The Benefits of Building a Progressive Web App

PWAs offer more than an improved user experience. The inherent properties of the web platform means they can also help businesses solve real problems from reach to maintenance.

Easy distribution and discovery

Consider the friction of distributing a native app: it must pass tricky approval rules, submit to mandated revenue sharing, and gain attention in a crowded app stores. And it could all be for nothing: the average number of apps installed per month is 0 (comScore, 2017). For many businesses, it’s a risky path to take

Contrast that with PWA. Being a website, they’re already available and swiftly updated. Users can discover them naturally through organic and paid search, or via shared links on social media, so marketing efforts are combined. They can also enjoy the new features immediately, right in their browser, before choosing to install.

Cross-platform reach

Native apps only work on the platform they’re created for. That means developing separate iOS and Android apps to cover most phones, and more versions if you want to reach desktop users. Full coverage requires significant upfront development, and creates a large maintenance demand. On the other hand, PWAs are built using web technologies, meaning that they’ll naturally work anywhere the web does.

The “progressive” element of PWAs is also important here. It relates to the important concept of progressive enhancement, whereby a baseline experience which works anywhere can be enhanced by taking advantage of more advanced features supported by the browser or device. So a PWA may function as a normal website in older environments, as a performant app on your smartphone, and then have some extra tricks on Windows 10, where PWAs have access to additional system resources and APIs.

Native-like interactions

Through the web app manifest, PWAs can break free of the web browser and be installed on a user’s home screen. This is key to encouraging re-engagement, as 86% of time on mobiles is spent in apps. Not only does the user get a full-screen app experience, but through app builders and modern web technologies, they can enjoy most of the same features that have made native-apps so useful.

There are many device integration APIs now available including key capabilities that users have come to expect, including geolocation, camera access, sensor input, payment processing, and VR. Push notifications are a headline feature of PWAs, and retailers could be using them to display flash sale alerts, product restock notices, or abandoned cart prompts.

Faster performance

When 53% of users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load (DoubleClick, 2016), it’s clear that performance should be at the top of your list for improving retention and conversion. If you need convincing, try Google’s revenue impact calculator to see what your load times are costing.

A PWA benefits from smarter cache control, allowing websites that are already streamlined to become truly turbo-charged. The result: a PWA can be launched from a home screen and ready to use in less than a second, rivalling and often beating native apps. This performance boost is a big deal to user experience, but also to bandwidth usage, and will have a huge benefit in emerging markets which depend on wireless connections.

Offline service

By caching assets and content, it’s also possible for a PWA to continue working offline, or when a poor connection impedes loading, so users no longer have to be roadblocked by a blank grey screen. At the very least, the situation should be handled gracefully using a simple “You’re offline” screen.

But far smarter solutions could be achieved that allow users to carry on with their journey. A PWA for eCommerce might recall a handful of recently viewed products for review, or alternatively some top sellers that summarise what’s available. A retailer with high street stores could also offer key details like opening hours to continue facilitating visits.

* * *

It’s clear that implementing PWA offers a range of wins for businesses. It is easily implemented using current web technologies, and delivers a superior experience for users, which in turn raises satisfaction, encourages engagement, and improves conversion. JH is already including PWA features in projects, and we believe they will become as commonly used as Responsive Web Design.

Original Article

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Make Money By Sitting at Home Through Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is defined worldwide as the promotion of the new/ existing brand using digital technology. It is done via the mobile phones, desktop screens, digital signage, and other digital devices. This professional domain requires two things, one is the digital device and the other is a perfect internet connection, look into scope of audit. The fact that all the work is done through the internet allows the employees to have flexible workplaces and working hours. The internet is accessible at any place at any time. Thus, digital marketing is the ideal professional that facilitates working from home as a full-time worker, part-time worker or a freelancer, however, learning about it is the difficult part, but your company can consult with a company like redwigwam to give you the best tips and advice.

Many studies are conducted debating the benefits of flexible working hours and workplace. One of them conducted by Alfred P. Sloan foundation states, “Employees working in an environment viewed as more family-supportive experienced lower levels of work-family conflict. The reduced work-family conflict was in turn related to greater job and family satisfaction, followed by greater overall life satisfaction.” Nonetheless, it helps the companies save their health insurance costs and witness a positive work environment too.

