Here are 10 actionable tips for your website that’ll help you convert traffic into leads consistently

\n \n

#1. What’s your end game?

\nBefore you begin designing your website, first and foremost ask yourself, what’s your motivation for this website? What do you wish it conveys to a person about your company? With these things in mind, define a niche or a theme for your site.\n

#2.Minimalistic aesthetic is in

\nProfessionalism is key. Flat colors – whites, blues, greys – suit the impression you’d want to make. A simple, neat website helps your customer find whatever information they need relatively easier. Include tons of whitespace to reduce distractions and direct the user’s attention to where you want it to be.\n

#3. The customer is always right

\nThe best advice you could get while constructing a website is to keep your user in mind. Be it website navigation, loading speeds or placing elements, optimise everything to make the site as user-friendly as possible\n

#4. Make it SEO optimized

\nThis shouldn’t come as a surprise. Investing in good SEO could make or break your digital marketing campaigns. The objective is more visibility, higher customer outreach, increased traffic and market authority. Include keywords so that your page pops up in local search results and Google Featured Snippets.\n

#5. Visual learners

\nImages are the most eye-catching and it would be a shame if you didn’t display all your beautiful projects front and centre on your website. A galleria section would be wonderful too as it sets a precedent of what the customer can expect from your company.\n

#6. Trust the process

\nWhile it’s important to display your finished projects, don’t forget to show some pics of ongoing ones. Bringing the user along on the journey creates a subconscious feeling of trust.\n

#7. Word of mouth

\nIn the age of online reviews, people inadvertently trust customer testimonials. It offers the user unbiased opinions about the company and its services from a place of authenticity. So include unedited previous customer testimonials.\n

#8. Blogging all the way

\nContent creation is at its prime. Blogs help increase visibility, domain authority and create opportunities for your page to show up on several search results, especially Google Featured Snippets. They display know-how and allow you to showcase your specialization, garnering the attention of the right crowd.\n

#9. Solid numbers

\nAnother eye-catching piece of data is statistics. Saying “x projects were completed in the last year” or “Project completed within Y days” provides customers with concrete (excuse the pun) information\n

#10. Check, check everything

\nLook over everything before you publish your website on the web, for everyone to see. Common errors, while bound to happen, give a very unprofessional vibe that you definitely want to avoid. Make sure your pages are complete, your contact information is readily available and there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes.\n\nAnd lastly, keep growing. Don’t expect to be one and done with your website. It is something that should be ever-evolving, just like your company. With trends changing at the drop of a hat, it is almost a requirement. Keep looking for ways to better the user experience and provide utmost satisfaction. But don’t be afraid to start working on your website right away. Hope these tips provide effective improvements to your company’s website. If you run into any obstacles or require further assistance for your construction company website, we’re always happy to help.\n\n “},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”hOA1r”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-design-for-construction.webp|214|363|18125″,”excerpt”:””,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post 10 Actionable Website Design Tips for Construction Companies first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post 10 Actionable Website Design Tips for Construction Companies appeared first on Continuum Digital.

Why does WordPress stand out?

\nWordPress is the most popular of the three most widely used website building platforms, followed by Joomla and Drupal. All are free to download and use, come with a variety of add-ons for specialized functionality, and may be tailored to meet the specific needs of individual users.\n\nHowever, both Joomla and Drupal necessitate a certain amount of technical knowledge and familiarity with HTML CSS and PHP. WordPress allows expert users to operate at that level as well, but unlike Joomla and Drupal, it allows beginners to rapidly set up a basic site without knowing any code or programming.\n\nRead along to know why WordPress standouts amongst the rest and what makes it the popular choice.\n

Key Benefits of WordPress CMS

\n

#1. WordPress is open source

\nWordPress is open source and hence completely free to download and use. You can obtain the software from WordPress.org (notice the.org). It’s fine if you and your pals get together and throw wild WordPress download parties (socially separated and veiled, of course).\n

#2. It’s Easy-to-Use with Minimum Coding

\nThe most tempting feature of WordPress is its simplicity. Anyone can become an expert managing the site through the admin panel because it is straightforward and user friendly. It has a built-in dashboard from where users can manage theme settings as well as create new pages, articles, and categories and various other inbuilt features. Because it is an open-source platform to use, provides a cost-effective alternative to build the websites.\n\nHowever, WordPress also eliminates the need for coding by providing a variety of user-friendly tools that allow you to accomplish a lot with little effort. Content management, draft creation, post revision, media insertion, and publishing can be done with minimal coding.\n

#3. Responsive & SEO Friendly Design

\nWordPress is a Mobile responsive CMS platform which allows you to create responsive theme designs. Also the platform is specifically built considering Search Engine’s in mind. The sites built with WordPress CMS, makes it easy for search engines to crawl, read and understand the site pages and media on the site to index quickly. It also allows you to tweak the SEO Meta for each page to get excellent search rankings and total search dominance. There are also many WordPress plugins available that can help you expand the reach of your website faster.\n

