Archive for 2015
Tag :
Web Design
Magento 2.0 Key Updates
Magento 2.0 new footstep for furnishing smart and flexible eCommerce platform for business of different sizes. It makes its stand on latest and up-to the minute technology stack which enables to incorporate better with third party solutions and is more accessible and open to front-end developers.
Magento 2.0’s is a vital step for offering scalability, greater performance, and modularity through the platform. The merchants or the clients will attain faster deployments, simplified upgrades and faster time to value also fastens the ease of implementation
Even Magento 2.0 is in its improvisation phase, We know the Magento lovers are zealously waiting to seize the minute gossips about it.
“Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.” I know this phrase contradicts here hence Magento 2.0 is in the same shoe. But I just wanna convey you the message that – A good comparison with predecessor version will always helps to formulate a better knowledge about the present set-up.
Easier front-end development
Although still in expansion phase, Magento 2.0 endow with a unique set of improved front-end approaches compared to its predecessor Magento 1.X. Also the developers can easily get in to it with the key improvements including better separation of the presentation layer from business logic, using the LESS CSS pre-processor, and using modern HTML 5 themes. .
There are also noteworthy changes to overall layout manipulation, file structure and bestows an initiative to Magento UI library heavily based on LESS pre-processor with built in compiler. All these features are combined together to delivers specific system requirements and thereby to acquire maximum reach to the respective clients
Modern Tech Stack
Tech stack assimilation, including JQuery and the latest versions of PHP, CSS, HTML 5 – notable improvisation in the new release, offers a better starting point for the Magento lovers.
High code quality & testing
Magento 2.0 track continuous improvement, continuous deployment (CICD) /automated testing practices to achieve improved code base quality
Testing framework of Magento 2.0 comprise a series of test scripts for users which enable them to determine the impact of code changes at various stages of site implementation. This series includes tests for integration, units, static environments, functional areas, and performance criteria.
Streamlined Customization
To open up new spheres in the field of eCommerce, customization process is streamlined. The layout manipulation in the previous Magento versions was not an easy task for those who have only limited technical knowledge .But the new version came up with the solution for this and makes it clear for the newbie even.
Magento 2.0 includes a modularized search interface and layered navigation so it is easier to customize search functions. The new Visual design editor, will provides with straight forward design system and ease to use ‘drag and drop’ interface which there by permit every merchant to modify blocks and containers with no substantial effort.
Improved performance & Scalability :
Magento 2.0 improves native performance and scalability to meet the challenging needs of potential merchants. It will incorporate all features of the preceding Magento versions as well as having the new possibilities for serving more to its customers.
Advanced indexers: New indexers possess the same functionalities as the earlier enterprise versions, but it’s been equipped to bring faster query performance and more efficient updates.
It also consists of Magento performance toolkit and Varnish cache to optimize the scope of scalability and performance. The system performance can verify through a new set of performance scripts
Multiple admin users: Core improvements in the admin site allow for more admin users to create and update products while reducing data conflicts.
Better engagement with the society
Yet another advantage of Magento 2.0 is better engagement with the community. A better connect with the community will opened up since it enables to carry out webinars special events etc
Reduced upgrade costs and efforts
Upgrading core Magento software and extensions will be easier than with lower upgrade costs and efforts. It includes information on versioning policies, to support the developer upgrade new version easier with the support of new standalone installer, installing Magento 2.0 will be much faster. This tool will check for prerequisites before starting installation.
Component oriented module Structure
Magento 2.0 comprises a set of modules with a high coupling code which provides merchants with an option to enable disable or replace the components according to their needs.
Directories Structure
There are significant changes made in the structure of directory. Magento 2.0 brings in a new directory called “pub” and it will contain whole data available for publicity . This will provides the developer with a better and precise view of structure
Magento all lessen the number of root directories so as to make a faster store management. Certainly, this system is more convenient than the previous versions, where numerous files are divided among the system. Also, shop owners can able to leave their Magento application files outside of web server document root.
The greatest advantage of Magento 2.0
‘Initiative of Magento UI library’
Magento 2.0 put forward an absolute UI library build up on LESS to meet the definite and precise system requirements. The motive behind opting LESS over other pre-processors is because Magento 2.0 comes with internal compiler to compile CSS directly from PHP. This will definitely, speed up development and allow developers to focus just on file editing/production.
UI Library itself provide tons of mixins (vertical rhythm, @font-face .etc) and a huge set of predefined variables to make the process more intuitive and less demanding for a fronted developer.
The launch of a worthy platform for giving a complete eCommerce solution is about to happen soon. There is no doubt about the fact that Magento 2.0 is a significantly advanced system in all aspects when compared to its predecessor.
Why WordPress a better choice?
‘Blogging’ is the first thing that comes to our mind when we hear “WordPress”. Definitely WordPress can be used to create blogs, but its actual capability is not limited in blogging. It is the most popular and very user-friendly CMS (Content Management System) and can be mainly used for creating websites. But the general definition of WordPress as a mere “Blogging system” keeps a lid on the actual strength of WordPress. It actually gives ground for new evolution of websites and what makes WordPress so attractive is it’s customization feature.
Whenever a choice for WordPress comes, many of us have a couple of delusions to clear up. Now we are gonna figure out some common misconceptions, let’s have a look at why WordPress is notable than traditional websites and other content management systems.
Better than Other CMS
While CMS like Joomla is still around, developers prefer WordPress since Joomla is less user friendly and not consistent compared to WordPress. Joomla is similar to WordPress, using PHP and HTML, but it has limited free templates and setup is somewhat complex. Joomla is GOOD but WordPress is GREAT.
Save Money
As it enables you to make the edits in your website, WordPress is the best way to save money that you would have paid for the developer.