Here are the different digital marketing job options that you can avail by staying and working at home:

Marketing analyst

Become a marketing analyst! This is how the branding agency Dubai found its highly skilled marketing analyst. While in search of a creative yet talented analyst, the team came across a freelancing worker and assigned him a few tasks.

The regular submission of quality work impressed the team and they hired the employee for a permanent job. You can try your luck too only if you’ll be able to learn sales copywriting from Stefan Georgi!

The job nature of a marketing analyst is to study the data given by the company, analyze it and come up with a strong, challenging and an impressive marketing strategy. This requires a peaceful environment, detailed study, and an organized yet quiet workplace. Your home or your study room is the perfect place for this job. Look for different opportunities and work as an analyst.

Content manager and strategist

Generating good content requires time, determination, good research, creative mind and know-how of the latest trending styles. The job of content management for a brand requires studying the brand and discussing the type of content they want you to generate. Once this conversation is done, you can easily work through your home and submit content on regular basis via emails to the company you are working for.

The job here varies as you can be the content strategy developer (working on the disciplines that must be added in the content marketing campaign), a content generating team manager or simply a writer.

How to manage your content generating team through the home?

The technologies like webcam and applications like Skype that offer conference calling and video chat has made it easy for you to work from any place you find comfortable. Add the use of OneDrive or the Google Drive and you’ll be able to delegate the tasks to your workers quite easily. By staying at home, you can update the documents, edit the submitted work and approve any other piece of content sending it to the main client. Just learn the use of latest technology and you’ll be able to work from home.

While exploring the benefits of remote work, it’s crucial to consider the impact of a professional business address. Having a virtual office, particularly in a prestigious location like Mayfair, enhances your brand’s credibility significantly. The Virtually There offers the perfect solution for a professional Mayfair address for home-based businesses. It’s not just about the address; it’s about the message it sends to your clients and partners.

Blogging and guest posting:

Blogging is another creative way to earn through digital marketing. Many brands all around the world run their blog along with their official website. The blogs offer the viewers the type of content that they want to read like answers to different queries, latest news and reviews on the newly launched products and so on. The blogs help keep the viewer in the loop and make them feel valuable. Thus, you can write a blog for a company who is establishing its brand. Blogging is one of the best ways to earn money through digital marketing. Also, there is the job of guest posting. It allows you to contribute articles and content posts to different websites sharing your ideas on the desired topic.

Sell photos/ videos online:

The advertising companies in Dubai often buy photos and visual content videos that they find new and interesting. If you are good at photography or video making, you can sell the photos and short videos to digital marketing companies as well.

Strengthen your hold on social media

The versatile and never-ending branches of digital marketing call upon workers to contribute in any way possible. Like content marketing mentioned above, the social media marketing is one of the best ways to earn money through digital marketing. The multiple jobs that you can do from home in this domain include:

Create fillup forms to generate leads
Generate advertisement layouts and campaigns on LinkedIn, Twitter and FaceBook
Post, re-post and share content post links on different social media
Increase the page likes/ followers
Comment on different posts
Offer prompt customer care service via social media platforms
Manage the social pages and post regular updates
Try to reach the maximum amount of targeted audience

Other than these options, you can make videos for YouTube, run your own channels there and earn money from it. The whole procedure is a bit lengthy and requires consistency but it is one of the easiest ways to make money by staying at home.

Work on an e-book

While working on an e-book, the digital marketing expertise that is required include impressive content generation and advertisement of the e-book. Choose a nice, trending topic and then focus on the pattern that the majority of the users find easy to read and understand. Come up with new, fresh content and use all your creative skills to make this book a great read, check out the site here for extra info.

Once it is finished, you can advertise it on the online e-stores like Amazon or any other online store, sell it there and earn money through it.

Join different freelancing platforms

The dozens of freelancing platforms are available on the internet. From freelancer to Upwork, Fiverr and many others; you can get digital marketing related projects from clients throughout the world. These portals are the most renowned freelancing hubs where you can get jobs according to your talents.