#4. Ready built Vs. Custom Design Themes

\n

Ready built themes:

\nThe site’s appearance and navigation are determined by themes. WordPress has a wide range of ready built theme options available. You can source the theme based on your business, industry, and which is the best match to your design needs. The ready theme can be customized to match unique requirements to make it stand out.\n

Custom theme design:

\nYou can hire a pro WordPress designer who can help you to design the site pages from scratch considering your unique business needs and brand in mind and then convert the design into a WordPress theme website. With the custom designed theme, you can create appealing websites that reflect the company’s brand and provide an impressive online presence that helps to increase conversion.\n\nWordPress programmers can also create custom fields as per the need so that administrators can easily update content of the custom pages when needed.\n

#5. Excellent Scalability

\nBecause of WordPress’s exceptional scalability, the site may expand in tandem with the business. Thousands of pages or blog entries can be added to the site without affecting its performance. This makes WordPress an excellent platform for firms who anticipate significant future expansion.\n\nHowever, if you will be looking to enhance features of the websites, it is advisable to consult WordPress experts in advance so the site can be planned well in advanced accordingly or you may choose the right framework for your website accordingly.\n

#6. Substantial Security

\nFortifying your WordPress website is simple thanks to the CMS’s robust plugins and tools for improving its security. By regularly updating WordPress and site plugins, you can keep the website secured. There are some paid plugins available which can help you to configure added security to make the site hack-proof.\n\nIt is advisable to use a better WordPress hosting provider who is offering a solid secured and turbo performance servers to host your website for maximum security.\n

#7. Easy Social Media Integration

\nWordPress also offers easy social media integration, allowing businesses to expand their exposure by leveraging social media networks. This means that expanding the social reach makes it easier to drive traffic to these sites.\n

#8. Community Assistance

\nThe most exciting and valuable element of WordPress is its extensive community support. WordPress boasts the world’s largest developer community. While building websites on the platform, developers can choose from a wide range of plugins, themes, and tools. When developers need help, the community is available to assist them.\n

#9. Multiple Users with Varying Levels of Permission

\nWordPress allows different levels of accessibility for each user, administrator being the highest level of access where multiple editing and changes can be done without any hassle. Each team member could have different access as per need like author access, editor access, contributor access and/or subscriber access. Each level has its own accessibility allowing users to do the needful.\n\nDifferent website permissions and access levels help you limit risk from unscrupulous actors in any case. You will be able to have many people work on your website without ever having to jeopardize sensitive back-end information if you have these distinct degrees of access.\n

To Sum Up

\nNothing beats developing websites than on WordPress. Its easy-to-use features along with multiple plugins and customizations allow any user to create amazing websites, both in look and good user experience.\n\nWordPress is supported by a large community of users, developers, and small companies. They all assure that WordPress is here to stay for the long term as a community which justifies its ever-growing community every single day.\n\nBoth beginners and advanced developers can take advantage of its development and keep moving along to make it more comprehensive over time. Whether you’re from the UK, Canada or even the USA, what’s amazing is it supports over 53 languages and is used to power thousands of multilingual websites. So, if you haven’t already been logged into WordPress, start right now.\n\nIf you’re looking to build custom designed WordPress website, blogging platform or an e-commerce store that stands out and beat the competition, then we at continuum can help you achieve higher results, visibility, sales and readability.”},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”dtBCT”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-websites-benefits.webp|240|407|18118″,”excerpt”:””,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Benefits of WordPress Website first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Benefits of WordPress Website appeared first on Continuum Digital.

\n

Which is better – Custom Designed Website or Template Website?

