A Guide To Combating Abandoned Carts

Abandoned shopping carts are one of the biggest problems for online companies. While a user might have liked your brand and products enough to add a product into a basket, they could be deterred by the user experience, order total, or second thoughts about their wants and needs. As a result, they might click away from your site and never return.

To grow your revenue and turn visitors into customers, read the below guide on how to combat abandoned carts.

Understand The Reasons For An Abandoned Cart

A high abandoned cart rate can be both confusing and frustrating for business owners. There are various reasons why a user might have failed to complete a purchase, which you must identify to secure more customers.

Common reasons for an abandoned cart could include:

  • Unexpected fees (such as shipping costs or taxes)
  • Complex navigation
  • Security concerns
  • Lengthy processes
  • Discovering a better price elsewhere

For this reason, you must aim to prevent worries from occurring, simplify the shopping experience, and avoid hidden extras to secure their custom. If you do plan extra fees for shipping, highlight the costs across your website to ensure a customer will factor in the price when adding items into their basket. If you fail to do so, the order total might not complement their budget, and they will be more likely to remove an item or click away from your site.

Build Trust In Your Brand

If a customer isn’t familiar with your brand and has never placed an order with your business before, they could worry about inputting their personal details and financial information. There are, however, actions you can take to build trust in your company.

Encourage visitors to trust your site by:

  • Investing in a valid SSL certificate
  • Adding trust symbols onto your site (such as PayPal Verified, Verified by Visa, and Verisign Secured)
  • Creating an attractive, easy-to-use website
  • Publishing high-quality thought leadership content
  • Displaying testimonials and customer reviews

Send Cart Abandonment Emails

You will likely capture a visitor’s email when they embark on the checkout process. If they fail to complete a purchase, you could send an autoresponder email to inform them their items are waiting in their cart.

While you shouldn’t inundate a visitor with messages, send one or two emails within 24 hours to encourage them to return to your site and finish an order. You must, however, learn how to create an engaging email marketing campaign that will not end up in their trash folder.

Launch A Remarketing Campaign

Remarketing campaigns can be a powerful tactic for encouraging past visitors to return to a site and complete an order. The advertisements can appear across social media, apps, or the Google Ad network to specifically reach a previous visitor using cookies. It will feature products they have viewed in the past in an attempt to re-engage with them and secure their custom.

Add A Guest Checkout Option

Many online shoppers don’t want to create an account and enter many personal details into a website. To improve the user experience and simplify the buying process, provide visitors with a guest checkout option. Once they have placed an order, a customer might be happy to add their information to place future orders on your website.

Feature Impartial Reviews To Convince Customers

Impartial reviews can remove any doubt about the quality of a product or service. To convince a customer that your product is worthy of their time and money, you should:

  • Incorporate genuine reviews and testimonials on your product pages
  • Feature reviews on your Facebook profile
  • Add a backlink to a review website, such as TripAdvisor or Glassdoor
  • Feature an app such as Notify on your online store to prove others are buying your products

Simplify Your Navigation

Visitors don’t want to enter many forms and click through many pages to make a purchase. As mentioned earlier, complex navigation could lead to potential customers abandoning their carts. Prevent customers from clicking away by reducing the number of clicks to three.

Simplified navigation should look like this:

  1. Pick a product
  2. Add an item into a shopping cart
  3. Hit the checkout button

Reduce the time it takes from a product page to the basket and offer limited forms to fill for a fast buying process and a greater user experience. It could make a big difference to your yearly revenue and profit margin.

Incorporate A Progress Indicator

Increase a visitor’s patience by incorporating a progress indicator into the checkout process. It will show your customers where they are in the checkout and how many steps that they must take to complete an order. It will assure a customer that they won’t have many actions to take until they have bought a product, so they can quickly return to their day.

A progress indicator should have minimal steps to complete, which could prevent a prospective buyer from abandoning their site, such as:

  • Access Checkout
  • Billing
  • Shipping Details
  • Payment
  • Order Confirmation

You also could optimize the checkout experience by using A/B testing of a progress indicator. Remember, what works on one company’s site won’t necessarily work on your own, so test different options to find a sign that matches your web users’ online behavior and the company’s needs.

Use Visuals To Increase Buyer Confidence

Customers might have second thoughts about your products at the checkout, as they can’t hold an item in their hand to review its quality. Visuals can, however, convince them to make a purchase, as they will have a greater understanding of a product and how it could match their needs.

For example, you could add high-resolution product photographs from various angles. You also should add images that show visitors how they can use an item, and that highlights its many benefits.

So, if you want to lower your abandoned cart rate and maximize sales in 2020, you should consider the above advice. It could lead to a more significant customer base, an improved user experience, and a more substantial annual revenue.

4 VPNs That Are Suitable For Your Android Phone

As we go further and further with the internet at the very core of our communication, security becomes an issue. When we surf online, especially with our Android Phones, there’s an entire record of what we do, who we talk to, from where, and for how long. This is called metadata. This metadata is so incredibly valuable that it’s more important, and traded at a higher price, than oil. But leaving a trail of metadata has a downside: we have no control over who buys it, who sees it, or what they do with it. Maybe we don’t want other people to see the private photos we’ve sent. Maybe we want more encryption around personal medical data and inquiries. There’s a whole lot you can do with just a bit of privacy.

Enter the VPN. A Virtual Private Network is a shield against the most egregious of privacy concerns. According to opportunites-digitales.com, when you have a VPN, you essentially have a protective tunnel everywhere you go online. This is a huge concern, especially for Androids. Here are the 4 best VPNs for your Android Phone.

ExpressVPN

There’s so much hype around ExpressVPN for android, and for a good reason. It puts all the complicated settings options into a simple, easy to use, and efficient set of options. It’s this ease of use that has thousands flocking to download this app. It can be used all over the world, with servers covering 94 different countries. It allows for everything your average consumer would want in a VPN, and then some. 

NordVPN

NordVPN has its branding and its message down to a tee. They have a mountain as their primary image, and that’s exactly what using NordVPN is like. They have an extra layer of security, much like a tunnel within a tunnel. They’re also incredibly scalable to larger networks, with a keen focus on merging android with company systems. 

IPVanish

If you’re into the technicalities and nitty gritty of privacy, IPVanish has a bunch of cool features for you. They have split tunneling options as well as obfuscation. On top of that, there’s a “kill switch” that shuts off your internet in case the VPN drops. The problem with most VPNs is that if it drops, and enough metadata points place you in a single spot—like your home, data analysts can know where you are. 

Surfshark 

Surfshark is the best bang for your buck. It’s gained some decent traction in the security world for being the most accessible in terms of customer reach. People with smartphones all over the world can avail. This is also a great idea due to many budget hardware having questionable security to begin with. It’s a great first line of defense that carries the greatest weight for the low-low price. 

