A Guide to Internet Safety for Writers

30 Sep 2019 Uncategorized

As a writer, you’re bound to use the internet a lot. You need to learn how to secure yourself from malicious activities within the internet. The internet is a source of unlimited information, but it also exposes you to infected ads, sneaky computer viruses, and rogue links.

Due to advancements in technology, computer viruses are more aggressive than ever before. Identity theft and financial fraud are quite rampant because hackers have all they need to hack whomever they want. As a student, work with legit writing services like Ewritingservice.com to avoid dealing with frauds.

Every time you encounter a suspicious website, hit the back button before cybercriminals get the opportunity to take advantage of you. Also, be careful where you provide your personal information because it could easily be a case of identity theft.

1. Have Strong Passwords Everywhere
When you use strong passwords, you prevent cybercriminals from hijacking your accounts. Avoid using generic passwords like your date of birth or the name of your pet because this makes your accounts easily hackable.
Ensure your password is at least 12 characters long because the more the characters, the harder it is for hackers to guess the password. The password should include both upper and lower case alphabets as well as numbers and symbols.

2. Avoid Using Open Networks to Access the Internet
If you’re a writer who likes working from cafés and coffee shops, avoid using their Wi-Fi networks to access the internet. There is nothing as cybercriminals-ridden as open networks. Use your own source of internet to protect yourself from hijacks.
Aside from cyberattacks, you never know the kind of virus that might be lurking in such networks. Protect your information by avoiding public Wi-Fi networks.

3. Use Viral Protection Network
If you have a computer you use to access the internet, use a VPN to protect your information. This way, you use a private channel to access the internet. Viral Protection Networks lock cybercriminals out. They cannot record any unencrypted information and use it to their advantage.

Conclusion
Writers are among the people who use the internet the most. Each time you browse the internet, ensure you’re safe from cyberattacks. Cybercriminals can use the smallest loophole to steal your personal information.

The ROI of SEO

16 Sep 2019 Uncategorized

Almost every other day I am asked, “Do I have to invest in SEO?” The not so smart ones tell me, “I don’t need SEO”.

Here is the truth. Getting professional SEO is the best investment you will make to get the maximum ROI from your web presence. In fact it costs more to drive traffic to your site than to establish a web presence. Seriously!

Investing in growing your business is always a good idea. At Cyber Gear, we never hired a single salesperson in 23 years! We invested in SEO and digital marketing. Maybe, the number one reason why we are growing exponentially. Talk about walking the talk!

For the non-tech savvy people (do they even exist?) SEO, or search engine optimization, is an approach to marketing that helps your business show up at the top of search engine results pages when potential customers are looking for you online.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Google is the single largest traffic driver to websites. Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. That’s the average figure of how many people use Google a day, which translates into at least 2 trillion searches per year, 3.8 million searches per minute, 228 million searches per hour, and 5.6 billion searches per day.

Bottomline. Google accounts for 57.8% of total referral traffic for the average site (10x the traffic that Facebook drives to the average site).

Here is the no brainer – if you’re going to invest in one online marketing activity, you should invest in SEO.

For those on the fence, consider these facts:

• 72% of online marketers describe content marketing as their most effective SEO tactic.

• 81% of people do some type of online research before making a large purchase.

• 47% of consumers read 3 to 5 pieces of content created by a company before talking to a salesman from that company.

• Leads from search engines have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (ex. cold-calling, direct mail, etc.) have a 1.7% close rate.

• 78% of location-centric mobile searches result in an offline purchase.

To calculate the ROI on SEO, it is worth noting that ranking 1st in organic search results for an important search query will drive x number of qualified visitors to your website every month. Based on a 5-10% conversion rate, it will more than pay for itself. While it’s easier and more accurate to track conversions for e-commerce, it certainly is possible for lead-based businesses.

Based on our 23 years of experience in digital business, I can safely vouch that investing in SEO in the long term leads to exponential growth (and much more affordable customer acquisition).

Finally, a note of caution, there is no magic bullet to activate the magic of SEO. It is a long and painstaking process – SEO often takes 3-6 months to gain traction. Use Google Analytics to measure the ROI of your SEO campaigns.