\nPeople mark 2020 in red, but that is not the case with us at Continuum. The key learning that we have taken from our experiences in 2020 is that #digital transformation is no longer a choice – it is a necessity to ensure long term success.  It was, in fact, a critical reason for survival for many. We have worked with a lot of clients who have realized that the strategy for growth is creating an online web presence and they are willing to invest in the digital medium to build their presence actively.\n\nHere, I would like to quote a conversation I had with a potential client.  This is how it went –\n\nContinuum – What made you realize that you need a website?\n\nClient – Earlier we were focused only on the traditional selling approach.  We had sales reps who would personally touch base with existing clients and bring in new clients.  These activities were time-consuming and often required travelling, which cost sales professionals valuable time that could be spent in building more relationships.  Also, now because of the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, interactions with our existing clients have become limited and it is almost impossible to target new clients.\n\nOur analytics have proved that we are losing on getting new clients due to lack of our online presence whilst some of our competitors who had already moved to online store are doing much better than us in terms of attracting new customers.   All this makes it very important for us to go digital now.\n\nContinuum – And indeed, you have made the right decision.\n\nIf you own a small business and you have gotten this far without a website or digital presence – It is very important, now more than ever, to go digital for long term success and to invest in a website for your business.  It makes you look professional, trustworthy, and authentic as it establishes your presence in the industry.  It is a great platform to showcase your tools and services.  A well optimized website also helps attract new customers through search engines.\n\nNow that you have decided that you need a web presence, what kind of a website would you like to create – a custom website or a template website?\n\nClient – Could you highlight the difference between the two and advise which one would be the right fit for us now and for our business in the future?\n\nContinuum – Okay, there are a lot of considerations before answering this question.\n\nLet’s talk about a few stats first:\n\nPeople make snap judgments and that is true for websites also.  Research and studies suggest that it takes only 0.05 seconds for a user to form a first impression/opinion about your website and that determines whether they’ll stay or leave on your web page.\n\n94% of users mention poor design is the primary reason why they do not trust certain websites.  How a website looks, how it performs, and how easy is it to navigate – those are the things people see right away.  All the thought process that you put in creating the content and the messaging – all that is secondary.\n\nSo, design, speed, and responsiveness are the most crucial elements of a website followed by the content.\n\nNext let’s talk about what exactly a custom website and a template website is?\n\nTemplate Website – Pre-designed website preloaded with standard pages.  They are the best option when budget is a factor and you need something now to go up and running and you have limited content/images to showcase.\n\nCustom website – It is custom made or made to order.  From the layout, navigational structure, graphic placement to functionality – all of these elements are designed with unique specifications.   It includes creating everything that goes into creating a site to reflect a unique brand identity driven by strategic marketing plans.  Custom-made websites look better, do more, and accomplish specific business goals.\n

Now that we know what exactly a custom website and a template website is, how do we decide which is the best fit for you?

\nWe need to analyse 4 factors to help you decide which one would work for your business and why:\n

#1. Design

\nWith custom sites – the design is made to order.  It means that the designer can take into consideration your business objectives and goals, ideal clients, and customer experience that you wish to render visually and functionally. With custom design, you can stand out and get a website that has you drop your jaw in awe.\n\nWith templates – you have to fit your business objectives and goals into a mould/template that is already there.  If you are looking for something basic that will help you go up and running, then a template website is for you.\n

#2. Scalability / Future Growth

\nWith a custom website, the designer can take into account how you are really going to grow in the future and what types of services you plan on adding and really what your future goals will be.  They can build the site to grow with you, and you are really building a foundation for the future. It also helps you to get into deeper and mature web building thought process to have a more explicit goal.  For example, if you wish to convert an existing website into an eCommerce website a few months down the line, the developer can keep in mind the scalability and define an initial framework based on the plan so that in future eCommerce integration becomes much more easier.\n\nWith a template website, you can create a website on ready CMS platforms like Wix, Shopify, WordPress, etc., with a good appearance for a shorter span. It addresses any short term and immediate needs.  These are easy moving options and more of a temporary solution with lesser long-term visibility.\n

#3. Professionalism & Support

\nWhen you are going with a template, which is always available with CMS platforms, you do have some built in support through them, but it is limited.  Especially when you purchase a template for your WordPress or Wix website, and you are self-installing it, you really don’t have any other technical support so youtube and tutorials are going to be your best friend.  Unless you have some experience in building a website, it is a time-consuming exercise.\n\nWith a custom site, you have experts on board.  They know their job thoroughly well and can WOW clients with the latest trends. They know what works and what doesn’t work.  There is a consultative approach with an excellent service that includes timely review, sharing the creator’s thoughts, attracting the right people, and putting things in perspective with coherent thought processes. Step-by-step planning, wireframes, design, development, copywriting, photography, testing, and optimization are time consuming but ensure the best outcome.\n

#4. Return on Investment

\nCustom website might take a little longer time and higher investment, but it is a money-making tool. Selling services and products digitally through a website design and UI that was built with your goals and your business objectives in mind generates an impact and eventually results in lead generation. It can literally change the lead generation curve.  \n\nThe template is less compatible with giving returns when applying digital strategies. If you need a quick fix to commence digital presence, you can indeed consider ready-made template.\n\nThe shelf life of a template site is much shorter than a custom site, so sometimes you have to ask yourself – is it really cheaper.  The average use of a template site is 1.5 years whereas the average use of a custom site is anywhere from 3 to 5 years. You might actually end up paying more with a template site for the extra technical support for customization and the updates.\n

Final thoughts  

\nWith all that said, we @continuum don’t always suggest custom websites.  There are, however, times when a template is just fine for what you are looking for.  There are two main advantages of a custom website – one is the cost and the other is the timeline.  Because you are not doing a full design and planning and wireframing for a template website, you can typically get that done in a half or a third of the period of time. When thinking long term, with business goals aligned and higher returns on the investment as the focus, consider a custom website.\n\nIf you think you have a limited budget and want to establish a digital presence, templates can be a great way to go to get you up and running. But if you can invest the time and more money into the project and you want a higher quality website that is designed to create a better experience for your potential clients – then we definitely recommend a quality custom web design.\n\nI hope that all this information was helpful. If you wish to consult on how to go about it, reach out to us and we will guide you and help you reach a strategic decision!\n\nIf you have any questions, please comment, and please like and share this if this was helpful for you.”},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”7qubu”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:false,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/custom-design-vs-ready-theme.png|214|363|14481″,”excerpt”:”People mark 2020 in red, but that is not the case with us at Continuum.”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Custom Website Vs Template Website first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Custom Website Vs Template Website appeared first on Continuum Digital.

