems at a time. SEO professionals are trained in a manner that they can bear a lot of pressure at a time. They have the ability to make any website look good in a certain way. They have experience through which they can check out the websites of your rivals and help you make your website according to your needs.

The SEO experts are of great mindsets, and they have a very good sense of humor, and with that, they can manage all the things and all the problems. SEO is a bit complex, but once the concepts are clear, it’s not a tough job.

The Final Verdict

In the above post, the importance and benefits of SEO are mentioned, hope the above post was useful to you. For more related information you can surf the net according to yourself. SEO is very important for a business to be popular. You should hire an SEO company after checking its reviews and checking it at your best level.

Digital Branding

Know The Ways of Measuring The Success of Optimization Strategies

on January 11, 2019

In the field of SEO or search engine optimization knowing accurate measurement practices is critical for achieving success. Experts who are fluent with search engine operations are aware of certain mandatory tasks like deriving ranking potion by tracking data, links and referral sites. This form of information tracking helps the experts to manipulate the strategy employed for SEO and also for finding out ways to succeed in this ever-changing field.

The recommended list of metrics which are used for tracking purposes

It is a fact that one website differs from another in terms of not only business but also has a set of unique metrics that govern the website. However, there is a general list that applies to all websites that are operating in the online field. Optimization for search engines requires individuals to know and evaluate some specific metrics which are discussed below in detail.

  • The status of visits by referring

There are many sources on the online filed which provide a website with traffic. As a website owner or business owner it is important to keep track of the amount of traffic which is gained from the following sources:

  • Through direct routing: The visitors who arrive at the website by direct keyword search with no spaces are known as direct visitors. Website clicks that are gained through bookmarks or email links also form the cluster of direct visitors.

 

  • Traffic through referrals: Links in the web or in coded emails that includes promotional and/or brand advertising links are known as referrals. When website traffic is achieved through such sources, then it called referral traffic.

 

  • Traffic obtained through web search: When search engines direct visitors to a website, then it is termed as search traffic.

When the above-mentioned sources of traffic acquisition are evaluated, then a business owner will be able to gain knowledge regarding the exact number of visitors that the website is gaining. Usually, such evaluations are carried out on a monthly basis. The acquired data will help in the identification of problems or weaknesses. The data that is gained should be suitably used for brushing up or changing the marketing tactics for acquiring a better result.

  • The share of each search engine in the organic traffic of a website:

Seo Services are specifically designed for making the website searchable so that all search engines show the website whenever relevant phrases are entered by an internet user. There are more than one search engines which are in use. An internet user can use any search engine for acquiring results. As a website owner and also as an SEO expert it is important to review the traffic that is gained from each search engine individually. There are some important reasons for analyzing this data because it will help to understand the following things:

  • A clear comparison can be drawn between the performances of the website in each search engine concerning the estimated share in the market.

 

  • The sudden decrease in traffic with respect to a particular search engine traffic will essentially help in analyzing the underlying problems resulting in the low count of visitors through that search engine. If the scenario is such that all engines show a similar decrease in terms of organic traffic, then the problem can be related to accessibility.

 

  • SEO is not a set of actions that will be suitable for all search engines. Some search engines might respond well to target reaping or inclusion of keywords while other search engines might give more value to links for anchor text. When one single search engine shows a significant drop in traffic, then SEO might have to be reconfigured to address the sudden devaluation.

Therefore knowing about search engine traffic separately for each engine will help in deterring the best strategy for improving traffic through one or all search engines.

  • Phrases and terms that generate traffic

The keyword is very important, and an individual should be aware of the words and phrases that specifically generate traffic. There are rising trends in the arena of keywords, and it is important to note the keywords that are in demand, the performance of certain key terms should be analyzed, and if there are terms that are bringing in significant traffic, then those should be optimized. Drop in the volume of key term search can also be a seasonal issue and in this regard, a person should note the terms that are working for a particular time during the year.

  • Pages are getting visits through search engines

Websites can have multiple pages, and it is important to note that if all the pages are receiving at least some traffic from search engines. Measuring the number of visits will help in the overall analysis of SEO.

Therefore for getting maximum traffic by employing SEO stagiest, it is important to scan the metrics that deal with website traffic thoroughly.

