How To Be An Android App Developer

Mobile apps are connecting more and more people around the world. Many of these apps are engaging and innovative and it’s the app developer’s job to enrich and fulfill the needs of modern society.

The apps we find on Play Store today has changed the way we conduct business, communicate, and consume entertainment. This is why becoming an app developer sounds like a really cool job.

Why Android?

Android is the number 1 leader of global smartphone share. Thanks to market growth in countries like Mexico, Turkey and Brazil, the trend is not seen to ebb soon.

Being the leader in market share means that Android needs more developers. Aside from this, Android is open source, making the development environment dynamic and enriching. Google also helps developers like building Google Play service for common app tasks so that developers can focus on developing their core strategy.

Android developers also enjoy high job availability since the demand for Android apps continue to soar. So if you’re interested in becoming an Android developer, there are skills you need to learn.

Check these out.

Java

 

The most basic building block of Android development is Java. To be a successful Android developer you need to be well versed in Java concepts like loops, lists, variables and control structures.

Java is also one of the most popular languages used by developers today. Learning its ins and outs will help you work not only in Android development but in other fields as well.

SQL

In order to organize database in Android, would-be developers also need SQL mastery. SQL language expresses queries to retrieve info from databases. Once you know how to write, there won’t be any question you can’t ask our data.

Android Software Development Kit (SDK) and Android Studio

One of the best reasons to learn Android development is that the necessary tools are easy and free to obtain. SDK and Android Studio are both free to download. They are the official integrated development environment (IDE) for Android app development.

Android Studio is the program used by developers to write code and assemble their apps from other platforms and packages. SDK includes sample code, software libraries, handy coding tools, and much more to help you build, test, and debug Android applications.

Once you’re ready to publish your work, the process for submitting apps to the Play Store is also easy. Just register for a Google Play publisher account and follow the launch checklist, submit through the Google Play Developer Console and wait for your app to appear on the Play Store once it’s approved.

XML

 

XML is used by developers to describe data. XML is needed for tasks like designing user interface (UI) layouts and parsing data feeds from the internet. The good news is that much of what you need for XML can be accomplished through Google Studio; however, it is still best to be knowledgeable on the basics of this language.

Android App Developer in Sydney can develop any type of app for your business. Having them on your team can be a blessing because it gives you time to focus on growing your business.

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Reasons To Choose Magento As Your Ecommerce Platform

Ecommerce is becoming a popular choice for businesses nowadays. They are quickly becoming an alternative and a complement to brick and mortar stores. Businesses are looking for ecommerce solutions because they are scalable, flexible and have a long reach.

If you’re thinking about opening an ecommerce store, you need a platform that can deliver world-class features, mobile friendly themes and 24/7 engagement capabilities with customers. There are many ecommerce platforms out there but nothing beats Magento.

Here are reasons why:

Open Source

OsCommerce, OpenCart, Zen Cart and WordPress are all open source and free ecommerce platforms. However, Magento is regarded as the most search engine friendly of all ecommerce platforms.

Aside from being open source, Magento has rich features such as flexibility to manage content and has an active developer community behind it. Aside from this, the platform has a flexible CMS, is good for marketing and is search engine friendly.

Dedicated to Ecommerce

 

Magento was developed for ecommerce. In fact, Magento is the default CMS for many online businesses.

Magento has all the aspects and functions to make a successful online store. It is the perfect CMS for ecommerce stores, has comprehensive features and designs and offers complete ecommerce solutions.

High Performance

When it comes to loading times, Magento can leave competitors in the dust. We all know that page loading time plays a big role in ecommerce especially in markets with heavy competition. The more quickly a page loads, the less likely customers will bounce. Magento has loading times covered because it is designed to ensure the optimum performance of your website while using minimal server resources.

Scalable & Flexible

Ecommerce websites always need to be on top of emerging trends. They need to evolve quickly and easily in order to survive competition. Thanks to Magento, businesses will find it easier to scale up their website because the platform is open source.

