Category: Wordpress

In case you’re looking for an agency to create a modern, visually appealing website, check out https://ynd.co/.

Custom variables

CSS variables are a real timesaver when creating a website. Simply define your variables and use them as much as needed in your stylesheet. The code below should be self-explanatory for most of you, but if you need further information feel free to check this quick guide.

<p class="custom-variables">CSS is awesome!</p>

:root {
  /* Place variables within here to use the variables globally. */
}
.custom-variables {
  --some-color: #da7800;
  --some-keyword: italic;
  --some-size: 1.25em;
  --some-complex-value: 1px 1px 2px whitesmoke, 0 0 1em slategray, 0 0 0.2em slategray;
  color: var(--some-color);
  font-size: var(--some-size);
  font-style: var(--some-keyword);
  text-shadow: var(--some-complex-value);
}

Source: Codepen

Color fade on hover

A very easy way to make your links (or any other element) look better.

a {
 color: #000;
 -webkit-transition: color 1s ease-in; /*safari and chrome */
 -moz-transition: color 1s ease-in; /* firefox */
 -o-transition: color 1s ease-in; /* opera */
}

a:hover { 
 color: #c00;
}

Source: Matt Lambert

Pure CSS donut spinner

These spinners are very popular when it comes to letting visitors know that the content is loading. You might be tempted to use an image, but in terms of website speed it is way better to do it using CSS. Nothing complicated here, just take a look at our HTML first:

<div class="donut"></div>

…and the corresponding CSS. Need some more info about CSS keyframes? Here you go!

@keyframes donut-spin {
  0% {
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
  100% {
    transform: rotate(360deg);
  }
}
.donut {
  display: inline-block;
  border: 4px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  border-left-color: #7983ff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  width: 30px;
  height: 30px;
  animation: donut-spin 1.2s linear infinite;
}

Source: Codepen

Fully centered content using Flexbox

Centering content both vertically and horizontally is nowadays very easy using display:flex. Here is how you do it, using some HTML:

<div class="flexbox-centering">
  <div class="child">Centered content.</div>
</div>

…and the corresponding CSS:

.flexbox-centering {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  height: 100px;
}

Source: Codepen

Responsive grid

display:grid makes it easy to create grids. Using the fr unit, the grids can be made responsive in order to fit any kind of display.

Here’s how our grid HTML looks like:

<div class="grid">
  <div class="grid-item"></div>
  <div class="grid-item"></div>
  <div class="grid-item"></div>
  <div class="grid-item"></div>
</div>

And the CSS:

.grid {
  display: grid; 
  grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr);
  grid-gap: 1em; 
}

.grid-item {
  background-color: orange;
}

Source: Smashing Magazine

Curve text around a floated image

shape-outside is a CSS property that allows geometric shapes to be set, in order to define an area for text to flow around.

.shape {
  width: 300px;
  float: left;
  shape-outside: circle(50%);
}

Source: WebDesigner Depot

Unselectable text

If for some reason you don’t want visitors to be able to select a certain portion of the content, you can use CSS. Although your text will still be selectable if the user displays the page source, I’ve heard so many clients wanting such functions on their website that I’m sure this will be useful to some of you.

Here’s our HTML:

<p class="unselectable">You can't select me!</p>

And some quick and easy CSS:

.unselectable {
  user-select: none;
}

Source: Codepen

The expectations of the modern software user are very high since innovation has come to define the modern world. In order to create the best software programs, developers have to identify the common challenges and solve them. The following are the six common problems in the software development world.

1. Overly demanding clients

As mentioned earlier, most clients are exposed to technology now more than ever before. This has resulted in clients knowing exactly what they want from a software program and what they do not want to be included.

This has many potential challenges to developers because some of the demands that clients make are simply not achievable through software or they are very difficult to achieve. Since the clients are not familiar with software development, they might not be aware of the complexity of it.

Modern developers thus need to have great communication skills so that they can negotiate effectively with demanding clients.

2. Keeping up to date with emerging languages and frameworks

The software development world is evolving very quickly. Not too long ago, the only programming languages that existed were common all across the globe. It was thus easy for developers to get into the development world knowing that their learning process is a clear-cut one.

Today, however, there are hundreds if not thousands of software development languages, frameworks, and tools. This makes it very difficult for developers to learn the art of development. In addition, keeping up with new and emerging languages also becomes difficult since frameworks and tools are also rapidly changing.

3. Creating individualized software programs

Nowadays, it is important to understand the local market and culture of the software user. The world is made up of many different languages and cultures. Therefore, software programs have to be localized in order to be suitable for users of a certain territory. It takes a lot of time and resources for developers to familiarize themselves with multiple cultures.

The localization software testing process also becomes a challenge when there is not enough information about the specific area that the program is meant to serve.

As the world continues to embrace technology, developers will have to continue learning about different ways they can effectively localize software programs.

4. Securing work

Another challenge that modern developers face is securing a job for the skills they have. While software developers are still needed a lot in the modern industry, the demand for certain skills might change over time.

In recent years, for instance, web development and software development have almost become the same thing. With this kind of evolution, software developers who are only familiar with developing programs might lose out on opportunities in the web development world. Web developers who are not familiar with program development might also miss some opportunities that require those skills. Software and web developers thus need to have a wide range of skills in the modern market in order to keep up with the job market.

5. Difficulties in communication

Software development involves a lot of co-operation with different parties. Communication is thus central to the job. A software developer is needed to communicate with everyone from the development team to engineers and clients as well as other parties. Sometimes, communication challenges arise between these parties making the development work more difficult.

Miscommunication between team members, for example, can lead to huge delays and setbacks in the development process. Challenges in communication are common and a good software developer needs to figure out ways in which to lessen or eliminate these challenges for a smooth development process.

6. Balancing life and work

Finally, it is always a challenge for developers to balance work and life. Creating software takes a lot of time and oftentimes, this work extends to your home. Most software developers in the modern world, in fact, work from home offices or near where they live.

The line between work and personal life thus gets thinner and thinner.

This is a guest article by Ines Kohl.

Around 77 percent of consumers say they don’t care about having a relationship with a brand. Your goal is to reach the remaining people who do want to engage. Here are eight ways to rebrand your business without losing current or potential customers:

1. Understand why your customers like you

Before you choose to rebrand, talk to your current customers. Get to know your target audience. Study the demographics through Google, via your internal data from past sales and by polling your customers.

The last thing you want to do is take away the things that make customers like you. Tropicana made this mistake in 2009 when it decided to change its orange juice cartons. Customers didn’t like the new containers and didn’t understand the reason for the change. Sales dropped. Your rebrand can be more successful, but you have to make sure you understand your customer base and what they prefer.