Digital Branding

Can SEO Beat Other Digital Marketing Strategy in 2019?

on January 11, 2019

Search Engine Optimization is the well-known digital marketing practice that is used by a number of businesses to gain traffic on the targeted website. It is easy to find that you can choose any of the agencies to gain all the benefits but still, SEO is almost equal to social media marketing, and anyone can gain the advantages. But, can SEO beat other digital marketing practices in 2019? Well, it depends.

Considering all the stats from past years and all the benefits in this year, you can say that SEO can easily take over all other platforms. The strategies are changing because the Google algorithm is hard to track because it is based on various factors. Despite all the facts, the below mentioned are the top five factors that can help you understand why it is highly reliable and better to prefer as compared to other ones.

1. Potential

The potential is still high for SEO, and it can increase the traffic by many times with the single use. There are billions of searches done in every day on Google and another search engine. Google holds the highest number of users, and it has a number of ways to boost the website. If you are targeting any specific keyword with higher search and proper strategy, then you can gain all the traffic on your website.

In case, you are targeting a highly competitive keyword then you may not rank, but you can focus on lower targeted keyword. It will be providing a little traffic, and it will help you out in various manners. You have to stay selective, and then you will be getting all the benefits. Keep it in mind that you choose the best service providers to obtain all the benefits. The potential can’t decrease that’s why it is better.

2. Comparatively Cheaper

As you look at all other types of marketing where Social Media Marketing is quite reliable to gain brand awareness, and it is preferred by a number of business. But, if you look at the overall benefits as per money spent, then you can look for SEO. It is the cheaper option as compared to the other ones that’s why it is always a better choice. You can try it out now and gain a range of benefits with ease.

It is always necessary that you choose the comparatively better option that is going to save your money. With the choice of poor service providers, you may not get the same benefits. That’s why it is always necessary that you choose a reliable service provider. In case, you are new to SEO then you have so many things to learn. The most efficient service providers can fulfil the need that’s why you can try it out with ease.

3. Easy Choice

SEO is the easy option, and you can easily find a number of service providers who can fulfil the need with ease. Keep it in mind that the choice is hard at the beginning, but you will find plenty of service providers in the town. The very first factor is to look at service providers that are expert in this profession and offering a range of services. Among all the service providers, quality is the first factor to consider.

Even, you can consider experience which will be the first choice that’s why you can look at it. Choosing such service providers can be hard, but you will be able to get unbelievable benefits. These may be hard to find, but you should try it out and go well. As you choose social media, you have to choose graphics or content creator, and then you have to choose all the promotional tools. It will work perfectly that’s why you can look for it.

4. Google Look for Homepage

It is easy to find that Google is always going to crawl for the home page and you should focus on some of the best keyword mappings. The sitemap is also important that’s why you should look forward to that. If your homepage is perfectly optimised then gaining all the benefit is easy. There are many ways to optimise a page, and each method will be helping out gaining all the advantages. The traffic will be increasing on your website, and it will work perfectly in most of the cases.

In case, someone is using any other search engine then you can still rely on it. The chances are higher that you will be optimising the website mainly for Google and then for Yahoo as well as Bing. In addition to this, you can consider other pages. These will increase your traffic that’s why you can try it out easily. These are some necessary factors to take into consideration, and you can rely on it.

Some Problems

There are few problems which can make SEO as less preferable. The very first reason behind this factor is the number of websites trying to rank for a particular keyword. Getting your website on the first page can consume time that’s why you can look forward to it. These are some of the problems that require eradication that’s why choosing the best service provider is necessary.

With the help of SEO business Melbourne, you will be eradicating all the issues. That’s why you should look forward to it. Another bigger problem is to find a service provider because there are many fraudster companies and you should look forward to the best one to avoid trouble. These are some necessary factors to look at.

The Final Verdict

So, it is easy to claim that choosing an SEO service provider can help in 2019 and it will be the most competitive and comprehensive solution for your website need. You choose a number of companies to eradicate all the issues. Hope, this guide will help you out and gain all the benefits. Make sure that you do the proper research so that you can find the best service provider.

Digital BrandingLegal Branding

How is Sitecore helping in putting the customers before products and sales?

on January 10, 2019

Are you thinking of reinventing your customer engagement and reinstating your digital marketing approach? When you are competing with hundreds of reputed and popular brands online, you need to think beyond product quality. Any company that wants to retail online has to focus on their digital commerce architecture. It is nothing new, but it can be a ground-breaking concept for your sales. It can form the foundations of your online retail system.

