Top 3 Low-Code App Makers Disrupting the Industry

August 19, 2021

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

It seems like something is disrupting the technology industry every other week with little to no effect. However, the low code platform industry is truly disrupting the technology sector by creating a more level playing field thus distributing technical prowess through no longer requiring it at all. This also leads to an increased need for cyber security companies that will prevent security attacks from happening or at least make the right decisions as quickly as possible.

In short, these low code platforms grant developers of any skill level the ability to create engaging apps without the barriers related to traditional development. GameMaker is one such platform that utilizes drag-and-drop low code solutions to make code game creation that much simpler. Companies who are looking to hire such specialists should take into consideration LinkedIn lead generation services that will help them find the right candidate faster.

In totality, it stands as a comprehensive tool that allows game developers to create games quickly with its built-in tools. Within the app, developers can quickly build levels and add mechanics with a few simple clicks of the mouse.

1. GameMaker

There are plenty of game creation applications out there for every kind of developer. Retro game lovers can make 16-bit games with RPGMaker, Candy Crush lovers can create their own popping puzzle games with in-browser app creation tools. Or, some write their code in HTML, C++, Java, or Python line by line.

Premier tools like Unity and Unreal help developers create premier-grade games with cutting-edge industry tech. But working with their visual programming is quite cumbersome.

GameMaker is no-code like RPGMaker and Buildbox, but is available for free. Additionally, GameMaker can be used to create interactive apps, not just gaming experiences.

2. Google App Maker

Google App Maker is a great platform for those looking to optimize their business applications. Unlike Zoho Maker, a long-time no-code favorite, Google App Maker is a remarkably inexpensive option. If you rely on Google services like Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Cloud Platform, then Google App Maker is a wonderful choice for your business app.

Google App Maker, Microsoft PowerApps, and other apps have made it possible to create AI-enabled enterprise apps without an entire development team. Truly, tech is becoming a more universal endeavor for large organizations to the individual developer and there will be more hybrid cloud solutions soon.

3. Bubble.io

Bubble.io is a fairly new option as a no-code app maker and app hosting service. With just some understanding of logic and some basic database experience, you can dive right into creating web and mobile apps through Bubble.io’s in-browser app creator.

In addition to allowing you to create apps through their low-code platform, they host your application on their servers. They can point traffic to your custom domain as well so it’s a perfect white-label solution for those looking to create a reliable and robust application.

Bubble.io is available for a low monthly fee. Breaking into app development has never been so easy or practical. We’re sure to see more companies adopting low-code platforms and more innovation within the no-code development space.

Developing in this environment also makes it much simpler to collaborate and onboard new developers as the engines come with a standard toolkit. Eliminating the need for several specialists reduces costs and speeds up development without sacrificing quality or complexity. GameMaker is also available for free and can be used to develop interactive experiences of any kind.

Google AppMaker, on the other hand, focuses on the business side of development and relates more to a platform like PowerApps which also focuses on business apps. The primary difference, however, is that Google AppMaker uses the entire library of Google technologies and makes them available to every developer. This platform is essentially no code and uses a complex system of stacked APIs to grant developers as many tools as possible to create the specific app they need without the technical barrier.

Additionally, the Google development platform is predominantly accessible around the world allowing for a true convergence of talent for your product. The power of Google’s technologies coupled with the openness of the platform provides development teams the ability to make great apps without being limited by technological prowess. Most importantly, Google’s platform is low cost and incredibly efficient making it one of the best doubloons for development.

5 Ways to Streamline App Development

July 29, 2021

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

The app market is booming. The building, deploying, and marketing of your app is a great investment — if you have the right tools and if after that, you promote your app on social media. For example, there are companies such as Growthoid.com user ratings that can help you increase the number of your social media followers. Thus, more and more people will find out about your recently launched app.

Streamlining the app development process is about approaching the process with an open mind and a lot of research.

Too many app developers today face structural and organizational challenges that prevent them from creating their best work.

Here are five ways to streamline your app development processes:

1. Use agile principles

Building software can be quite a daunting endeavor. It’s important to have some of Agile’s best guiding principles to help you cut costs and improve your team’s effectiveness.

Additionally, getting the most out of your developers is much simpler with the agile method where constant communication and cooperation guarantees that everyone gets involved. The platform you choose to use will also greatly affect the app’s performance.

Some important agile principles are:

Product-based progress
Simplicity is paramount
The customer always comes first
Improvements are made each cycle (cyclical design vs waterfall or cascading design)

2. Choose a feature-loaded platform

There are several platforms like Ionic and BuildFire that make creating apps a simple process and take out a lot of the menial coding that would simply slow down development.

Larger teams may be more willing to create from scratch but even though it is not recommended due to these services making life so much easier.