2. Communicate why you’re rebranding

You may have a good reason for rebranding. Perhaps you chose a complicated name when you opened your business and your customers have come to know you by a shorter version. Your rebrand may be to align your image with how customers already see you.

Make sure to explain to current customers why you’ve chosen to rebrand. New leads may also notice you’ve made a change and wonder why. Whatever type of rebrand you’re completing, know the reasons why and be ready to communicate with customers.

3. Research your competition

Study the brands that are your closest competition. What is their brand message and how does it differ from yours? The goal isn’t to copy what the competition is doing but to figure out how you differ and what unique proposition you offer to customers.

4. Grab customers’ attention in unique ways

Once you’ve come up with the reason for the rebrand and made sure it aligns with your target audience, think up unique ways to grab the attention of customers. If you own a brick-and-mortar store, floor graphics grab attention and draw consumers in. Online, you can stand out with unique graphics or personalized videos.

5. Create brand loyalty with content

If a new customer feels loyal to your brand, they’ll come back time and time again and refer you to those they know. One way to build brand loyalty is through unique content geared to help the consumer. Again, you must know your target audience, so you understand the questions they have and the areas where they need help.
Content doesn’t have to be on your website. You can also create content for email marketing, social media and snail mail.

6. Get your team ready

Before you release any rebranding, get your employees on board. Train them in the whys of the rebrand and show your excitement over the new name or look for your company. Think about KFC and how it rebranded from Kentucky Fried Chicken. People already called the company KFC, but the change also allowed it to tap into a marketplace that called for healthier foods that weren’t fried.

Your team should be ready to answer questions and point leads to the benefits of the rebrand.

7. Ask customers for feedback

Involve your customers in every step of the process. If you change your logo, ask customers for their feedback. If they hate it, ask what you can do to make it better. Conduct split testing and make sure your changes are effective. The last thing you want is to turn off your customer base and drive them away, so flexibility is a must.

8. Protect your new leads

Once you begin to gain new leads from your rebrand, keep the lines of communication open. Protect those leads from bouncing away and going with a competitor by showing them you’re willing to work hard to keep their business. Each customer should feel like they’re important to your company.

Rebranding efforts

Rebranding can be a minor change, such as choosing a new color palette, or a major one, like an entirely new mission statement. Keep everyone informed of changes and communicate every step of the way to keep current customers and attract new ones.

This is a guest article by Lexie Lu. Lexie is a web designer and UX strategist. She writes for Marketo, Creative Bloq, Manta, Website Magazine and Cats Who Code. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and follow her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

However, it isn’t just the annoyance of ads popping up to consider. You want to consider your safety as well. With all that to keep in mind, the use of ad blockers continues to grow for personal and professional computer systems.

Whether you have considered installing an ad blocker or not, here are some reasons why it is essential to have one.

What is an ad blocker?

Ad blockers can be either a program you download or an add-on to the current browser you use. Either way, they provide the same service – to block ads from appearing and compromising your online experience.

There are different ways an ad blocker removes ads from your browser. Some will get rid of cookies and web markers which carry information between website sessions. No matter what the method is, the primary purpose is to stop ads for disrupting your computer.

Enhance your online safety

Digital advertising is a great way to promote a particular service, product or company across a massive space at one time. The downfall, however, you cannot guarantee each ad is genuinely what they claim to be. Now the issues of privacy and safety come into effect.

There has been a rise in something called malvertising – a combination of malware and advertising. Malware (malicious software) is a software developed with the intent of harming and attacking your device and data on it. Malvertising is when the attackers that create the malware buy out popular ad spaces on legitimate websites. What you think is an ad corresponding to a legitimate company is actually a virus waiting to attack your device.

So with your ad blocker software, you are effectively removing and blocking ads that could do major harm to your system and stored data. They don’t remove all ads, but they are the best way to secure your online activity from malvertising.

Stop getting tracked

More and more you will hear consumers complain about websites tracking their movement online. Companies will gather information from the sites you access and use that to target ads. Sometimes it is handy when a product you’ve been searching for appears in a side banner. Other times, though, it is uncomfortable to have ads pop up about something you googled once.

Ad blockers can stop your online footprint from being tracked by ad servers. So while you browse the internet, you won’t have to worry as much about who is watching you and selling your data to third parties.

Enhance your overall online experience

An added benefit of installing an ad blocker is decluttering your browser for a more enjoyable internet experience. Without an ad blocker, your device needs to load not just the page you want to view, but it also has to load all the attached ads. The result is a slower loading process and a frustrated viewer. Since the ad blocker removes the ability of the ads to pop up, your device no longer has to take the time to load them and can focus solely on your requested action.

On top of that, your favorite websites you love to peruse through have a cleaner look to them. No random sounds, pop up ads or anything else unwelcomed. You will instead have a clean white space to make the website more appealing.

If you are concerned about your online safety and frustrated with all the unwanted ads appearing, an ad blocker will be your best option. Remove anything unwanted and protect your data from being sold to third parties with an ad blocker.

This is a guest article by Jordan Choo.

Just like a good WordPress theme for business helps to amplify the brand story, the learning institutions can use its themes as well to become more visible on the Internet. This post explores the best WordPress themes for educational websites, and below you will find the reasons why schools should try WordPress and what benefits it brings. So let’s take a look!

It is more than an information platform

You must have already noticed that educational websites are representatives of brand identity and culture. For example, themes depict institutional colors that appear in uniforms, logos, and other related images and merch. Moreover, a website furthers the agenda of colleges and universities whose missions and visions are anchored on technological advancement. We live in an era of information, and there is no other better way for schools to make a strong online presence than through websites that represent their ideals and philosophy.

Resource and learning platforms

The number of students signing up for online courses and distant learning programs continues to rise. Therefore, institutions, via professionally designed and appealing websites, strive to win studentship. A lot of education-related activities take place online. Moreover, millions of schools right from kindergarten to universities now avail information relating to term programs such as learning schedules, e-library resources, learning materials, and sporting timetables on websites. Thus, schools should, first of all, understand the importance of selecting the right theme.