Microless is partnering with IT Plus to work on Artificial Intelligence

10 Sep 2019 Uncategorized

Microless is one of the leading online computer and electronics stores in the middle east. The company has been established in 2011 to transform the way people buy computers and electronics. Microless has set goals to expand rapidly in 2020 to become the leader in electronics and computer retail online.

Microless has announced that it’s partnering with IT Plus — one of the leading web and mobile app development agency in UAE, to integrate AI / Machine Learning techniques to optimize and automate their business processes. Apart from automation, and increasing the efficiency of existing processes in the company, the partnership is promising to bring new features, such as a smart chatbot that will handle part of the load on the customer service agents. The chatbot will be able to resolve customer inquiries and help customers with their purchases on the platform. The bot will be smart enough to understand your question and help you with the status of your order, item availability and pricing, as well as other queries.

Another interesting aspect of the mutual work will be the smart pricing bot that will adjust the prices on the products several times a day based on the market prices and customer demand. Customers will certainly benefit from this as they will have access to even better prices and unbeatable deals.

Once the work proves to be successful, the companies are planning to work on other important aspects such as intelligent delivery routing, using AI in stock predictions and even workplace gamification, which is a new trend that increases the employees’ productivity, by letting them see their work progress in realtime, get rewarded for achieving targets and compete with their peers.

Nowadays, as the competition is extremely high, the leading companies look for ways to cut the costs by optimizing and automating their business processes. Not only that reduces the costs in the long run, but it also allows the company to process much higher volumes of workload and it decreases the error rate and generates more streamlined results in the end. Machine learning is often used to achieve just that.

Machine learning or AI is the new trend in business. With the latest advancements in technology and new algorithms, computers are now able to recognize speech, detect objects and analyze what is happening in images and videos in real-time, predict sales and demand for products, and much more.

What Exactly is Tiktok?

6 Aug 2019 Uncategorized

The name TikTok is onomatopoeia for the sound of a ticking clock and represents the short format of the videos

TikTok is an iOS and Android social media video app for creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. The app was launched in 2017 by ByteDance, for markets outside of China. ByteDance has previously launched Douyin for the China market in September 2016. Douyin was developed in 200 days, and within a year got 100 million users, with more than 1 billion videos viewed every day.
The application allows users to create short music and lip-sync videos of 3 to 15 seconds and short looping videos of 3 to 60 seconds. It is a leading short video platform in Asia, the United States, and other parts of the world. TikTok is not available in China and its servers are based in countries where the app is available.

The TikTok mobile app allows users to create a short video of themselves which often feature music in the background, can be sped up, slowed down or edited with a filter. To create a music video with the app, users can choose background music from a wide variety of music genres, edit with a filter and record a 15-second video with speed adjustments before uploading it to share with others on TikTok or other social platforms. Its tunes are varied pop, rap, R&B, electro, and DJ tracks serve as backing for its 15-second video clips.

The app allows users to set their accounts as “private”. Such accounts’ content remains visible to TikTok but is blocked from TikTok users who the account holder has not authorised to view their content. Users can choose whether any other user, or only their “friends”, may interact with them through the app via comments, messages, or “react” or “duet” videos. Users also can set specific videos to either “public”, “friends only”, or “private” regardless if the account is private or not.

The videos are tall, not square, like on Snapchat or Instagram’s stories, but you navigate through videos by scrolling up and down, like a feed, not by tapping or swiping side to side.

The platform is said to have an addictive quality and high levels of engagement with its personalized feeds of quirky and creative short videos.

TikTok was downloaded more than 104 million times on Apple’s App store during the full first half of 2018, according to data provided to CNBC by Sensor Tower, an app analytics platform based in San Francisco. It surpassed Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to become the world’s most downloaded iOS app for that time period.

TikTok recently began testing ads and also makes money on in-app purchases. Users can buy coins to tip their favorite creators on the platform. It has grossed $80 million from in-app purchases globally, according to an April report from Sensor Tower. In Q1 2019, user spending reaching an estimated $18.9 million globally, which was 222% more than the app grossed during the same period last year.

Tiktok is available in over 150 markets, and in 75 languages worldwide.

Source: Hashtag Social

What is the Impact of Technology on Our Society?

1 Aug 2019 Uncategorized

The rapid growth of technology has become a force to reckon with such that we cannot exist without it. You and I depend on every form of technology to go about our regular lives. However, it is good to note that technology has impacted the society both positively and negatively. Let us dive more into it.