Try platforms like:

Ionic
BuildFire
BuildBox
Android Studio
Xcode

3. Leverage UX consultancy

UX consultants are indispensable assets for any app development team as they can accurately assess the experience of the app as a whole. Unfortunately, there are many great ideas hidden behind a gauntlet of bad taste and poor execution.

Avoiding these pitfalls is as simple as consulting with a UX professional who will give you the tips you need to make your app a truly enjoyable experience.

UX consultants can help awesome mobile developers get:

Better screens
Optimized ease of use
Effective test cases

4. Tweak based on user feedback

Even though it may feel like an uncomfortable endeavor you should always be open to feedback and ask for it as much as possible. Feedback Is the only way companies know if they have developed a star or a dud.

That is why it is so integral that you test your product’s vision and design before committing to a final product.

App development teams that are open to tweaking will almost always find success because they will always be seeking improvement.

Update your app continuously instead of holding on to an app shy of perfection:

5. Automate testing

Developers should also use their fair share of automation tools to get the job done in a great time and with incredible precision. Developers can use automated applications that will accurately assess the responsiveness of the app while testing their technical features.

App developers now can test on-demand allowing for a constant cycle of testing and improving that will result in a perfect product and a highly skilled development team, which will help a business thrive.

Developers can also use automation for some app-related technologies like marketing and organizing to make the entire experience less stressful without being less fulfilling.

One of the first things to pinpoint for improving the process is the management style of the app development team. If on small teams of developers the agile method works wonderfully as it helps developers feel connected and heard without the draconian overhead of constant management.

Agile is much more focused on making the product the best that it can be for the client or market without sacrificing developers or losing ideas.

Many app development teams will begin to steamroll ahead without much thought often leaving behind a slew of ideas that may have improved the product immensely. Using the agile method will also allow the product to flourish naturally as its development should respond to certain market changes or client demands.

Applications are built on ideas and services that could genuinely help someone and no amount of tedium should stand in the way of a great idea.

7 Best Platforms for Mobile App Developers and How to Optimize App Development

May 11, 2021

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

But how do you build a mobile app efficiently and effectively these days? In this digital era, every app is completed against not only the market but also the incredible rate of change in healthcare organisations, in institutions and in many types of companies. Mobile app developers have to spend a great deal of time making their apps accessible and enjoyable, they need platforms that help expedite the development process.

Here are the best platforms for mobile app developers looking to cut down on development time and cost:

1. Ionic

Ionic is an HTML5 mobile app development framework. With Ionic, mobile apps are simply web pages converted into an “app shell.” For mobile developers, having multi-platform support is incredibly important. Through frameworks like Ionic and PhoneGap, mobile app developers can release hybrid apps with a native feel.

A mobile app developer can use HTML, CSS, and AngularJS, to create apps that are easily exported to Apple and Android. What’s most compelling: Ionic’s community edition is completely free.

2. Xojo

Xojo is an incredible developer tool that allows those with limited experience to create powerful and complex applications across Mac, Windows, Linux, and Mobile devices. Xojo prides itself on being the best at making the complex easily understood.

It reads much like Visual Basic and uses simple commands to execute a myriad of tasks. The cross-platform object-oriented language allows developers to make their dream application once and then immediately export it to whatever platforms they want. Xojo gives developers the freedom and opportunity to produce whatever they want without the limitations of the market.

3. Buildbox

Buildbox is a drag-and-drop mobile app creator. No coding is required. Just a bit of design sense and some digital literacy, you can start building right out of the box (hence the name).

Apt as the name may be, some mobile app developers may be disappointed that Buildbox is primarily used to create mobile games.

4. Unity

Unity is a powerful game engine with a lot of importable assets and frameworks. Unity does require some coding and a modicum of technical skill to leverage effectively.

For mobile developers looking to create an immersive experience, Unity is one of the best platforms available.

5. ShoutEm

ShoutEm is an app development tool that erases the need for experienced coders or marketing expertise to build your first app.

Their tools allow developers to build apps and market them within the same platform. Their goal is to make app development easier than ever so that more people may realize their dreams of building an app without the technical requirements of coding.

6. Appery.io

Appery.io requires very little coding experience. With appery.io, you can create hybrid mobile apps (apps that are easily exported to Android and Apple devices).

The backend of your app is provided within Appery.io’s infrastructure. Developers and entrepreneurs alike can drag-and-drop components, utilize Appery.io templates, and collaborate in the cloud. Best of all, the platform has a free trial version so you can begin developing on their platform before you make any financial decision.

7. Appcelerator

Appcelerator is a mobile development company that primarily develops a cross-platform development tool called Titanium.

Their goal is to not only provide a great cross-platform development tool but to also offer complex services in the background to help mobile apps stay current and functional. Appcelerator is a great service for those developers who want to find a truly all in one product.

Mobile app developers have more tools tailored to their applications than ever before whether you have experienced coders that can help you build you’re at scratch or with a framework like Ionic or Unity or you’re an entrepreneur with zero programming experience, there are many successful paths your development team can take.