The nature of online marketing jobs is different. You can upload your gigs or make a statement of what kind of work you can handle. Bidding on work project also helps in increasing the chances of getting a job in digital marketing at home.

Product marketing manager

The product marketing manager at dash-digital.co.uk has to mainly establish an active on-site performance, keep himself up to date with the latest product release and master internal communication. All of these can be done by staying at home. All you need is a working internet connection, understanding of the software and information of the web-based products. RightScale, a Santa Barbara-based cloud computing firm is one such example of the startup offering the work-from-home position to the product marketing manager. You can find more on the internet.

Profit by selling products on an e-store

The online stores are extending their roots into every possible professional domain. From the educational sector to the medicinal, fashion to technology; you’ll find e-stores selling products/ services from a variety of categories. You can make use of this digital marketing branch. Design products like online educational courses, video tutorials, hand-made products or clothes and sell them on platforms like Udemy, YouTube, Etsy, and others. It is one easy way to earn money via online marketing!

Satisfied much?

The seven different ways that we have listed above cover most of the job possibilities in the digital marketing domain. The catch is to find something that you are good at. The above-mentioned seven branches allow you to discover more work positions within them. Browse through your options and find more opportunities to make money through the home.

Contributor

Junaid Ali Qureshi

is a digital marketing specialist who has helped several businesses gain traffic, outperform competition and generate profitable leads. His current ventures include Elephantation, eLabelz, Smart Leads.ae, Progos Tech and eCig.

Category: Business, Marketing | No Comments »

How Does a Business Bounce Back From Adversity?

If you’ve ever tried to run a business in the past, then you’ll know the struggle that’s involved with trying to keep yourself afloat. So many things can go wrong. For instance, you could discover that your business is failing because a new competitor has appeared that promises more than you can offer, or maybe you have a disgruntled employee toying with your business’s reputation in secret. Maybe there’s a storm brewing on social media that is dragging out your company for criticism, or maybe there’s a literal storm coming your way that could shut the power out of your office.

Whatever the situation may be, it’s important to learn how to bounce back from tough situations. To help you out, here are a couple of useful tips to follow.

Have a plan ready

When misfortune strikes, you want to be ready and waiting so that you can get your business up and running again as soon as possible. For instance, if your company makes regular use of its own transportation vehicles, it might be worth having a fuelbox on your premises to act as a fueling station for the vehicles. This is usually cheaper than filling up the tank at a commercial petrol station, and it’s far more efficient because your drivers won’t need to make a stop at another location in order to get fuel. If you want to take this a step further, then you can also apply it to other parts of your business. For example, if you have a lot of computer hardware in your business, then you might want to consider befriending a local computer repair store that is willing to visit your location to perform on-site diagnosis and repairs. Whatever it is, make sure you have a plan ready for these situations.

Have a way to stay in touch

If something horrible happens such as a fire tearing through your building or blackout that knocks out the power, make sure you have a way to continue working. Going mobile is one of the cleanest and efficient ways of continuing a business even if the power’s out. You’ll still have access to mobile internet, you can still browse the internet and speak with customers and clients, and your employees can continue working. This is also important for when your employees or other key members of your company can’t come into work, or if they’re away due to an accident. Make sure you stay in touch with your entire companY and ensure you never lose contact with your customers.

Accepting and learning from mistakes

People always make mistakes, but what we learn from those mistakes and how we deal with adversity is what defines our companies. There are businesses that have gone through hell and back, only to rise from the ashes and become a business worth talking about. Yet there are also some businesses that fall from grace and find it hard to ever recover their former fame. Whatever happens, make sure you learn from any mistakes you made and try not to throw the blame around on others like your employees or competitors. You are in control of your own fate as a business owner, so you need to learn how to bounce back from adversity.

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4 Things That Your Business Website Needs To Succeed

If you have a new business, then marketing will need to be part of your business plan. You could have the best business plan in the world, but if no one knows about you or your product or where to find you, then it will slow the progress of your business quite a lot. Which is why a website for your business is really paramount. Gone are the days of simply just having a website, though. There are many different things that you can do to help give your business a boost, through the use of your website. So here are some things that your business website should be doing, as well as a few tips and tricks.