The Top Positive Impact of Technology

Whether it be playing online games with a Resorts casino bonus code, or going out with your GoPro, there is a lot that you can do. Here is how technology has improved our life.

#1. Has improved agriculture
Food is vital in our lives, but the current human population cannot be sustained with limited resources. However, technology has given farmers a chance to grow large quantities of good even in small tracts of land. Also, they can access fertilizers and other tools which boost crop productivity.

#2. It has improved the transport sector
Transportation has evolved in a great fold with time. People can move quickly from one continent to the next. Technology has revamped the transport sector and improved it such that mobility is more accessible. For instance, there are electric trains which can move almost at the speed of light. We have gone further to explore space and even landed on the moon and Mars.

#3. Technology has revamped communication
Communication is the only way that we can pass information. There are various forms of mediums we use to communicate that have been impacted by technology. For instance, the rise of social media has made it easy for people to know each other and talk despite the distance. The Internet, radio, TV, and others are acting as tools where they inform the rest of the world what is happening.

The Negative Impact of Technology

#1. Technology is straining natural resources.
Natural resources have depleted a significant lot that there is a rising concern. Yes, we are glad that technology is rising rapidly, but it is harming our earth. For instance, natural metals need to be mined continuously so that we can develop gadgets such as phones and computers.

#2. There is a rise in population.
In 2017 the World Population clocked to 7.7 billion. Advanced technology has improved the health sector, thus reducing the mortality rate. This is good news, but there is also a downside. It is becoming hard to sustain the current population with limited resources.

Integrate Salesforce with a Cloud-Based Data Warehouse

1 Aug 2019 Uncategorized

Data from Salesforce (a cloud computing platform managing your interactions with current and potential customers) could be a saving grace for anyone working in the sales or marketing industries, since it provides insights that few other platforms can provide. However, knowing how to read this data is just as vital as finding it in the first place.

Using cloud-based data warehouses alongside your general Salesforce usage can help with integrating it into your other data sets. A data management and warehousing platform can allow you to review data collected by Salesforce, and integrate it into your other company-related data.

Here are some perks of integrating salesforce data into your everyday business work:

Find the right warehouse platform

First and foremost, you’ll want to find the right data warehouse platform to integrate Salesforce with. This is important because, even though Salesforce is compatible with many different platforms, only some will provide you the tools and integration you need to be a successful, well-run business.

Blendo Salesforce integration gets all of your data into your warehouse and can help find answers to data and sales-related questions. With platforms like this, you can also assess leads and deals and pursue whatever’s most promising.

Create a unified view of customers

Another perk of integrating Salesforce is the fact that it you get a more unified view of customers for your employees. It’ll paint a more complete picture of your customer and aid in finding the most promising leads.

Virtualize and manage data

By integrating Salesforce, you also can virtualize and better manage any data that comes to your business. Virtualization, for one, brings agility to the use of data, and this virtualized data can be more readily accessible and proactively managed.

Likewise, the management of data is made easier because platforms which integrate Salesforce use open application programming interface (API) to allow applications integrated into one another to communicate better. This makes managing the data sets coming from multiple platforms to be easier.

Consider integrating more

Lastly, if using Salesforce proves successful for your business, consider some other ways you can make use of this gold mine of a data platform. Data integration is merely the first step of all of the possibilities you can have using Salesforce.

There’s also process, security, and user interface integration to implement in your office. Here are a few key differences between all four:

Data integration: Mere data integration, though incredibly helpful, just means that the unified data platforms communicate with one another. By having these platforms communicate and work together comprehensively, it promotes employee efficiency and ensures quality, consistent data sets. It can also deliver one data set to another for comparison and analyses.

Process integration: Next, process integration takes what data integration does and goes a step further. Process integration throws applications designed for workflow into the mix so that business processes exist end-to-end. This creates a more cohesive working system.

Security integration: Security integration makes accessing information both on the employee and customer side of things easier and less administrative in nature. By combining authentication systems with these platforms, data and information can be accessed appropriately by the individual.

User interface integration: And last but not least, user interface (UI) integration just makes the overall experience of using the platform easier for users by integrating systems to create one entry-way for multiple different applications. It streamlines the platforms by bringing them into one place and enhances the overall user experience.

