5 Things You Need To Consider Before Plunging into Ecommerce Development

Before just diving into ecommerce development, you need to consider lots of factors. Having several know-how’s associated with it, ecommerce development is not something that you can handle alone. Once you choose Magento as your development platform, you need to start your hunt for those who can help you in turning your dreams into reality. Choosing an ideal development firm is not a decision to be rushed; no matter how excited you are about having an ecommerce store. You need to consider numerous factors before hiring an agency. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself while choosing a development agency.

1. Are you all set with your plan?

When you decide to seek the help of an agency, make sure that you have planned everything in detail. You need to consider the features you want to have on your site, the payment methods you prefer, goals you want to achieve, the amount of traffic you are aiming to have on the site and many other things. All these factors help the agencies to come up with their own ideas, and you both can decide if it is a good fit.

2. Who is in the team?

Taking from design to the responsiveness, an ecommerce site comprises numerous elements. Just make sure that the chosen agency has all the required experience like certified Magento developers, so that you won’t land up in trouble down the line. Also, it’s very helpful for you to have someone in the team who can understand the business better rather than just building an ecommerce site.

3. Are they outsourcing?

Just have a look at the size of the agency before signing up the deal with an agency. Outsourcing can sometimes be beneficial as the agency may handover your project to a third party who can take your site to a whole new level. But if most of their developers are outsourced freelancers as well, it can lead to stumbles in the communication and can also waste your time when there occurs a glitch in the system. This is something that could cost you the customers when your site goes live.

4. What development process are they using?

The development process used by the company is yet another important factor to be considered. Are they following the waterfall approach or they prefer agile methodology? It’s really important to have clearly defined steps, especially if you have set a deadline. At the same time, an in-house talent can also be useful if the problem arises.

5. Do they have an SEO expert?

How much ever good your ecommerce site might be, it is very important to optimize your site to reach your audience and achieve your goals. Magento platform has already scored well in SEO, so having an SEO expert in your agency’s development team can be invaluable when it comes to the launch and also while ensuring things like conversion channels.

There are a few important factors you need to consider when you decide to choose a Magento development firm to build your ecommerce site.

3 Revolutionary Trends in eCommerce Platforms for the Year 2015

It’s just a month passed in the New Year, and as always there will be some or the other changes in the field of technology. Every year brings some new trends and opportunities to the ever changing eCommerce community; no one can be very certain about the evolving trends. But according to some logical estimation, we can make some predictions on the current trends of eCommerce.

Three popular eCommerce trends we could expect to see in 2015:

1. Increased mobile responsiveness:

• Though tablets and smartphones have been distributed widely throughout the world for quite some years now, the potential for eCommerce activity on mobile devices is still in the beginning. Several eCommerce stores still depend on their websites as it’s their main selling point. The number of mobile friendly websites is increasing day by day, but accessing the web via mobile browsers is still inconvenient on most of the smartphones.
• So one of the biggest trends you can expect in 2015 is that the increase of mobile apps as the means of selling merchandise. Also the improvements in the usability of such applications like processing payments and restoring payment information. So people are excited to see how payment details restoration becomes easier and secure on mobile apps.

2. Social eCommerce:

• It’s certainly not a thing to be hidden that most of the purchases are influenced by comments, recommendations and other user generated contents available on social media. So the eCommerce trends in this year are sure to include a very close relationship between eCommerce platforms and social media.
• Not to be wondered if we see Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest pages are turning into eCommerce stores that sell products. Here the users can enjoy their shopping experience without having to get out of the comfort zone called “social media”. Obviously each and every purchase would generate an automated post which informs the buyer’s friends about the purchase.

3. Niche-based Marketplaces:

• As many marketplace platforms like eBay, etsy, Amazon and others have seen a huge success with Amazon dominating about 28% of online searches in US, we can surely see an increase in niche based marketplaces which are built using Magento or any other platforms. Here both the vendors and suppliers unite to provide variety of products to their customers.
• As such marketplaces can become potentially huge; they will be more likely to invest on advanced mobile technologies like marketing, content writing, advertising, payment processing, shipment and more. So try to be the first one in your niche to have a multi-vendor marketplace on Magento or any other eCommerce platforms.

These are some of the trends which we can predict to happen in the year 2015.

4 Top Cross Platform Mobile App Development Tools

Cross platform mobile development refers to a technique of developing mobile applications which can be used on multiple mobile platforms. As there are numerous platforms, device fragmentation was one of the major challenges which made it difficult for the developers to create apps that runs on all mobile devices. Cross-platform mobile development tools were developed to solve this issue which ensures uniformity by offering common device functionality features.

As today’s mobile application developers are trying to be agile, they use the best tools to develop a mobile application. Below listed are the 4 best cross platform mobile app development tools.