Magento also allows you to integrate easily with third party services like payment gateways, database apps, transportation, shipping and others.

It also has built-in Google tools like Google Analytics, Google Checkout, and Google Base so that you can monitor your business and website performance.

SEO Friendly

SEO still reigns supreme if you want to drive traffic to your website. Magento is an SEO-friendly platform. The platform is SEO friendly out of the box so that using it can help your website rank higher in SERPs which will make it easier for customer to find you.

Responsive Design

 

 

More and more people are using their mobile devices to shop online. Luckily Magento platform supports HTML5 to make online shopping on mobile devices a delight. Aside from this, it has the ability to adjust the image size for better loading time and supports video so you can do demos or go live for your audience.

Magento is highly customizable so you can personalize it however you want. Thanks to the drag and drop feature, customers will have an exceptional mobile shopping experience.

Magento has all the features ecommerce site owners need for an active, sustainable and successful website. Developers love it for its flexibility while sellers love it for the vast functionality and feature it provides out of the box.

Sydney Magento web design company can provide your business with premium ecommerce solutions using the Magento platform. We offer you support so that you can focus on growing your business.

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Secret Techniques To Improve Social Media Engagement

The word “engagement” is often heard in social media but not many brands know how to achieve it. Many brands on social media often pursue activities like gramming, tweeting, liking, following and updating about product, services or content; but this has very little to do with engagement.

Engagement can be hard to do because you have to be engaging in the first place. In many social media platforms “like my page” won’t cut it.

Here are some of the best ways to boost social media engagement for your brand.

Ask

In real life, the best way to get conversation going is by asking “how are you doing?” or something similar. However, this can be too dull for social media. Therefore, one of the best ways to get the ball rolling is to ask “what do you think”.

One of the foundations of engagement on social media is to open a discussion about a certain topic. People like to think about things and one of the best ways to get more ideas is to talk to other thinkers.

Even something as simple as posting a question can spark discussion and boost engagement. Ask relevant, provocative and timely questions to create engaging and thought provoking social media discussions.

Ask For Feedback & Reviews

Many people are happy to talk about the products they like and others that could use improvement. Having customers post reviews of your products can be very helpful especially if your reviews are sparse. Potential customers like to read reviews because it gives them a bird’s eye view of a product or service. If your reviews are good, they will be enticed to purchase.

Reviews are good and so are feedback. Serious ecommerce website owners are always looking for ways to improve their product and feedback from customers is a good way to do so. Asking for feedback is a good way to boost engagement from users because it gives them a venue to share their experience with your product or service.

Share Statistics

Another way to get people’s attention is by sharing an important statistic. While many social media users like to be entertained, there are many who like to be educated as well.

For example, if you’re a sporting goods store that sells helmets, it would be a good idea to post statistics on the number of accidents that can be prevented if people bought helmets.

The best facts are the ones that can be summed up using a short sentence. This is a good way to generate attention and get people talking.

Sponsor A Giveaway

One of the best ways to generate shares and likes is by sponsoring a giveaway on your social media page. Just ask people to like or share a certain product to get a chance to win your product. Always include a high quality image of what you’re giving away to entice followers to share.

For better engagement, consider posting the giveaway across all social media platforms you are using.

Add A Live Video

Going live on social media adds intimacy to your engagement. Many people want to see who they are interacting with. Videos also form a bond between users and brands so they feel connected and special.

People like watching videos compared to reading long posts. You can use video to demonstrate products, discuss a topic or just get in touch with your followers. According to studies conducted by MarketingLand, people spend three times as much time engaging a live video compared to a pre-recorded one. Also, video posts have 135% more organic reach than photos.

Social media is becoming a very useful tool for many marketers. If done correctly, it can generate a domino-effect wave of positivity for businesses that can boost engagement, increase conversion and improve profit.