Everybody needs a good VPN. In the Information Age, it’s hard to argue against it. What we do, and what we see is akin to where we go on the globe. If we have constant tracking on all of our movements, who is to say that it can’t be used against us? Modern concerns need modern solutions. With android phones, the answer is a solid VPN.

VPN for Android by Namecheap

Android VPN by Namecheap is a safe and fast VPN for your android device. You can easily download VPN for Android by Namecheap from the official website. Basically, it’s just like any other virtual private network that hides both your IP address and location. The app is very simple and easy to use on any of your old or new android smartphones. It has a world map that you can zoom in on, with your location highlighted.

One of the biggest advantages is that Namecheap’s Android VPN works with more than 1,000 servers spread across 50 countries, which guarantees you a high internet connection.

4 Ways To Make Your Small Business More Productive

shallow focus photo of thank you for shopping signage

New small businesses are being created every day by ambitious owners looking to make a difference. As these companies go up against fierce competition, it is essential that small businesses do everything in their power to ensure that they are productive and efficient with every minute they have.

What stands in the way of many small businesses from reaching the top is a lack of productivity. Productivity is essentially how effective a business is using its time to improve itself and spread a message. With these 4 productivity hacks, your small business will be on its way to the top.

1.  Be Collaborative

Being collaborative in the workplace is any business’s first step to success. All members of a small business team need to b eon the same page so that there is a clear vision and end goal. Working in the same space can help, but having effective communication outside the workplace is also key.

Given there are hundreds if not thousands of communication apps available to download and install collaboration with colleagues and stakeholders have never been easier. Setting up the time and space for a team to collaborate together will encourage the spreading of ideas that are what could take a business to the next level.

2.  Spread Your Message

The main goal of any business is to spread a message to customers. You can do things like build your own blog or push new marketing campaigns to get your business seen by the masses. You can have the best product in the world, but it won’t stand a chance of selling in the current marketplace unless you are making it visible.

Understanding how you can sell online and get a message across around the world will open up your doors to new and never before considered markets. Using a powerful message to show customers you have plenty of value to offer them is what will get them hooked on your business.

3.  Establish An Efficient Workflow

Productivity and efficiency are two products that go hand in hand when you look at how a company is going to do. Being productive means using your time effectively, and efficient workflows are how you are able to remove burdens and free up essential time.

Streamlining your online business means that you can sell products without having to do much work and can use your time for more important tasks. Having the luxury of efficiency on your side will make being productive much easier and, by extension, improve revenues and profitability. If you need help check out these top eCommerce website builders.

4.  Have A Reliable Team

The last but often most important element to having a productive small business is to have a team that shares your goals and values. Asking people to invest in your vision asks a lot from people and you need to make sure they are reliable enough to help make your vision a reality.

Start conversations with every employee so you are all on the same page and can reach your goal together. The last thing you want to have to do is drag dead weight around that is not going to help you get to the top.

5.  Be Secure

Keeping in touch with colleagues, selling products online from a website and ensuring security of stored data can be a real pain. Ensure that all hardware is secured with AV software, and lines of communication are sent via secure channels. Be prepared for the worst and it won’t happen, but give a thief or hacker just a small opportunity and they may end up destroying all that you have built or are trying to build.

4 Ways Local Businesses Can Benefit From An SEO Service

If you’ve done any research into promoting your business, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that search engine optimization makes the business world go round.

And unless you spent a decade in digital marketing, you might not have any idea how to use that information and actually improve your small business’ marketing strategy.

The good news is that you don’t have to worry about the technical complexities of SEO. There are hundreds of tools out there that will handle the details for you, and some of them specialize in small or local business marketing. A good SEO service will handle the details so you can focus on running your business and creating web content to attract new customers.

But before we look at how your local business can leverage an SEO service, let’s take a minute to break down search engine optimization and what it does as a marketing tool.

A Brief Introduction To SEO

At its most basic level, search engine optimization is all about keywords. If you run a local hardware store, you might assume that your ideal customer is interested in a few specific topics like DIY projects, home renovations, tools for rent, etc.

SEO tools help you see which of those topics that customers search for online. You might discover that “DIY bathroom remodel” is getting 10,000 searches a month, which means you should probably write a blog post or create a tutorial about that topic.

And the more of this research you do, the more relevant your content becomes. Which means you’ll start showing up higher in Google search results, which means more people will see your company and head to your website or social media pages.

Yes, an SEO strategy takes a lot of work in the beginning. But it helps you streamline the process to make things easier moving forward. If you use SEO correctly, you’ll be able to focus your time and money on the keywords that matter most to your business.

And to help you get started, here are 4 ways your local businesses will benefit from SEO (and why an SEO service can help you reach your goals).

#1. Tap Into Existing Traffic

Okay, so this one is fairly straightforward. But here are a few shocking statistics from SocialMediaToday:

  • 46% of Google searches are people looking up local information
  • 72% of people who search for local businesses visit a store within 5 miles
  • 78% of local mobile searches resulted in an in-store purchase

Large numbers of people in your area are looking for local businesses. Whether you live in Burlington, Iowa or Brooklyn, N.Y., there is web traffic that you are missing right now.

An SEO service won’t guarantee that every one of those Google searches leads to a purchase from your business. But it does mean that you will suddenly have an “inside man,” someone who is finding the trends and helping you market to people in a way that leads to more brand awareness for your company.

#2. Target The Right Customers

The greatest strength of winning SEO campaigns is that it lets you segment your marketing. Instead of creating a bunch of generalized content, you’re able to build content clusters that specifically meet the needs of the different segments of your target audience.

For local businesses, that can make all the difference. People instinctively want to support businesses that align with their values, represent their hometown, or represent something they care about. But if you aren’t using SEO strategies, you won’t know which keywords will get your brand in front of those potential customers.

An SEO service won’t just take care of that for you — the good ones will work with you directly to make sure that your marketing strategy is as fine-tuned as is possible.

#3. Keep Up With Local Competitors

As a local business, it’s easy to think that your biggest competition is the national brands. You know, the ones with the billion-dollar ad campaigns that seem to haunt your dreams.

But the truth is that those brands aren’t using SEO strategies that target your local community. These mega-companies are going after keywords around their niche, which can make it competitive. But if you run a local bookstore, the best competition to focus on is the one against other local bookstores, both in your city and the greater region.

Let’s stick with the bookstore example. Customers already know what to expect from the nearest Barnes & Noble. But what if that customer wants used books, or fiction from local authors, or regional travel guides? They’ll search for “bookstores near [your town here]” and that’s the kind of keyword you want to focus on.

Targeting a keyword like “bookstores near [your town here]” might pull up a Barnes & Noble location, but if you create enough content that focuses on that keyword, soon enough you’ll start to climb higher and higher up the search results.