Important website theme design factors to consider

Before we can look at the top WordPress themes for education, it is imperative that certain thresholds such as the following are met:

• Navigability. Websites for schools at all levels should be navigable. It is important to install a theme that features clear icons, buttons, and pages. Students tend to spend more time on sites that meet this threshold than those on which they will struggle to find their way around. For instance, if you were googling “university assignments made for you” and stumbled across a service with an easy-to-navigate website, would stay there? That’s the point.
• Cross-platform compatibility. The world is going mobile, and so are websites. A huge percentage of students now own smartphones which they use to access sites containing information relating to academia such as e-libraries, e-courses, and other e-content. This post emphasizes themes that are compatible with both computers and mobile devices.
• Responsiveness. Here, it is a case of how fast a site loads. Millennials are an impatient lot, and websites or web pages that take forever to load information are never going to be their cup of instant coffee.
• Design appeal. What you see is what you get is a principle that applies here. Students hardly visit websites of colleges and universities that lack visual appeal. From text fonts and images to videos, sites that target students should look attractive all around.

Top themes for education institutions

Here is a run-through of top WordPress themes for educational sites:

WPLMS Learning Management System

WPLMS is one of the most advanced themes for educational websites, and it comes with fully functional features. With it, schools can create online courses, quizzes, track performance of students, and set up payment systems. While it fits the bill for colleges and universities, WPLMS ranks in the league of sites like Coursera, Treehouse, Code School and other top-rated online learning platforms.
Visit WPLMS

Superwise

Superwise fits preschools, elementary, middle, and high schools, thanks to its robust features. With it, you can create quizzes and integrate learning productivity tools such as Google Drive, Sheets, Calendar and Docs, thereby making it possible to seamlessly deliver educational content to students. It comes with over 20 colorful custom widgets and tools you can use to tweak its appearance as desired. There are also attractive revolution sliders that make it possible to showcase learning content in a smart manner.
Visit Superwise

School

As the name suggests, this theme is the real deal. With up to 15 widgets and unlimited colors, what more do you need? With it, you can create customized posts for events and picture galleries. There are a custom slider and a feature that allows user rating. The design is highly responsive and features a minimalist interface. Plus, it is lightweight, hence it loads fast.
Visit School

Buntington

Here is a theme for an educational website that also makes it to the top, thanks to a visual homepage builder, a page for courses, events widget, powerful search widget, sliders, gallery builder and shortcodes. Buntington is designed for speed, fast loading, and the interface features a minimalist design.
Visit Buntington

EducationPress

EducationPress has up to seven variants themes for homepage, CoursePress integration plug-in, up to 13 payment gateways, and interactive design platform. More features include widgets for uploading and downloading quizzes, automated/manual instructor assessment, and free/paid course option. It also has a course demo widget for universities and kindergartens.
Visit EducationPress

The Bottom Line

There are tons of educational WordPress themes such as Campus, Univero, EduPro, Education WP and Clever Course. This post has explored some of the best and highly ranked ones in the blogosphere. You can always try one and tweak its features as you please.

This is a guest post by Alyssa Johnson. Alyssa is a web design professional and blogger specializing in WordPress design tips for both upcoming and professional graphic designers. Alyssa has studied animation and holds a degree in graphic design.

Choose the right one? You’ll have a website that’s running smoothly.
Picked a bad host? Prepare to have endless headaches and overblown costs

Given the number of web host providers available today, it’s no surprise that some providers specialize in catering to different types of websites. However, there are some common (yet highly essential) factors that you should consider before committing to a hosting plan.

1- Server reliability and uptime scores

When your website suffers downtime, you’ll lose out on traffic, potential sales, viewership, and most importantly, it could cost your entire business. According to Gartner, the average cost of downtime can be as high $5,600 per minute, which makes it a good idea to avoid a hosting provider with weak servers and unreliable connections.

Instead, look for companies that have reputable uptime scores and server reliability. The industry standard today is to have at least a 99.5% uptime rate and anything below 99% should be avoided.

2- Speed and latency

The speed at which your web page loads affects your conversions. The Kissmetrics research shows that 47% of consumers expect websites to load within 2 seconds or less and 40% will abandon the page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

One of the factors that can affect page speed is latency, which is the data travel time from server to users. The higher your latency is, the longer it takes for a user to load your website or page.

To keep latency down, it’s best to choose a server location that’s closer to your targeted audience. Look for a web host with multiple server locations as it gives you the ability to put your website closer to your audience.

3- Customer service and support

When you face technical problems with your website servers, having good customer service support can be a massive boon. Is the hosting provider known for being effective and speedy when it comes to technical support? Or do they have a terrible support team that barely helps?

Choose a web host that gives you all the basic customer support channels such as emails and support tickets. Better yet, look for web hosts that offer 24/7 live support to its clients and have a social media visibility as they are more likely to respond when you ask for help.

You should also give priority to companies with an in-house customer support team as they tend to have a better understanding of the company’s operation as opposed to outsourced customer services.

4- Development and web developer features

For web developers, it’s important for you to check whether the hosting provider supports the type of framework and language that you intend to develop on. Some web hosts will only support certain programs on certain plans.

For example, InMotion Hosting allows you to use the programming language Ruby on its shared hosting plan but does not enable Rail. Which means, if you wanted to use Ruby on Rails, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher plan such as VPS.

Another thing to check is whether the web host offers extra tools for developers as well (Staging, GIT, built-in cacher, etc.).

5- Ease of use

To save time and reduce the number of road bumps for starting your website, it’s recommended to go for web hosts that provide a smooth onboarding process and an easy-to-use interface. Ask yourself the following questions when looking at a web host:

• Is it easy to sign up with them?
• Can you immediately start hosting after signing up?
• Does the setup process take too long?
• Is the user interface easy to navigate through?
• Are they trying to aggressively push you into buying unnecessary upgrades and services?

That last point, in particular, is a practice that’s used by some web host providers whereby they try to upsell you into buying features and upgrades that your website might not need. This can be annoying but as long as you know what your website needs are, you can easily avoid any unnecessary purchases.

6- Price

The pricing for hosting plans should be an important factor when choosing a web host. If you’re just starting out or have a limited budget to work with, it might not be a good idea to go for premium plans such as VPS or dedicated hosting.

It’s recommended that you go for something affordable in the first 24 months so as to keep your spending down. Generally, for those who are starting out, a shared hosting plan would be the best option since it’s quite cheap and is more than capable to handle a small website.

Thankfully, there are a ton of affordable hosting companies that offer a wide range of hosting plans and services that you can choose from.

7- Site backups

Even with the safest security measures in place, your website is still exposed to a number of potential risks such as ransomware, hackers, viruses, bugs, and even hardware failures. In worst cases, any of these incidents can lead to irreparable damages like losing your index.php file.

Having a backup of your website is definitely helpful to avoid any unnecessary headaches over data loss and more importantly, the amount of time your website stays down.

Standard practice for any good web host is to offer at least a regularly scheduled backup of your website. That way, should anything happen, you can just ask the hosting provider to restore your full site immediately.