Slick Design

If your website is quite basic and outdated, then it will reflect on what your customers think about the business. The first impression for many people will be the website, so you want it to reflect your brand and give off a good first impression. You can use an event calendar for website option so that you can broadcast clearly when things are expected to happen on the website, which will help people be aware of when they should be stopping by. Naturally, this leads to further engagement.

You need to also think about how responsive your site is and make sure that it is mobile friendly. You also need to think about things like pop-ups or slow loading pages. It might be worth changing host if this is a problem, simply because it will put people off. We live in a fast-paced modern world, and no one has the patience to wait a while for a page to load. Experts like Emergent Software can make your website come to life.

A Blog

As well as your main front page of your website that will talk about your brand or product, and perhaps you have a shop or other pages on your site. But a blog needs to be one of those other pages. Having a blog is a great way to share relevant content and potentially attract new customers. Any SEO consulting services will tell you that you’re likely to rank higher on a search engine when you have more backlinks to your website too. So that can be linking to other pages on your blog, as well as previous blog articles you have written. It gives your business a different dimension and increases your visibility. So it is a win-win situation really.

Simple Web Address

Don’t over complicate things when it comes to your web address. You need to think about having your web address be the same as your brand or business name. If it is too far off, it will be harder to find. So keep things simple, and it will be easier for your customers to find you. Work with a domain broker to help you achieve a good website address.

Social Media Details

While having your business contact details on the site is important (a phone number and address), these days you do really need to have details of all of your social media handles. Even better if you can just get an icon that will click through to the platform itself. Many of your customers will be on those platforms and would rather use those for customer service and keeping up to date with things. So they are pretty key these days.

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Will You Be Remembered?

It’s important, perhaps even crucial that your business stands out and makes an impression on the market. You need customers to remember your company when they think about a second purchase. Or, that they recall the name of your business to search for it if they saw one of your advertisements. This is all about making your company as memorable as possible, ensuring that the name of your business rolls off the tongue of your customers. Or, that they think about certain brand qualities when they see the logo of your company.

So, the question is how do you make your business memorable. Well, there are quite a few approaches to this problem. For instance, you should think about certainly think about psychology. Certain things are more memorable to us than others, and we’re going to look into how to use these factors to your advantage. But before we get to that, let’s think about you. The person running your company that people see at the head of the business does matter. You need to make sure you are appealing as part of the brand.

Part Of The Work Force, Part Of The Brand

So, how do you make yourself as interesting as memorable as possible? Well, the first step is ensuring that customers know that you’re the person behind the company. The simplest way to do this is to add a profile to your business website and make sure that customers know you are the one behind the social media profiles. Note, this doesn’t mean that you have to update your social profiles yourself. You just need to make sure that each public sector of your company has the same feel and traits. This will make customers think of one person behind the entire company, you.

Now as far as making yourself interesting enough to be remembered, you need to show some skin. You need to let them know who you are and what you stand for. It’s like being a politician. They need to know what makes you different from the rest. And remember, everyone loves a good underdog, so it’s not a bad idea to share some personal info on why you started your company.

Of course, it’s not just about you. If an employee works for you, they are part of your brand. They need to be likable, charming and charismatic. That’s why you want to be very careful when hiring new employees, particularly if a large part of their job will be being part of the public face of your business.

It’s All In The Name

Think of the household names that you are familiar with. Disney, Sony, Microsoft, Daz, Amazon and the list goes on. What do they all have in common? We think you’ll agree that they are quite unique and as such rather difficult to forget. Now, you might think this is merely good fortune or sheer luck, and in some cases it is. For instance, Walt Disney just had a rather unique name that he used to his advantage. Would he have been quite as successful if his last name had been Jones? Probably not, or he might have chosen a different name for his company. As for Microsoft, that’s clearly a marketing decision. Micro, meaning simple and efficient as well as techy with soft added on to make customers feel as though the software isn’t too complex. This plays directly into the key idea of the Microsoft brand that the user interface is always easy. Of course, getting the right catchy, cool name isn’t always simple. Indeed, these days you may find that the best business names are off the market. You might have to buy or bargain for them if you have your mind set on a name that you know will be a winner for your company.