Importance of Digital Location Management For Local Businesses

30 Jul 2019 Uncategorized

How to maintain accurate listings information in a world that has moved way beyond the yellow pages!

Being found when consumers are ready to connect is critical. In today’s digital marketplace it is imperative that location data is managed in the local marketplace and across key business discovery platforms. People might constantly be online, they might be sharing details of their lives with personalities across the world, but ultimately people are local. They shop local. They eat local. They live local. That means that no matter how big or small our world becomes, local will continue to be the operative word when it comes to local online presence.

Here are the ‘Top 10’ most popular navigation platforms:

1. Google Maps
2. Apple Maps
3. Factual
4. TomTom Maps
5. OpenStreetMap
6. Facebook Local
7. Here Maps
8. Foursquare
9. What3words ID
10. 2GIS.ae

For starters, every self-respecting business needs to claim their business listing on Google. The following information should be submitted for listings:

• Business Name
• Detailed Address
• Exact Map Pin (geocode)
• Phone Number
• Website URL
• Operating Hours
• Category of Business
• Photos and logo
• Business information

Location intelligence can help businesses reduce their operating costs, increase asset utilization, optimize margins and improve customer service.

Here are a few distinct benefits of mapping your business online:

• Increased brand recognition
• Increased customer footfall
• Increased sales per location
• Increased local search rank
• Data insights & reporting
• Keep your digital presence fresh with real-time updates
• Track the performance of your listings

Most online experiences between a customer and a business begin with a search engine. People who search on their mobile phones for your business have a high intent of making a purchase. According to research, 76% of people say to visit a store after looking up information and 28% make a purchase afterwards. Location proximity is a decisive factor for customers who are looking for nearby places to dine and shop.

For more information on location mapping, brand reputation management, sentiment analysis, customer reviews, and local SEO services, contact Cyber Gear at info@cyber-gear.com

UAE launches first single-letter government domain name

22 Jul 2019 Uncategorized

The Government of the UAE has launched the new domain name of its official portal to become the first government domain in the world composed of a single letter (U), to facilitate the public access to information, services, projects, strategies and laws in the UAE.

The new domain name, developed in cooperation between The Prime Minister’s Office at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), is composed of the initials of the United Arab Emirates (u.ae). The first letter is the domain name, while the second and third letters form the UAE’s country code Top Level Domain “.ae”.

The official portal of the UAE Government is a comprehensive platform for all government services and information, as well as important data and information related to vital sectors in the UAE, including education, economy, business, infrastructure, residency regulations, health, national policies and strategies, and others.

Commenting on the new domain name, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General, said, “The new domain name of the UAE Government portal embodies the meaning of innovation, which is simple and easy to remember. It also reflects the centrality of the people in the government’s concerns with its various projects, programmes and plans. The adoption of the new domain name comes at an important stage of the digital transformation, in which we enter the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the smart city, and the government of Artificial Intelligence. We are guided by our wise leadership directives to adopt a culture of innovation and creativity as a way to assert our nation’s leadership and our community’s happiness.”

Al Mansoori added, “The most important message of the new domain name is the focus on people. It is a message from the UAE leadership that you are the goal, you are the purpose, you are the bet, you are the government, and you are the United Arab Emirates. We enter the digital age through the u.ae portal, to tell the world that the people are the ultimate goal of the UAE Government. The people in the broad sense of participation, tolerance, peace, prosperity, happiness, wellbeing, and sustainable development. The “u.ae” mission is that we are all our partners in future making.”

The informative side of the portal includes facts and figures on the UAE Government organisational structure, the Founding Fathers, the UAE strategies and initiatives, and development goals and plans. The portal also includes an e-participation platform that contains an online forum, blogs, surveys, polls, Chatbot, and links to the mGovernment pages on social medial such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others.