In addition to regular backups, check whether the web host allows you to do the following things:

• Lets you manually do the backup via the control panel
• Uses programs to create auto backups of your site
• Lets you restore your backup files by yourself without needing to wait for the support staff to respond.

8- Flexibility / scalability

An important factor to consider when choosing a web host (and your plan for that matter) is whether or not they can fit into the growth of your website and business.

What that means is, the hosting plan that you use now might not be enough two or three years down the line, especially if you have expanded to include an online store or experience significantly higher traffic.

Growth should always be the focus of any website and if a hosting provider has trouble accommodating, then that could be an issue.

Do they have a VPS or Dedicated Server plan/solution? Can you easily upgrade your account?
Do you need to transfer to a new host if your current plan is not enough? You should ask yourself these questions when you’re searching for a web host that you intend to use for a long time.

9- Adding more domains

One of the key components for growth is diversification. You might be starting out with just one website and domain name but as your business becomes bigger, you’ll realize the benefit (and necessity) for having multiple websites, domains, and subdomains to popularize your brand or business.

Plus, having multiple sites can be a great way to highlight different products or services of your business. The Coca-Cola company is a great example of this, with different products such as Dasani and Minute Maid each having their own website but still operating under the Coca-Cola umbrella.

Before you sign up to a hosting provider, aside from their packages and features, try to find out whether their plan allows you to run multiple websites on a single web account. Research on the cost of unlimited websites and subdomain packages and compare it to other web hosts as well.

Basically, keep an eye out for web host providers that offer different service plans and allow you to add a new domain, giving you the flexibility to scale over time.

10- Email support and features

Emails are still a great method for getting feedback from your users and improve subscriber conversions. Which is why it’s always a good idea to have your email hosted together with your website.

While most hosting companies should have the ability to host your email with your domain name, it doesn’t hurt to check. In addition to that, you should also check if they offer any help or solution for general email issues such as spam.

If they do not offer any email features, then you might have to look for third-party solutions. The easiest one to work with is probably G Suite. The service by Google lets you create your emails while being hosted at their servers and it can cost as low as $5 per user per month.

11- Refunds and free trial policies

Every hosting company you research on, chances are they have some form of refund policy or trial period which allows you to test out their services and help you decide whether to continue or not.

Since using a hosting provider can get pricey (though there are plenty of good and cheap web hosting services available), choosing a web host that offers refunds and free trials can help you avoid wasting money if you end up not liking the provider.

Research upon a provider’s refund and free trial policies and ask yourself the following questions:

• If you cancel within the trial period, do you get a full refund?
• If you cancel after the trial period, do you get a prorated refund or will you be charged for it?
• Are there any cancellation charges if you cancel before or after the trial period?

These questions might seem basic but they’re worth asking before you sign up and commit to a hosting plan that normally lasts for a few years.

My advice? Avoid hosting companies that charge a high cancellation fee during trial periods. Instead, go for hosting companies that offer anytime money-back guarantees so you can ask for a prorated refund after the trial period.

12- Business track record

Signing up for a web host is kind of like signing up for a marriage. You need to be able to trust them if you want to commit to such a long-term relationship. Since most hosting plans require you to commit for a year or two, you might want to make sure that the company has a good business track record.

Do some research on the hosting companies that interest you. Check how long they’ve been in the industry. If they’re relatively new, it’ll be hard to determine the quality of their services. If they’ve recently changed management/owners, then check if it has had any effect on the quality of their services.

Arvixe was acquired by Endurance International Group (EIG) back it 2014, and when they were performing their data center migrations it affected their users badly. Cases of increased downtime and slow support response have plagued the hosting provider to this day.

Another hosting company, IX Web Hosting, was sold to Site 5 (which EIG owns as well) back in 2015 and the company ended up closing in 2018 due to how poorly they handled the migration process. Because of this, many users’ websites went down and all their data and emails ended up being inaccessible.

Suffice to say, if you’re going to sign up with a web host, make sure that the company will stay around for a long time (and maybe avoid EIG-owned companies).

In conclusion

A web host is one of the important building blocks for your website. If it’s unreliable your website will suffer the effects. Read and understand the factors above and choose a web host that not only suits your needs but is also capable of handling your website.

When you have a good foundation to rely on, you can then direct your focus on taking your website and business to next level by improving other areas such as content creation and marketing strategies.

About the author: Jerry Low

Jerry Low – Geek dad, SEO junkie, affiliate marketer, and value investor. Jerry is the founder of WebRevenue Inc., the company that owns and manages sites like Web Hosting Secret Revealed and Build This. Learn more and connect with Jerry on his personal blog and Twitter.

About Prevent Direct Access

As it names suggests, Prevent Direct Access Gold plugin allows website owners to prevent visitors, unauthorized users, and search engine bots from directly accessing private and confidential WordPress files such as images, audios, videos, zip archives, and documents. Prevent Direct Access supports all file types.

By default, all your file uploads to WordPress are available and accessible to anyone. This exposes all your personal or paid product files to the public. Prevent Direct Access Gold plugin will take care of this problem. Working with Prevent Direct Access is very easy: Simply upload your files using the WP uploader, and you’re now able to protect any file with a single click.

Your images will be protected against hotlinking. Prevent Direct Access Gold will also let search engines know that they should not index your files. As a result, they won’t appear in Google and other search engines results.

The plugin will be very beneficial for e-commerce sites that sell digital products such as WordPress themes, plugins, Photoshop assets, music in MP3 format, and many others. Prevent Direct Access Gold also integrates perfectly with the most popular membership WordPress plugins.

Here are the main features of this very useful plugin:

• Protect unlimited media files including but not limited to PNG, JPEG, ZIP, PDF, MP3, and MP4
• Block Google indexing of private media files
• Restrict WordPress file uploads access to logged-in users
• Set custom access permission for each individual file
• Protect WordPress self-hosted videos (extension)
• Sync or offload media to Amazon S3; utilize CloudFront CDN to speed up your WordPress site (extension)
• Integrate with top WordPress membership plugins such as User Access Manager and Paid Membership Pro (extension)
• Work with top WordPress contact form plugins such as Ninja Forms and Contact Form 7 (extension)

How to enter the giveaway

Feeling lucky? Today CatsWhoCode and Prevent Direct Access are offering you the chance to win a 1-year free subscription for PDA Gold 1-license worth $82.8. So, how to take part in the giveaway? Super simple!