Let Us See At A Few Scalable Magento Trends

\n

#1: Engaging experience leads to high interactivity:

\nIt is a small pocket mobile friend usage trend that is seen in past few years. Hence there arouse the demand of engaging user interactivity and generating sales with outstanding engagement that provides hands on information. Companies attract prospective buyers through it. They dwell upon user navigation-based analysis and gives them recommendations with different engagement techniques like offers, discounts or by generating interests to know more about offering. Which ultimately results in revenue generation.\n

#2: Giving real time experience:

\nFrom mid-2018 companies like amazon have started giving use the real time virtual feel of products which creates curiosity for the user to feel the product and buy. Big data analytics is a huge support to back up the understanding the buyer behaviour and create real time experience specifically for targeted products which are high on demand to start with. Big data is occupying prime space for sensitizing human needs by analysing market behaviour.\n

#3: Elegant & simple website with customized images: 

\nEnd customers now understand the difference in over populated website & sticky post from any other image space. There are specialized Magento developers who have understood this as a key behaviour and have worked on creating simple and elegant look of UI (user interface). Less written and beautifully exemplified with customized image. Accurate image from graphic expert creates wonders on Magento website. These are not the random images, they are the story board. It conveys the connected and soulful message that attracts user to know more about the product or service. It is the call out for the offering in the most creative & innovative way.\n\n \n

#4: Adaptable by social media platforms: 

\nOut of all the digital media campaigns, social media is the most interactive and scalable. Here not only product gets highlighted but there are various means to show advantages & features through video, images & gauging spontaneous reaction of customers on platforms like facebook, Instagram, twitter. Major leads are attracted from these mediums.\n

#5: Apt usage of pop-ups & optimizing CTA: 

\nBest magento websites are the ones that encourages user to buy from the webstore, only when the pop-ups are attractively placed. It will lead user to the engaging deal. With chatbots on magento platforms it supports end user share and convey the requirement, which wires lead generation. Clients get potential database of people who are genuinely wanting to know more about product or service.\n

#6: Personalization works with greater emphasis on demand: 

\nThere have been diligent updates on magento open source to create relationship-based selling. End of the day it is all about the experience that an impactful ecommerce website gives and whether it is addressing the right need. When there is a pop-up questions that asks us as to which date and time is convenient for us to pick the return product or how well logistically our product reaches to us – it matters! That is a greater good that end user is looking for. Push notification that reminds them that it is their birthday or anniversary in few days and gives a few choices based on past analysis of respective sale gives us an outstanding example of best customer service and creating engaging relationship through magento site. It creates wow experience isn’t it. It is all about addressing right needs at right time which adds the flavour of personalization. And that is how top magento development companies create demand in market.\n\nFuture looks promising with 2019 arriving just after two months. This year magento foresee creating a mark by introducing some advanced features like in voice search, Live videos and many more.\n\nGet in touch with our expert magento developers for complimentary consultation.\n\n “}]},{“component”:”hc_column”,”id”:”column_nsPLe”,”column_width”:”col-md-12″,”animation”:””,”animation_time”:””,”timeline_animation”:””,”timeline_delay”:””,”timeline_order”:””,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”main_content”:[{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”LpRrr”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:false}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/advancing-magento-trends.webp|214|363|18072″,”excerpt”:”Continuum Software Solutions seek out magento open source platform purely from user perspective. We believe in relationship that engages and connects technology for greater good. “,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Advancing Magento Trends first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Advancing Magento Trends appeared first on Continuum Digital.

How Website Design Impacts E-Commerce Sales And Profitability

\nYour business website is what sets you apart from competitors, thus helping you carve a distinctive niche in the market. From small-scale ventures to large companies, powerful websites are prime requisites for one and all. That creates the demand for functional, easily navigable, attractive and feature-rich sites.\n\nWe are all aware of the age-old axiom that says, ‘the first impression is the last impression’. Well, more than anyone else, it is the website owners and site designers who should take it seriously. Your site’s appearance is what matters the most in today’s scenario.\n\nPotential consumers and visitors get attracted to captivating sites as these websites have the power to leave indelible impressions on their minds. A quick look at stats will reveal the truth!\n