With today’s technology, you can make your dream app a reality. Work on your idea, find a suitable platform, do your market research, and reach out to customers. With these tools and tips, you should be able to create a killer app in no time at all.

6 Ways to Radically Optimize Mobile App Development

Optimizing mobile app development is all about opening communication lines, staying open to the pivot, and prioritizing your team members. A fast and efficient team is always going to bring the best results but only if major considerations are taken into account.

The development principles are a great place to start. Your development team must have an agreed-upon style in which they can develop without hindrance or interruption.

Here are six ways to radically optimize mobile app development for your team:

1. Adopt agile practices

Using the agile method will promote an environment of cooperation amongst the developers and will guarantee that each developer is heard and considered. The agile method concerns itself with the elasticity of a product’s development.

Your mobile app can be optimized instantaneously by implementing a system that iterates upon the product so that it can always stay competitive. Once a firm development plan is in place then you will want to optimize the daily functions of the team.

2. Make meetings quick

The first and most effective thing that your team can do is to make meetings quick and efficient. Meetings, by and large, can slow and hinder a development team by over corporatizing them.

Instead, opt for mandatory meetings and for all other communication use Slack, Trello, or any service that grants instant messaging to your team members.

3. Complete a market analysis

Once work properly begins on a webdesign, then you will want to complete comprehensive market research that includes customer questionnaires and focus groups. App development cannot begin in earnest until everyone knows what they are making and for which audience.

Completing a complex market research plan will give your team a better understanding of the app’s identity and how it should be designed and also on how to grow an ecommerce business. Good market research will make the development process a breeze for you and your developers as they will have a clear picture of where they are going.

4. Concentrate on one platform at a time

Concentrating on one platform at a time can also be very helpful for your team as they won’t have to consider each of the feature changes between the platform versions. There are a few platform options out there for mobile devices and deciding to focus on one platform at a time will dramatically simplify the development process.

This will, in turn, make your mobile app a much more focused product that takes full advantage of a particular platform’s features.

5. Integrate your development process these were ongoing marketing research

However, fully realizing your product entails doing constant market research throughout the development process. Maintaining a presence within your audience will guarantee that your mobile app comes to full fruition without missing anything that your customers want.

Also, consistent market research will help your team with the design and flow of the app which will keep it competitive with the other similar apps on the app stores. Smart mobile app developers know that to keep a product interesting you must find out what interests others. Always designing to improve is a guaranteed way to find success with your app.

6. Trust your team

One of the hardest things that any owner or manager can do is to trust somebody else with a decision that they don’t fully understand. It is in these times of trust and invention that some of the best mobile app ideas have come to pass whether you work in digital marketing agencies, technology companies or any other companies.

Open and considerate teamwork is the tool with which all apps are possible. A team that trusts one another is a team that is bound for incredible success and glory.

However, creating a successful app is always going to depend on how much you trust your team. Your development team is your greatest asset and they should be treated as such by always listening to their ideas and incorporating them into the decision, making the development process more effective.

Ultimately, optimizing your mobile app development boils down to communication, write for us technology and cooperation, the cornerstones of a great business. By keeping the channels open and the ideas flowing you will be able to create the best apps that you are capable of making and then some.

5 Winning Strategies: Amazing App Design

January 8, 2021

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

Designing an app is a far more precarious endeavor than it was some years ago. The design of an app relays its purpose and identifies a marketable target audience. However, you could have the technical and aesthetic design down to a science and still come up with a dud.

Creating a hit every time is unlikely but creating successful apps consistently and also a powerful personal brand for a company’s leaders can be accomplished by following a few strategies.

Study your customer

The first thing that any development company needs to do first is to study the customer. If an ideal target audience is already selected then you and your team should poll them for their reactions to the design. If your audience is unknown you can start identifying them by studying what the market dictates.

You can target the customers who download similar apps to your own or find which apps are drawing the most viewership and design accordingly. Regardless of the individual plan, it is vital that app companies understand their customers and what they want to see out of an app.

Put UX design first

Mobile app developers must start making UX a more important part of the design process. All of the largest companies on the planet invest heavily into the user experience and all that it entails. Customers who feel as though they have been interacted with and engaged are more likely to provide patronage to your app.

UX is often misunderstood as a lesser technical craft that only concerns itself with the aesthetic. UX design is the totality of an application from open to close. Response times, custom deep links, and customer satisfaction are all important facets of the UX designer’s toolbox. An app with great UX design is an app that is created to make an impact on its audience.

Learn from Agile developers

One of the biggest deterrents for software development companies is the management philosophy. Development environments that are too draconian or restrictive are likely to fall victim to any number of ailments that befall broken development teams.

The emphasis on teamwork helps all of the developers to stay focused and engaged while developing the app. No one wants to feel excluded or unheard and the agile method makes sure that not one of your developers goes unheeded.