• Share Prevent Direct Access website on Twitter or Facebook with these hashtags #WordPress #WooCommerce #PreventDirectAccess #ProtectFiles. Post with more shares/retweets will get a much higher chance of winning!
• Write a comment below with your retweet/Facebook URL, so I’ll know you’re in
• In 14 days, the winner will be randomly chosen and will receive his or her prize directly by the Prevent Direct Access team by email. A minimum of 30 participants is required with the exception of
  high-quality posts shared on Twitter and/or Facebook

Good luck everybody!

Studies show the average person would rather spend 15 minutes reading something on an aesthetically pleasing page than a plain one. Design matters on so many levels that it’s difficult to narrow it down. However, here are eight common mistakes web designers make:

1. Ignoring mobile responsiveness

Ninety-four percent of consumers gain an impression of a website on how responsive it is. If the screen doesn’t adjust to fit the size screen you’re on, it turns off potential leads. More and more people are getting smartphones and using them to access the Internet. The number grows every year. If your site isn’t mobile responsive, you’re missing out on potential conversions.

2. Leaving out contact information

Would you want to do business with a company that didn’t list a way to get in touch with them? Consumers may worry that they’ll have a problem with their purchase and no way to resolve it without clear contact info. It’s a good idea to offer more than one way for customers to get in touch with you. About 64 percent of site visitors want to see a company’s contact information on the landing page.

Maids In Black offers several ways to get in touch with them, including live chat, which pops up when you land on their home page. They also offer a telephone number, email and the ability to reach out via social media.

3. Allowing your site to load slowly

People are busy and impatient these days. If your site loads too slowly, you can be almost certain your site visitors will bounce away in droves. The bounce rate increases by 32 percent if your page takes just three seconds to load. Go to six seconds, and the bounce rate goes up 106 percent. You can see why every millisecond counts when it comes to page load speed.

4. Neglecting the footer

Don’t forget to focus on the footer on your page. People have learned that if they scroll to the bottom of the page, very specific information is in the footer. Your footer needs to offer some simple navigation and contact info. It is a valuable real estate, even though it’s below the fold.

Wing Tactical takes full advantage of the space at the bottom of their page to meet and then exceed consumer expectations. Note that they use a banner to draw attention to their mailing list. If you sign up, you can get exclusive deals. They then have some basic navigation and contact information. At the bottom, they add elements that build trust such as certifications and credit cards they accept.

5. Not using enough contrast

Have you ever visited a website where you had to squint to read tiny text? Perhaps the text is hard to read because there isn’t enough contrast between that and the background. Don’t fall victim to a page that is difficult to read because there isn’t enough contrast. When in doubt between design look and contrast, always go for higher contrast.

6. Missing call to action

A call to action tells your site visitor what the next step is and guides them through your sales funnel. If you want your site to turn into a high converting one, pay attention to your calls to action, making sure they are easy to locate, stand out from the rest of the page and use bold, action words.

Petplan does a great job with their call to action on their landing page. Note how it stands out in stark contrast with the background. It’s easy to spot and resides above the fold. The words on the CTA itself drive the user to action.

7. Hiding your backstory

Don’t be afraid to share where your company started and how far you’ve come. Your backstory is what makes your company truly unique, yet it is something many websites neglect sharing. About 52 percent of site visitors say they want to see “about us” information upon landing on a homepage.

8. Ignoring data

Studies show that it takes the average user about 2.6 seconds to find the spot on a webpage that impacts them and makes the first impression. If you want to know what works on your site versus what needs work, take the time to dig into the analytics behind your site. Get to know your average site visitor inside and out. Study heatmaps and see where people are clicking on your page and where they are exiting.

Avoid mistakes

It’s not easy to avoid web design mistakes, but it’s simple to fix them. Set aside time each month to work on your site and fix any issues of concern. Study the data and figure out what is and isn’t working for your site visitors. Do some A/B testing to see which changes are most effective. If you put this type of attention into your site on an ongoing basis, you’ll see more conversions and happier visitors.

This is a guest article by Lexie Lu. Lexie is a web designer and UX strategist. She writes for Marketo, Creative Bloq, Manta, Website Magazine and Cats Who Code. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and follow her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Increase the speed with which a page loads

The modern generation which is tech savvy is impatient when it comes to browsing. Speed is thus key when developing a website. Ensure that you maintain high speeds when it comes to loading a page. A visitor will not wait for one minute for a page to load. If this happens, you will have lost some of the visitors who would have become loyal customers. To avoid this, ensure that you develop a website that loads pages with speed. Consult a reputable SEO agency on how to make your content readable and attractive to readers before you post it. Include simple but eye-catching titles and use subheadings.

Have the navigation links easy to find

The navigation links help visitors to go where they want to go. If they are easy to find visitors can explore your site without much hustle. For example, the log of your website should be linked to the homepage such that it will be easy to go back to where you started. This also helps with improving SEO for your site. Look for a reliable web designer to work with an SEO agency on where and how to include the navigation keys.

Develop a simple layout for your page

Your page has to give a good first-time impression. It will only take a visitor about 2 minutes to decide whether they want to continue seeing what’s new on your site or not. In that case, the first impression has to be in such a way that it welcomes them to read and explore more. Make the pages or the services you provide easily accessible and visible. A visitor should not have to spend 5 minutes searching for a service you offer. You can even include a live chat feature which welcomes visitors and asks them if they need help finding something.

Write and post helpful and interesting content

Going bulk on content is no longer the IT factor. You need to write content that is helpful to your readers. Have a set of topics which will go live on your website on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This is how you get loyal readers flocking your website in large numbers. As an online business, you will need to strategize on how you will come up with content that your visitors want to read. From there, you can hire an SEO agency to help you rank your articles at the top on search engines using the modern SEO tools online.

This is a guest post by Jeniffer Page.

WordPress can be downloaded for free and be used in the development of appealing homework assignment help websites among other types of websites based on the needs of a user. Most important to note, WordPress is an open-source system founded on PHP and MySQL helpful in the development of your website’s CMS. It comes with a web template system as well as a template processor.

WordPress themes

It all begins here. There is a lot of flexibility in the choice of themes in WordPress. Once WordPress is installed, the user gets access to various themes to choose from. They allow them to change the appearance of your website without interfering with the content and the internal code. Users can choose to either buy themes or use those available for free.

Defined blogging features

This CMS comes with an integrated link management, permalink structure, a search engine, options to tag posts and the ability to put posts into categories. These are useful in blogging. Marketers using WordPress get to only make a few changes to their graphics, logos and fonts based on their needs.

Mobile-Readiness

Professionals from writing papers services claim that many more people are using their mobile gadgets to access sites online. Therefore, WordPress has worked a way through this by providing various navigating apps for Android, Windows Phone, iOS, BlackBerry and WebOS. Such a feature makes it easy to create new blog posts, comments, edit them and reply to them too.