10 Essential Features of an E-Commerce Website

20 Jul 2019 Uncategorized

1. SECURITY
This is an extremely important feature. There needs to be high cyber security to ensure that no user data like credit card information gets stolen. When going through the transaction process, there should not be any sort of breaches; the pathway should be secure. One of the ways to establish security is to change the prefix in the address of your website from ‘http’ to ‘https’ after purchasing a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. This helps avoid online frauds and keeps user’s data safe. Having ‘https’ also boosts your website’s search engine rankings.
2. MOBILE-FRIENDLINESS
Another feature that boosts SEO rankings and essential to an E-Commerce website. You might get customers who would want to shop on the go rather than going home, switching on their computers and then shop. Your website must be able to adapt to any kind of device it runs on to provide a user-friendly experience. Over two billion people use their smartphones to make some sort of online transaction. Another reason to go mobile friendly is that Google penalizes websites that are not mobile friendly.
3.REVIEWS
Whilst shopping, customers are not just going to buy products. One of the factors that affect their decision when purchasing something is the reviews. Customers trust reviews. Do not filter out the negative comments. Negative comments are actually beneficial to your business. Bill Gates once quoted, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”.
4. LOADING TIME
Optimize your source code, cut down on loading time and make your website as fast possible. If a webpage takes more than three seconds to load, then bounce rates soars. Google has taken speed into consideration as well when indexing websites. 79% of online customers have said that any minor setback in terms of speed or performance that has occurred affects their decision on returning to the website. Web Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or KeyCDN calculates the speed and performance of your website and gives a detailed report on what’s slowing your website down.
5. NAVIGATION & USER-FRIENDLINESS
Your website should be user-friendly and easy to navigate through. The customer should be able to reach their destination with a minimal number of clicks. Navigation and user-friendliness improve the overall experience and increases sales. Your website should be as organized as possible. Use easy to read font and font size, display all essential tabs, include a search bar which has the feature of autofill as well and try not to clutter everything in on the main page. For example, if a user is shopping for electronics, sub-categories for electronics can be displayed.
6. CHATBOTS
Suppose, a customer has a question about your product or website but does not have the time to call customer service, that’s where a chatbot comes in handy. A chatbot can help improve your website’s conversion rates and increases engagement. A chatbot does not overwhelm the customer with too much text or complication, it is straightforward. With the development of AI, chatbots have huge potential to propel your business. According to an Oracle Survey, “80% of businesses said they currently use or are planning to use chatbots by 2020”.
7. OFFERS
No customer can resist special offers once they see it. It motivates the customers to buy something. Even if this does not convert into a sale, the engagement time with your website increases. Not only does this boost your sales, but also your search engine ranking.
8. REGION & LANGUAGE
You can provide the option for a change of country within that region. This makes it more convenient for customers, makes it user friendly and improves the overall experience.
9. A WISH-LIST
A wish list allows users to bookmark the items they intend to buy in the future. Consequently, it reduces shopping cart abandonment rates. So, when the same customers return to the website for shopping, they are reminded of what they were planning on purchasing. This brings in more sales and allows the website to analyze customer interests. Customers can even share their wish list with friends and family allowing them to purchase the items for the customer. Not only does this boost sales, but traffic as well.
10. Social Media
Try bringing your business in to the top social media platforms. Users can discover your brand from these different social media platforms. One section of your website should display the company’s social media handles. This allows users to get in touch with you, share the company profile on their social media accounts and help bring in more traffic. You can even post fun videos and pictures, advertisments and share the latest merch on these accounts. It forms a connection with your customers.

20 Interesting Facts About Instagram

20 Jul 2019 Uncategorized

Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone.

Here are some interesting facts about Instagram you should know.

1. Instagram officially has 1 Billion monthly active users.
2. 500 Million users are active daily.
3. 88% of the users are outside the U.S.
4. 22% of the users log in at least once a day.
5. 38% of the users check Instagram multiple times a day.
6. There are 95 million posts per day.
7. 25 million business profiles.
8. 60% of the users discover new products on the platform.
9. Over 200 million users visit at least one business profile every day.
10. Majority of the users are between the ages of 18 and 29.
11. One in three internet users are Instagram users.
12. 25% of smartphone owners use Instagram.
13. Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has a whopping 174 million follower count.
14. 70% percent of hashtags are branded.
15. There is a limit of 30 hashtags that can be used.
16. The optimum number of hashtags is 11.
17. Facebook bought Instagram for 1 Billion Dollars in 2012.
18. There are about 4.2 billion likes per day.
19. Number of photos and videos uploaded per day is more than a 100 million.
20. Instagram is worth more than 100 Billion Dollars.

Source: Hashtag Social

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