Ask users to help improve your product

Getting help from your audience while your app is in development will guarantee that your product finds success, even if it’s only with a few. To stay ahead of the game you will want to be as flexible as possible with your app and use email marketing as a way to get in touch with your audience and thus, get their feedback regarding your app.

The design of your app should always be up for review and if a better idea comes along then it is usually worthwhile to institute the change. This means that your team and their ideas should be flexible as well. An app that is designed well on the market has probably been through several iterations before it was released.

Be flexible

Once development is settled under a specified plan then you will want to test the designs on your audience. Ask them to give you honest feedback so that your team may develop an app that is better suited to the market. There is no better person to tell you what needs to change than your customer.

Keeping your team flexible will guarantee that your product won’t ever be outdated or old hat. Most importantly, ask the experts in the field about their apps and their process for developing those apps. You can learn invaluable strategies from developers who have been through the rigamarole many times before.

Rather than hoping your team survives it may be all the better to initiate a new development philosophy. The agile method is one such philosophy that believes in open communication, constant improvement, and iterative app development.

Consult with professional UX designers, UI designers, and any other technical experts you can find to get ideas about how to make your app more appealing and marketable. Oftentimes, app developers simply need an outside voice to tell them where to aim next.

App developers who take full advantage of the resources available will undoubtedly find success. Creating an app with an amazing design is as simple as asking questions and always looking to improve.

7 Web Development Trends CTOs Should Be Aware of in 2021

January 6, 2021

Author: Vitaly Kuprenko

Development trends change pretty fast. For tech specialists, it’s essential to stay informed for sharpening the knowledge, while for decision-makers being up-to-date means withstanding a competition.

To help you grasp the web development trends for 2021, we’ve analyzed the market demands across different industries and the latest web development trends.

Here’s a quick list of what we’ve got:

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Intelligent chatbots
Responsive websites
Optimization for voice search
API-first design
Web push notifications

Progressive Web Apps or PWA

It’s probably one of the most meaningful trends of recent years. It’s aimed to make the experience that users get from browsing a website closer to native mobile applications. Therefore, more user-friendly and intuitive.

In simple words, PWA is a website offering features that usually accessible on mobile natives apps. Push notifications, offline mode, access to a camera are among those features.

A plethora of case studies shows that companies get an increase in revenue, conversion rates, and user engagements after adopting the PWA. The launch of the PWA resulted in two times more daily active users for Starbucks, while Trivago saw an increase of 150% for users who add its PWA to the home screen.

PWA let developers improve aspects that users hate about websites: slow load, no hardware support, poor user experience.

Companies Using the PWA

You can find the following companies among those who are already making use of PWA:

Alaska Airlines
Twitter
Starbucks
Trivago
Uber
Pinterest
Spotify

Tech Aspect

You may want to use one of the following technologies to build a PWA:

Polymer
Angular
React
Vue

One more thing that makes PWA a worthy investment is that they take up to four times less time to develop than native apps for iOS and Android.

Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP

Accelerated Mobile Pages is the technology that Google first presented to the public in 2015. It has been keeping the position of the hotly debated web development trends since then.

In short, the AMP helps to build web pages that load insanely fast and work smoothly across a variety of mobile devices. Accelerated Mobile Pages load for about 2 seconds in comparison to up to 22 seconds for regular ones.

Google pays a lot of attention to the load speed when deciding how to rank them in SERP. It means that the AMP technology is also remarkably useful for building a healthy SEO.

Tech Aspect

To get started with accelerated pages, you should learn more about an open-source HTML framework built for this purpose on the official website. There, you’ll find documentation and everything else you may need to get started.

Intelligent Chat Bots

For those businesses working across multiple time zones and having a presence in different countries and continents, it’s essential to provide customers with timely support.

Human customer services are often costly and don’t provide the necessary 24/7 support, unlike chatbots. That’s why entrepreneurs wonder how to build a chatbot that’d cover their needs making it another web development trend for 2021.

The chatbots powered with machine learning has been a worthy replacement for humans in many customer support tasks. Chatbots can give answers to frequently asked questions, redirect users to the right customer support specialist, and even take an order.

What’s more, a recent study shows that 65% of customers feel comfortable handling an issue without a customer support specialist.

Tech Aspect

There are several open-source solutions that can help you build an intelligent chatbot faster:

Responsive Websites

Responsiveness is no longer a nice-to-have feature. It’s now a must-to-have feature for every website on the Internet. It has been a trend for many years and 2021 isn’t an exception.

Taking into account that an overwhelming number of users prefers mobile devices over desktops and regarding Google’s recent mobile-first indexing policies, there’s no other way to succeed on the Internet except for being responsive.

Optimization for Voice Search

The voice search has an ever-rising potential that businesses simply can’t ignore. The last year’s report shows that more than half of all smartphone users were using the voice search in 2020. This number is going to grow exponentially.

