Marketing
7 Important Rules for Browsing the Internet Safely
Browsing the internet feels like second nature to most people nowadays. Often, we are lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that hacks only happen to other people, or the way that you browse the internet means you are safe; many people aren’t even aware that hackers and cyber criminals are so prevalent on the internet. Any IT Support Company will be able to tell you about the risks of browsing the internet – for instance, TechQuarters, a London-based company, gave us their list of top 10 rules for safe internet usage. These may seem like basic rules, but they are worth being reminded of, and some people don’t bother following these rules at all.
Limit Personal Information
Since the spread of social media, people have gotten more and more comfortable with sharing personal information online. However, you should be very careful what sort of information you share over the internet – social media sites like Facebook encourage you to list your home town, where you live currently, where you went to school or university, and it even lets you tag your location on individual posts. Theoretically, people could find out where you are in real time, and go and find you. Of course, this does not happen often, but it is a good example of the risks of sharing personal information online. It is best practice to keep your information as private as possible online.
Keep Privacy Settings On
Privacy settings are very common on all forms of technology, but people rarely take them seriously, or see them as a nuisance and therefore don’t bother with them. Most mobile phones and computers have privacy settings built into them. Additionally, web browsers also have privacy options available. Social media sites like Facebook also have their own privacy settings. TechQuarters, as an IT managed services London company, recommend enabling privacy settings on all platforms setup – although often companies want to be able to access your data, so they make these privacy settings hard to find on their platform. Unfortunately, personal information is highly valuable for marketing, but its also valuable for cyber criminals – so one should always take the effort to find and turn on privacy settings.
Practice Safe Browsing
Safe browsing is a fairly simple practice. Essentially, it just means don’t visit dangerous websites online; and it is fairly easy to identify a dangerous website or link, once you know what to look for. Cyber criminals know that people are unconsciously attracted to eye-catching content – this could be brightly coloured ads or interesting looking images; it could be links that use sensational language to pique your interest. Generally speaking, if you don’t recognise the content, but it looks like it is designed to attract your attention, it is probably suspicious or malicious in nature. Try not to click on any link, ad, or any other content that you don’t recognise.
Only Use Secure Internet Networks
There is an abundance of unsecured networks out there. Most people do not hesitate to connect to a shop or restaurant’s Wi-Fi – they are just interested in getting free internet. But these types of public, unsecured networks can be dangerous. If you can connect to it without a password, so can a hacker; and hackers are capable of stealing your data while it is in-transit – this means while the data is being sent from one place to another, such as from your phone, over a public network, and onto your friends phone. If you’re unsure, err on the side of caution, and wait until you can connect to a safe network.
Another good options is to use a virtual private network (VPN) – this technology helps add a layer of protection while you are connected to public Wi-Fi.
Be careful with downloads
One of the main goals of cyber criminals is to get you to download something. Once you have downloaded a virus, or malware, the cyber criminal will have full access to your data. There are many ways in which criminals get people to download malware – they can disguise it as an app, a picture, or a document; virtually any form of downloadable content can be made to hide viruses or malicious code.
The only time you should download content is if you are downloading it from a legitimate website. Always check a website before you download something from it. Hackers may also pretend to be personal contacts, and ask you to download something – always verify with a personal contact whether it is really them asking you to download something.
Use strong passwords
Using strong passwords for your accounts should be a given, many Outsourced IT Support London Providers make sure their clients all have top encryption on their devices. Yet it is quite surprising how many people still use very simple passwords, like “12345678”, or “continue”. Hackers are very good at guessing passwords, because users are generally very predictable with the types of passwords they choose – their favourite TV show or sports team, or their hometown (this is another reason why it is important to limit personal info; the more a hacker knows about you, the more accurately they can guess your passwords).
Sometimes, cyber criminals don’t even need to know about you to guess your passwords – instead, they use brute-force attacks; this is a type of attack where they use software to guess thousands of password combinations a minute. With this approach, passwords can be cracked in under a second in some scenarios.
It is important, then, to be use strong passwords with high entropy. Password entropy refers to the time it would take a machine to guess a combination. The higher the entropy is, the harder it will be to crack the password.