Statistics speak

\n75% of users (yes, you have heard it right) consider site design to be the prime factor in deciding a company’s credibility. Most importantly, design plays the pivotal role in determining the first impressions of a consumer or visitor. At least 94% of impressions are related to the design and appearance of a particular site.\n\nThat explains the significance of web design toronto and its effects on sales and profitability. Let’s take a look at the factors that make it an important metric for customer acquisition, lead conversions, and sales generation.\n

\n \t
1. The significance of brief yet powerful impressions

\n

\nYour website needs to captivate your consumer’s attention and that too within 50 milliseconds. Web interactions are brief but powerful. You have to make a mark within the shortest time span. Make sure your site design is captivating enough and can retain your visitors for ten crucial seconds.\n

\n \t
1. The power of visuals

\n

\nOnce your visitors start reading your contents, the blogs and articles posted on your site will play the desired role. The main task is to get your customers to read your contents, and that’s where powerful visuals enter into the picture. Here are some of the crucial aspects you need to keep in mind:\n

\n \t
• Logo: Place your brand’s logo at the forefront. That’s the key to promoting your venture!

\n \t

• Color schemes: Ditch the conventional light color schemes. Go for darker shades as they are more impactful than the light palettes.

\n \t

• Central image: Let the landing page visuals complement the brand logo and not overshadow it.

\n \t

• Smooth navigation: Design your site in a manner that helps your visitors navigate through the website easily.

\n

\n

\n \t
1. Call-to-action button

\n

\nThe position and placement of the CTA button play a significant role in the entire process. Your target consumers won’t like to scroll down to make a move. You should make sure they get it right in front of them.\n

Impacts on revenues and business profits

\nWhen your target audience likes to visit your site, you will surely see the results in your revenues and profits. Your visitors’ first impressions about your website will lead to successful conversions, which is the key to earning huge profits. Make sure you touch upon the right elements while designing your business website! There are several most efficient ecommerce platforms available in market today and one of the most popular among them are Magento which is a powerful ecommerce platform and in demand nowadays to ecommerce industry. If you are looking for an outstanding magento development or PHP developers for your ecommerce platform; reach out to us at info@continuumsoft.ca\n\n “},{“component”:”hc_space”,”id”:”4nqpo”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”size”:””,”height”:””},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”28yJ4″,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/website-design-impacts-e-commerc.webp|280|391|18060″,”excerpt”:”Your business website is what sets you apart from competitors, thus helping you carve a distinctive niche in the market.”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post How Website Design Impacts E-Commerce Sales And Profitability first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post How Website Design Impacts E-Commerce Sales And Profitability appeared first on Continuum Digital.

What is Offshore Development?

\nOffshore development is a part of business process outsourcing where a company transfers business projects for execution to other company/companies which would be located in a politically stable country, especially where the labor cost is low or the tax benefits would be greater compared to their own country.\n

What is Offshore IT Development Partnership?

\nOffshore IT development partnership is a mutual commitment of two companies situated in different countries for various software development projects execution at affordable rates to create a win-win situation for both parties.\n\nHow does it work? \n\nThe company which is located in the developed countries like USA and UK provide an ongoing business commitment to the other company which offers resources at best rates, high quality and also commit on-time IT projects deliveries.\n\nBoth parties sign memorandum of understanding (MOU), a formal agreement to establish the official partnership.\n\nAn offshore development model is always benefited to all who are genuinely looking for a longer-term partnership and put some efforts in the beginning to establish a right communication channel and other project management methodologies.\n\nBenefits of outsourcing:\n

\n \t
• Major cost saving by hiring low-cost labor (resources)

\n \t

• No need to hire and manage in-house resources

\n \t

• Saves time, money and energy of managing in-house resources which can be invested in getting more new business

\n \t

• Resource and project management can be handled by the partner company

\n

\nBenefits to vendors:\n

\n \t
• Secured long term business commitment

\n \t

• No need to hire in-house sales team to find new end-customers every time after project completion

\n \t

• Partner company focuses on sales and you on development and quality project deliverables

\n

\n \n

Why partnering with Continuum Software Solutions?

\nContinuum is not only an offshore IT development center but also having presence locally in Canada for all types of digital needs starting from graphics design, custom website designs, eCommerce development and store management, B2B/B2C portal development,  web application development, mobile application development, data migration services, content writing, and search engine optimization services.\n\nWith continuum’s flexible business model, the partner companies can get dual benefits in big project executions. Our project managers visit onsite locations for the final implementation or product demo and also let the partner company do the code review / UAT  in phases for successful project executions and also visits end clients as a resource of partner company to understand and gather technical requirements.\n\nSuccessful project delivery is our motto at Continuum. hire our expert website developers for any type of web development needs.\n\n “},{“component”:”hc_space”,”id”:”Lshih”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”size”:””,”height”:””},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”4XDqh”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Offshore-IT-development-partners.webp|280|391|18052″,”excerpt”:”Offshore development is a part of business process outsourcing where a company transfers business projects for execution to other company”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Offshore IT development partnership first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Offshore IT development partnership appeared first on Continuum Digital.