All the online content a website has depends on its e-commerce architecture. Therefore, you must pick the right CMS to power your site. There can be several approaches to designing and maintaining an e-commerce site. That makes selecting one architecture among the many available ones challenging. The three most effective architectures include experience-led, commerce-led and API-oriented methods. What kind of architecture would you pick to power your digital retail platform?

Why should you revisit your site’s customer experience features?

Research shows that customer-experience oriented e-commerce architectures are most effective. However, the concept can be new to many. A digital experience platform (DXP) powers the customer-experience oriented architectures. It is important because this form of architecture can create a fully immersive experience for the visitors. It is the only way to amalgamate customer relationship with your brand. You might find the other experiences restricted since they do not share customer data sourced from the content marketing strategies, commerce, customer experience, CRM and ERP engines. It can create silos that do not communicate well with each other. Not paying enough attention to customer experience is a major faux pas that you should avoid at all cost.

In the case of a customer-experience first approach, the DXP feeds all the necessary data to the outside world. While using a DXP, you will enjoy several unique benefits that do not come with other forms of digital commerce architecture. The presence of a DXP enables fine control of the content and accurate content management. Coupling it with personalization can allow you to feed pertaining content to each user. In the event of introduction of new data, you can always set up an A/B test for testing the acceptance and effectiveness of the new content. In short, if you want to enhance your customer experience, adopting a customer-experienced led digital commerce architecture is the smartest way to go about it. It can offer rich experiences across multiple channels including desktops, mobiles, and the Internet of Things.

What makes Sitecore the best option for customer-experience first brands?

Here are a few benefits of leveraging the customer-experience led digital commerce architecture for your site –

It can provide a unified customer experience

Keeping customer data in silos can do no one any good. Your CRM should have access to that data. A DXP led platform like Sitecore can offer seamless and immersive customer experience to all your visitors irrespective of their location and product preferences. Accessing enough customer data in the form of their geo-location, and purchasing history allow the CRM engine to offer relevant products to your customers. Sitecore’s DXP oriented digital platform can extend personalized experienced on Android, iPhone, and other OSx. The CRM and CMS engines can source customer data across several channels including social media, email interactions and land-based POS interactions to perfect the digital marketing strategy of the brand.

Leveraging microservices for customer experience

While choosing customer-experience oriented digital commerce platforms, you need to find out how it interacts or utilizes the microservices. Microservices are 21st century’s answer to the legacy monolithic services. As their name suggests, the monolithic systems are uniform and huge. They can run several functions that share dependencies throughout the system. Since they are a single and massive system, managing it becomes costly as it grows in size. Adding new features and updates become challenging with each extra step. The primary cause of this difficulty is the tight coupling of the elements on the monolithic system.

As a result, the micro-services dependent architecture is becoming popular. They lack the unnecessary complexity of the monolithic systems. Microservices are self-regulating and easy to manage. Developers can create them by pulling each feature and function in independent subsystems. As a result, it is possible to make changes to one subsystem without upsetting the others residing on the same system. The user sees these microservices as one unified system, but in the background, these subsystems communicate via API calls. In the end, the microservice environment is more stable than monolithic systems due to the successful isolation of the subsystem elements.

Independent microservices make extension and addition easy

When working with microservices, the website developers can leverage the isolation of this architecture for extending each subsystem. It can reduce the amount of testing necessary to develop and run an e-commerce site. It allows the users to iterate quickly and accurately in significantly less time. It makes the digital commerce platform scalable and budget-friendly. It is a unique feature of Sitecore that allows the user to extend the platform and add new features to it without wasting time or energy. Any new trends and customer reactions can get the pertaining site-wide response or single page element response depending on the magnitude of the stimuli. The developer of the website can further streamline the extension of new features to customer experiences across several platforms. When using Sitecore, you can use the digital commerce platform for tracking customer behavior through print ad campaigns, social media strategies, email marketing methods, mobile app interactions, and non-core sites.