When you do pick your business name to make sure that you run it by marketing first. You can even use polls to find out which one is more attractive to the target audience.

Pictures Speak Louder Than Words

Here’s a fun psychological fact. We’re better at remembering pictures than we are names. So, you could argue that your business logo is actually one of the most important of your brand. As such, you do want to think about what it looks like and whether it is memorable. That’s why many businesses invest in the services of a professional designer, rather than just taking one out of a cookie cutter template design frame. If you can find a truly original logo design for your business, you will already have primed your company for success.

Take this advice, and you will be able to ensure that customers never forget your company.

Category: Business, Personal Development | 1 Comment »

Actionable Tips To Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

Are you struggling to understand why you are failing to attract organic visitors to your site/ Are you languishing on page 9 or 10 on Google, and just can’t work out why? If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’re going to go through some easy, actionable things that you can do that can really make a difference. While we can’t promise you a top result on the first page of Google, taking the following actions will improve your rankings by a significant amount.

Get the absolute basics right

First of all, it’s important to get the essentials right. According to many experts, something like 70 percent of SEO is simple, yet so few businesses get the basics done and end up in a mess as a result. Your best friend here is Google’s Webmaster Tools. It will highlight all the little issues that are occurring on your site, and addressing these matters should give you a significant improvement. There are plenty of beginner’s guides online, too, so make sure you follow the critical advice on offer.

Get to know analytics

Google Analytics is an absolute must-have tool if you want to gain more knowledge about where you are going right – and wrong. It will show you where your high performing keywords are coming from, and which ones are gaining no traction at all. You can then use this vital information to establish what you are doing wrong. Why aren’t your keywords working, for example (more on which in a moment) and why aren’t people staying on your site and finding out more about your company?

Better keyword research

The keywords you use for your site are like signposts to Google – who will give their customers the best possible answers to their search queries. So, if the keywords you are trying to rank for aren’t backed up with content that is better and more relevant to your competitors, you will be pushed down the rankings. The good news is there are free keyword research tools available out there that you can use to find other alternatives, and give you some ideas on how to rank better than you do right now. And with a little content tweaking, rewriting, and focus, nothing is stopping you from achieving better results.

Blog for your customers, not Google

It’s easy to convince yourself to create blogs that give Google what they want. But don’t forget that Google doesn’t buy anything from you – your customers do. So, if you make Google happy but when your clients arrive, they won’t like what they read. Start writing for humans, not search engines, and you will find that you suffer lower bounce rates than you do right now, and people start to take an interest in your site.

Be more local

Finally, you don’t have to compete with the rest of the world when it comes to SEO – you are more likely to enjoy success if you focus on your local markets. Lots of people are looking for businesses, brands, and products, and as Google is paying more attention to supplying them with local results, it makes sense you do too.

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Extra Cash Options For Strapped Freelancers

Every freelancer will tell you that the worst thing about being a contractor is not knowing where your next job or project will come from. What with all the uncertainty over future work, there is no wonder that freelancers simply say yes to every offer that comes this way. Because of this, all freelancers will have experienced extremely busy periods – you know, making hay while the sun shines. Unfortunately, every freelancer will have also been through very quiet periods with hardly any work. And that means there isn’t much money coming in!

As this imbalance in work and income is very common with freelancers, they all like to have some extra tricks up their sleeve that can help them make some extra cash during the hard times. If you are a strapped freelancer and need a little boost of income, here are some great ways to earn a little bit of extra cash.

Start Tutoring

These days, most freelancers have a college degree, especially if they are content writers or web developers. Did you know that if you have a degree, you can become a tutor? It’s true! Once you have a degree in a subject, you can tutor it at high-school level. You may need to brush up on what students need to know for their assignments and exams but, once you get clued up, you will be able to look for clients. The best places to advertise your skills include online sites like Craigslist and in local newspapers. If you have space to hold your lessons in your own home, you will have very minimal expenses as a part-time tutor.