Greater Accessibility
If you have a computer with internet access you can make the changes in a website without any additional software.
Plugins
Plugins in WordPress provide improved performance, Search Engine Optimization and better user experience. Many developers are working hard to make interactive plugins for WordPress. But using too many plugins will affect the compatibility of websites.
Better Time Management
We can schedule post on a WordPress website to publish it on a date as per our wish.
Speed of Communication
Website visitors will get most current updates since the content can be changed promptly by someone who owns it.
Social Networking Friendly
New blog in WordPress websites will automatically integrate with social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.
Ultimate in SEO Friendliness
There are two reasons which make WordPress websites SEO friendly. First WordPress blog code is consistent and streamlined. There is no excessive HTML code which is very inviting for indexing. Second, we can customize every page with the right set up. Frequent contributing to the website will attract search engines.
RSS Feeds
RSS (Real simple Indication) referred to as news feeds. If we want to keep track of updates on our websites RSS is the best choice.
Growth Potential
Navigation or links to new pages will be added automatically based on the categories we assigned for those pages.
Improved Security
WordPress sites can be hacker-proofed more securely than the traditional websites if only the right people were involved in the set up of WordPress installation.
Two-Way Communication with Visitors
Two-way communication with visitor is possible through blog comments in WordPress. Inclusion of keyword phrases in the comments will help to build better search positioning.
Increase Your Perceived Industry Authority
Publishing posts frequently and presenting the website with fresh ideas is helpful to make better bonding with the audience.
This is probably not an all inclusive list. One can enjoy more benefits from using WordPress. We can easily add audios and videos to pages. Editing and adding new pages & images are easy as in MS Word. I hope now you realize why WordPress is a better choice and you should also know that Redback specializes in this area of website development and our developers know the ins and outs of WordPress. If you are looking for a website with the facility of updating it frequently, please consider using WordPress. There are many CMS systems available other than WordPress. But so far WordPress wins the competition. If you are conscious about saving time & money, SEO and free CMS WordPress is the best option. Let’s get started.
Catch up with the pace in Web Designing
No matter how much technology has improved, it would be disappointing if the same growth is not reflected in the creative side of the story. Technology is significant, but it shouldn’t overshine the idea. A design is actually a means of creating an artistic impression about your product or services on internet. So spotting and applying the current trends to your design work is very essential for adding more potential clients to your list.
Let’s go with the pace of this generation to engrave new standards in designing. Here I’m about to discuss the new techs and trends in visual aesthetics.
Flat Design- Just another passing trend?
The name Flat Design is originated from the shapes used in this design method that are simply flat and applies a specific two dimensional approach. In this technique nothing is added to the elements to make them realistic. Flat design is trending right now by giving a unique ambiance and appearance without embellishment. Simple design is one of its pretty distinct characteristics. Elements used in this design are simple and easy to click or Tap. So communication becomes uncomplicated. Typography is highly significant since the design and design elements are simple. Flat designs are much brighter compared to other sites.
We don’t know whether it’s a lasting trend or a passing fad. Anyway the designing community just can’t stop talking about it and most designers tried this trend in some of their works.
Full Screen Background Images & Videos
Captivating the minds of website visitors is vital for the success of your business. Full screen image or video will play a major part in the design lexicon to add an attractive quotient. The latest technologies and techniques allow a smoother and easier loading of full screen background and videos. It is the best way to capture the attention of visitors and create an immersive experience. While a user land on the homepage, full screen background and image definitely gives a high impact. But the designer should ensure the relevance of the video in that website before using it in a site.
Parallax Scrolling Sites
Parallax scrolling is yet another emerging trend in web designing. By definition, Parallax is the angle formed between two different lines of sight of an object’s apparent positions. In many websites parallax scrolling is used to bring the illusion of a 3-Dimensional effect. This approach enables background image move slower than the foreground image and mouse movement or page scrolling is used to animate elements or properties of the page. Parallax scrolling is really exciting and the reaction you get in the time of scrolling will make you feel like you are a part of that website.
Grid Layout
Grid design develops a user experience that is great for tangible product based websites. Such websites have a well structured layout which creates a user-friendly navigation. This method of designing is also known as Modular design. One of its important features is that it is responsive-friendly and visually appealing on any screen size. It is not completely a fresh design method, but the launch of responsive web design has made it even more popular. Modular design can make wonders for websites if they are meant to be responsive.
Ghost Buttons
Ghost buttons are becoming another successful trend in web design. These are transparent buttons with basic shapes, very thin outline and texts in sans-serif font. They are transparent like phantoms but immediately grab user’s attention and that is why it got that name. Ghost buttons are considerably larger than traditional buttons and if they are arranged with a be-fitting background colour, it will become the prime focus of that page.
One Page Web Design
Another newest and hottest trend in web design is to create a one-page website. It is really helpful for small business since in traditional way they have to fill ten pages with content. In such websites if there is no useful content in each page, viewers will think that they are lacking business or not very competent. This is where one page design can really shine. Moreover the ‘simplicity ‘factor makes this design approach more successful.
Split Screens
The split screen through vertical divide is yet another trend in web design where the page is divided vertically into two halves and uses contrasting colours. There are different reasons for applying this design method. The first is that the design has to display two principal features with the same significance. Second thing is that the design has to communicate a vital duality. For example if one organization want to convey the fact that proficiency and knowledge are their core strength, split screen is the suitable way to present.
Modern web is a thrilling environment to work with due to the use of a large variety of layouts. We must go through wide range of possibilities when we think about web design. By reviewing the current fads in web design you can evaluate why they’re successful and try to bring their value in your own work. Follow these trends, think beyond limitations, and try to develop your own signature in the field of web design. Web design is a long journey and there’s always more to learn.