Sitecore experience is for everyone

While most of the benefits and information we have provided here are about B2C e-commerce, you can leverage a CMS like Sitecore to create powerful B2B websites as well. Working on customer experience naturally boosts the site’s SEO and helps the target audience find the site on Google search results. The commerce functionality of a B2C platform will differ significantly from a B2B platform, but the underlying digital architecture remains the same. Even with a B2B customer-experience led platform, the content will come via a DXP. However, it will depend on the site manager to fine-tune the e-commerce engine functions including repeat orders, organizational data, and varying pricing and shipping rules.

Digital Branding

Focus on server optimization to make web pages open faster

on January 10, 2019

To improve your website performance for gaining mileage in SEO, you must pay apt attention to website speed. How fast the web pages open soon upon clicking the link is what usually people refer to as website speed. It is normal for website owners to face issues with website speed and they must be ready to identify the reasons for slow speed and address the issues on a war footing. From themes to plugins and all other integrations done on the website can impact website speed and you must monitor it carefully to find out the factors that hinder speed and take corrective action.

Better SEO for speedy websites

Providing the best user experience is the goal of any website for which you need speedy websites. Users expect to have a smooth and seamless browsing experience which is only possible when the website speed is good enough to open pages fast. Search engines too are ready to walk the extra mile for providing an unforgettable experience to users but must depend on the performance of websites to accomplish it. Therefore, it is not surprising that page speed which plays a vital role in ensuring the better user experience is now a ranking factor for Google. Whether you want to please users or want to do well in earning high ranks in search results, either way, you have no option but to create and maintain a speedy website that both users and search engines would love.

Page Speed is linked to Conversion rates and revenue

Page speed or website speed has a direct relation to conversion rates and impacts SEO performance which is another reason why you can never afford to take it lightly. Users expect any web page to open within 2-3 seconds of clicking and the longer it takes more frustrated they become. The audience has very little patience to bear with the delay and would abandon the site if it does not open almost immediately. It increases the bounce rate which is counterproductive for SEO as Google treats it as a negative point when deciding about ranking. On the other hand, fast opening websites delight users who spend more time on sites and enhances the possibilities for conversion. In addition, page speed impacts quality score of sites and even the ad campaigns.

Look at an example to understand the impact of site speed on the revenue earning capabilities of websites. Ads generate a revenue stream for websites and studies have shown that mobile sites that load within 5 seconds earn twice the ad revenue earned by mobile sites that take 19 seconds to open.

In this article, we will discuss how to make websites speedier by looking beyond websites.

The target to achieve

Website speed does not depend on the website properties alone, but many extraneous factors like web hosting server speed affect the page opening time. However, before you decide on an action plan, it is necessary to set a goal first. For all practical purposes, WordPress websites have all elements built into it that can support faster page opening time under 2 seconds. However, it depends on the selection of the right WordPress themes because all themes are not conducive for creating high-speed websites. Users too would be happy if a page opens in 2 seconds is what the professionals of a reputed Sydney SEO Agency feel. Google, of course, might not be too pleased with this target because it has set a mark of 200 milliseconds for page opening time.

The components of page load time

Page loading time is the time elapsed between users clicking on a link and opening of a web page. For a web page to open, the tapping on a smartphone or clicking the mouse sends a command to the server that processes the information and serves the page to users. At the front end, we can see the mouse and computer or any mobile device while at the back end is the hosting server that remains invisible. A number of operations happen in sequence from the time of clicking until the page becomes visible. Therefore, the page loading time is the cumulative time taken to perform all the actions that begin at the front end and terminate with the server.

Focus on the server

Focusing on the server to ensure that it not only supports the inbuilt website speed but also helps to enhance it is a more practical approach to ensure speedy website. Understanding the optimization process deployed by the server should help to devise a plan for optimizing the resources for supporting higher website speed. The server performance depends on the time it takes to display an HTML page and keeping it under a second assures good website speed.

Causes for sluggish server

Although many reasons can slow down server speed, the main contributors are inefficient coding and bottlenecks in the delivery system. Addressing the two areas can help to improve server speed thereby ensuring that it does not hinder or slow down the inbuilt speed of websites. Proper coding of the server not only supports the website speed but also improve it. Server optimization has its limitations, and for further improvement, it may be necessary to opt for speedier servers.

Page caching

Extracting data or information from the database, placing it on templates and finally serving it – this is the modus operandi of servers. The server efficiency and the power of code determine the time it takes to display data. To save time by cutting down on the repetitive process for every query, it is advisable to use the technique of page caching that creates the page once only and keeps serving it as many times the query keeps surfacing. It saves the time to display pages thereby ensuring that users can see the page as soon as they request for it.