#4. Optimize Your Online Presence

SEO isn’t just a way to help your content rank for certain keywords — it’s also a way to build authority around your company’s web presence. (That’s actually at the core of search engine optimization, but in terms of local SEO, it’s more of a side benefit than the main focal point.)

A strong content strategy might get some of your blog posts, tutorials, and marketing materials to rank as a local business on Google. But if you use the same SEO principles on your home page, search engines will start to see your site as an authoritative voice in your community and industry.

Additional SEO Resources

As a reminder, there are dozens of high-quality SEO services out there. (Here’s a comprehensive list of SEO service companies.) Some specialize in local business, while others focus on domain authority. The point is, you can find a service to help you in a specific area or improve your overall web presence and keyword targeting.

If you’re new to SEO, you may want some tips on how to write SEO articles. And it might help to read a huge collection of statistics and facts to support the value of local business SEO. Or maybe you want to start somewhere small and try to get some of that “[enter business type] near me” Google traffic.

No matter where your business is or how you approach advertising, local SEO can help you maximize the time and money you invest in marketing. And an SEO service will take care of all the nitty, gritty details so you can focus on running — and growing — your business.


Drew Gula is the copywriter at Soundstripe, a company that produces royalty free epic music and sound effects to help businesses improve their video content.

Three Ways to Make Your Office More Secure

Having a secure office workplace is imperative to protect and ensure the safety of your staff, which is one of your primary responsibilities. This is the reason why you need to exert an extra effort to make your office space secure from those with malicious intentions to impose harm and damage, not only to your staff but even to your property as well. 

Below are some of the simplest but most effective ways to make your office more secure.

Restrict Access to Premises And Equipment

One of the ways to make your office space more secure is by restricting access to your premises. You can do this by keeping everything locked and organized, from your office doors, drawers, and even the computers that you are using. In this way, only those who have the keys, access cards, or passwords will be able to enter the premises or utilize your office facilities and equipment. It is a good idea to keep reminding your staff to keep their passwords private or keep their badges in a safe place so that these won’t fall into the wrong hands.

Make sure that all the equipment that you use in the office are labeled properly with seals, logos, or stickers that make it easy for you to match with your inventory. In line with this, you need to keep a comprehensive list of all the things that your company owns such that you or your staff will be able to verify that everything is in the rightful place each time.

Install CCTV Systems

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems pose various benefits when it comes to security in your office. The indoor monitoring cameras that you install can be a way of catching intruders in your office space, particularly when you acquire systems that boast of numerous features such as high definition video streaming or infrared night vision. It is also a good idea to strategically place your CCTV cameras in the entrances of your office premises to have a good idea of the individuals that seem to survey the area.

Implementing effective security measures is crucial to make your office more secure, and partnering with Securitas Technology can help you achieve comprehensive protection.

Invest in an Alarm System

Apart from CCTV systems, you can also invest in alarm systems that typically work together to provide added security in your office premises. These alarm systems can act as a deterrent, inhibiting those with bad intentions to pursue whatever it is that they are planning. The great thing about alarms is that these are directly connected to the authorities such that they are immediately notified should any criminal activity occur in your workplace. In this case, potential trespassers or thieves will have second thoughts of targeting your office.

To wrap things up, restricting the access to your office premises as well as labeling your company equipment are only some of the simple measures that you can do to keep your office space secure. In addition to this, investing in a CCTV and alarm system will keep crime at bay. All these are geared towards providing your staff with a safe and secure environment to work with.

Why Every Developer Should Know Multiple Programming Languages

Being a developer is a promising professional choice, especially now that there is a surge in demand for capable developers from various industries. Aside from IT companies and tech start-ups, businesses across multiple industries are actively seeking developers to spearhead their various app and web development projects.

Mastering a particular programming language is the key to succeeding in this career, but mastery of one programming language alone is not enough. In today’s market, there are several reasons why developers should know multiple programming languages.

A Shift to Full-Stack

Knowing multiple programming languages means you are most likely capable of handling a wider range of development tasks. Instead of focusing on one type of development (i.e. frontend, backend, etc.), you can be more robust in your career as a developer.

Full-stack developers are in high demand as businesses try to keep their IT department lean and effective. Top names like Vudu Digital Web are hiring full-stack developers to accomplish that too. As a leading digital agency in Belfast, WSI Digital Web can offer unrivalled services, all in-house, to its clients, thanks to its solid team of capable developers.

Developers as Managers

Another big advantage you will gain when you have multiple programming languages mastered is easier access to management roles. When you are pursuing a low- to mid-management roles, mastery of multiple programming languages is a huge plus.

This is because you will most likely oversee other developers with specific roles, which means knowing the basics of the languages they use is a huge plus. Not only will you be able to organise developers better, you can also work better in coming up with out-of-the-box solutions.

More Learning Opportunities

If you think mastering multiple programming languages is easy, think again. There are plenty of courses and online learning programs that will help you pick up new languages in a matter of weeks – or even days. Online courses on programming are also becoming more accessible.

These online courses are not only easy to access, but they also offer certifications. When you are certified in more programming languages, your appeal as a developer  gets a healthy boost, and finding better employment opportunities becomes easier as well.

Better Rewards

Speaking of better employment opportunities, it is also worth noting that developers who know how to code in multiple programming languages are in a better position to earn more than those who specialise in just one language. This is also due to the market shift mentioned earlier.

You don’t have to be good at everything. Two or three additional languages that serve specific purposes are more than enough to enhance your profile as a developer. Don’t be surprised to find more offers – and better ones – when you start mastering new programming languages.

Staying Current

The last reason why developers need to master multiple programming languages is the language itself. We are seeing new programming languages being introduced and even more development frameworks and kits being made available.

Newer programming languages such as Swift are worth mastering because they allow you to code better in a refined language. Proprietary languages are also worth exploring if you are working with specific hardware or systems.

As you can see, there are a lot of reasons why mastering multiple programming languages is highly beneficial to your career as a developer. Find a suitable language to pick up based on the career path you want to pursue and start learning about the programming language today.

Why a Reliable Internet Connection Is a Must During This Pandemic

While we are all wrapping our heads around this “new normal” that we’ve found ourselves in when the pandemic struck, we’re re-assessing what are actually the essential things we need in life. And one thing that keeps being at the top of the list is reliable internet. In the beginning, with the first stay-at-home orders, we saw many internet services crash under the strain but good providers like Spectrum internet outage turned out to be for a small period, and we saw once again how crucial they were to our daily lives. So, what are the things that make a good internet so essential?