This is the Right Time, Start doing……
The Gimmick Of An E-Commerce Portal Development
E-Commerce is an Electronic commerce as the term itself explains that buying and selling of products and services can be done online through internet or computer networks, Website is the most important point from where one can display his product/services and then can target the customers or prospects through communicating them.
E-commerce sites help you to enter into the world of opportunity that gives the ability to reach a million potential customers, business associates and manufacturers, promotion of your can be done through online bringing customer traffic to your website, You can take orders from anywhere and let your customers shop.
For your website to become a massive hit, the e-commerce portal development must be left in the hands of professionals, the website should be very attractive so that it can bring on traffic to your site and it should be designed in the way that it’s easy to understand, When designing the website, the corporate identity of the company should be factored in, this will help keep the customers at ease and know they are dealing with a reputable company. So make sure you leave that work to the right people but make sure they design it according to how you want it, you will be given an assurance that your customer will like what they see.
As any e-commerce website is completely for the consumers use thus it has to be highly user-friendly, the market of E-Commerce Development is rapidly growing nowadays especially in the Indian web development market, This owes to the superior intellectual capital of India that helps to lower the costs involved in the development of e-commerce websites and web portals, In the case of a business website, it is much easier to implement marketing strategies With the help of internet marketing tools like SEO and link building, you can easily make sure that more people visit your website.
It is always very important for you to understand what E commerce means and how it can contribute to your progress, a e-commerce portal that is well built and developed is always more than sufficient to cater to the needs of your target market, With a view to help you know more about what E commerce has to offer , portals are the open source on the Internet, They are always open to us from wide variety of sources or even from the internet users, They also offer a different kind of hosts at a single place, one must definitely set up a e-commerce portal for an online trade.
4 WAYS WINDOWS 10 WILL IMPACT WEB DESIGN
4 WAYS WINDOWS 10 WILL IMPACT WEB DESIGN
Windows 10 is now available and it’s the final ever version of Windows. From this point on, Microsoft will cease major version releases and adopt the frequent update model — with new releases as often as several times per day — constantly iterating as the demands on the OS change.
Borrowing heavily from rivals — MacOS’ Mission Control is directly lifted — and previous versions of Windows — there’s a welcome return for the Start menu — Windows 10 ties many different ideas into a surprisingly usable package.
As well as a refined UI, Windows 10 introduces features that will have a lasting impact on web design, and the Web in general.
1) WINDOWS 10 FACILITATES NEW DEVICES
Microsoft missed the mobile revolution. Whilst its desktop OS is the most widely used across domestic, and business sectors, a Windows mobile is commonly the third choice (in some cases fourth) after Android and iOS.
There are of course people who think that Windows Mobile offers a better experience than its rivals, but the problem for Microsoft is that there aren’t very many of them.
WINDOWS 10 IS THE FIRST FULLY RESPONSIVE OS
Microsoft’s ill-fated acquisition of Nokia, which rapidly morphed into a tax write-off, was a distraction that left them not only failing to make headway, but actively losing ground. So they’ve taken the brave decision to leapfrog Android and iOS and ensure Windows 10 is the first fully responsive OS.
Windows 10 will run on all the hardware the company invests in, including mobile. The Verge reports that Microsoft’s new approach to mobile is to deliver a few high-end consumer devices. At least one will come this year. And it will run Windows 10.
Whilst this may mean we see more Windows mobiles in our analytics in future, that’s not the biggest device news; Windows 10 will also power Microsoft’s Xbox One console, bringing desktop browsing standards to our TVs. With Xbox One running a fully-fledged version of Edge, web designers will need to design for much larger HD screens, viewed at a greater distance than desktop and mobile, with new input methods.
Windows 10 may be designed to help Windows Mobile, but it’s the broadening of devices beyond mobile that will have the lasting impact.
2) CORTANA WILL REVOLUTIONIZE SEARCH
Integrated closely with Window’s revived start menu is Microsoft’s personal assistant software, Cortana.
Cortana currently only works in some territories: the U.S., the U.K., China, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. New countries will be added soon: Japan, Australia, Canada (in English), and India (in English). Later, support will be added for Brazil, Mexico, and Canada (in French).
THE ARRIVAL OF NATURAL SPEECH PATTERNS IN SEARCH QUERIES, WILL MAKE CLEAR, QUALITY CONTENT EVEN MORE ESSENTIAL
The significance of Cortana is how we interact with it. When we search the Web by typing, we tend to search in short phrases, for example “web design blog”. However, when we search by speaking, we tend to ask longer, quantified questions, for example “Cortana, where can I find a good web design blog?”
SEO and content marketing has been moving away from keywords for some time, but the arrival of natural speech patterns in search queries, will make clear, quality content even more essential over the next few years.
3) WINDOWS 10 OPENS UP THE DEVELOPMENT MARKET
Windows’ strength was always based on two key factors: budget, and the large choice of apps available (particularly business apps like Microsoft Office, and games).
The biggest weakness in Windows 10 is the lack of that app choice: Edge has almost no plugins available yet; the Windows store, an attempt to emulate Google and Apple’s success with app, music, TV, and movie downloads, is sparse. The big question is when, if at all, design software like the Affinity Suite, and Sketch 3, will become available on Windows.
The good news is that Windows 10’s rapid update approach makes it a surer bet than Windows 8. The increased security and stability means that software manufacturers may well look again at Windows versions of their offerings.
Windows 10 is likely to herald a return to the levels of choice that made it the most popular OS in the world. And more options, means greater competition, and greater innovation. That can only be a benefit, not just to Windows users, but to all web designers.
4) WINDOWS 10 IS CONSTANTLY UPDATING
For the first time ever, Microsoft doesn’t have a single person working on the next version of Windows, because there isn’t one. Windows 10 is an ongoing service, continually being adapted and developed.