Bearing in mind the current state of voice search and its perspectives, it’s definitely a web development trend for this year. Companies will start losing money without adding voice search to their SEO strategy and providing the IT budget for it.

Tech Aspect

The Web Speech API from Mozilla can help you with this task. The API helps to recognize the voice context, respond to queries, and read text content.

API-First Design

With the rise of digital services and their connectivity with one another, API-first design has become a widespread web dev elopement approach. And it’s still a trend.

With the traditional development approach, teams rather focus on delivering a smoothly working app and pay little attention to an API. APIs are often perceived as side projects and might not be designed and tested properly.

The API-first development, unlike the traditional one, goes simultaneously so that one part of the team doesn’t have to wait until colleagues finish their part of work.

Tech Aspects

Here are some popular tools for developing a high-level API:

Web Push Notifications

Push notifications used to be a privilege of mobile apps for a long time. However, web apps with push notifications gain momentum. Push notifications on websites can be used for informing about a new blog post, telling that a thing you were interested in is back in stock, and many other situations.

Tech Aspects

There are plenty of tools on the market that can help you integrate push notifications:

Wrapping Up

So, we have the following web development trends for 2021:

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Intelligent chatbots
Responsive websites
Optimization for voice search
API-first design
Web push notifications

If you’re building a new product or going to update the old one, it may be a good idea to identify what trends are right for you to start preparations.

Author’s bio

Vitaly Kuprenko is a writer for Cleveroad. It’s a web and mobile app development company with headquarters in Ukraine. He enjoys writing about technology and digital marketing.

Conversational Forms Are Shifting the Design Mindset

August 19, 2020

Author: Romy Toma-Catauta

Conversational user interface is the new and popular digital interface that changes the way users interact with their devices. It enables effective, natural, and customized customer interaction. Plus, it can uncover what users think, create a significant database, improves proficiency and accuracy. Conversational interfaces have taken the web design world by storm and have led to new trends, one of them being the development of conversational forms.

Although traditional web forms are still popular, conversational forms seem to have a bright future. From now on, companies that need web designers will also have to find those specialists that know how to design conversational web forms and build amazing user experience. Staying updated with the latest web design trends and requirements such as mobile app development and using a comprehensive hiring guide are tools that can help companies find the right candidates faster.

Customer support tickets turn into engaging and effective conversations

Directing users to a tutorial, to the knowledge base or asking them to submit support tickets has been replaced with chat interfaces. Users who are inspecting a product or a service may require clarification about certain features or benefits and may need supplemental help through chat. Providing that on the product page saves them from having to navigate elsewhere in order to contact a customer support specialist.

Through customized questions and a general proactive approach, users get quick answers that solve their problems. It creates room for rapid, delightful and helpful customer interactions that improve user experience. Users are not treated anymore like ticket numbers as chat interfaces facilitate conversations between people who need solutions and the people who can help them. Instead of having information spread over multiple pages, users are funneled through conversational forms that provide only the details they need at a particular step.

Deeper personal connections through a customized user experience

Almost anything can be personalized from tone, gender, to the pace of speech. Conversational experiences need to be personal, high-quality, and to empathize with users. Interacting with conversational forms the way users would do with their friends is essential for engagement and retention. As an effect, users start to perceive devices as less than a machine, but more as a friend.

They provide more personalized answers through a conversational form, and at the same time, they receive customized answers that help them solve their problems faster. The below form by Codepunker has a customized submit button in order to look and feel like a natural conversation. Thus, its submit button copy says Where should I begin? instead of displaying a more general and dull message such as Submit.

No need for separate spam prevention measures

When using conversational forms, there is no need to have separate spam prevention measures such as CAPTCHA. Since users are able to take particular actions and be part of conversational interactions, this it’s proof of their humanity, so there is no need for CAPTCHA anymore.

Segment users quickly and provide a better user experience

Conditional sequences enable data collection and turn it into a valuable way to segment users. User segmentation helps UX designers understand the needs and the typical online behaviors of specific groups of people. As a result, web designers understand what best supports users’ needs and create relevant experiences and products for specific user segments to solve their problems. They will be able to provide guidance for users and let them know where they are on the website and what is expected of them.

Aside from conditional sequences, there is also the possibility to include specific calls to action based on users’ answers. Conversational forms guide users through everything they need to help them achieve their goals. Below, you can see an example of a search engine results form based on conditional logic – the output changes depending on what the user selects from several options.

Conversational forms decrease friction between users and screens

As one of the goals of web designers is to decrease the friction between visitors and screens, conversational forms will be the tool that does that. Low friction questions such as “What’s your name?” or “What’s your goal?”, image selector buttons to reduce typing, predictive questions, buttons offering specific answers targeted to the user, conditional logic to customize the questions on later steps, or closed intents are all elements that help decrease friction for users.