Working From Home

A lot of people have switched to working from home to minimize exposure and eliminate using public transportation. For many, this means working online, whether by always being in contact with their colleagues, or full-on accessing their office computer remotely. Whichever the case, a productive day means stable internet and good speed. This is why at the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of people reconsidered their internet and cable plans to make sure that they can stay connected and do their jobs properly. For some, a lousy internet connection actually meant potentially losing their jobs, especially if they are self-employed and had to put their business online.

Online School

For the younger generations, the start of the pandemic meant schools closing and their lives getting turned upside-down. While some countries introduced a system of TV classes, students still had to submit their assignments online, or join online video-calls with teachers. For kids without a stable connection, it could mean missing out on classes or not being able to fully understand the subject, because of constant interruptions. Additionally, since kids won’t be getting as much attention from the teachers, they might have to do a lot of additional research by themselves, which will also require reliable internet.

Stay Connected With Loved Ones

Social distancing has hit everyone hard. We all have to be responsible and keep our distance, but it’s normal to miss your family and friends. And this is where we use the internet most often – chatting, video-calling, and sending pictures of our lunch to friends and family. Especially when families have to be separated – for example, grandparents not being able to see their grandkids for a long time – video calls are life-savers and will help people stay connected and feel less lonely through these times. People who have been in long-distance relationships or live far away from a family already know this feeling all too well, but now this is a reality for nearly everyone.

Stay Informed

With new measures being introduced seemingly every day, it’s important you stay on top of everything that is happening and get the newest information from reliable sources – which can often only be found online. Without good internet, you might miss and important stay-at-home notice and get in trouble for it, or you might miss the instructions on what to do if you actually feel some symptoms. Not to mention, the world hasn’t stopped: things are happening the same way as they were before the pandemic started, and we need to be aware of current events around the world.

In short, stable internet access has been a necessity for years, but the pandemic has brought to light exactly how big of an issue it can be when we do not have access to it.

Growing your Business Beyond the End of Hope

It is easy to forget the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was the first event of the Great Depression that peaked three years later in 1932.  As we hit the 120th day since the Virus shut us down on March 19, 2020, it is time to wonder, are we anywhere close to a turnaround, or are we merely four months into a three-year crisis?

Where we are now.

One month ago, things seemed to be controlled well enough that it had become livable.  Wall Street was discussing a V or U shaped recovery.  Now, in mid-July, talk turns to a W or L shaped recovery; that is, more hard times ahead.

Everyone I talk to is nervous.  The virus counts today are bad. The death counts, which generally lag virus counts by three weeks, are going up. There is nothing on the horizon to suggest these counts will get lower soon.  One Percent of the US Population has become sick and of those people 3.8% have died. At the current rate, by November, six million more Americans will have been sick, and another 200,000 will die of it. That is 1000 times the deaths on 9/11.

What Comes Next?

The Senate is stalled giving aid while Renters and Mortgage holders reach the end of their grace period.  I know of more than one person selling their house this month because they cannot afford the payments.  These trends portend a banking crisis ahead of us that will make 2008 look small.  Earnest Hemingway writes; “How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

Our Next Step.

This is a time to focus, to think clearly about the parts of the business that are working, and to leverage that to cover expenses.  Focus is difficult when self esteem is low.  Self esteem is low because the world is filled with difficulties that are beyond our coping skills.  It becomes easy to loop back on worry and become unable to plan.

Growth despite Obstacles

We need to grow our business.  We need to do it because that is what we do.  The world does not end just because we think the world is ending.  Our customers will continue on, and so should we. The best thing too remember is that all the obstacles we face in business, are being faced by our competitors. Our goal is to stay one step ahead of them.

Gaining focus

Focus is hard right now.  The distractions become an overwhelming fog of confusion. How can you plan business growth when the business conditions cannot be predicted?  But this is the same as the day you started your business, you had no idea what would happen.  The difference between then and now is your self-esteem and drive to succeed.

There is a saying; “To build self esteem, do esteemable things”.  I have found this to be true.  By helping others and by generously contributing, we gain back self respect, and the ability to focus.  In the big picture my finances are a disaster and there is no hope for the future.  But this month, and this week, I am doing fine, and the small amounts of time and money I can give out will mean a great deal to those I can help.

Toward Rebuilding

The foundation of recovery will be built on the small steps we take today to help other people, to help our customers, and to help our vendors.  Mutual help will bind us into a functioning economy.  Focus on this economy comes from being whole and being a contributor.

My Dad’s parents were married October 14, 1934.  It is hard for me to imagine two teenagers meeting, falling in love and getting married during the depths of the hardship years. The grim black and white pictures and the distant commentary do little to capture he meaning from that time.  But then, like now, every day ordinary people ate, and worked and slept.  The world recovered from the Great Depression and became 50 years of Pax Americana and prosperity.  The world will do it again. It is our choice now to become a leading participant.

How To Block Ads On Your iPhone, iPad, Or iPod Touch

Every year, advertising receives more and more influence on society. It forms a public opinion and imposes its ideas on people. We don’t even notice how advertising invades our consciousness and unobtrusively changes it according to the large corporation’s requirements. Nowadays, it’s impossible to go outside and not immediately see a few billboards or signs that urge us to buy something. Things get worse when advertising occupies our smartphones and laptops. We use them to work and relax, but instead, we get tons of pop-ups and banners that overlap the content in the browser.

Ads litter our consciousness and make us waste our money. Moreover, they waste our time. According to recent studies, the average person spends 4 years of life to view ads. 4 years that you can spend on self-development, family, or hobby. Therefore, many people prefer to block ads on computers and smartphones.

If you are a happy owner of Apple devices, then you’re surely annoyed enough because of ads. Over the past year, iOS users are complaining about the abundance of advertising in the operating system. The problem turned out to be so large-scale that the media started talking about it. Steve Streza, who developed the Tumblr app for iOS, wrote about this issue on his blog. A post titled «iOS is Adware» exposed Apple’s consumerism.

To make matters worse, Safari tracks your site activity, uses your search history, and geolocation to find relevant ads for you. Collected data is stored on the servers. If hackers attack these servers, then the history of your purchases, searches, and locations may be in the hands of scammers.

Besides privacy and obsession threats, advertising can also seriously compromise browser performance. You have definitely faced with a problem when the browser starts to freeze due to many advertising banners. Another problem is redirected links that lead to spam and advertising sites instead of showing the content you need.

So how can we deal with browser ads on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch?

If you want to get rid of all the ads on your iPhone or iPad, then you should think about installing an ad blocker application.

Such apps will secure your data, remove ads from Facebook or YouTube videos, and even increase your device’s battery life! In addition, ad blockers can remove ads in apps and block tracking of your purchase history and behavior on websites. For example, the uBlock ad blocker, that is completely free while featuring many useful functions.

However, any application has its drawbacks. Some blockers take money from marketers for adding the specified sites to the «white lists» — they will show ads even despite the turned on blocker. Other blockers scare away users with a complex interface and settings.