MICROSOFT DOESN’T HAVE A SINGLE PERSON WORKING ON THE NEXT VERSION OF WINDOWS, BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ONE
It’s an endorsement of the approach that Adobe have pioneered in the last couple of years, and it’s an indication of the direction all software is moving in.
The value of this for web designers — beyond the bug fixes and security updates for those using Windows — is that frequent updates will be normalized. Users persevering with legacy browsers will become less common, and support for up to date front-end technologies will grow.
Expect to see Edge skyrocket in your analytics, as IE finally winds up. That means the end of polyfills, a huge boost for SVG support, and the realistic prospect of a consistent experience over multiple browsers.
CONCLUSION
Windows 10 delivers on the promises that Windows 8 made: it’s a modern, functional OS that works well on touch screens, and will soon embrace mobile.
It’s a running joke that alternate versions of Windows are trash: ME, Vista, 8, were all dogs; XP, 7, and now 10, are great OSs. It’s fortuitous for the future of Microsoft, and for the Web as a whole, that they decided to stick on a version that you’ll actually want to use.
Web Development Company in Vellore, India
At Redback Studios, we have our hearts at the right place!
Strategically located in the centre of the city, we are quintessentially at the eye of all the action. We believe in making our place a hub of activity, energy and positivity. Our state of the art infrastructure is a major contributing factor to our growth.
Our development centre is best described as a honeycomb. A tight knit community that is buzzing with activity and in the continual pursuit of improvement. Always welcoming of new technologies, people and ideas, we are capable of undertaking large and significant projects and assignments. The workstations at Redback Stdudios are equipped with the latest in cutting-edge technologies and advancements. Sophisticated communication devices seamlessly cut out the impediment of distance and time.
We work extended hours, 5 days a week, which helps clients to meet us at their convenience. We have an excellent Conference room with a 55″ LED Display, a WiFi HotSpot, HDMI and AppleTV Connectivity.
Web Development Company in Vellore
We're committed in creating website that is functionally solid, aesthetically attractive and goal oriented. We harness it with strategies and innovative designs both on visual and functional aspects to deliver a perfect blend which promotes your business on internet.
Website Design in Vellore
We build websites that build your business
A compelling online presence is important nowadays when you are targeting a wider audience. With the ever-changing world of technology, to present a unified image for your product or service can be a real struggle. We ensure that your brand stays unique and recognizable across a wide range of platforms and formats with our skilled and expertised professionals
Web Development, Website Maintenance, Website Redesign, Domain registration in Vellore
Our wide range of services includes Web Design, Responsive web design,
Web Development, Website Maintenance, Website Redesign,
Domain registration, Unlimited Hosting, Ecommerce Website Development,
Property Website Development, Hotel Website Development, Job Portal,
Classified Website, Directory Portal, Social Networking Portal, CRM,
Mobile Website Development, SEO, Social Media Development,
Internet Marketing, Online Promotion and Email Marketing.
Does Google Hate SEO?
Does Google Hate SEO?
It’s being doubted that whether Google hate SEO and I guess the answer is yes. So yearning to know the reason, before vouchsafes the answer let me through the initial information about SEO – The Search Engine Optimization.
An Integral part for Today’s Business
SEO is one of the most misjudged and misread terms in the world of marketing. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a science that optimizes web pages or whole sites by analysing search engine algorithms in order to get top ranking on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. The potent marketing method of SEO basically boost the online visibility, reach & cost effectiveness in the ever-changing world of online search, stimulates spikes in online traffic and in the long run – higher sales & revenue. SEO is showing no scope of slowing down and search engines are taking to more equitable efforts for bringing the sought-after results. Hence one should be aware of the role of SEO in business and what helps to make a good SEO. It is a very profitable once if done right and it’s an investment for future.
Make your web presence more profitable
Many people believe that SEO is just identifying and inserting keywords, article posting and bookmarking. The SEO services in fact go beyond these basic functionalities and include all the characteristics that can bring your website top in the ladder. For an effective SEO one need to analyze the content, social media presence, links, PR, reputation, images, design, and functionality of website, identify the loopholes and project solutions for effective visibility of their business.
Simply saying SEO will help you to position your website for relevant searches or when people need it.
The magic of crawling and indexing
The web spider comforts us with saving the agony of finding the relevant content ourselves. What it actually does is it traverses the billions of interlined pages on the World Wide Web. The web spiders or the search bots wait for the signals from the very previously indexed pages. Now you will be in bit confusion about newly introduced page, be in comfort stage hence the convincing answer for your query is here. If you have created a new page and linked it directly or link it from the existing page or from the main menu, then the bots consider this as a signal for visiting and indexing. Sitemaps and robots.txt files also serve the facility of introducing the pages to the bots. Beyond all these the framework or platform like WordPress automatically alerts the bots about the web page presence. Google webmaster tool or Bing webmaster tool accelerate the website or webpage detection by verifying your pages.
The initial responsibility of crawling is followed by indexing, once the crawlers detect the web pages or the documents, all the acceded data is cached in search engine server and it will be retrieved as per user search. The embodied responsibility of indexers is to return result as per the search engine query and also to rank the results in order of relevance and priority. Relevancy of the site is determined by Content, Performance, Authority, User experience etc
Why Google hate SEO?
Google feels like its relationship with SEO is a nuance. Google really encourage search engine optimization, but it certainly hates cunning or crafty SEO. The SEO build with the aim of tricking the search engine with stuffing keywords, buying links, site stuffed with ads, hiding the text, content plagiarism, etc, Google really hate these practises. Beware if you have a practise of manipulative SEO and if you wish to change your track or to hire a professional SEO expert then hire Webandcrafts team.