Only when you optimize the website for higher speed than you should turn to optimize the server, for which you must work together with the web hosting company.

Digital Branding

Strategies that can be rewarding enough for small budget SEO

on January 10, 2019

SEO is for all sizes and types of businesses including those that comprise of one or two-person teams. This is true because it is possible to create effective SEO campaigns that suit all kinds of budget. Small businesses with limited financial resources can implement SEO in their own way which is the reason why local SEO is growing at a fast pace.  Apparently, it might seem overwhelming to think about managing your SEO goals on a small budget but with numerous options at your disposal, selecting the right strategies that are easy to implement yet provide considerable returns are within your reach. Here you will find a few SEO strategies that should give a quick and easy start to your SEO campaign under the guidance of Vision Smash local SEO Company.

Aim for mobile SEO

Since mobile-friendliness of websites is a ranking factor, it is imperative that you must optimize for mobile devices which enhances the outreach too. Mobile friendly websites perform better in search rankings, and with Google’s mobile-first indexing breaking into the scene there is no choice but to optimize websites for mobile users. Mobile optimization is not at all difficult, and neither is it costly.

Give emphasis to local citations

Small businesses with local interests must create a strong local presence to gain maximum visibility. Investing in different aspects of local SEO thus makes good sense. An easy way to increase the visibility of your website is to make it easily found against searches by depending on local citations. Getting your business listed on directories like Yelp is an effective means of bringing your business in front of searchers who want to make some immediate purchases. Similarly, Google My Business is a platform that helps all kinds of businesses with enhanced visibility.

Have a sitemap

Search engine spiders or bots should be able to crawl websites conveniently or else it results in traffic drop. Crawlability errors can damage SEO prospects, and you must take care of it from the beginning by addressing issues related to it. Create a sitemap for your website which is not at all difficult, and it ensures that search bots can crawl all the pages for better indexing to make it more visible to search engines when presenting search results. WordPress websites have an automated system for generating sitemaps which make things very easy.

Create metadata that earn more clicks

 URL, Title and Meta descriptions which comprise the metadata are very important elements of optimization that you should never ignore. You can do it on your own to get better results. The easiest way is to include the target keyword in the Title. Next, pay attention to Meta descriptions which are crispy snippets that appear in search results and give an idea about the website contents. It can compel viewers to click on the website. Lastly, get your URL structure right by taking advantage of the increased characters that have now gone up to 320 from 160.

All the above needs little money and more expertise and skills which makes it attractive for low-cost SEO.

Digital Branding

Ecommerce Trends: Looking Towards 2019

on January 10, 2019

Image via Pixabay

According to Statista, 46 percent of internet users bought products or goods from a mobile seller or ecommerce business.

It can be difficult to determine due to nuances in the industry, by according to Shopify, the definition of ecommerce largely refers to the online sales of goods and services, sometimes from large sellers and other times from individuals.

The number of sellers is surely going to increase in the upcoming years as the market grows and more and more sellers move into the digital space, as suggested by an expert Magento development company. In the past few years, we have seen a lot of evolution in ecommerce practices, and we’re still witnessing some of the more important, market influencing changes take place and effect the way ecommerce participants buy and sell.

Starting from an increased use of internet shopping to the entrance of augmented reality as a legitimate product, ecommerce has changed and grown, and will continue to do. Looking forward to 2019, there are a number of things to expect in the new year.

 

A Blending of Ecommerce & Physical Commerce

A major thing that will change in 2019 is the experience of shopping online. Purchasing things from an online seller and in a physical store are two very different experiences. That being said, the way ecommerce is progressing, both of these experiences will be nearly identical in regard to visual experience and convenience.

In a brick-and-mortar store, a human assistant helps you find the right products after a conversation about your taste and preferences. What could happen in the upcoming years is when you enter into an ecommerce site, a virtual assistant suggests and guide you by asking various questions. Whether it be through text or a live video chat feature, virtual assistants will make the purchase more realistic, and purchase decisions will be better.

 

Augmented Reality Comes into Play

A big part of the virtual experience will be augmented reality, or AR. Augmented Reality is one biggest trends in ecommerce, and it is likely to grow in 2019.