If you are looking for an ad blocker that will simultaneously ensure the security of your data, save traffic and battery power, as well as speed up your browser, then you should install AdLock for IOS. This adblocker fights all types of ads: pop-ups, banners, virus links, and spyware. By installing it, you will not only get rid of ads but also protect your device from viruses. Besides, AdLock successfully blocks ads within applications — play your favorite games, chat in messengers, and listen to music without any distractions.

You can also remove ads through the phone settings. Enter the «Settings» on your iPhone, then go to «Safari», and activate the built-in «Block Pop-ups» function. Thus, you will partially block ads in your device. But this method won’t block them all, so installing a blocker will be much more effective.

Remember that by blocking ads, you save valuable time, which can be spent on more useful things. Furthermore, installing an ad blocker will provide useful features to protect your smartphone, so you never have to worry about privacy or viruses again.

5 Big Signs Your Site Desperately Needs A Redesign

Your site is the face of your business; therefore, it’s not good to neglect it. It’s a shame that web design advances so quickly as it can make you unsure whether you need to update your site to fall in line with new developments.

If you’re unsure whether you need to redesign your website, check for these signs. They could be making your business suffer.

It’s A Pain To Upload Content

If you’re not regularly posting content to your website, you should be. Content that provides value to your visitors is essential for your SEO work. Writing and uploading content is also a major drag, most people don’t want to do it, which is why your website needs to make sure it’s incredibly easy for you to do. If not, you will have an excuse to bunk-off your content duties and your website will fall off the search engine results page.

It Takes Ages To Load

47% of visitors leave a website if it takes more than 2 seconds to load. Google also monitors traffic and penalizes websites that people leave quickly, as these sites clearly don’t provide value to visitors. There is a difficult balance between getting the design features you need and cutting down loading speeds to make sites lightning-fast. The best website designers focus on usability as well as visual looks and a lot of this will be back-end (e.g. code compression).

Customers Can’t Navigate Easily

If you can, you should have surveys on your site that ask key questions about the user experience. One of those should be how easy it is for visitors to access relevant information about your site. If a user has a bad experience on your website, they will be much less likely to return. Navigation is also very important for SEO. If your customers can’t use your website due to navigational issues, that’s throwing away money. Get inspired by these amazing web design resources.

Your Competition is Clearly Doing It Better

You should check up on your competition every now and then. This is useful for a variety of reasons — assessing their pricing and marketing strategies so you can inform yours. If your competitors’ websites are clearly better than yours, you have a problem. Trust is everything in business and good web design suggests a successful company that can afford a slick site. This offers some social proof as it implies other people are trusting the company so much that they can spend money on good website design.

Your Site Looks Bad on Mobile

Google are starting to massively prioritize those sites that offer a great user experience regardless of the device that visitors use. It’s not enough not to have a mobile-friendly website, as well as one that works well on a variety of browsers by using adaptive design. This is especially important as over 53% of websites are accessed through mobile or tablet devices. If a user has a bad mobile browsing experience, it’s highly likely that they will go to a competitor instead, as they won’t have time to access the site from their computer.

What Should a Good Sales Enablement Manager be like?

Being a manager of any company is not easy, but when it comes to the sales area, it may seem even more complicated. Why? A sales manager needs to take care of the whole sales process, supervise sales representatives, set goals, or measure the results.

A manager is also responsible for the company’s profit and, of course, the main goal in this area is to increase it. This is a demanding task for any manager and it requires a lot of knowledge and effort.

A good way to deal with these issues is to introduce and use a Sales Enablement strategy within the company.

Sales Enablement – Basic Facts

Sales Enablement is an overall strategy that is used in the sales area, and it is concerned with maximizing profit by taking various actions. The actions are well-planned and interconnected.

Sales Enablement involves a few important steps and guidelines.

They Include:

  • Implementing a more customer-oriented strategy, getting to know customers’ needs
  • Taking care of the content and keeping it high-quality
  • Maintaining the motivation of the sales reps and other workers
  • Keeping the team highly-educated in the field
  • Executing, measuring and assessing the sales processes
  • Keeping all documentation neat and completed

Of course, in order to make Sales Enablement work properly, all of these points need to be fulfilled and remembered. If you’re interested in the methodology of the Sales Enablement, visit this website.

Also, when it comes to Sales Enablement, the MEDDIC methodology is a useful tool to use. The abbreviation stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Plan and Champion. You can read more about it on SalesHood.

The MEDDIC methodology helps to accelerate the process of Sales Enablement.

A Good Sales Enablement Manager

A Sales Enablement manager should be aware of all the facts that were mentioned above in order to build a successful strategy based on this knowledge. The manager should also have some more specific qualities and competencies.

Have A Proactive Attitude

What does it mean in the context of Sales Enablement? A proactive attitude means a willingness to make progress, a high level of problem-solving skills, being open to new solutions and strategies.

Sales is not all about analytics and measuring results. It’s also about direct contact, building brand image, being open to suggestions. A positive attitude towards all these aspects is a must-have for a manager.

Be A Team Player

The manager’s role is not only about establishing rules, delegating tasks, and supervising the team. It also involves cooperation, which is crucial to make the Sales Enablement process smooth and effective. The team needs to establish strong internal relationships, also with the manager, communicate on a daily basis, and become dedicated to the goal.

Be Dedicated And Make People Focus On The Goal

A manager who is not fully dedicated to the project is not a good one and won’t convince anyone to become fully engaged in the work, either.

A vital thing in Sales Enablement management is to focus fully on the goal and to make people work more effectively towards achieving it. We all have a natural tendency to imitate what we see around us – it’s a great asset to use as a manager who wants to maximize employees’ effort in the sales process.

Be A Motivator

Motivation is a key factor in the Sales Enablement strategy. A manager can motivate the team in numerous ways, for example by organizing various workshops, or training sessions.

An excellent idea to keep the motivation high is to take care of the team’s integration. As a manager, you can consider organizing a conference or trip for your team. Arranging some space to relax in the office could also be an opportunity for the team to integrate.

To read about more ideas for team integration, visit this website.

Be Organized

Good organization is inevitable in Sales Enablement, as the whole strategy is based on keeping a record of all documentation.

If any action that a company makes is not documented and stored, there’s no possibility to learn from it or take some advice for the future. If you feel like you’re not organized enough, you can always ask your coworkers for help, or read some tips on how to do it, for example,  here.

Conclusion

Being a manager and performing the function well is not a piece of cake. It is possible, however, to manage the sales team effectively in accordance with the Sales Enablement rules.

Once the strategy is implemented and executed properly, it will only become easier to manage the sales reps and make a profit from this new way of working.