Plugins

The functionality of your website is highly enhanced through the plugin feature. The WordPress platform provides more than 50,000 plugins that come with unique features and functions including client portals and search engine optimization among others. This way, it becomes a lot easier to show private information on the activity on the site, creates CMSs and shows details like the addition of navigation bars and widgets.

WordPress benefits in website development

Using WordPress for your website comes with a lot of benefits and that is why it has been a favorite among many website developers:

WordPress allows you to save on costs

WordPress is free. Even its themes and maintenance costs are highly affordable. With the many extended features, even when some come at a fee, users end up getting much more value for what they paid for.

Updates

WordPress-based websites can be updated wherever and whenever the need arises. As long as there is internet connectivity, you can make the necessary changes to your site. It helps you stay in touch with the target audience and provide notifications on the latest updates.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Having an SEO-friendly site is the dream of every website owner. WordPress provides your site with specific codes that give it a better ranking online. Again, it helps to customize the site pages for higher rankings on search engines leading to a desirable traffic that boosts growth.

Highly responsive site

Customers will be attracted to a responsive site and WordPress makes sure you have to enhance business profit.

Security features

WordPress makes your site safe by properly securing it from hacks. This makes customers trust it and be willing to share their private details with you.

Well-situated organization

This is good for gaining inbound links to your website. Anything you post gets redirected automatically to RSS feed.

The bottom line

WordPress gets you a highly optimized website that works for your success in your online activities. It is highly recommended for anyone who wants to enhance and be effective in promoting their brand online.

This is a guest post by Alice Yoon.

In a 2018 survey, 54 percent of people said they wanted more video content. Now is the time to add features consumers want to your site. Simply adding videos allows you to stand out from the competition. Here are nine ways that embedding videos will lead to better conversions and some ideas for how to get the most traction from them:

1. Use YouTube

About 83 percent of consumers around the globe prefer YouTube for video delivery. If you’re just getting started creating videos or adding them to your pages, there is no reason to invent the cart. In fact, hosting videos on your own websites eats up your bandwidth and could slow down page load speed. Simply use YouTube to easily embed videos on your site. You can either use videos you’ve shot and uploaded to YouTube or seek related videos from noncompeting sources.

SoCal Honda Dealers is known for its random acts of kindness in the local community. It only makes sense that it highlights this through embedded videos that link to its YouTube channel. There, you’ll find a collection of videos that include helping local sports teams, recognizing teachers during teacher appreciation week and profiling award winners.

2. Brag in emails

Simply mentioning the word video increases email open rate by 19 percent. If you embed videos on your site, you can mention this in your subject line. Let’s say you wrote an article on how to save a rose bush from Japanese beetles and you embedded a video showing the process to mix up the solution you put on your roses. You would simply use a subject line such as “How to Save Your Roses From Japanese Beetles Video.” Track your results and see how your open rate rises.

3. Highlight your team

Do your people make the difference because of excellent customer service or attention to detail? One way to showcase this on your site is to embed a video that highlights your team. Either showcase individual experts and let the consumer get to know them better or show your workers in action so that the potential customer can see how well they’ll meet the needs of those who hire them.

New City Moving does a good job of highlighting its teams of movers by showing “how we work” in a YouTube video it has embedded on its website. It clearly explains how the company solves a problem and makes life easier for those who hire it.

4. Limit HTTP requests

You don’t want embedded videos to slow down your site’s load times. Users are impatient and most won’t wait around if your site freezes. One way around this is by using thumbnails rather than the full-size video. This allows your page to load fast but still lets you embed videos from online providers. If the reader wants to view the video and clicks on it, it will enlarge on their screen.

5. Use social media

Social media videos are growing in popularity. More than 500 million people watch videos on Facebook every day. Uploading videos to the social media site where your demographic spends its time is a smart move. You can still upload those videos to YouTube, but adding them to Facebook and even creating livestreams are smart business moves that may drive more leads to your site.

Scary Mommy posts humorous videos and snarky articles on Facebook and its online blog. Because its audience is made up of parents, Facebook is a smart place to put these videos. They’re shared thousands of times, helping reach people who might not already be followers. Note how it has embedded its Facebook video on its website in the screenshot above. The highlight is all on the video.

6. Attract Google

Google is rather fickle. It may love your site one day and send you tons of traffic and despise your site the next day. However, one thing Google does like is rich media. Adding videos and photos to your website, when done correctly, helps your ranking and pulls you up in the search engines. They key here is to make sure any videos aren’t a drag on your page speeds and that they are highly relevant to the topic at hand.

7. Highlight custom videos

If you regularly create videos as content for your readers, you should highlight them throughout your site. Make it easy for your users to find your new videos, either with a link or by showing your most recent ones within your content or in the sidebar. Another option is to highlight related videos within the content.

Her View from Home features a section in the middle of its posts that shows its most recent videos. The embed is small, so you can play it right on the page, or you can enlarge it to view in full-screen mode. Another interesting feature is that if the video is playing and you scroll past it, it will move over to the right sidebar as a tiny thumbnail, so you can still view the video as you read the text.

8. Stay mobile responsive

Studies show 90 percent of videos on Twitter are viewed via a mobile device. It stands to reason that your videos will be shared on social media. You’ll also get significant mobile traffic on your website. Keep this in mind when designing your site and make sure the size of the thumbnails is responsive to smaller screen sizes. If the user’s entire screen is taken up with one corner of an embedded video, the entire website experience is ruined.

9. Add videos often

The average business publishes 18 videos per month. Users need to know they can count on you for frequent rich content. You don’t have to create hour-long videos every time you release one. Instead, look for short topics you can cover in a fun way in a few minutes. People are busy, and they like shorter videos they can digest between appointments or over their lunch hour.

Videos in the future

Videos are likely to remain popular into the foreseeable future. Investing in adding videos to your website now will pay off for years to come. Embedding videos allow you to host them off your site, save precious resources and reduce load time for visitors.

This is a guest article by Lexie Lu. Lexie is a web designer and UX strategist. She writes for Marketo, Creative Bloq, Manta, Website Magazine and Cats Who Code. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and follow her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Cloud allows you to easily connect to public or private networks in order to offer dynamically scalable infrastructure for file storage, data management, and software development in the cloud.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the world’s leading cloud platform vendors. AWS offers a wide range of built-in services and tools that enable both SMEs and corporate-level enterprises to migrate their infrastructure, data, and applications to the cloud.