A Sydney Social Media expert can help promote your brand through social media. Interacting regularly with followers can help drive conversion and profit.

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Must Have Plugins For Every WordPress Site

WordPress is perhaps the most popular CMS in the market today. Almost a third of the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress because it is relatively cheap and user-friendly.

If you’re using WordPress for your website, you need plugins to enhance functionality. If you’re not using these plugins yet, check them out because you might be missing out on the best.

Relevansi

If you don’t want to use the standard WordPress search function, use Relevansi. It is basically a better search engine with functions such as:

• Finding documents using one search term or a number of words.
• Fuzzy matching where users can search partial words if incomplete words no not match.
• If you have the premium edition, you can get suggestions in the “did you mean…” type of way just like in Google.
• Indexed short code content.
• Indexed custom taxonomies and post types.
• Filter hook disable post title and post indexing.
• Advanced filtering option where users can configure search results the way they want to.
• Search throttling to improve searching on large databases.

Contact Form 7

Use Contact Form 7 to develop and contact forms for your WordPress site. It helps you get in touch with your users and has features such as:

• Customization of email and contact forms.
• Supports Ajax-powered submission, Aksimet spam filtering, CAPTCHA and more.

WordFence Security

WordFence has over 41 million downloads, making it one of the most popular security plugins. It is free, open sourced and has features such as:

• Web application scans for malicious traffic that blocks hackers before they can get into your site.
• Threat Defence feed updates its firewall rules to automatically detect the newest threats from hacking your site.
• If a user breaks your security rules you can choose to block or throttle them.
• Automatically blocks hackers from your site in real-time.
• You can limit rate or block threats like bots, scrapers, crawlers while doing security scans.

It can also be used for your security login.

• 2-factor authentication.
• Encourage strong passwords for admin, users and publishers.
• Lock out brute force attacks by including login security to stop WordPress from showing important info.

There are also monitoring features such as:

• See traffic in real-time so you can find out who is using most of your resources.
• Determine which geographic areas threats are coming from with reserve DNS and city-level geo location.

Max Mega Menu

Turn all of your site’s menu into a Max Mega Menu. You can add any WordPress widget to the menu and use a style editor to restyle your menu. Users can also change the behaviour of the menu with built-in settings. The best features of this plugin are:

• Drag and drop builder.
• Display WordPres widgets in the menu.
• Various menu transitions.
• Custom item styling.
• Hover content or menu to open submenus.
• Vertical and accordion menus.

Revive Old Post

This is a very helpful plugin if you’re a blogger on WordPress. Don’t let your old content go to waste. Find old blog post that performed very well and share them again using this plugin. Revive Old Post keeps old content alive to drive more traffic from social media.

Features include:

• Ability to share old and new post.
• Complete control over interval of sharing of post.
• Set the number of post to be shared.
• Include links to your site.
• Comparable Google Analytics.
• WordPress to Twitter.
• Include backlinks to your site.
• Compatible with URL shorteners.

These are just examples of amazing plugins to use for WordPress. WordPress Web Designs in Sydney specializes in WordPress designs. Increase your website visibility with its clear permalink structure so that you can find increase traffic, find leads and boost sales.

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Essentials of Effective Ecommerce Web Design

If you are selling online, it is important to have quality ecommerce solutions so that your customers have a good experience while using your website. Focusing on making ecommerce more engaging and user-friendly can help improve user experience and help improve your sales.

Since many businesses are now shifting from brick and mortar stores to digital ones, you need to be on top of the pack to get ahead of the competition. Here are some important and effective ecommerce design tips to help you get more sales.

Personalization

Knowing your customers’ names is now a very important part of doing business online. Customization is important because it makes customers feel important. Don’t forget to add this feature when they sign up or subscribe to your newsletters or email.

This is a small and easy gesture for you to do but it goes a long way for customers.

Put Best Selling Products On Homepage

Just like brick and mortar stores, you want your best selling product to be front and center. Products can be assembled by season, features, sales discounts and other characteristics. This is important because bestselling products are ranked high by search engines.