Top 5 Small Online Business Ideas You Can Start Today

The Coronavirus pandemic that swept the world in the Spring of 2020 has had many repercussions, short and long-term. One of the most fundamental has been a seachange in how businesses function, with more and more people relying on hotdesking rather than gathering in some corporate building. Many of these individuals have found working at home inspirational. If one silver cloud will come out of this unprecedented situation, it could be the number of online business ideas germinated. If the lockdown has focused your mind on setting up your own enterprise, here are five inspirational ideas.

Start A Dating Site

Launching a dating site isn’t as daunting a prospect as it might seem. Sure, there are many sites out there already, with some of the larger ones boasting membership bases running into the millions, but the good news is there’s always room in this sprawling market for an innovative newcomer. To put together dating sites like these where people will want to interact with, you need to think carefully about your business model, as well as the technical aspects of your design. But if you can think of a particular niche to cover, and construct an easily-navigatable web platform with due consideration for keyword optimization, you might well be able to grab your little slice of the ever-expanding pie.

Get Into ePublishing

Although people still love the feel of having a physical book in their hands, the advent of Ebooks has meant readers can have much more ready access to their favorite titles. Instead of cramming a bunch of holiday paperbacks into a suitcase, all you need pack is your smart device. There’s a huge demand for electronic books, so if you’re looking to set up an online business you could always consider bookselling. Why not cut out the ‘middle-man’ and choose a topic of your own to write about. There are many opportunities out there, whether you choose to publish other people’s work or dabble in your own creativity.

Become An Affiliate Marketer

Perhaps affiliate marketing is something you’re not too familiar about, but it has been around a while. There are various models, but a common one involves identifying a particular product or service you have good knowledge of, then joining an ‘affiliate program.’ You market the item via your website on behalf of whoever produces the goods. The onus falls on you to do the marketing, but you’ll get a cut of every sale, as most programs are commission-driven. The more you ‘big up’ the products you’re plugging, the greater the potential for a lucrative sales stream. And you’re only selling virtually, so you have no stock replenishment or storage costs to factor into your budget.

Set Up A Virtual Shop

One of the reasons we are continually hearing about the decline of the High Street is because the retail world now offers so many alternatives. The launch of Amazon and eBay in the mid-1990s was symptomatic of a trend towards harnessing customers who love the comfort and convenience of shopping from home. There are numerous sites out there dedicated to niche retailing, from secondhand cars to artwork and much more. If you have something to sell, whether you buy cheap furniture and give it a makeover, or you are a dab hand at craftwork, a well-designed website will help your business thrive.

3D Printing

The initial outlay ranges from three to four-figures but the business model is simple. Buy a 3D printer. Devote some time to targeted advertising on social media, or by word-of-mouth. Receive customer orders. Print the items. Send them to your customers. Process your payments.

How to Take Your Logistics Business To The Next Level

Trends in supply chain management are now coming and going faster than ever before. The essential, but outdated world of SCM has now transformed itself into a very dynamic environment. New and emerging technologies are now being used to try and spur on productivity and vendors are sending representatives out into the field to seek out new customers as well. This is all very good, but at the end of the day, if you want to take your logistics business to that next level, then here are a few of the steps you need to be taking.

Take Out A Loan If You Can

Another way that you can take your logistics business to that next level would be for you to take out a loan. When you do, you will soon find that it is easier than ever for you to rocket the success of your supply chain and that you can also really take advantage of everything that it has to offer.

Of course, logistics is a very fast-moving business, and for this reason it helps to make sure that you are always one step ahead. A business loan is often the best way for you to do this, as it gives you the chance to not only push things to that next level but to also invest in new and emerging technologies.  If you want to take out a loan, then the best type would be a commercial vehicle loan as this will help you to harness the power of owning your own fleet of vehicles while removing logistical nightmares through third-party providers.

Transportation companies seeking legal guidance for vehicle-related incidents consult a Boston Uber accident lawyer to navigate insurance claims and liability issues.

Hire The Right Talent

When you operate a logistics company, you must hire the right talent. On top of this, everyone must know what they are doing and when as well. If everyone on your team knows what their role is in the process then everyone can help to ensure that things go smoothly. This will save everyone time and more importantly save everyone money. The last thing that you need when running a logistics company is to have everyone on the same page, as it only takes one person to make a mistake and it could compromise your entire operation. To ensure you only have the best talent in your team, consider partnering with supply chain recruitment specialists and leave the hassle of finding competent professionals to them. These companies specialize in finding the right candidates for logistics and supply chain roles, helping you to build a strong and efficient team.

Match Your Metrics

Just think about this; what if a modern brick and mortar company just shrugged off the need for a website presence?  This would mean that the company would be stuck in the past and they would not be able to get their fair share of the market. When you look at the logistics industry and the metrics associated with that, you will soon see that everything is very similar. What was important a few years ago might not be as important now; in fact, it might be totally obsolete. At the end of the day, there really is a reason why marketing teams are discussing their Facebook likes when they think about changing their strategy. You need to do the same. Sure, you might not have a Facebook page, but you do have a team of employees who might be able to advise you on the next best step to take overall. 

Focus on Emerging Trends

Supply chain management is defined as being everything from e-Chains to ERP and more. Now, with this new dynamic market, things are going beyond ERP, TMS and even WMS. While a traditional warehouse management system works by automating the warehouse to boost efficiency, supply chain management software helps warehouses and even facilities to work together much more effectively. SCM on the other hand, focuses on optimizing the operation in general. New solutions are always emerging, and this includes combining WMS with TMS, or Transportation Management Systems. This creates an inventory which is visible all across the supply chain and it also allows the rerouting of shipments as well. If you find managing this to be a bit too much on top of everything else there are vendor managed inventory solutions that can alleviate some of this stress.

Think: What is Next?

So, what is next? It would seem that the AMR Research Team, which is based in Boston is reporting that there are in fact some major trends happening in the industry. There are product suites which are being integrated, and the alignment of vendor applications is also allowing for much easier integration overall. Product strategies are now focusing on niches and segments along with optimal decision making also. With these developments, ERP vendors are also promoting an SCM market and this is generating much more user interest. The more you can harness this now, the better your business will be overall moving forward.

Take Note of the Growth Rate

AMR have forecast a 48% growth rate over the next five years for the SCM and SCM supplier market. Market penetration is low right now but as supply chains become much more pervasive, it looks like SCM initiatives could easily rival the huge impact of ERP systems overall.

How to Recover Deleted Photos From An iOS Device (Tutorial)

Well, it happened. One accidental click and the files are lost. While earlier, it would cause a lot of troubles, nowadays, getting back data from any iOS device isn’t an issue. While earlier, there were mostly tools to recover deleted files Android, now, there are tools for iOS devices, too. 