1. PhoneGap / Apache Cordova

2. Appcelerator Titanium

3. Adobe Air

4. Sencha Touch

1. PhoneGap / Apache Cordova:

It is an open source framework which lets you create mobile applications using standardized web interface for the platforms you care about.

Advantages:

* It doesn’t require the knowledge of dense programming languages as it follows basic development languages like JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

* It lets you develop apps easily without any major investment.

* Installation of PhoneGap app is similar to the installation of a native app.

Disadvantages:

* Mobile app developer himself has to write the plugin if it’s not available.

* Performance will be affected if the developer uses many graphics.

2. Appcelerator Titanium:

It is an open and extensible development environment used for creating beautiful native apps across different mobile devices.

Advantages:

* It lets you develop an application in a flexible way with its rapid prototyping.

* Uses JavaScript, HTML and CSS for creating the app.

* Uses standard user-interface elements like tables, buttons etc.

* It lets you store the data locally.

* Supports asynchronous module definition (AMD) and common JS.

Disadvantages:

* Access is restricted for certain components of a mobile OS.

* It offers limited access to device resources like camera.

3. Adobe Air:

It is a new-generation technology which allows you to develop applications easily using HTML, JavaScript, Ajax, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex.

Advantages:

* Assures a rich user experience.

* It lets you create apps with rich media content which require flash.

* Easy to install.

* Plays high-quality HD videos with industry-standard codecs.

Disadvantages:

* Database access is limited to SQLite or web services.

* Developer needs to have a good knowledge on complex languages to use Adobe Air.

4. Sencha Touch:

It is a mobile application framework which enables you to build powerful applications that work on iOS, Android Windows and other platforms.

Advantages:

* Delivers a rich experience as expected by the users.

* It provides rich set of documentation and screencast which makes you more productive.

* It ensures pixel perfection with its advanced layout engine.

Disadvantages:

* Chances of vendor getting locked in are high as it is not an open source.

* It works only on JavaScript which may create issues while creating mobile apps.

Fortune Innovations Brisbane’s expert designers help you in developing smarter mobile applications while deciding which cross-platform framework is ideal for you. Kindly get in touch with us for any requirements on the development of mobile applications.

WordPress Confirmed as the Most Dominant Blogging Platform

Blogging, as most online marketers have realized, is a main concern. Modern content marketing trumps pay-per-clicking campaigns, aids boost social medial experience, and climbs search result page rankings. Picking the most influential blogging platform, however, is a first step.

Blogger, Tumblr, Medium, Quora, and other platforms fall short of WordPress. Not only accounts are free on WordPress, the podium is very functional, user-friendly, and versatile for non-tech-savvy writers and marketers.

Why WordPress Wins?

WordPress simplifies many intricate marketing policies; Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for instance, is frequently misunderstood or over-utilized by companies. Whether you are experienced in SEO or not, WordPress is authoritative sufficient to aid any blog attain its greatest potential. WordPress is even supported by Google, a megalithic entity that is normally against all things SEO.

SEO relates to keywords. Keywords are the way people find information on the Web, and these days that info is normally picked up through blogs. WordPress enables users to upload their posts and carry out backend SEO without any difficulty. It’s all based on keywords, as stated, and getting those keywords really affects the topics writers write about.

With Google Hummingbird, the search engine’s latest algorithm, Web surfers are capable of retrieving semantic search results. This means phrases like, “Where can I find an outlet mall in my area?” are simpler to search for than, “Outlet malls in San Francisco.” This is linked to Google’s push for voice-activated searching, and keywords play a major role here.

Writers want to find keywords that are well-liked, apt, and summarize the purpose of the blog and the business writing it. When you are seeking topics, reflect on checking out what the competition is blogging about, employing earlier analytical information to see how old blogs performed, and even Google potential topics to see how other blogs rank. The plan is to get keywords that Web users will look for.

Other than SEO, WordPress makes content simple. The most influential blogging platform doesn’t need marketers to comprehend HTML or Web-editing tools. As an alternative, writers can employ WordPress’ built-in tools for making intriguing and original pages. The same goes for extensions. The platform has many pre-made designs for a minimum cost.

WordPress also has matchless support. The blog company’s developer and support staff are capable of helping you attempt new things on the platform and make best use of a blog’s true potential. Better yet, WordPress is made for sharing.

Sharing the News

With Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and other tie-ins, users can simply allocate their posts through numerous social media channels. With built-in plugins for auto-sharing and liking, all bloggers have to do is write interesting content that readers want to endorse.

Another thing bloggers should remember is Google Authorship. Since Google started Hummingbird, the search engine has begun to endorse Google+ authors with blogs. You can tie your blogs to your Google+, which boosts the probability of them showing up on search engine result pages. When a searcher clicks your authorship profile, he or she is headed to a directory of other blogs you have written.