Webandcrafts believes in providing quality SEO services. We have an ethical approach towards it and provide legal and search engine friendly SEO services. We render professional SEO services which includes website analysis, on page and off page optimization, create sitemaps, maintaining and editing website, keyword optimization of social media content, scientific keyword research and analysis, original, relevant and keyword based content., link building and social bookmarking, development of social links, submitting articles, forums and blog posting.
Know its importance since it is the effective way to get your website noticed by potential customers!!!!
Tag :
SEO
How To Pitch eCommerce Business
How to Pitch eCommerce Business
The 21st century business demands an online presence as it allows creating a magical shopping experience to its every single customer. Customers have got passionate to this new trend and keep on enjoying the ease of being able to browse products from the comfort of their homes.
The wave of eCommerce brings changes in the lifestyle of new generation, now no one wants to spend their time for shopping as everything simply is available in just a click away. If you wish to pitch your eCommerce business then for sure you need to follow certain tips:
Love your customer:
• To achieve your online eCommerce business focus on “Customer Centric Business”.Value your customer above all.
• To make your online users more comfortable, ensure that your eCommerce website is responsive.
• Comfort the customer with a quick response. This is the best and perfect way to convince them. Say for example, after booking the service / product comfort the customer with quick response (email / notification), including the product description, price and expected shipping time.
Make them shop- at- ease:
• Mind these lines, “If customers face difficulty in understanding what-is-what in the website, he won’t stay long”. So a plausible UX should be one of your prime motives.
• Make your store simple and professional. Use a heading and be aware that let it be in simple and clear language and also let it mention why the product is worthy.
• Use product description that crowns the product perfectly.
Offer plenty to start with
• Attract your consumers with additional benefits like free shipping, special offers
• Make best use of coupons codes like promotional modules.
• The crucial reason why people focus on online purchase is the price fluctuation. They staunchly relay on the concept that they can find their needs with a price that can’t be beat.
Publicize testimonials
Include testimonials to comfort the prospective consumers. Along with the testimonials include interesting information about the company. This is the finest way to persuade the consumers that you will be around them form the word go.
Go Social
• Make best use of Social Media Plugins.
• Newsletter, Posts in Timeline attracts considerable amount of traffic to your e-Store.
People judge the book by the cover
• Similarly people do judge your site by its design. For attracting your customer don’t follow trends but just make eye catching, appealing, friendly and up to date designs.
• To attract your customer make sure that your ecommerce store is having high quality images, owing to the fact that images can tell the story about the product
Bottomline (the red lettered lines in the world of eCommerce)
Finally don’t make a full stop after running the website, despite make testing to identify the factors that hinder your website and its profit. Remember that the best practices are the initial stage and the real taste of pitching your eCommerce business can be achieved only through continued testing.
How To Get More Email Signups With Facebook
Email subscribers have long been one of the most valuable categories of soft leads. With just a bit of push, they can certainly transition from leads to customers quickly, but the question of how to boost those email subscribers is a continual problem. Many have looked to social media outlets like Facebook to help generate those subscribers, but if you’re still having trouble bringing them in, is there really anything else you can do? Absolutely, and these tips can help.
•Add an Email Sign-Up Tab to your Facebook Page: This may seem like a simple fix, but it’s one that your potential subscribers will appreciate. It’s easier than you think, too. There are a number of marketing platforms that will handle this for you, including choices like MailChimp and Campaign Monitor. If you don’t work with one of those, however, you can certainly custom build one into your page for less than you think.
•Incentives Rule: Life is incentivized. If you get up and go to work, you get paid. If you work hard, you get a raise. Offering incentives, even at the simple level, really works. You could offer a free product, a discount, or even a promo item like a t-shirt or keychain. Think hard about what those potential customers might want, and then build out your promotion.
•Hit Those Benefits Hard: If your post just says “Sign up for our email list today,” few people care. If your post says “Sign up for our email list today to get our monthly special offers and giveaways,” you’re going to get a far better response. People have to know why they should care before they actually do.
•Think Contest: Everyone loves a good contest: The prize has to be sweet, and the sweeter the prize, the better your sign-up rate will be. Free iPads, concert tickets, sports tickets, or even a massive goodie basket will bring your inbox to a breaking point quickly.
•The Power of Free: The wording of your propositions actually matters. The word “free” can have more power than you think. Of course, you never charge subscribers for your newsletter, but pushing that point may add to your list extensively.
•Short, Sweet, and to the Point: If you’re trying to collect information from subscribers, this is not the place to do it. No one is going to want to complete a sign-up form that takes real time. Go for the name and email address, and then end it there.
Email subscribers actually matter, and you may want to test a few of these options to see which works best for you. The end will be a solid list you can turn to again and again for real sales growth.
Web Scraping
Web Scraping
Web scraping also called web harvesting or web data extraction, is a computer software technique of extracting information from websites. Usually, such software programs simulate human exploration of the World Wide Web by either implementing low-level Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or embedding a fully-fledged web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
Web scraping is closely related to web indexing, which indexes information on the web using a bot and is a universal technique adopted by most search engines. In contrast, web scraping focuses more on the transformation of unstructured data on the web, typically in HTML format, into structured data that can be stored and analyzed in a central local database or spreadsheet. Web scraping is also related to web automation, which simulates human browsing using computer software. Uses of web scraping include online price comparison, weather data monitoring, website change detection, research, web mashup and web data integration.