If you want something free but functional, we recommend paying attention to Disk Drill iPhone recovery software. This tool is super easy in use, all the needed functionality is offered at no price (even though you can get a paid version, too). To help you start with it asap and recover all your lost files, we have prepared a short guide on Disk Drill.

How To Start With Disk Drill

Here, in this tutorial for iOS 5-13, we will check how to handle Disk Drill. First of all, we want to assure you that your iOS device is supported. This software runs on all the iOS devices, including the most recent releases.

We suppose that you have already installed Disk Drill on your Mac. If not, do so. Now, after the installation is over, you can move on with data recovery.

Connect your phone to your Mac. Now, start Disk Drill and move with the following procedure to attempt to recover deleted files from an iPhone:

  • Select the option Recover;
  • Wait until your tool scans the device;
  • The tool will show the files that can be recovered;
  • Find the files that you need and click on the Recover option.

Now, the tool will get your files back. It might take some time, depending on the file size and their number.

Specifics Behind iOS Data Recovery

The recovery process on an iOS device differs from a usual recovery process for a Mac. The thing is that Disk Drill uses a special backup file on iTunes where it has all the data backed up.

Recover All Types of Information

With this tool, you can not only recover deleted photos iPhone. The unique feature of it is that it can recover practically any kind of information:

  • Contact list;
  • All the calendar events and schedules;
  • Bookmarks;
  • Your voice memos;
  • Even chats, messages can be restored.

Cases When You Need Disk Drill

While it is relatively easy to recover deleted photos Android, with iOS, you might have certain problems. We have already mentioned that there are not many tools for working with iOS devices. Moreover, the number of functional tools is more limited. That’s why Disk Drill developers have made their best to create a tool that covers all the needs of any iOS user.

Whenever you have had issues with:

  • A failed update;
  • An infinite reboot;
  • A damaged screen;
  • If your device has been damaged with water;
  • If it has been locked, you might experience data loss.

In any of the above-mentioned cases, Disk Drill can be the only tool that can solve the issue.

Things to Consider

Disk Drill supports all the iOS devices versions, including the most recent ones. However, you will not find such normal recovery methods as deep scan or quick scan. You have one option to choose only.

Why so? It happens because, with iOS devices, the tool uses an algorithm that differs from other recovery cases. Instead of looking for the files on the device storage surface, the tool scans iTunes backups. Also be ready to the fact that in the list provided by Disk Drill, the file names will look different than you used to see them. If you doubt which file to recover, it is recommended to opt for Recover All function.

4 Internet Hacks to Make Your Life Better

We can’t think of a day without the internet because so many of our daily activities depend on it. Either we need to hail an Uber at 6 in the morning, or we need to look up a word in the dictionary, the internet is needed for everything we do. If you run a business, then you need the internet to exercise marketing strategies. And if you’re a student then you need it to access online books, published journals and articles; in short, to write your papers.

Sometimes you need the internet to watch a movie on a Saturday night after going through a tough week at the office or school. The internet is your friend in tough times; it is your business partner; it is your medium of entertainment. Having said that, wouldn’t it be a lot easier if you knew some short-cuts, some easy tricks you could use to access the internet? The amount of time you spend on finding something could be done in a few moments, like searching for a song or movie on Google. This brings us to our first internet hack.

Type incomplete sentences/lyrics/movie quotes in Google    

This happens a lot, you forgot the lyrics to the song you really wanted to sing, or you forgot how to spelling a word you wanted to use in your report. How about the time you couldn’t remember the name of the movie so you typed in the chunks of the story you remembered, and Google search completed the search for you. In all these instances, Google saved your back. You didn’t have to go around asking people, you just opened Google and typed in your problem.

Soft-Blocking on Twitter

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Got tired of some snotty people on Twitter, but we didn’t want to offend by blocking them? What exactly is a solution to this?

Here’s what you can do: Push the “mute” button on your Twitter account. This way you won’t see any tweets from the targeted account but you’re still following it.

Use Incognito Windows

There’s a huge risk in random web surfing on your office computer, or a shared laptop, because anyone can see the sites you’ve visited and also get your personal information. All major browsers offer incognito mode that you can easily access on your computer. This private browsing mode will help you keep your searched history secure from nosey-fellows.

Let’s disable distractions     

We are aware of how hard staying away from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat is while you’re at work. There is always this nagging feeling that you have sneak a peek at whatever is going on in the internet world. These distractions play a big role in slowing work productivity. What can we do to avoid this? There is software available called “Cold Turkey” and “SelfControl” that helps keep us off unwanted websites.

If you’re a Spectrum Internet subscriber and a regular internet user, you will know the ease that these hacks are capable of bringing to your life. If you’re not one – maybe connect with local cable deals to find out why you totally should.

Expert Tips for Streamlining the Process of Your eCommerce Business

The business world is open for everyone and it has numerous opportunities for aspirant business owners and entrepreneurs. Currently, the most promising businesses are e-commerce companies because of how they changed the playing field for a lot of other types of businesses. You can’t deny that e-commerce is extremely successful, and it can be fruitful for everyone involved. But that success isn’t done overnight, and you need to understand the basic process thoroughly to ensure that your business is operating smoothly with minimal errors and mistakes. 

Read on to learn more about how to streamline the process of your e-commerce business with these helpful tips.  

Focus on Customer Care

You will need to focus on customer care if you want to streamline your e-commerce business. You can’t afford to have unsatisfied clients and complaints unattended. The importance of customer service is paramount because it affects your business positively when you have a solid team of customer care specialists. You need to realize that each employee has to treat your clients with respect and decency. Each customer care representative should be highly trained in dealing with complaints easily and effectively solving problems until the customer is satisfied. Good customer care can increase your success rates and competitiveness amongst your rivals. If your clients feel appreciated, heard, and well taken care of, then they will always come back and use your services.

Follow Your Analytics

Any e-commerce business should follow their analytics to make sure that they’re on the right track. You need to strive for having great results every day and this is why checking your progress can help you achieve excellence. Analytical reports have data and numbers that will show you the progress of your business each day, letting you know which days are good and which days were slow. If you have the information about the good days, then you will continue to focus on repeating those tactics and processes to get more positive results. You can also learn from your bad days because you will thoroughly understand what went wrong and why you didn’t generate enough traffic or sales, to avoid the same mistakes in the future. 

Utilize Effective Software

You must start utilizing effective software to ensure high levels of success. You can’t deny that technology can make every step easier in the e-commerce world. Your progress and sales will increase depending on the type of software you use. You should browse softwares and understand the categories available that will help streamline your business. You need to check reviews and research what your competitors are using to gain more traffic and sales. Software tools can help your clients shop easier, minimize any errors or mistakes, automate every process in your business, and help you manage it conveniently. Having proper software tools can be cost-effective because it saves you time, effort, and money.