Add a list of recommended products too. This personalized list does not only help to boost sales but raises awareness of other products customers could be interested in.

Zoom Option For Pictures

Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. If you were to buy a product on the internet there is now way of really knowing what it looks like. One of the best ways to show details of your products more clearly is to provide a zoom-in option. This will give customers a chance to study a product more thoroughly so that they can make an informed decision and be happy with it.

Just remember that pictures need to be high quality so that it does not get blurred or pixelated once customers zoom in.

Shipping Details

Normally shipping and delivery options are pinned at the top of the page to make them more visible. It is also important to give full details on shipping and shipping rates so that customers fully understand the delivery date of their goods. Varying shipping costs should also be clear so that people from different locations have a clear idea how much shipping costs.

A very good option is to offer free delivery across your site to attract more customers.

Contact Info and Feedback

It is very important that customers know how to reach you. After-sales service can help build trust with customers because they know they can reach you anytime. If something goes wrong with your product they know how to get in touch which in turn fosters a good relationship with your customer.

Getting their feedback is also important and makes them feel valued. Adding a feedback option also lets customers chat with you should they have concerns. If you can’t chat with them adding a simple feedback form is enough. It is important that these forms be monitored so that you can reply accordingly and promptly.

Ratings and Reviews

This is perhaps one of the most important features for ecommerce websites. The recommendation of peers and their ratings on a product is important to other users because it lets them access firsthand information on the experience of other people using the product or service.  A good ecommerce web design is like a community where the owners, the people who run the website and the customers work cooperatively.

Ratings and reviews is like a way of letting customers recommend your product to other customers. Some website owners fear customer reviews because they think that negative comments will damage their reputation. However, if you are confident about your product you can expect majority of customers to like and recommend it. The key is not to be afraid of negative reviews but to learn from it and use it to improve your product.

Ecommerce development solutions are a good way to boost your website. Online business is always evolving so business owners need to be aware of the trends that dominate online selling. Knowing which trends and web development solutions are available and implementing them can make your website more functional. These features can help get more leads and sell more products.

Sydney ecommerce website design can help ensure that your online business is a success. Having responsive web design and a customized ecommerce store can help you get ahead of the competition.

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Reasons Why Your Business Needs SEO

Many businesses know that SEO is important because it helps with their searchability and visibility. But is this the only thing that SEO can offer businesses?

Business owners know the importance of social media presence and influencers, so is SEO still important in today’s internet?

Here are reasons why SEO should be prioritized by ecommerce websites.

Organic Traffic Is Still The Best Source Of Website Traffic

We know that a strong social media presence is important when it comes to ecommerce but organic search is still a big factor when it comes to funnelling buyers and getting them to purchase and complete a conversion or engagement.

As we all know, Google owns a big chunk of the search market compared to other engines like Yahoo and Bing. This is not to say that others do not contribute to brand visibility but Google owns a whopping 75% of the overall search market so business owners and marketers should know that its guidelines are important and should follow them.

Google is now the world’s most visited website and YouTube the world’s second largest search engine. People who use the internet visit Google at least once a day to search for information and being visible and trusted by Google works in your favour.

SEO Build Trust & Credibility

If you are ranked high in search engine results pages, this means you are trusted by the search engine. This is why ranking high is important. Not many people go to the second page of SERPs. Being awarded the top spot or landing on the first page means that you run a trustworthy website with good user experience. Being easily searchable and discoverable builds trust and credibility not only to the search engines but to the users as well.

Local SEO Equals More Traffic & Increased Conversions

Thanks to the rise of mobile traffic, local search has become more important for local businesses. Local SEO is important because it aims to boost your local presence which makes it easier for customers to find you.

Local SEO focuses on specific cities, towns, regions and states to make your brand more visible to potential customers who live near you.