AWS ensures that users’ data is protected in an agile manner. That being said, AWS manages foundation services and global infrastructure while users are responsible for customer data and client-side data encryption.

Given that, many cloud consulting service providers opt for AWS. To offer AWS-bound cloud consulting services, businesses need to get certified by AWS and receive an APN Consulting Partner status.

Benefits of AWS

Since more and more businesses choose to move to the AWS cloud, AWS consulting is very popular right now.
AWS solutions are easily scalable and can be empowered through a variety of built-in tools and services for data collection, storage, processing, analysis, and management.

AWS servers are spread across different geographical areas, which allows proxy caching to your nearest location, which offers high availability and improved performance.

Let’s now cut through the hype and figure out why small businesses and enterprises should opt to use Amazon Web Services:

Increased scalability

The ability to easily scale up or down your cloud solution is one of the strongest benefits of AWS.
If you do not know how much computing capacity your application may require, AWS comes to the rescue. At peak volumes, AWS cloud flexibly scales up to ensure your app’s performance, with no downtime. You do not have to pay for an excessive amount of computing capacity since AWS automatically scales down to meet the requirements of your app.

Businesses can rely on AWS auto-scaling that utilizes real-time metrics to determine their required scaling capacity and change it over time. In case of any issues, like network failure, AWS is fully equipped to support your websites, applications, and software.

Cost-effectiveness

AWS cloud solutions are very cost-efficient. Due to AWS’ agility and flexibility, you pay only for what you spend. The solution automatically scales up or down based on your app’s needs. Bear in mind that you should choose a certified AWS partner to develop a monthly cloud computing plan for you.

Security

The top-notch security layer is a vital element of the AWS ecosystem. Its security layers can be manipulated in a variety of ways, which allows both individuals and businesses to meet their data requirements.

AWS Toolkit for Eclipse and Visual Basic

AWS Toolkit for Eclipse is a high-level, open-source, plug-in system that is designed for the Eclipse IDE. Its tools can help developers debug, develop, and deploy specific JAVA apps that are generally used with AWS.
There are also some specific tools for Visual Studio:

• AWS SDK.
• AWS Explorer.
• SAM Blueprint and AWS Lambda JAVA.
• AWS codecommit repository cloning.
• AWS Lodestar.
• Editor for AWS cloud formation.
• Amazon Aurora.
• AWS Cloudtrail.
• Amazon EMR.
• Amazon ECS.
• Amazon Kinesis.
• AWS Opswork.
• System manager.
• Service catalogue of AWS.

Amazon Web Services for Businesses

To adjust your business’ infrastructure, data, and software in order to migrate to the cloud, consider AWS consulting services that are generally offered by certified partners of the AWS network.
A certified AWS cloud consultancy can help your company build, manage, and migrate heavy workloads and applications.
They can also help your business with the following:

Designing AWS

Web hosting can easily turn into lots of hassle. To ensure the stability of your AWS infrastructure, it makes sense to hire a professional who is good at managing multiple web hosting settings that AWS sports. An expert consultant can guide you to choose the right design to manage your specific workload.

Building AWS

AWS supports all types of websites and applications. If you build your apps on the AWS platform, you ensure that they are safely stored and protected with regular backups. You also guarantee that it operates in an efficient, continuous manner.

Migration

AWS-certified consultancies offer both standardized and customized methods of migration of legacy systems. High security and high efficiency allow businesses to prioritize their own productivity without having to invest additional resources into IT. AWS partners are experienced in migrating their client’s applications and software without delays. Learn more about what certified AWS partners can do from the Squadex DevOps Consulting company.

Management

Management is the most important part of any business. From a startup’s standpoint, AWS may be the best cloud platform, since it ensures that they enjoy high-quality support system and are free to reach out to AWS consulting partners to get the answers to their business challenges at any time. AWS cloud consulting service is a silver-bullet option to guarantee that your business will smoothly operate in the cloud.

This is a guest post by Diego Dertick.

Content Marketing helps to attract prospective customers and turn them into paying customers by generating and sharing valuable free-of-charge content. Content Marketing helps companies to create lasting brand loyalty, provides valuable information for consumers, and in turn makes them more willing to buy the company’s products in the future. This new marketing approach is not direct sales, rather, it establishes faith and confidence with the audience. In contrast to other forms of online marketing, content marketing is focused on anticipating and meeting an already existing customer need for information, rather than a new demand.

What is the best medium for content marketing?

There are various ways you can go about marketing your content, but not all are as effective and easy as email content marketing. Email marketing is a type of direct marketing that is used to establish or enhance the relationship between a brand and potential or existing customers by using email to send valuable messages to them. Email marketing is cost effective (whether you do it by yourself or through marketing agencies) and relatively cheap when compared to other forms of content marketing. Over 90% of internet users access their email daily, also customers have the option of subscribing to what they are interested in, so email marketing is very efficient in getting the attention of the intended audience.

How to start your email content marketing

Now you know how effective email content marketing is, but how do you go about starting yours? You could hire an agency to do it for you or you could continue reading this article and learn how to start a standard email content marketing by yourself. This article does not necessarily discourage outsourcing your content marketing but rather present a tool that is used even by marketing agencies, as it doesn’t require any special skills or technical knowledge. Basically, all it requires is that you know how to present your brand, products or services in other to attract potentials or convince existing customers.

Wix.com

Wix.com is a company that offers stunning website design templates, web-building tools, and even more resources.  Wix’s drag-and-drop interface is very useful and easy to use when customizing Wix website templates. In fact, they are one of the best website builder platforms on the market as they provide you with the tools to create a site in a very simple way.

Wix runs in your browser (no software installation required) and already offers its own web hosting. You just need to log in, choose a template design and start creating. It requires no advanced or technical skills. Today Wix is one the largest companies in the website development and hosting field, hosting over 110 million websites.

How to build a triggered email with Wix

For starters, you need to understand what triggered email means; a trigger email is an email sent to a website user when such user has performed a specific task on the website. In more words, it is an automated email sent based on users’ behavior and activities. Utilizing such a tool on other web-building platform requires good programming skill or paid external plugins. Therefore, this is an amazing possibility offered by Wix and it is free to use when you follow the steps highlighted below:

1. Visit Wix on your web browser, sign up for a new account or sign in if you already have a Wix account.
2. Create a website by following the steps presented on screen.
3. On your site’s dashboard, click on Marketing tools.
4. Click automated emails.
5. Click on the button that says “Create Your 1st Automated Email”.
6. Use variables to customize email content e.g. Dear ${name}. The ${name} is a variable that has the value of individual names of the recipient.
7. Once customized to fit your needs, click “use this email”.
8. Copy the triggered email’s code snippet.
9. Add the snippet to an event on your site.