Don’t Re-use Passwords
Some people feel like they can’t remember multiple passwords, so they reuse them for multiple accounts. If a hacker finds out that password, you will have given them access to all of your accounts. Always use unique passwords for each account. It is true that remembering lots of strong passwords is difficult – many people choose to use a password manager, which remember their passwords for them, and can even fill the passwords into webpages.
Marketing
Top 5 Best Magento SEO Plugins & Extensions

In the competitive world of e-commerce, having a well-optimized website is crucial to ensure that potential customers can find your online store. Magento, a popular e-commerce platform, offers a robust foundation for your digital storefront. However, to truly maximize your reach and visibility on the web, you’ll need the assistance of SEO plugins.
In this post, we will explore the reasons why an SEO plugin is essential for your Magento store and present a list of the top 5 best Magento SEO plugins.
Why You Need an SEO Plugin for Your Magento Store
- Improved Visibility: SEO plugins help improve your website’s search engine ranking. When potential customers search for products or services related to your store, a well-optimized website will appear higher in search results, increasing the likelihood of attracting visitors and converting them into customers.
- Enhanced User Experience: SEO plugins often come with features that enhance the overall user experience of your website. This can include faster page loading times, responsive design, and mobile optimization – all factors that search engines consider when ranking websites.
- Keyword Optimization: SEO plugins provide tools for keyword research and optimization. This is essential for targeting the right keywords and phrases that potential customers are likely to use when searching for products or services that your store offers.
- Technical SEO Enhancements: Magento SEO plugins can help you with technical SEO aspects, such as optimizing meta tags, URLs, header tags, and sitemaps. These technical improvements ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index your website.
- Analytics and Insights: Most SEO plugins offer valuable insights and analytics about your website’s performance. This data allows you to track the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions for improvement.
Top 5 Magento SEO Extensions/Plugins
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Yoast SEO for Magento 2
Yoast SEO for Magento 2 is a well-known and user-friendly SEO plugin that streamlines the process of optimizing your online store for search engines. It offers a range of tools and guidance for effective SEO.
Top Features:
- Content Optimization: Provides real-time analysis and suggestions to improve product descriptions, category pages, and blog posts.
- Meta Tags and Breadcrumbs: Allows customization of meta tags (title, description) and supports breadcrumbs for better navigation.
- Social Integration: Helps optimize social media sharing by enabling customization of social metadata and images.
2. MageWorx SEO Suite Ultimate
MageWorx SEO Suite Ultimate is a comprehensive SEO extension designed for Magento, offering advanced features to enhance your website’s visibility in search engine results.
Top Features:
- Rich Snippets: Supports the implementation of rich snippets and structured data to enhance search results with additional information like star ratings, pricing, and availability.
- SEO Templates: Create and manage SEO templates for products and categories to save time when optimizing a large catalog.
- Canonical Tags and SEO Redirects: Easily manage canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues and set up SEO-friendly redirects.
3. SEO Hub by Commerce Pundit
SEO Hub by Commerce Pundit is a Magento-specific SEO extension that focuses on improving on-page SEO elements such as meta tags, URLs, and schema markup, helping your store rank higher in search results.
Top Features:
- Meta Tags and Descriptions: Allows customization of meta tags (title, description) and descriptions for products and categories.
- URL Optimization: Helps in creating SEO-friendly URLs for products and pages, contributing to better search engine rankings.
- Schema Markup: Enables the implementation of schema markup for products, potentially leading to rich snippets in search results.
4. Mageworx SEO Extended
Mageworx SEO Extended offers a range of on-page and technical SEO enhancements for Magento 2 stores. It focuses on elements like sitemaps, hreflang tags, and advanced meta tags.
Top Features:
- HTML and XML Sitemaps: Generate HTML and XML sitemaps for better search engine crawling and indexing.
- Hreflang Tags: Implement hreflang tags correctly for multilingual websites to target different language audiences.
- Advanced Meta Tags: Customize meta tags, titles, and descriptions for products and categories to enhance visibility in search results.
5. Amasty SEO Toolkit
Amasty SEO Toolkit is a comprehensive SEO extension for Magento 2, providing features to create SEO-friendly URLs, optimize meta tags, and implement structured data for better search engine performance.