SEO Impacts The Buying Cycle

Many customers research a product before buying. This is advantageous for ecommerce store owners because you can use SEO tactics to promote your product or brand. Businesses can use SEO to relay messages, its importance and dependability and how customers can benefit.

This is just a small way of how SEO can impact the buying cycle. Your product and services should be visible so that a connection to the customer can be made. Local SEO can enhance this visibility so that potential customers can find the answers with your business providing the solutions they need.

SEO is Cheap

The best things cost money, and so does SEO. However, it is relatively cheaper compared to other marketing tactics like Pay-Per-Click (PPC).  The great thing about SEO is that while it is cheap, its payoff is considerable and lasts a really long time.

SEO is not really a marketing cost but a business investment. Good SEO tactics will still be felt by a business in the future. It might take time for SEO benefits to be felt by a company, but the effects are truly lasting.

A Sydney SEO Company has effective SEO strategies that can help you rank high in search engines, making it easier for customers to find you.

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Why You Should Invest In Web Design

We never get tired of the saying that first impression counts. If you were given only a short amount of time to consume content, you would want to see something aesthetically pleasing right? The same is true with online content. According to Adobe, 66% of users want to see something that is beautifully designed instead of something plain and simple.

On this blog, we will discuss why you should invest in web design from Sydney and learn how it impacts your business and audience.

First Impression

Guests that land on your website will judge how your page looks in seconds. In these few seconds you want to make a positive impact on your audience.

Websites that look unappealing will immediately get a negative impression. They might think that you are unprofessional and untrustworthy so they leave your site without taking a deeper look and you miss out on a lead because they will go to your competitor instead.

 A good web design is important because it is how customers perceive your brand.  The impression you make on them will either make them stay or leave. Therefore a good web design helps to keep leads on your page.

Helps SEO Strategy

Web design elements and practices impacts how you publish content on your website which in turn affects how SEO spiders crawl your website.

This is why good design is important. If your on-page SEO is not up to par with search engine guidelines, you will have a hard time with your online visibility.

Aside from publishing content, certain web design elements can impact SEO. For example, your code needs to be SEO friendly. One of the best ways to do this is to partner with a good web design company.

Creates Consistency

When you want to create a brand, you want to create consistency so that customers can identify a certain style with you. This will help build leads which can be translated into sales.

Using the same styles, fonts and layouts across your website helps to build consistency. Different designs and styles will make your site look unprofessional. It also makes brand recognition harder because customers will have a hard time associating the different designs and styles to your brand.

If you’re inconsistent, people will not trust your website because it looks unprofessional. High bounce rates can receive penalties from search engines which affects your rankings. On the other hand, consistent design keeps leads on your website longer which leads to better conversions down the line.

Your Competitors Probably Have Good Web Design

Perhaps the best reason to have good web design is that your competitors are doing it. If you want to remain competitive, you have to use web design to your advantage.

You want to stand out from the competition so an outdated design should be scraped. Low quality websites mean that your competitors outrank you which means you will lose your leads to them.

A good web design is an opportunity for your business to distinguish yourself apart from your competitors. When you are competing with other businesses, it means that you have similar products, services and pricing. A good web design will help you stand out from the rest.

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Reasons To Prioritize Speed, Scalability and Reliability

Many websites live today aren’t performing as they should. With Black Friday coming up, many of these websites will crash or suffer security breaches which can translate to headaches and loss of sales to the owners.

The good news is that many website owners are finally catching on. They are beginning to realize that something has to change so that they can deliver a seamless and problem free experience to their visitors and customers.

In order to provide customers with a fast and secure websites, many owners and developers are switching to self-hosted solutions such as Magento and WooCommerce. They enable ecommerce websites to perform and scale at levels they should.

Speed

Did you know that Google recommends sites to load within 3 seconds?

Using this benchmark, many ecommerce websites aren’t performing as they should. Slow loading speed can impact sales especially in a very competitive market.