Accessibility

Yes — the most influential blogging platform is free. There are pay-for-service alternatives, though novice bloggers don’t have to worry about being charged for anything. The platform is also very simple to learn how to employ and optimize. More often than not, companies directly tie their created content to their websites. With plugins, it is easy to keep sites revised with fresh blog content directly from WordPress.

Web-Building

Like Facebook, WordPress sites can work as a second or even primary website. This is helpful for smaller companies who are presently building Web-based assets or don’t need a full-on website in the first place. Through WordPress, marketers can create:

• Landing pages
• Sales information
• In-depth articles
• Online directories
• Newsletters
• E-commerce tie-ins

WordPress, owing to its flexibility, is also valued by readers and other companies. With the most influential blogging platform in your corner, you no longer have to be anxious “What platform is best” or understanding how to optimize websites.

Wordpress Development Brisbane * Web Development Brisbane

Moving a Drupal Site to a New Domain

Though it’s tempting to move your files and databases quickly, I suggest doing some preparation first. Before you move your Drupal site, you first check for any new Drupal core and module updates. If there are modules that need to be revised, you need to do the update before moving your site. The benefit of this is that it is easier to debug any problems that arise during the migration if you are ready employing the current version of all Drupal code.
Drupal needs installation and for this reason it is not possible to just move files between servers and expect your site to work, However, moving your Drupal site another domain or server can simply be done in few easy steps.
Here are the detailed steps how to effectively move a complete Drupal installation from one host to another.

Migrating Drupal On your OLD host:

1.    Backup your whole home directory from your ftp access using an ftp client like filezilla. Make a folder on your local hard disk and download the complete directory to that local folder.

2.    Backup your MySQL database on your old host using phpadmin, select your MySQL database, generally something like "name_drpl1". Select all fields, click "export" and save the database to your local hard disk. Leave default options enabled. You will receive a file similar to "name_drpl1.sql". This is your MySQL database.
On your NEW host:
1.    Upload your folder with the complete Drupal installation to your home-directory.

2.    Once done, go to cPanel -> MySQL on the new host, create a new MySQL database, example "name_drpl1" and create a new MySQL user. Create a password for this new MySQL user, click "assign all privileges" to this user and assign the user to the new database.

3.    You now should have a new MySQL database on the new host with a MySQL user, eg. "name_drpl1" as database name and "name_username" as database user name.

4.    Import (upload) the database (which you exported from the old host earlier) with phpMyAdmin to the new database. This might take several minutes.
5.    If needed edit the file [drupal home]/sites/default/settings.php and edit at the section where you enter the database, location, username and password. You CAN enter the password either encrypted or not encrypted there.

6.    Chmod your “files” folder so it is writeable using your ftp client (filezilla), chmod to 755

7.    Double check your .htaccess and [drupal home] /sites/default/settings.php and make changes in case they are needed.

Let’s see an example. Suppose your site is presently working at www.template-test.com/drupal and it needs to be moved to another domain at www.templatetesting.com/drupal. Here are the steps to follow:

1.    Log into the phpMyAdmin through the hosting Control Panel of your first site www.template-test.com/drupal and export the database. Save it as a .zip/.sql file on your computer.

2.    Move all your site files to a separate folder on your computer. In this example we are going to backup the content of the /drupal/ directory on our FTP. If your hosting Control Panel has a FileManager with the ability to archive the content, first archive it, then download and save it as a .zip file to your computer.

3.    You should now have one folder with the backup copy of your Drupal site files and another .sql or .zip file of the database.

4.    Log into the phpMyAdmin through the hosting Control Panel of your other site www.templatetesting.com/drupal and create a new database.

5.    Copy the name, the username and the password of the new database out for future reference.

6.    Open the new database you have just created through phpMyAdmin and import the database dump file exported from the old site into your new database.

7.    Upload the backup Drupal files to the directory or sub-directory on your new domain i.e. in the case with www.templatetesting.com/drupal  its  a /drupal/ subfolder.

8.    Go to the \sites\default directory on your new domain and open the settings.php file to edit (you can just download the file on your computer and open in any simple text editor like Notepad and upload it back once the changes are saved)
9.    You need to change the old info in lines 208 – 214 of that file with the corresponding info for the new database (step 5 of this tutorial):
'database' => ‘your_database_name’,
'username' => ‘your_user_name’,
'password' => ‘your_database_password’,
'host' => ‘your_host_name’,

10.    Save the changes to the file (or upload it back if you were editing it on your computer) and open the url of the new Drupal site, i.e. www.templatetesting.com/drupal. If you have done everything properly, you should see the site looking the same as on your old domain.

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Fortune Innovation Brisbane

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