Building conversational forms is a huge shift in the way web designers think about and adapt to a new type of interface, which seems to become more and more popular. Perhaps the challenge for web designers will be to adapt to this new major change and start improving their skills when creating these interactive and modern web forms. The future of conversational forms is bright and it will be a time for more meaningful and pleasant interactions using the new technology, but it depends on how web designers decide to shape it.

Author bio:

Romy Toma-Catauta works in the marketing field and is passionate about writing on remote work, business, interior design, and psychology.

Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020

February 25, 2020

Author: Emily Browne

The online journey begins with that first click on the search engine. In fact, a whopping 93% of online activity, whether it involves shopping, researching, or communicating, begins with this online tool that has changed the information technology landscape.

SEO plays an extremely vital role in catching the attention of the 239 million search engine users around the world. By following the correct SEO Guide, it can drive about 15% conversion rate compared to direct mail or print ads, which only generate about 2% conversion.

Effective SEO goes beyond proper keyword placement or optimization for mobile users. With the dynamic search engine algorithms and ever-changing web landscape, SEO specialists must always be on their toes and keep with the latest trends.

The following SEO Guide will walk you through the complex framework of Google and other search engines. By applying these SEO practices, you are well on your way to becoming more competitive on the world wide web.

Snippets Dominate More Search Clicks

Google provides plenty of opportunities for marketers to get the top spot in the search engine result pages (SERP). There are map listings, various ad formats, and Knowledge Graph boxes, among many others. But one tactic that significantly increases the chances that your page will be like a beacon to the users is featured snippets.

Snippets, a search result in Google, features information that quickly answers a user’s questions and always goes to the top of the page. This information is highlighted inside a box, making it easier for users to focus their attention on them. It is an excellent way to prevail on SERPs since it gives quick answers to the user’s queries and drives them to click on your content.

Artificial Intelligence

Recent studies show that 80% of marketers who applied artificial intelligence in their marketing strategies have reported beneficial results in their companies. It is now fast becoming a critical element in the marketing efforts of today’s businesses.

AI significantly contributes to how a company collects appropriate insights that they can use in formulating marketing strategies. It automatically determines the best channels that will allow you to bring your message to your target audience effectively.

Today’s generation of internet users appreciates personalized solutions and automated processes for a more streamlined internet experience. With the use of AI, companies can create content that is tailor-fit for the needs and interests of the users.

Websites Optimize for Voice Search

According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, one-fifth of searches across all devices are voice searches. Surprisingly, users who use voice search comprise not only teenagers but of people from all age groups as well. This is an excellent opportunity to improve the user experience of a vast market.

To effectively use voice technology for SEO, marketers need to consider semantics in all questions. They must bear in mind that a voice search and a typed search are different. So, it would be a smart move to gather as much information on the kinds of queries people ask in relation to the keyword.

Google is Heavily Invested in Using Entities Structured Data

Entities refer to a concept or a thing that is unique, singular, distinguishable, and well-defined. They do not necessarily need to be something physical, but they can also be a date, color, or idea.

Always consider how Google understands all the entities present on your website. Implement structured data that is consistent with how it appears on the search result page and how Google analyzes your content. SEO and the readers will surely benefit from mark-up data and entity-related keywords.

Entity and Knowledge Graph Optimization

It is now possible to enhance a brand’s online visibility by providing users with pertinent information about your business, giving users an equally great experience while searching through Google’s Knowledge Graphs.

It is a tool that collects all facts about places, people, and things and uses them to create interrelated search results. These are then presented not only as links but useful answers as well. It aligns with Google’s goal of organizing the deluge of information while allowing users to access them anytime, anywhere.

We Have Yet to See the Biggest Changes in Visual Image Search

Visual search is slowly emerging as a tool that will soon change the way people obtain information online. There may be no significant changes yet, unlike the progression of voice search, but businesses are geared towards focusing on visual search.

At present, SEO is making use of visual search through image optimization, schema mark-up, and metadata. The last two are essential for SEO in visual search. With minimal text that may be used in the future, these data will be the only sources of information that will make search engines work.

E-A-T Doesn’t Apply to Every Site- But It Still Matters

The acronym E-A-T which stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness, has been a buzzword in the SEO world for quite some time now. Google is now concerned about the integrity of data and how it could affect the welfare of the user. It is not about just churning out just good content anymore. Content needs to be verified as accurate to get to the top spot.

While E-A-T may be vital for medical or financial websites, also known as Your Money Your Life (YMYL) site, it does not apply to all content. Sites about hobbies and lifestyles, such as those that discuss photography or games, do not need an expert’s point of view. It does not need to follow the E-A-T guidelines strictly to rank.

Topics and Semantics Over Keywords

Gone are the days when keywords alone are the driving force of content. For an effective SEO strategy, semantics now play a huge role in making the voice of their website stand out from the millions of keywords in the world wide web. Various interpretations of the words are now being used and are utilized for semantic search optimization, synonym creation, and semantic themes.