Techniques:
Web scraping is the process of automatically collecting information from the World Wide Web. It is a field with active developments sharing a common goal with the semantic web vision, an ambitious initiative that still requires breakthroughs in text processing, semantic understanding, artificial intelligence and human-computer interactions. Web scraping, instead, favors practical solutions based on existing technologies that are often entirely ad hoc. Therefore, there are different levels of automation that existing web-scraping technologies can provide:
Web scraping also called web harvesting or web data extraction, is a computer software technique of extracting information from websites. Usually, such software programs simulate human exploration of the World Wide Web by either implementing low-level Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or embedding a fully-fledged web browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
Techniques:Web scraping is the process of automatically collecting information from the World Wide Web. It is a field with active developments sharing a common goal with the semantic web vision, an ambitious initiative that still requires breakthroughs in text processing, semantic understanding, artificial intelligence and human-computer interactions. Web scraping, instead, favors practical solutions based on existing technologies that are often entirely ad hoc. Therefore, there are different levels of automation that existing web-scraping technologies can provide:
- Human copy-and-paste: Sometimes even the best web-scraping technology cannot replace a human’s manual examination and copy-and-paste, and sometimes this may be the only workable solution when the websites for scraping explicitly set up barriers to prevent machine automation.
- Text grepping and regular expression matching: A simple yet powerful approach to extract information from web pages can be based on the UNIX grep command or regular expression matching facilities of programming languages (for instance Perl or Python). HTTP programming: Static and dynamic web pages can be retrieved by posting HTTP requests to the remote web server using socket programming.
- Data mining algorithms. Many websites have large collections of pages generated dynamically from an underlying structured source like a database. Data of the same category are typically encoded into similar pages by a common script or template. In data mining, a program that detects such templates in a particular information source, extracts its content and translates it into a relational form is called a wrapper. Wrapper generation algorithms assume that input pages of a wrapper induction system conform to a common template and that they can be easily identified in terms of a URL common scheme.
- DOM parsing: By embedding a full-fledged web browser, such as the Internet Explorer or the Mozilla browser control, programs can retrieve the dynamic contents generated by client side scripts. These browser controls also parse web pages into a DOM tree, based on which programs can retrieve parts of the pages.
- HTML parsers: Some semi-structured data query languages, such as XQuery and the HTQL, can be used to parse HTML pages and to retrieve and transform page content.
- Web-scraping software: There are many software tools available that can be used to customize web-scraping solutions. This software may attempt to automatically recognize the data structure of a page or provide a recording interface that removes the necessity to manually write web-scraping code, or some scripting functions that can be used to extract and transform content, and database interfaces that can store the scraped data in local databases.
- Vertical aggregation platforms: There are several companies that have developed vertical specific harvesting platforms. These platforms create and monitor a multitude of “bots” for specific verticals with no man-in-the-loop, and no work related to a specific target site. The preparation involves establishing the knowledge base for the entire vertical and then the platform creates the bots automatically. The platform's robustness is measured by the quality of the information it retrieves (usually number of fields) and its scalability (how quick it can scale up to hundreds or thousands of sites). This scalability is mostly used to target the Long Tail of sites that common aggregators find complicated or too labor intensive to harvest content from.
- Semantic annotation recognizing: The pages being scraped may embrace metadata or semantic markups and annotations, which can be used to locate specific data snippets. If the annotations are embedded in the pages, as Microformat does, this technique can be viewed as a special case of DOM parsing. In another case, the annotations, organized into a semantic layer, are stored and managed separately from the web pages, so the scrapers can retrieve data schema and instructions from this layer before scraping the pages.
How To Migrate Your WordPress Site To A New Domain
HOW TO MIGRATE YOUR WORDPRESS SITE TO A NEW DOMAIN
It’s easier today than ever before to build, maintain, and manage a website. Thanks to tools like WordPress, you no longer need to possess an understanding of programming language in order to create unique, well-developed websites for anything from a personal portfolio to a corporate website.
Over the past few years, WordPress has grown in popularity to become the platform of choice for millions of websites across the world. Part of the reason for this is WordPress’ ability to seamlessly integrate third-party software and coding, which adds much of the robust functionality that WordPress websites have come to be known for.
One area where WordPress truly shines is in the domain transfer process. In the past, transferring a website from one domain name to another could be a gruesome process which most website administrators would avoid whenever possible. While transferring a website from one domain isn’t the easiest thing you can do on WordPress, it is easy enough for most people to learn and do themselves, and without question far easier than it was a few years ago.
The following is a step by step process to follow when transferring your website from one domain to the other, and some important things to remember when doing so.
Wordpress Site Migration
First things first would be to install WordPress to your Bluehost account. You can install a blank version of WordPress to your Temporary URL.
Setup Managewp
Next you will want to sign up at ManageWP.com for a new account. You can use ManageWP for free by going to their home page, entering your email address, and clicking Try It For Free. Once you do this, you will automatically be taken to a window where you can add your existing website to your ManageWP dashboard.
Enter your site URL, username, and password. By doing this, ManageWP will automatically install the ManageWP plugin to your site and link the site to your ManageWP Dashboard. Then you will need to add your new website with your temporary URL to your ManageWP dashboard as well. To do this, click Add Website on the sidebar. Once you both websites are added to your dashboard on ManageWP, you can start the migration process.
Migrate Your Site
1. Click Clone/Migration in the Quick Access tool box.
2. Choose which website you wish to migrate. Your site should be listed under Existing Website. Click the website, then Next.
3. Once Manage WP has created a snapshot of your site, you will choose the destination. Select the site that you are migrating to, under Existing Website and click Next.
4. This should bring up a new window, reiterating which website you are cloning to. If this is correct, click the Clone button.
5. Once the cloning process has finished, you should be shown a message that the clone was successful. You can click Done.
Changing The url
Once you are done with the migration, you will need to change your name servers to point the DNS here. The name servers are ns1.BlueHost.com and ns2.BlueHost.com
Once the DNS is pointed here, you can change the WordPress URLs to reflect your domain name instead of the Temporary URL. Both the WordPress Address and the Site Address need to be the same and changed to your domain name.