Compatibility with Mobile Devices

Your platform must be compatible with mobile devices. Approximately 62% of online shoppers use their smartphones to purchase products or use services. This means that more than half of the traffic comes from mobile users. This is because it’s easier, convenient, and it can be done anywhere. You can’t afford to have a platform that doesn’t work on smart devices because that would be a huge mistake. It would mean that you’ll be losing 62% of potential paying customers and that is a lot of traffic, exposure, and sales that you may miss out on. Make sure that your platforms are compatible with mobile devices and your sales will skyrocket and your e-commerce brand will get stronger over time.

Check Your Server

It’s important to check your server constantly to make sure that your platform is working properly. Customers hate it when a website is slow to load, and this is why you need a server that is optimal and strong enough to withstand the traffic. Every business should think about getting a proper web hosting service if their platforms aren’t smooth for customers. A professional web host can have the capabilities you need to keep your platform running perfectly for all of your visitors. It will be fast, secured, and safe because that is what every customer wants when they’re shopping online. Do a little research and find the right hosting service that is affordable and will suit your business needs.

Data Integration Is Key

You should start implementing a data integration plan to ensure that all of your data is easily accessible. It is important because it can help you minimize any errors and mistakes that could ruin the whole process. This will allow you to minimize redundant or repeated data because you would be using an advanced system for your documents that have adhesive labels and professional business forms. Your record-keeping processes will be flawless this way because you are speeding it and eliminating any errors when it comes to data-entry. This is great for you to review your shipping dates, labels, invoices, and packing lists to ensure that everything is correct. You can expect great results with data integration and streamlining your business will not be such a hassle anymore.

Work on Peer-to-Peer Order Fulfillment

Not a lot of e-commerce businesses understand the importance of peer-to-peer order fulfillment. You are bound to increase sales, minimize time-consuming constraints, and improve customer satisfaction. One of the biggest drawbacks that an e-commerce business would have is a shipping system that takes too long, too hectic, and not effective. Also, you want to make sure that the process of storing your inventory and shipping is easy and hassle-free. You need to set up a proper plan that doesn’t have your customers waiting for their shipments. You need them to be happy and become loyal clients that love buying from your platform. This is achievable with an order fulfillment plan that decreases travel time, shortens the shipping distance, and lowers the costs for you and your customers.

Outsource Your Marketing Needs

It would be wise to outsource your marketing needs for your e-commerce business. Outsourcing has several benefits that can help increase the efficiency of your brand. You would have the advice from marketing specialists that understand how people think and how to attract more leads. This would give you a chance to focus more on your core/main activities related to your e-commerce business. You would save a lot of money because you’d be cutting costs on maintaining the infrastructure for marketing. Having a service provider to do the hard work for you can be quite cheaper and your business would get a strong competitive edge to get ahead in the market. Overall, you can increase productivity and increase your ROI levels with marketing specialists that implement effective strategies for you.

Improve Your Checkout System

You will need to improve your checkout system to make sure that you’re upfront and honest with your customers. Many people tend to go through a couple of products, add them to their cart, and then cancel it. You need to minimize cart abandonment rates by understanding why customers give up at the end. The reasons vary and it could be from high shipping cost, extra fees, or a complicated and long checkout process. Try to make it easier for your customers to have them come back for more purchases. You must have fewer pages for them to go through and keep the checkout process simple and quick for better results. You should implement a progress indicator to give your customers the reassurance they need that the process is moving forward correctly. If it’s a simplified and hassle-free checkout, your clients won’t abandon their carts.

Work on Your Layout and Web Design

It can be quite common for business owners to forget about the web design and layout of their e-commerce platform. You should realize that customers usually don’t like websites that look complicated to use or browse. You need to be sure that you’ve designed your homepage to be welcoming and appealing. You need a search bar, several category options, drop-down menus for each subcategory, and the colors of all the pages should be easy on the eyes. Try to avoid flashy colors that would give someone a headache if they stare at it for too long. Also, stick to the primary colors for clickable buttons. These could be red, green, or yellow because they stand out, especially if you use them for the call to action buttons.

Review and Update Your Content

Your platform’s content is important, and it needs constant updating and reviewing to make sure that customers and potential clients are interested. Continuously managing your content is smart because it can help generate more positive traffic to your e-commerce platform. You need to have pages that can educate your potential customers and existing ones about the products you’re providing. It could be in the form of infographics, articles, images, videos, or even blog posts. Your useful information can convince visitors to become paying customers. Make sure you keep updating your content. With enough relevant content, your platform can transform into a central hub for all your visitors to get useful and interesting information. This will lead to more genuine traffic and sales over time.

Add More Payment Options

You should add more payment options to your platform, especially if you’re trying to cater to customers globally. One of the common mistakes that e-commerce websites have is that they only provide two or three methods of payment when a customer tries to purchase a product. It’s crucial for the sake of your platform’s success that you add more options for your customers. People are different when it comes to payment and they all have specific ways that they feel comfortable with when it comes to paying for their products. If you want to increase your sales, profits, and positive exposure, then you should add most, if not all, payment methods available for better results. You can decrease cart abandonment rates this way too.

Get Involved with Social Media

As a business owner, social media should be an important part of your business model because you already have the vision of your e-commerce business in your head. Social media can be an extremely effective method of gaining more leads. This part is the only task that you cannot afford to delegate or outsource only. It’s okay if you already have an outsourced team of specialists to handle it. But you should get involved with social media too for the best results. You would get to know your customers more, communicate with them, understand their needs and personality, and then implement that to your other strategies to get more sales. Also, when the entrepreneur or business owner gets involved with customers, you gain more trust and that can help your brand significantly.

Continue to Evolve and Adapt

You should continue to evolve and adapt to the business world because times change. This means that trends will die out and another exciting trend will take over. You can order die cut stickers made for your brand to leave a lasting impact on customers’ minds. Customers will change their perspectives, or their preferences and you need to be prepared to meet their new needs. Your business might be successful today, but it can’t continue to gain more leads and sales if you continue to do the same strategies constantly. The market will always change because it’s in its nature to be variable. You need to be flexible and ready when that happens to ensure that your e-commerce business is still relevant and still has a place in the market. You should never stop your market research processes at all.

Undoubtedly, e-commerce businesses are booming beyond anyone’s expectations. It has become a global trend and phenomenon in business. Almost the entire population are agreeing to it and they enjoy the aspects of e-commerce. The appeal of the convenience and ease of access for users online when it comes to shopping is making e-commerce succeed tremendously. If this is your line business or you wish to enter the lucrative e-commerce world, then you should make sure that you follow all the necessary steps that will make the process easier, effective, and error-free. With the right mindset and strategy, your business will thrive and skyrocket significantly.