Resell Web Hosting

There are now a few companies, including Wizz Hosting that can help individuals and businesses sell their web hosting onto others. This is a really easy way for freelancers to make some extra money as you don’t really have to lift a finger. Simply sign up to the company on the website and then choose the best plan for you. The only thing to remember is you should always resell your web hosting through a company that offers white label plans so that you know everything is above board and legal!

Offer Social Media Management

Many freelancers now use social media to market their own business and find new clients and projects. Think your social media skills have pretty good? Then you might want to offer your services to a local business. These days, it is absolutely imperative for all companies to have a presence on social media as many customers now find new companies via Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately, looking after these accounts can take quite a bit of time. Many entrepreneurs outsource their social media management as they don’t have time to take care of it themselves. If you have the time to spare a couple of hours each day, it could be worth looking for work in social media. It only involves scheduling tweets and status updates for companies, and it is fairly well paid compared to other freelance work.

Take Advantage Of Festival Season

Don’t worry if you don’t have many projects through the summer months – it’s festival season, and there will be plenty of jobs you could do at festivals! One of the main benefits of dabbling in festival work is that you will be able to travel around the country to different festivals. Lots of people find work helping with festival organisation, such as crowd control and working on food stalls. The best way to find work at a festival is to contact the main organisers directly.

Use Your Car For Cash

Enjoy driving? If so, you might as well earn some money from it while your main freelancing work isn’t too lucrative. One of the easiest ways to earn money with your vehicle is by signing up as a driver for Uber. Once you are registered with the company, you can start giving lifts to customers, much like a taxi driver. One of the best things about driving for Uber is that all payments are done through the app, so there isn’t any worry about carrying high amounts of cash with you. You also won’t need to stress about having change all the time! Driving for Uber is a very flexible job, and you should be able to fit shifts around your main work.

Don’t worry if you have a month of not much work – as you can see there are some great options that can help you find extra cash!

Category: Business | 33 Comments »

Using Social Media Apps To Figure Out Who Your Customers Are

If you’ve spent any time reading this blog, you’ll know the power of social media to help promote a business. Businesses, no matter how small, are going from strength to strength promoting themselves using social media profiles as a means to target their demographics.

How?

By analyzing and identifying their metrics. It might sound difficult, but it’s really not. Users these will often happily hand over their information online in the development of these profiles. If you have the correct social media integration with your online tech solutions, you could be in for a world of positively useful demographic information.

But how can you best squeeze the most out of social media? By just hosting pages? That helps, but it isn’t the full solution. The following tips are:

Demographics

This has been listed above, but it’s really hard to understate how important this is for your business. If you know who you’re selling to, you can directly target them as objects of your selling. A concentrated attack is always better than a scattergun approach. That might sound like aggressive business terminology, and it is. That’s the point. A business billboard isn’t aggressive. It ‘coaxes’ it’s viewers into finding out more themselves. Targeted advertising through demographic information using social media not only identifies your future customer, but it allows you to approach them directly. Imagine a salesman only knocking on the doors of likely clients he’s going to be able to sell to. You’d think he was a genius. Social media allows you to do that.

Advertising ID’s

Akin to targeting demographics, advertising ID’s are collected and formed through a consumer’s travel of the internet. Every search they make, every location they go, mostly every item they buy is cataloged through Google and collated into the relevant information that allows you to understand the buying habits of the person you’re interested in.

This sounds creepy, and it probably is. But it’s useful. See what packages you can use to effectively implement targeted advertising, and like the salesman who knows exactly who to sell to, you’ll be making money in no time.

Own-App Integration

If you haven’t already, it’s incredibly wise to develop your own app for greater business/customer interaction. Here you can get the best mobile app development cost estimate. Once you’ve done this, be sure to integrate social media support, so your customers can create logins through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. This will allow you to access their basic information and have even more reliable metrics for demographics and advertising ID’s at the same time. Having an app will also help you communicate more effectively with your customers by having security features that help you identify who you’re talking to, and also implementing ease-of-access for your support staff.

Social media is here, and it’s here to stay. It’s the digital ‘reputation’ of the modern world. People often half-live through their social media accounts, and so neglected this from a business perspective is similar to ignoring half of your demographics through willful ignorance. Don’t be that kind of business owner.

Category: Business, Social Media | No Comments »

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