AR helps buyers to choose products by creating an environment where buying can be more realistic. Makeup giant Sephora uses augmented reality to allow customers to try different makeup looks, and take pictures with the outfit they’re planning to match to the look.

Lenskart, an Indian eCommerce platform for eyewear,  allows users to try out hundreds of frames in 3D. AR allows users to capture the shape of their face, and create a virtual face, so the customer can try out different frames.

Likewise, Amazon and IKEA are two developing giants in the ecommerce space, and they too are moving towards a greater use of AR. Amazon lets you try out multiple products or appliances with an AR app, so you can make an informed purchase. IKEA is utilizing a new app called IKEA Place that uses AR to allows potential customers to try out furniture and accessories before buying.

Here, buyers will get the exact idea about the product. You no longer have to imagine how this sofa would look in my living room, you can actually see it with your own eyes. AR has already made a great progress up till now, and it is definitely one of the game-changing ecommerce trends in 2019.

As trends in ecommerce for 2019 point to a more realistic buying experience, virtual assistance and AR are looking to make the online, at-home shopping experience feel as close to brick and mortar store experience as possible.

The few shortcomings of ecommerce shopping are disappearing as the months go on and technology continues to advance. The most exciting thing about the ecommerce market is that many of the most influential advancements come without notice, meaning the best yet to come in 2019 might not even be fully in our radar.

The one thing that is guaranteed is that ecommerce will continue to be an influential economic influence across the globe!

Digital Branding

Social Enterprise for Organizations

on January 9, 2019

Social enterprise addresses a range of challenges that organizations often face including environmental, cultural and social issues, and offers a number of benefits.

When an organization uses social enterprise a number of benefits can occur, including financial independence, the ability to reach the organization’s goals, becoming more attractive to beneficiaries wishing to donate to the organization and improved growth. According to Weisbrod (1998), the benefits of social enterprise improve the organization’s use of their traditional sources of funding like charitable donations and government grants effectively.

What Does Sam Rye Say About Social Enterprise?

Same Rye is the Co-Founder of Wellington’s Collaboration Cafe and states that social enterprise allows self-governing through independence and freedom through entrepreneurship. You can learn more about Sam Rye’s social enterprise and the benefits that it offers on YouTube.

Financial Independence

One of the main benefits that social enterprise offers is the ability to gain financial independence and sustainability. Typically, organizations that address environmental, social and cultural challenges are non-profit organizations. These organizations have relied on government grants and charitable donations in order to fund their activities.

Relying on these contributions and grants means that the organization does not control the amount of funding that they receive. Factors outside of their control like changes in government regulations and laws, competition and economic conditions affect the number of grants available and the number of donations that they will receive.

Social enterprise allows organizations to have funding that is under their control. This funding comes from business profits, which can be used to supplement or replace government grants and charitable donations.

The Auckland-based Chinese New Settlers Services Trust appropriates business activity funds to supplement the other types of funding that they receive.

Growing the Services and Scope of Services to the Community

Traditional organizational funding via grants and donations make it difficult for an organization to expand their services. The additional finances from a business allow the organization to use the funds to offer new services that cannot be funded with the donations and grants that they have received. These funds also allow them to invest in additional services and increase the scope of their organization. Smith, Cronley and Barr (2012) state that social enterprise helps organizations make their finances go further.

Business Offers Innovative Ideas to Achieve the Organization’s Mission

Social enterprise also allows organizations to explore new and innovative ways to reach their goals and achieve their mission. For example, the organizations could hire people with disabilities or provide loans at discounted rates for businesses that are environmentally friendly or align with the organization’s mission.

The Inside Out Project, located in Wellington, employs individuals suffering from learning disabilities. These individuals offer pet care or other odd jobs. This gives the individuals an opportunity to develop their skills and connect with their community in a way that they would never have been able to otherwise.

Social Enterprise Can Impact How the Organization is Perceived by Employees and Donors

Social enterprise can impact what others think about the organization, including the organization’s staff and its donors. For example, donors who have a business mindset may view the organization’s business activities to achieve the organization’s social mission as a positive thing. The characteristics of developing such missions may increase the organization’s donors’ willingness to support the organization because they know their donations will go further.

If you want to read more about this subject then take a look at the growth of social enterprise in Australia. It will also shed light on the benefits and reasons for growth of this business model.

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