On the other hand, a Topic Cluster Strategy focuses on a range of essential topics instead of keywords. The goal is to publish lesser content but with meatier information that is beneficial to the readers.

SERPs will Continue to Evolve

SERP will remain to be a dynamic element of SEO and content marketing strategies for most businesses. It will continue to have a significant impact on campaigns since it significantly influences how users interact with branded content. SERP will become a treasure trove of information even before a user clicks on any link. Google will be adding more features that will provide users information at a glance. It is crucial to formulate SEO strategies that will still allow searchers to visit your site.

Mobile SEO

Statistics show that there are now far more mobile searches than desktop searches, and the gap is continuously widening. Most of your business’ target audience are using their mobile devices to search on the go. Google is now utilizing a mobile-first index so that an effective mobile SEO will give your website a higher search engine ranking.

Conclusion

SEO is an ever-changing online marketing strategy that marketers and specialists need to always watch out for. The start of this year signals new trends that can boost your website to the top of each search. Arming yourself with new SEO strategies will set you up for a higher conversion rate and will set your business apart from the online crowd.

8 Top Must-Use Tools To Boost Your Web Development Workflow

February 24, 2020

Author: Chris Wagner

The web development workflow consists of things from information gathering, planning, content writing, designing with the help of website builder tool, content assembly, coding, testing & review, etc.

Web development is a lot of work and many teams work together to accomplish the act. In such a scenario, there are many tools that can boost its working efficiency.

There are many categories of tools such as:

Javascript Libraries
Frontend frameworks
Web application frameworks
Task runners
Languages/platforms
Databases
CSS preprocessors
Code editors
Markdown editors
Git services
Web servers
API tools
Local development tools
Collaboration tools
Web site speed tools
Website development communities
Website development newsletters

Each of the categories can be further subdivided into sub-categories. In this article, we will discuss API tools and collaboration tools used in web development. It is with the help of these tools that teams can stay in touch with each other and collaborate in a better way even if they are not sharing the same location.

Slack

With this tool, you can create channels so that you can discuss different aspects of the same project. Every single message is indexed which makes it easy to recover it for later reference. It eliminates the need to have a different chat group for every single topic. There is a flexibility to add the third-party tools to it or else develop your own API. It can be used for internal purposes as well as for communities at large. It is possible to set reminders, schedule meetings on this app eliminating the need for different programs. It offers a free plan and the user has the ability to subscribe. Once subscribed, you can search for all messages.

Trello

Trello is a project management tool that can manage up to 10 members. It is a free application and can be used in a variety of ways for managing workflows. Just imagine how difficult it would be for a sole proprietor to call each and every employee and assign him the task and also to keep track of the tasks which are completed. Trello can be used by a person who is in charge of multiple tasks. He can add the employees and prepare separate boards for them to assign them activities. For eg, you can have separate boards for content writers, SEO, web developers, etc. In each board, you can have a set of employees and assign them tasks. Boards in Trello are similar to the departments in an organization. It is possible to access the board to which you belong. But in an organization, many things depend on one another. A content writer might want to refer some article for SEO, in that case, there is a facility to add the member to it so that the concerned person gets a notification about it. You can use different colors for different boards for easy recognition and even labels of different colors are available for ease of use. To assign a task to someone you just to add a card, add labels, tag members if you wish and can move a card by dragging and dropping it once the task is accomplished.

Redash

Redash is an open-source tool built for teams to query, visualize and collaborate. It works with any data source you might need and facilitates to raise a query from anywhere. It can be integrated with MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, ElasticSearch and much more. It can be integrated with Slack so that you don’t need to see your dashboard daily. You can continue to stay on the Slack group and stay updated.

Zapier

If you want a tool that can push data from Facebook to Google spreadsheets then Zapier would be the best option for you. Zapier makes the task easy by integrating more than 2000 apps. It is possible to create automated processes and workflows which can save time and no coding is required, which is a plus point. With Zapier you can easily create Trello card from Google responses. No need to see every response manually and feed the same to your computer. So if you want to avoid redundant development projects, bugs try using Zapier.

Draw.io

It is one of the free sketch tools available which allows you to edit and open a diagram created by anyone if you have permission for doing that. It is a great tool for prototyping, mock-ups and architecture design. Draw.io offers many components for easy insertion into the sketch-like flow charts, Venn diagram, charts, etc

All-In-One Messenger

In the digital age, we often use different apps for different purposes and for different people. It includes 46 applications ranging from WhatsApp, Twitter to Skype and Google mail. As a user, we might not be using all of the 46 apps but I am sure each one of us uses at least 5 to 6 different apps. In such a case, keeping track of all apps, getting notifications and downloading them on a device becomes a tiresome task. Rather than that by downloading this single app, the user can get the benefit of all apps and get notified whenever required.