• Dynamic Business Applications\n• Dynamic Web Content Management System\n• Dynamic eCommerce Store/Shopping Cart Solutions\n• Dynamic Web Portal Development\n• Web Interface Development for mobile applications or third-party APIs development

\nBenefits\n\nOpensource & Cost effective: There are development environment setup costs involved with the scripting languages like ASP, JSP, CGI and Perl. While as PHP is opensource, there is no cost involved to code the programs using PHP. It is freely available to code with no licensing or any other cost. And thus, the development cost using is low compared to other scripting languages. It is the hot favorite technology for every small business that wants stable solutions at an affordable cost.\n\nFlexibility: As PHP is opensource, one can use any available editor for coding the new functionalities or editing into the existing features. While ASP is limited to Microsoft Visual Studio editor, being a licensed product.\n\nPHP Frameworks: There are wide range of frameworks available that can be used to develop various requirement-specific solutions. The top in demand frameworks nowadays are as below.\n

\n \t
• Zend Framework

\n \t

• CakePHP

\n \t

• Symphony

\n \t

• Laravel

\n \t

• Typo3

\n \t

• Yii

\n \t

• Drupal

\n \t

• WordPress

\n

\nThe above listed are all MVC frameworks which helps developers to choose the basic pre-built ready foundation to reduce the development time based on the application requirements features and complexity. The requirements could be different, such as database-driven content management site development, small business application development, enterprise level complex application development. Considering such scenarios, PHP has ready built frameworks / ready foundations with well-organized MVC structure and database relationships which reduce the re-coding of everything for every single project and allows choosing the right base for the right project. This also helps to minimize the project development cost using the ready structure where the development team has to implement just only the features which are not available in ready framework and the customization in the existing features to match the requirements.\n\nScalability: The enterprises are growing day by day and that is why in this dynamic world, the usage requirements are also frequently changing. So, the way we want the application work today, tomorrow we might want it differently with enhanced features and with more data results. That is how the scalability comes into the picture and we have to choose the right scalable technology, in the beginning, itself considering the future enhancement of the application. The way PHP is built followed by MVC (Model, View, and Controller) Structure; you can easily increase the cluster size by adding more servers as the requirements grow.\n

Hire dedicated php developers for your custom development project.

“},{“component”:”hc_space”,”id”:”vXJmm”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”size”:””,”height”:””},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”J8PGI”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/PHP-against-other-scripting-lang.webp|400|561|18046″,”excerpt”:”PHP is a server-side scripting language which is mainly used for web applications to get the data dynamically from the web-server. “,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post PHP against other scripting languages ASP.NET, JSP, CGI, Perl first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post PHP against other scripting languages ASP.NET, JSP, CGI, Perl appeared first on Continuum Digital.

Importance of website upgrades and things to keep in mind whilst the up-gradation process:

\nUpgrades are always good to go for several important factors for your web design or app product.\n

Reasons you should go for an upgrade for your website

\n

\n \t
• Bugs Fixed: The very first reason to go for the version upgrade is to overcome the loopholes of the older version which could be critical to many factors for your website such as the speed, security or any other issues that might not be good for SEO too.

\n \t

• Latest Trendy Functionalities: Version upgrades might not only fix the bugs but could also be for the structural changes and enhancements in the current features / functionalities followed by the latest trends.

\n \t

• Easy to Manage: If you do not upgrade your version then after some time your site modules/components/features becomes obsolete and you do not get support for them which becomes critical to manage and code. But if you follow the latest technology and upgrades of your website version, it will become very easy for the website administrator to manage and maintain your website.

\n

\n

Before you go for the upgradation:

\nYou need to take care of a few things before you upgrade the version of your website to prevent the data loss.\n\nThere are two types of upgrades for your website:\n

\n \t
1. Website version upgrade

\n \t

2. Modules/Plugins/Components upgrades

\n

\nVersion upgrade updates the framework code and data structure which could be possibly for new feature updates, enhancement of the current admin side functionalities, security or performance updates for your website.\nModules/Plugins/Components also have their unique updates to maintain their code compatible to the latest version upgrades of the website framework.\n\nTo make it easier for you to understand, let us consider an example of the website built using the very old Joomla Framework 1.0 which is the very first version of the Joomla Content Management System with basic and limited CMS features. Gradually, Joomla has updated its versions which mean updated their code library and database structure to make the Joomla CMS more efficient, user-friendly, robust, optimized and trendy. Now, the latest Joomla version is Joomla 3.4.8.\n\nAssuming you want to update the Joomla 1.0 built site to Joomla 3.4.8, so how come data loss come into the picture?\nAs explained earlier, the version upgrades might have changes in their core library and data structure and your used modules/components/plugins might not be compatible according to the latest version upgrades. In this case, some of the data fields which are there in the older version possibly not there in the latest version or vice versa and your website data to those particular fields can vanish during upgradation process.\n

Steps to follow to upgrade your website version:

\n

\n \t
1. Identify the current version of your website framework

\n \t

2. Identify the latest version for your website framework in which you want to upgrade your website

\n \t

3. Identify the plugins/components used in the current version and verify that all those are compatible to the latest framework in which you are going to upgrade the website. In case you do not find the compatible version for any of the plugins, you need to go for the custom development / coding to let the plugin perform the same way as the older version.