1. Login to your WordPress dashboard.
2. From Settings choose General
Then update the Home and Site URLs.
After updating the Home and Site URLs you will find that internal links to pages and references to images are not updated. Instead, these links and references will point to your old domain name. Velvet Blues will fix that problem by helping you change old urls and links in your website.
Then you just need to save your new URL settings by saving your permalinks. To do this, you will go to your Settings and click Permalinks. You shouldn’t have to make any changes, simply click theSave Changes button. This will make sure that all of the links on your site are now using your domain instead of the Temporary URL.
Once ManageWP has created a snapshot of your site, you will choose the destination. Select the site that you are migrating to, under Existing Website. Click Next.
The Ultimate Guide to Effective Website Planning
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WEBSITE PLANNING
Websites are complex, dynamic, living creations. Every change, every addition of content or inclusion of functionality requires a solid base from which to work. The result of failing to recognize this need can be lost hours, frustrated customers, and pounding headaches. Organizing your efforts and planning your work ahead of time will not only benefit your design, but also improve your understanding of your site’s role and inner-workings in the process. In this post, we’re presenting the ultimate guide to effective website planning.
The importance of Planning
Let’s start with an analogy, courtesy of Ben Seigel’s extensive work on the subject. In this analogy, you’re building a deck. In this case, since you’re hosting your site, and therefore likely doing the work designing and building it, we’ll assume that the deck is for you, on the side of your own home. You initially assume it’s a pretty simple process, and head to the lumberyard to get materials. Once you arrive, you’re greeted by a friendly clerk who asks if you’d like treated or untreated wood, in pine, oak, or cedar.
Not knowing any better, you unintentionally select wood that does not perform well in your climate. When you start building, you create your frame, lay down some boards, and feel pretty good about how things are going, until you realize that you’ve covered up the exterior door; you forgot the stairs. So you fix the problem by creating some stairs, but because they are of a particular length and require extra support, they collapse when you test them out. Then the rain hits. Your wood is soaked and splitting, your leg is badly bruised, and your confidence isn’t doing so hot either. And all this consternation arises over something as simple as a deck.
Websites are subject to this same kind of scenario, but decks are considerably less complicated. Let’s take a look at how the planning process unfolds.
Aligning Resources
In order to get started the right way, we need to begin by understanding how our site will be configured. What is the required functionality? What will the primary content be? How many people will be working on it? This is referred to as needs analysis, the stage in which you determine what your deck will look like, how big, and what it has to do. The description of this step may be short, simply because much of the process involves asking questions specific to your situation, but the importance of this initial planning cannot be overstated.
It’s important, then, before starting any other work, to align your efforts with your marketing team. Since your website exists as an extension of their efforts, copy, images, and aesthetic should all facilitate their efforts in order to create a coherent, multi-channel brand presence. Bring your marketing team on-board for discussions and plan accordingly to accommodate their needs.
Next, evaluate your personnel requirements based on the initial needs assessment and assemble your team. Begin by determining who’s responsible for what. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
• Web designer
• HTML coder
• Web developer
• Project manager
• Writers/Editors
• Stakeholders
This process is akin to selecting construction workers for a building project. Dividing the labor not only optimizes everyone’s workload, it takes advantage of everyone’s specialty in order to make the final product stronger.
In order for your workers to get building, you’ll need raw materials. Since the bulk of your content, whether video, text, or other format, will require appropriate writing, begin here. Your writers should understand the difference between writing for the web and writing for other publications. Internet readers are scanners, so bulleted information is extremely useful. Information and presentation should focus on the audience and not be self-indulgent. Finally, length should be appropriate for the topic and the attention span of quickly moving readers in order to hold their attention. It’s not necessary at this step to begin creating content, but having this knowledge in hand when you start will make a big difference.
Next, acquire high quality photography for backgrounds, post headers, structural elements, and informational slideshows. The power of photos is well demonstrated; research shows that the medium elicits more likes and shares than any other medium, which will help generate visitors. The quality of these images is important, especially since large resolution photographs are a growing trend in web design due to their attractiveness and positive reception. If you have the budget, consider enlisting a professional photographer. If you have no budget, at least do some research about proper lighting, technique, and camera settings in order to give it your best shot.
Building Structure
Once you have these two items in place, it’s time to begin framing your deck. A strong site map, drawn as a flowchart, will help establish the linking structure and give an idea of how information and traffic will flow. Since you wish to keep users around, viewing content, appreciating your hard work, and, if applicable, leading to sales conversion, this map is an important first step.
Define how your content will be presented. You’ll have slideshows, text, videos, and presentations, but how will they be presented? Will a slideshow be laid out like a gird or as a rotating carousel? Text will obviously appear as text often does, but what information will be available about authors, titles, and subjects? Will you present related stories or a subscription call-to-action at the bottom? Each of these questions will help determine layout and clarify presentation moving forward.
Start building the pieces of the final assembly before putting them in place. Before they receive the receive coding, primary pieces can be drawn-up based on content. This may include, but is not limited to:
• Articles
• Banner advertising
• Documents
• Physical products
• Email newsletters
• Image galleries
• Staff directories
• Incoming RSS feeds
• Blogs
• Forums
The key here is to focus on the content not the design. Content involves titles, text, video, message, author, attribution, and subject. Design, on the other hand, comes next.
Complimenting Content With Design
Once you’ve got your pieces constructed, it’s time to determine how they will be painted. The design process involves taking the text, video, photography, and functionality you’ve chosen and putting it together in a layout that provides an attractive, usable, and harmonious experience.
Page layouts of all kinds will begin with wireframing. This process involves creating grey-scale drawings of how elements will be positioned on a page. In this phase, ignore graphic elements altogether and instead focus on arrangement, flow of information, and usability. Each type of unique page will need its own wireframe, including contact pages, blog posts, product pages, and more.