BitBucket

It is yet another collaboration tool similar to Github. The only difference is that it offers five repositories free. BitBucket can be mainly used to control and manage the code versions. Also, if you are a kind of organization that has multiple departments then you can add this tool in your list. It will easily integrate with third-party tools for code inspection. It easily integrates with the Slack tool and makes it super easy for the user just to push the tasks or notifications. It also integrates with Trello, Jira Software, Confluence, and Bamboo. The amazing feature of this app is the ‘code aware search for BigBucket cloud’. It is especially useful to the teams who have large code bases or many repos. The only point of caution is that if you want to add private code repositories beyond five collaborators then you need to purchase a paid plan.

Postman

Testing the APIs developed by others might not be always possible. So also, the APIs require collaboration between the producer and the consumer. Consumers need it to stay updated on the changes made whereas producers need it as feedback from the consumers. There had to be someone to fill this gap and the Postman tool exactly serves this purpose. This tool is free for the solo developers, but for team collaboration you need a paid plan.

CONCLUSION:

So depending on your need you can decide which tool will suit your organization. Please let us know if you ever need any assistance in setting up these platforms and we can help!

Author’s Bio:

I’m Chris Wagner, Head of Content @ HostingPill. I regularly write about Hosting, Web servers and WordPress. I have more than 9 years Industry experience.

Importance of Web Application Development For Marketers

October 24, 2019

Author: Bilal Imtiaz

Have you ever been worried about a better market sale for your products or services? Do you have a master plan for the business you want, but worry about numerous clientele? Do you feel like your business is not going to reach the top, or you won’t be able to conduct your A-game? Well, my friend, you need not worry now because we are here to provide you with astonishing ideas in regard to good marketing of your business and help you achieve your career goal faster and simpler through good quality internet marketing with the help of Link Fire SEO, which is the most reliable source to assist the marketing agencies in advertising the products to target people and acquire their attention.

INTRODUCTION TO WEB APPLICATIONS:

It cannot be denied that today’s trade and business world has become very advanced, modern and technical where people come up with new and innovative ideas to sell their products and services and build strong clientele and good customer support. The biggest technology that is used today to sell any kind of content or commodity is the internet. Almost every person alive today has access to the internet to acquire knowledge about anything they require to find out. From selling a handbag to constructing a building, everything is advertised on the internet to attract the clients and make vast sales. In all these marketing strategies, web applications subject to good Link Fire SEO package play a vital role.

In case you’re wondering what a web application is, let me get you familiarized with it. A web application is simply a software program which is developed in order to put up the business on the internet, help people get aware of the objective of the business and convince them to buy and utilize the products and services offered to them. Most of the transactions and activities today take place with the help of websites and applications that are made for a specific purpose which is to reach the goal of maintaining good quality marketing for the business and here is where the marketers play a vital role in marketing your products in the market for a strong and positive response of the customers.

Web applications, especially the ones which are set up with the help of Link Fire SEO, not only help you advertise your business products but also makes your work famous among the market competencies where you are recognized as a competitive marketer.

MAINTAINING AN ADVANCED WEB APPLICATION:

Many people do target at developing a web application for a progressive sale, but some of them do not consider or focus on actually maintaining an exceptional, remarkable and consistently evolving webpage or site which will consistently maintain the attention of customers. Hence the marketing agencies give their best shot at identifying the nature of the goods and having them displayed in the world. For this purpose, they usually distribute their world load with Link Fire SEO that provides unique ideas regarding making your webpage visible to all and to bless your site with best ratings in order to attract as many people as possible.

I am pretty sure that you being the owner of a business would want your website to pop up as soon as someone enters info similar to your product range. That’s when the need for a Link Fire SEO comes into play. It not only strengthens your marketing channel but also gives your application the high-rate kick that it needs to compete in the market business. Hence hiring a professional web application development company will ensure that you haven’t missed out on any of these important factors:

Identification of nature: they understand the nature of the product you want to sell and help in maintaining that kind of a web application that would transfer the details to the consumers through a detailed plan
The detailed plan: the plan would be drawn by the marketing agency to familiarize the people with each and every commodity of service being offered to the people to give them a better understanding and a convenient way to analyze your products.
Maintenance of the application and high ranking: the most important thing is to maintain the web application and the ranking of your website. Hence, Link Fire SEO sets up such a database that would shoot the ranking of your web application higher and make it visible to all the people to help your business rise up and meet the level of fame that it needs to sell the products.

CONCLUSION:

Therefore, be the champion of your game and utilize these amazing services of Link Fire SEO for your web application today and get excited for an amazing journey of marketing your hard work to the public. Maintain a large clientele and make huge profits by selling your products and services out there. You do not need to worry about the advertising strategies anymore as Link Fire SEO is here to help you. Just focus on maintaining the quality of your business, and you will never fall short on having a famous, paramount and business of a quality that would fit in perfectly into the advanced trading world today.