\n \t

4. Take the backup of your current site database

\n \t

5. Follow the migration steps differently available for various frameworks/technologies.

\n

\n

“},{“component”:”hc_space”,”id”:”YqsXa”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”size”:””,”height”:””},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”FvBiu”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Time-to-upgrade-your-website.webp|400|561|18044″,”excerpt”:”Upgrades are always good to go for due to several important factors for your website or app product.\n\n”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Time to upgrade your website first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Time to upgrade your website appeared first on Continuum Digital.

Let us start with the basic pros and cons for the custom development:

\n

Pros:

\n

\n \t
• Easily scalable, secure, robust

\n \t

• No coding limitations

\n \t

• Easy Integrations

\n

\n

Cons:

\n

\n \t
• Need to develop from scratch

\n \t

• Hugh development time

\n \t

• Business risks considering high costing and maintenance

\n \t

• Need help of technical person for even a smaller changes

\n

\nSecondly, let us quickly have a look at the pros and cons of the opensource development too\n

Pros:

\n

\n \t
• No need to reinvent the wheels: – you can use readily available plugins/modules, components, libraries etc..

\n \t

• Supported by the large opensource communities / forums

\n \t

• Supported to the Mobile Trend: quick to install responsive themes and plugins

\n \t

• Multiple SEO friendly opensource platforms, themes and plugins wide availability

\n \t

• Low business risks considering less development time and lower costs to develop and maintain

\n \t

• Non-Technical person can easily administrate the whole website maintenance stuff

\n

\n

Cons:

\n

\n \t
• Scalability can be the issue in-case if you have not chosen the right opensource platform according to your future needs

\n \t

• Coding boundaries: need to follow the structure of the readily built platform for the enhancement/customization or for any new developments on it

\n

\nComparatively looking at the benefits of opensource over the custom development, it’s a clear win for opensource. However the most importantly for any business scalability for future requirements as and when it grows should not be ignored.\n\nSo, in-case when you have pre-studied your business requirements well enough to select the right opensource keeping the future development in mind with customization feasibility check – you are safe to go for the opensource and can take other advantageous of it including cutting down on the development time, cost and energy. and thus in such scenario, definitely opensource wins over the custom development.\n\nYou can even consult experts at Continuum to select the right framework for your business requirements.\n\nLet us also check once again the reach of the opensource platforms across the different business domains: \n

Ecommerce Opensource Solutions

\nPHP Based:\n

\n \t
• PrestaSho,

\n \t

• Magento

\n \t

• Zen Cart

\n \t

• Spree Commerce

\n \t

• Drupal Commerce

\n \t

• osCommerce

\n \t

• simpleCart

\n \t

• WooCommerce

\n \t

• WP e-Commerce

\n \t

• Shopify

\n

\n.NET Based:\n

\n \t
• DotNetNuke (DNN),

\n \t

• Kentico,

\n \t

• Umbraco,

\n \t

• Sitefinity,

\n \t

• mojoPortal

\n

\n

Social Networking

\n

\n \t
• BuddyPress,

\n \t

• Dolphin,

\n \t

• MonoX,

\n \t

• Oxwall,

\n \t

• Pligg CMS,

\n \t

• PeoplePods,

\n \t

• phpFox,

\n \t

• SocialEngine

\n

\n

Content Management

\n

\n \t
• WordPress,

\n \t

• Drupal,

\n \t

• Joomla,

\n \t

• Orchard,

\n \t

• Composite C1,

\n \t

• Sitecore

\n

\n

Job Portals

\n

\n \t
• Jobberbase

\n \t

• JobRoller:

\n \t

• Ejobsitesoftware.com

\n \t

• Joobsbox

\n \t

• phpjb.com

\n

\nforcefinder.com – is ASP.Net based job board that runs many niche job boards in U.S. & Canada. Both hosted and licensed solutions are available.\n\nMycromedia – is also asp.net based turnkey solution for recruitment firms, employers and for all entrepreneurs that want to start Job Board. Both hosted and licensed solutions are available.\n

List of open-source health software:

\nRefer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_health_software\n

Schools

\nTop 6 Free Open Source School Administration Software:\n

\n \t
1. Fedena

\n \t

2. FeKara

\n \t

3. School Time

\n \t

4. TS School

\n \t

5. Open Admin for Schools

\n \t

6. OpenSIS Community

\n

\nOpen-Source Software for Libraries:\n

\n \t
• http://evergreen-ils.org/

\n \t

• http://www.dspace.org/

\n \t

• SubjectsPlus

\n \t

• LibKi

\n \t

• Guide on the Side

\n \t

• OpenRoom etc…

\n \t

• Automobile

\n

\n

\n

Manufacturing

\n10 Open Source ERP Options\n

\n \t
• ADempiere ERP Business Suite

\n \t

• Apache OFBiz

\n \t

• xTuple

\n \t

• Odoo

\n \t

• Openbravo ERP

\n \t

• opentaps

\n \t

• Dolibarr

\n \t

• ERP5

\n \t

• ERPNext

\n \t

• LedgerSMB

\n

\nSuch as many other readily built opensource platforms are available and newer solutions are getting introduced rapidly by the largest available opensource community.\n\nYou can also refer the statistics on the various technologies usage over the entire networks here at http://w3techs.com/technologies\n\nSummary: Simple as that why to invest thousands of dollars to reinvent the wheels whilst everything is readily built for you just a click away. Get in touch with us and hire our opensource expert website developers toronto to guide and rapidly setup your choice of softwares”}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/wordpress-cms-statastics.webp|214|363|18043″,”excerpt”:”To understand the real scenario; it is must that we first quickly go through the glimpse of the basic pros and cons of both opensource and custom development.”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post opensource vs custom development first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post opensource vs custom development appeared first on Continuum Digital.

Let us here try to make it easier for you!

\n

Analyse your business requirements and categorize:

\nDefine your website TYPE:\n\nWhether it would be just a content-driven website that explains about you and your business services OR is it more than just content… with lots of other features\n\nSo, here we can categorize the website types into two:\n

\n \t
• Content Driven Website

\n \t

• Features Enabled Site (Of course there will be contents plus added custom features as per your business requirements)

\n

\nNow, even if it is a content-driven website, you should know about the content size (approx. pages).\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\nDecide on the number of pages keeping in mind the future goals and needs of your business. Number of pages you may require in next X years and number of registered users you are expecting to surf your website per day. This will help you decide the right scalable platform for your new business website.\n\nNow… if it is not a content-driven website, but a feature-enabled site (web application), you should define the application requirements in detail. Your feature-enabled sites might be from one the followings web titles..\n

\n \t
• Job Portal Website

\n \t

• News/Magazines Website

\n \t

• Real-estate Website

\n \t

• Hospital Management Website

\n \t

• Appointment Booking Website

\n \t

• B2B/B2C Website

\n \t

• Community Building Website

\n \t

• Directory Website

\n \t

• E-Commerce Website

\n \t

• Travel Website etc…

\n

\nIn this case; first you should search, review and list out your competitor’s site and identify the most relevant website which is close to your vision / similar features. Once you are ready with your feature list – you may or may not want to select one of the categories from below which is just for your clarity about your requirement complexity.\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\n

\nDo not forget to think about the future enhancements before you select your category.\n

Compare:

\nAll businesses and especially startups want to keep their budgets as low as possible and they need more features at a small cost. If you are also looking for a cost effective website with all the features mentioned above or more, the first option for you is to compare your defined feature lists with the available open sources such as WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Umbraco, Zencart, Orchid, .NETNuke and many others in the market and see how many features out of your list are readily available and then consult and discuss with Continuum about further customizations feasibility check for free.\n\nIf your features are unique and not even 30% of features are readily available out of your list plus if it is falling into the “Highly Complex Features” from above category, then you should ideally go for the custom development using .NET, PHP OR JAVA Technologies. The custom development would be costlier than the opensource platforms; however, it is certainly more robust and most scalable way of development.\n

Finalize: 

\nApart from your budget and future enhancement possibilities, also compare the benefits and disadvantageous of the selected technologies as per the business needs. Hire top website developers for your development requirements now.”},{“component”:”hc_space”,”id”:”VPnAc”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”size”:””,”height”:””},{“component”:”hc_pt_post_informations”,”id”:”wjuiu”,”css_classes”:””,”custom_css_classes”:””,”custom_css_styles”:””,”post_type_slug”:””,”position”:”left”,”date”:true,”categories”:true,”author”:true,”share”:true}]}],”section_settings”:””},”scripts”:{},”css”:{},”css_page”:””,”template_setting”:{“settings”:{“id”:”settings”}},”template_setting_top”:{},”page_setting”:{“settings”:[“lock-mode-off”]},”post_type_setting”:{“settings”:{“image”:”https://continuumdigital.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Time-to-upgrade-your-website.webp|400|561|18044″,”excerpt”:”There are plenty of web technologies available in the market nowadays which enables custom website development as well as open source development and much more…”,”extra_1″:””,”extra_2″:””,”icon”:{“icon”:””,”icon_style”:””,”icon_image”:””}}}}

The post Select right web framework for your new business site first appeared on Continuum Digital.

The post Select right web framework for your new business site appeared first on Continuum Digital.