Integrating such a useful tool can never get easier than this, as the above processes can be carried out in less than one hour.

Ideal events you can set up triggered email for

• New subscribers welcome email: sending a warm welcome email to new subscribers/members is a good way to build a strong relationship from the onset.
• Thank you email: everyone loves to be thanked, even when he or she has done so little to deserve it. Make your subscriber feel special and that you are aware of the activity they just performed e.g. after a purchase/order completion, a comment, contribution etc.
• Special discount email: nothing makes a customer happier than getting a discount for a product or service he was just looking for. This type of automated email can be set up to be sent when a customer is searching or enter a certain category of product/service.
• The “we missed you email”: when users just logged in after a long time, the best way to make them know you notice their absence is to send this type of email.

Conclusion

Wix is the best place to start your email content marketing without hassle. Wix also has many other great tools that are very useful for your brand. To get the best out of Wix resources you need to upgrade to Wix premium. Luckily for you, we have an amazing Wix promo code of 10% for any Yearly Premium Plan apart from Combo and Connect Domain. This promo is only valid for the first-time upgrade and the first year of the upgrade.

This is a guest post by Moxena Laxman.

1. Establish the editorial line

This is the most important point to define. An editorial line goes along with the theme given to a blog or a site and striven to follow, for example, a cooking blog, personal blog, high-tech news blog … this definition of the editorial line can go through the development of the articles’ categories. The latter will help you to sort your articles by theme avoiding scattering. Remember one rule: it is necessary to think of yourself, but also to think of the reader.

2. Find a blogging platform

Now we should think of the blogging platform for our new creative and interesting blog. The most popular is WordPress. Why? Because it is simple to install, to use, and to maintain. Besides, you can find a multitude of tutorials on how to install WordPress and to learn how to use it. Still, do not think that there is only WordPress to use. There are a dozen platforms, which have all their advantages and disadvantages. Tumblr is rather simple to install and to use. Google Blogger is also very good… anyway, it is up to you to decide which one to choose!

3. Create a graphic identity

The big advantage of this approach is that you will have more possibilities to customize your themes and your blog. You will be able to distinguish yourself from others. When someone says graphic identity, they mean all the things which will help you transmit your main idea (ex.: the motto, company’s name, logo etc.). For this aim two solutions are available. Either you put your heart in the creation of your personal brand, using a simple, fast, online logo maker as, for example, Logaster where you can make and then download a small sized logo for free (for bigger formats you need to pay) or any other tool, or you call a graphic designer. Anyway, it's all about will and money.

4. Write your first articles

Before launching or uploading your blog – write a few articles (3 or 4) so that your first readers have some content to flip through. With varied themes for your first articles, you will have a better chance of reaching a wider audience.

5. Focus on quality, not on money

Creating a blog to make money is the worst idea in the world. Monetization should not be your primary motivation to create a blog, at least in the beginning. Focus on the quality and relevance of your content. If they are up to the expectations of your readers, your blog will be popular and you may be able to monetize.

6. Impose yourself as a real expert

Do you have a perfect command of your subject? Say it. Your articles should reflect your passion and knowledge of the blog's specialization. Just show that you know what you’re talking about by delivering relevant and high-standard content.

So, be careful about the authenticity of your information. Internet users are uncompromising and do not respond well in case of failure. But, if you manage to impose yourself as a real expert, it's one more credit for your blog.

7. Work on your natural referencing

To become known to search engines, you have to work on the SEO! To make it simple, it's all the techniques that will make you appear in the search results. There is a huge amount of tutorials that will help you learn more about the subject. It is a constantly evolving science and we must always adapt to the new rules to be sure to score high in the results. Because on a page of search results (Google or others), the first results are the most clicked.

8. Social networks

SHARE, SHARE, SHARE… yes, it's a little aggressive to say like that, but it's the basis of any blog launch. Even later it's going to be useful in promoting your articles if you want to get out of anonymity. To share your creations on the web, the easiest way is to use social networks. You can create a Facebook page devoted to your blog, create a board on Pinterest to share your images or use Buffer to schedule tweets on Twitter highlighting your works!

9. Publish content regularly

When someone writes a blog, nothing is granted! Especially the audience. So when you start blogging you have to publish content regularly. You must post high-standard content with a regular rhythm at the beginning. This is how you will get readers used to your presence on the web. They will come back if you show them that you are present.

10. Enjoy what you do!

You should not have a blog just because it's cool to have a blog. If you have made the choice to open your own blog, it's because you want to write and share your ideas. You should not have any constraints, on the contrary, if you maintain a blog, the most important thing is your pleasure!

This is a guest post by Natalia Shpitula.

But, this is not the only way to ensure customers are loyal. Take a look at all the expensive brands that continually attract returning customers.
They are not doing it because their price is the cheapest!

In order to retain customer loyalty in the digital age, it is important to understand how important Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are.

Understand your report

It is perhaps even more important to understand the information you are getting. If you are unable to do this you won’t be able to generate an acceptable and successful marketing campaign.

You’ll find datastudiotemplates.com.au has a range of templates for sale which can help you to understand the reports you’re receiving.

The power of AI

Artificial Intelligence has the ability to study customer behavior and predict how they will behave in the future.

All you need is the customer data regarding their specific information and the purchases they have made. Or even the inquiries they have generated.

AI can then evaluate this and predict when the customer is likely to contact you next and what they will be after! You can use this information to provide them with what they need before they realize they need it.
This is more than just clever marketing; it will reduce the cost of your marketing budget as it becomes far easier to target your customers.

This is a great time to explore the world of AI. Despite there being controversy over how intelligent these machines should be allowed to become; there is a great deal of interest and research being conducted at the moment. The result is a constant stream of advancements which can make your drive for customer loyalty even easier.

How machine learning can help

Machine learning has similarities with AI but it is classed as a subset.
The attention is not on making a robot think for itself. Instead, this type of machine uses the data you feed it to hypothesize how the future could evolve and find solutions to existing problems.

It works by processing data and observing the current world. This date can be processed into charts which provide a good indication of the future direction of any specific issue.
Of course, the human element will have to be taken into consideration but this approach should provide you with a good idea of what your customers need in the future.

In general, it is cheaper to start developing machine learning techniques than it is to go all out on the AI.
Your choice of technology will depend on how well you currently know your market and the loyalty you currently have. Of course, your budget will also play a small part.

Remember: Building loyalty is difficult and generally a slow process. It’s much easier to destroy it with one false move. Think carefully before you instigate any new marketing strategy.

This is a guest post by James Andrews.