Top Features:
- SEO-Friendly URLs: Customize product and category URLs for improved search engine visibility.
- Meta Tags and Structured Data: Create unique meta tags, titles, and descriptions for each product or category and implement structured data to enhance search results.
- SEO Checklist: Offers a handy SEO checklist to systematically optimize your Magento store and track your progress.
Investing in an SEO plugin for your Magento store is an essential step in improving your online visibility and attracting potential customers. The top 5 Magento SEO plugins listed above offer a range of features to help you optimize your website for search engines, enhance the user experience, and drive more organic traffic.
By implementing one of these plugins, you can take a significant step toward growing your e-commerce business and staying competitive in the digital marketplace.
Business
6 Top Reasons To Invest In Coupon Marketing in 2020
Coupon marketing is one of the best techniques, not only to increase sales but also to build your brand image. Through coupons, you can also gather a considerable amount of data from customers. It’s not important whether your business is large in size or small, coupon marketing is an excellent way for every business type. It will definitely help you to attract many customers and gain their loyalty. The approach you use to run a coupon drive must be constant with the manner your marketing department works.
How To Start A Coupon Campaign?
After deciding a reliable coupon service, you will have to plan a proper tactic. At the start, you should offer fewer voucher codes and target a few people. Gradually spread your campaign and approach a more extensive portion and area. Make sure that you track the performance of the coupons and collect the essential data from consumers receiving the vouchers. Patience is necessary for such stages. And you should be aware that such strategies do take time to show a positive and productive result.
There are many other reasons why you should invest in coupon marketing in 2020. Therefore we have created a list below:
1. Accessible To Move Less Popular Items (Buy One Get One Free)
There may be many products which would not be as popular as the others. Selling off such products is not an easy task. With the help of coupon marketing, you can quickly get away with less popular items by giving a buy one get one free opportunity. Consumers will buy a popular item, and you can give out the less popular item for free. In this way, you will get away with extra stock in hand. Without wasting or discarding an item, you can get away with it. This will not only empty your inventory but also will help to advertise your brand
2. Reactivate Old Customers
Many consumers purchase a product once from you and need a push to make a new purchase. In order to reactivate those old customers, it’s better to offer them a coupon. A coupon would help them give a small push and activate their purchasing power again. They will automatically be attracted to your store. That coupon can also help to maintain a customer for a longer run.
3. Attract New Consumers
There may be many consumers who have never heard of your brand. Once they see a coupon, they will always want to save their money and get products at lower prices. Coupons would help to attract new customers, thus causing more significant sales and customer loyalty. Every person wants to save money; therefore, that coupon or discount would also include the consumer to switch to your brand instead of the alternate they were willing to purchase.
4. Get Rid Of Older Products
Many products that have a closer expiry date are hard to sell-off. In the end, the business has to discard them. By giving out coupons on such products, people will buy the products easily. In this way, the company will get safe from facing any consequences. Instead of facing a loss, the business would sell the products at a breakeven price.
5. Inexpensive Advertisement
Coupon marketing is one of the most powerful marketing and advertising tool for businesses. When you distribute a coupon, all essential details will be mentioned in it. In this way, everyone would get to know a lot about your brand, including website, contact number, and address. Instead of wasting money on expensive mediums such as television or radio you can easily print coupons on by facing the printing costs only. This shows that now you can advertise your brand easily through an effective coupon marketing strategy.
6. A Good Way To Advertise A New Product
Coupon marketing is an excellent way to launch a new product. Many consumers hesitate to try a new product on the market. With the help of coupons, people will be encouraged to seek your new product, thus causing a great way to advertise it. If people would like it, they will want to buy it again and again even if you don’t offer a coupon later. Eventually, the new product, as well as your brand, will become popular.
Conclusion:
In the advanced world where digital marketing is taking the lead, things are frequently changing, so it’s essential that we also change our strategies. It’s best to use the best and leading technologies available to make our business succeed. Having clear objectives and a piece of useful knowledge about your target market will make you prosper by applying coupon marketing. Keep in mind that social media will be the best medium for communication.
Blockchain
iOS vs Android: Key Differences in Designing Native iOS and Android Apps
iOS and Android account for around 95% of the global mobile app market, with Android having a majority of the share. With such a massive market, opportunities for boosting brands and businesses are endless.