As we all know, customers are now relying more on mobile devices not only to browse the web but also to do their shopping. If a customer lands on your website but it does not load fast enough, they could go to your competitor and buy from them instead. This can have a huge impact on your operating cost because customer acquisition costs are rising every year.

Mobile First

In connection to the above example, mobile shopping is taking over retail. According to statistics from eMarketer, over 30% of sales in 2019 will be coming from ecommerce sites and if your website is not optimized for mobile devices, you can lose a lot of money and customers.

The same study shows that 52% of customers said that a bad experience on a website on mobile would result in them less likely to engage with the brand. This means that responsiveness and performance is important in keeping customers happy.

SERPs

Fast loading websites can also affect ranking in search engine results pages. Google has factored in website loading speeds in their SERPs ranking. According to MOZ, websites that load slowly do not get all their pages indexed during the allocated crawl budget time. This results in lower rankings from Google.

Scalability & Flexiblity

Performance isn’t just about speed. Many ecommerce sites are now realizing that scalability should also be an important part in designing a website. they need to find the right platform so their business has room to grow.

Consumer habits and desires are changing. Retail giant Amazon has set the bar high when it comes to online shopping so customers now have the same expectations when it comes to other ecommerce stores.

In order to stay competitive, ecommerce websites also need to be flexible. Website developers and ecommerce owners need to consider creating a customized user experience for their customers. This will help differentiate themselves from other brands.

Take Away

Performance, speed, scalability and flexibility all matter. If you don’t prioritize them, your business will have a hard time surviving in the internet.

A Sydney Ecommerce Website designer can help you better connect with customers. Responsive web design practices can help boost sales while fostering scalability and reliability.

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Top Design Considerations You Need To Think About

Did you know that more people are browsing the internet using their phones compared to their desktops? Yes, it’s official. More people are now using their smartphones compared to other devices for their internet needs. This means that app designers in Sydney are updated about the latest design trends when it comes to apps.

It all starts with the UI or user interface and the UX or user experience. In order for an app to be successful it has to meet the user’s need while providing an easy and enjoyable experience.  This means that designers need to make UI and UX work together.

If you’re thinking about designing an app, here are some considerations you need to think about.

Screen Size

Screen size is always a big consideration when it comes to app design because it needs to be responsive. As stated above, more people are using their smartphones for browsing and aside from this; mobile devices come in different sizes. Think about the latest iPhones that came out. They have a screen size that range in 5.5 to 6,8 inches.

Mobile App Development

Designers need to consider various screen sizes to ensure that design elements remain consistent. This way the design of your app is consistent no matter what device your users are logged in.

Be Finger Friendly

Think about how people type or browse on their cellphones. When it comes to mobile devices, most people use their thumbs to navigate. There are also standard gestures that people use for scrolling, swiping and zooming on pages. When it comes to mobile devices, people expect certain things to work a specific way and designers should always consider these actions.

Another design concept to think about is the home button. People will tap using their fingers so this button needs to be tapped with ease. Similarly, important buttons like delete or submit should be easy to spot or located on a part of the screen where it can’t be accidentally tapped. However, commonly used buttons should be placed in easy access locations.

Keep It Simple

When it comes to mobile devices, screen size is limited to its best to keep design simple. This does not mean to say that you need to stick to minimalist design; it just means that you need to choose which features should be highlighted.

When it comes to mobile devices, users should be able to understand information quickly. This means you need to be short and to the point so that readers know what you mean immediately. They should be able to understand what you’re talking about with minimal scrolling.

Be Consistent

Maintaining consistency across your application will provide users with familiarity and ease of use. Consistency should not only include design but also style, colour, font, font sizes and button styles.

Final Thoughts

Designing UI and UX for mobile devices is not very different from designing in desktops. These elements are only the iceberg of considerations when it comes to designing apps. It is always important to research to ensure that every detail of your app is thought through so that your app won’t fail. Designers should always think about every possible detail to give a good user experience.

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