Once these are established, they’ll be used as a guide for initial Photoshop mock-ups. These are, effectively, a pixel-by-pixel accurate depiction of how your final product will appear. Use your wireframes as a guide, place your color palette and other graphic elements (logos, fonts, etc.) in the margins as a guide, and begin creating elements for each piece of the wireframe. Notes should be made for all graphic tricks achieved through CSS, slices should be made around elements, and all assets should be labeled in a coherent manager (“large header” instead of “designpiece13”).
The next part is likely the most arduous and, due to its scope, will only be mentioned in passing here. Once your elements are sliced and ready for assembly, you’ll need to code your site. This can take many forms, including using pre-built templates or creating a site from the ground up. If you plan on beginning with a template, you’ll want to factor this in, as your wireframes will likely be dictated by the template in use.
Once your site is assembled, you’ll want a reference moving forward to keep design elements consistent. These documents are called style guides. Style guides contain fonts, font sizes, colors, color uses, graphics, acceptable graphical variants, and any other restrictions on the appearance and utilization of aesthetic elements. Developing this will not only unify your branding efforts, but help form your identity through careful examination.
Finally, load everything into the content management system (CMS) of your choice. These platforms are installed on your web hosting and facilitate the creation and coding of content within your website’s infrastructure. Frequently they feature the ability to create authorship accounts and control administrative aspects of the operations in order to effectively and consistently deliver your work to the front pages.
Pre-Launch, Post-Launch, and Beyond
Now that everything is put together, you’ll want to beta test before you release the site to the public. Launch on a test server and look to make sure that all elements display and scale correctly, built in interactivity works smoothly, and all links point somewhere valid. Test rigorously and search out any cracks that need sealed.
Once the beta test is complete, it’s time to go live. With a successful plan in place for growing content and an organization-wide understanding of responsibilities and aesthetic, maintenance and documentation become the next tasks. Develop a plan to regularly test and update code and create references describing website functionality and what blocks of code control what for easier access and fine-tuning in the future. The rest of the work from here is a simple matter of applying the organizational foundation you’ve established, and keeping the ship on even keel until a new website is in the works.
Planning a website is no small task, but understanding the process can help lend clarity to a complicated picture. Begin by evaluating your needs and assembling a team to address them. Next, create necessary content and collect photographs to enhance presentation. Designing the site is a matter of planning layouts based on usability and then building re-usable resources around those mock-ups. Putting it all together in a style guide and CMS can help unify aesthetic efforts and improve workflow respectively. Finally, beta test the site and, after going live, create documentation and a maintenance plan in order to ensure smooth sailing from there on out. In time, you’ll find that each step in the process dictates the next, and that your time spent planning will save more time than it cost in the long run.
The Value of Email Marketing
THE VALUE OF EMAIL MARKETING
Social media is the buzz of marketing efforts these days. Facebook and Twitter are not only effective channels of engagement, but they’re largely unexplored potential fills hopeful marketing hearts with dreams of viral success. What these starry-eyed professionals overlook, however, is that one of the most effective mediums in online marketing has been at their fingertips since before Mark Zuckerberg attended Harvard. In fact, email marketing presents a unique opportunity to engage and impress customers in ways that social media simply can’t mimic.
Full Attention
Social media delivers engagement in unprecedented ways, fostering conversation and providing analytics to gauge marketing success. But the potential of social media marketing is inherently limited by its context. Posts you create appear immediately juxtaposed with status updates, videos, and other marketing copy. For all the data social media provides, this added distraction can effectively diminish the impact your materials have.
Email does not suffer from this limitation. While not necessarily inspiring sharing, emails represent a direct message from your company to your customer. Messages are shown on their own in full-page format on Gmail, and even mail clients present the messages as separate entities. What this means for your business is full, undivided attention on your content. This necessitates compelling headlines and copy to grab reader attention, but the potential for real brand communication is no less present.
Exclusivity
The marketing context of email is a unique one. Unlike videos or advertisements posted for the world to see, emails are perceived as less public. The advantage of this is the opportunity to create an air of exclusivity.
Because you have an “exclusive” connection to your customers by possessing their email address, your efforts should reward their subscription in kind. Incentives to motivate signups may include early access to products, coupon codes, or “email club” deals. In each way, the marketing channel is being used to its potential, building upon the human desire to possess what others do not.
Presence
The sea change of social media has introduced an era in which strong brand presence on one channel or another is not enough. Marketers have learned that a distributed presence everywhere their target audience resides is the key to making an impression and capturing visitors.
With this mentality, any potential means of communication with customers requires some form of presence in order to maximize effectiveness, email included. Coupled with the attention span afforded to email messages, the medium presents an excellent opportunity to extend the reach of a savvy strategy.
Statistically Proven Effectiveness
While all of this is good in theory, the constant flow of “likes” and comments can lead business owners and marketers to believe that email still lags behind social media in terms of engagement. To compound the confusion surrounding the issue, email marketing is notoriously hard to track, since click-through activity is not the only measure of email effectiveness.
Fortunately, the experts at Smart Insights have conducted compelling research that should inspire confidence in those on the fence about email. According to the study, businesses that distributed email marketing experienced 20% higher average daily revenue the day it was sent than on days without. The study also drilled down traffic on a monthly basis and found that all other sales channels benefited from increased activity when email was distributed.
With compelling data and a bevy of proprietary benefits to email marketing, any business would do well to incorporate the medium in their strategy. Capturing reader attention with the added benefit of exclusivity is a great way to engage customers and build a solid reputation. While many turn to social media almost exclusively for their efforts, your business can benefit from harnessing the power of the oft-overlooked opportunity of email.