It is one reason why startups and enterprises are keen on investing in native mobile app development. Additionally, apps are a way to increase user engagement with your brand and tackle customer service issues swiftly and deftly.
Native Android and iOS apps, however, differ in more than just their market share and user base. From the programming language to the user interface, the native APIs, and more, all are significant factors that contribute to the differences between the two platforms.
If you’re developing a native app for iOS and Android, then here are some variances you should know:
App Icons
One of the fundamental differences you can spot between an iOS and Android native app is its icon. Icons are the distinct identity of a brand or application that differentiates it from other similar apps in the market.
In iOS app development, designers create icons in square shapes that are later rounded off at the corners. Apple encourages the use of flattened images to ensure clarity and transparency in the icon design. In a nutshell, since all icons have a similar shape, the square is the canvas for all designers.
On the other hand, Android app development allows a little more flexibility in icon design. Android recommends Material Guidelines for icons, but most designers do not follow them strictly. Developers can use paper shadows, an array of colors, and a transparent background, meaning Android app icons can take on any shape or form that fits the area.
App Navigation
Navigation is the primary difference in designing native apps for Android and iOS. From the buttons to the in-app navigation, various factors exist that separate the two platforms. Let’s dig deeper to understand how it affects app development:
· In-App Navigation Pattern
With the differences in device configuration, the UI of iOS and Android apps differ significantly in the way users navigate within an app.
Android apps feature an in-app navigation bar with a back button and refresh button. It allows a flawless user experience as the users can switch from one screen to the next with ease.
In iOS app development, however, a native app does not have in-built navigation. Instead, it has a screen-specific button at the top. Additionally, the only way to go back is to swipe the screen to the right. Keeping these technicalities in mind is essential for affordable web and app developers to provide a smooth user experience for the users.
· Home Button
The home button is another significant feature that differentiates the iOS and Android app design. Where the Android device has three buttons for convenience of users, iPhones only offer one button for global navigation.
The separate buttons enable users to switch screens or back out of an app anytime, without depending on the in-app button. iOS users, on the other hand, need an in-app button to go back, or they’ll be stuck on one screen.
Therefore, when designing the app UI for iOS, in particular, designers need to integrate proper navigation features within the app.
· Navigation Bar/ In-App Tab
The navigation bar is another navigation element that differs in Android and iOS apps. However, it is one factor that deals more with the position of the menu bar than the navigation.
In native Android apps, the menu tab is on the left side of the screen hidden in a drawer feature that users can access via a button on the top. The drawer holds all the options of an application that a user would need.
Contrarily, iOS apps feature navigation bars at the bottom of the screen in an app, rarely at the top, but never as a side drawer. Additionally, all the tabs are always visible on the open app screen.
Button Designs
The buttons within an app also differ for iOS and Android apps. The Material Design Guidelines offers two options for Android apps, flat and raised. Additionally, the font is capitalized in Android, but title case in iOS. Android buttons also have a shadow effect that gives them depth, a feature that is absent in iOS app buttons.
One example of button design is the vastly different CTA button in all Android apps and iOS apps:
· Call-to-Action Button
The action button represents the primary purpose of an application, like composing an email or posting updates on social apps. In iOS and Android, the CTA button is also a significant difference between Android and iOS apps.
While both platforms feature an action button, the position and design differ for iOS and Android apps. iOS apps are integrated with a more central CTA button in the middle of the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen or at the top-right corner if the navigation bar is on the top.
Contrarily, the Android apps have an analogous design for action buttons – floating action buttons on the right-bottom corner of the app.
Which Platform is the Best for You?
Apart from the variances in design, other factors also play a role in the development of iOS and Android apps. From the cost of the platform to the language the developers use, all elements contribute to their differences.
The screen resolution, the individual features of an app, its visual and style elements, are significant factors, and each characteristic contributes to the user experience. Therefore, it is essential that development agencies, like Applify Labs, consider all design elements and their effectiveness when designing native apps.
Author Bio
Haziqa Ishtiaq is a Digital Content Producer at Applify Labs, a software development agency headquartered in Florida, U.S.A. She has a passion for writing and has expertise on Blockchain, AI, marketing strategies, and more.
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