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Android vs. iOS App Development - Which One Is Better?

With the growth of mobile and the Internet, the demand for mobile app development is rapidly increasing in the digital landscape. Mobile app development is a challenging process that requires complete market research, detailed considerations, and the right technologies and operating systems to build a successful app for your business. When choosing the right technologies and operating systems, companies often consider whether to choose Android or iOS for their next mobile app development. 

According to a survey, more than 3.3 million Android apps are available on the Google Play Store, making Android the dominant marketplace for mobile app development. While iOS has over 2.2 million apps on the App Store. Both Android and iOS hold significant value in the marketplace, so most businesses here choose cross-platform app development to develop mobile apps that can operate on different operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Windows. 

If you are planning to build a mobile app for your business and are wondering whether to choose Android or iOS, then you have come to the right place. In this article, we will walk you through Android vs. iOS app development and help you understand which one is best for you. 

So, let’s get started with the basics!

What is Android App Development?

Developed by Google, Android is the most popular operating system that supports a wide range of touchscreen devices, tablets, and mobile phones. This Unix operating system uses various programming languages like C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Go, and Kotlin. Android is a popular platform for building highly scalable, functionality-rich, and robust applications. 

What is iOS App Development?

Developed by Apple, iOS is the mobile operating system that offers a sleek interface and seamless integration with Apple’s ecosystem and is best known for building apps for iPhone and iPad. The platform is easy to get started with and allows you to launch your own app on the App Store more efficiently. 

Android vs. iOS App Development - Which One Is Better?

Let’s dive right into the detailed comparison of Android vs. iOS App development to understand which one is right for you and your business: 

Android vs. iOS App Development: Market Share

When it comes to market share, Android holds a near about 70.1% share of smartphones, while iOS has just 29.2%. However, Android is slowly losing its position, as it had approx 77% of the market share in 2018, while iOS had 20%. The lower cost of smartphones is the main reason why Android has the largest market share, while the iPhone has comparatively higher costs than Android phones. 

Android has over three billion active users, making it the most popular unbeatable winner of the mobile phone in the market share. If you are planning to build an app with a focus on targeting a wider audience, then you must go for Android. On the other hand, iOS is perfect for those looking to target a rich audience.

Android vs. iOS App Development: Geography

Both Android and iOS have different audiences that may differ from country to country and geographically. There is a solid hold of iOS in developed countries, including but not limited to the US, UK, Japan, Germany, Singapore, etc. These countries tend to have more decent incomes and strong brand loyalty. On the contrary, Android is popular in developing countries like India, China, and other Southeast Asian countries due to their average income. 

When considering mobile app development for your business, it is crucial to think about geography and determine which operating system would be best for your next mobile application. 

Android vs. iOS App Development: Customization

When it comes to custom mobile app development, both Android and iOS follow different approaches, app design principles, and development frameworks. Since Android is an open-source platform, it is best known for its great flexibility and various customization options that allow app developers to build scalable apps more efficiently. With Android App development, developers can get control over the look and feel and working of the app. The platform enables you to easily build the best user interface elements while allowing you to add or implement unique features to suit your specific business needs.

On the other hand, iOS offers a more structured and standardized approach to iPhone app development. With iOS platforms, developers need to pay high attention to strict design guidelines and development frameworks, resulting in a lack of flexibility and customizable options. However, it offers a seamless user experience with an intuitive user interface compared to Android. 

If you are planning to build a fully customizable app, Android may be the best choice for you while iOS is a good fit for apps with seamless user experience. 

Android vs. iOS App Development: Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Developed and maintained by Google, Android Studio is the most commonly used IDE for Android app development. Android Studio is built with the IntelliJ IDEA platform that offers a comprehensive range of features for Android development, such as a debugging tool, a code editor, a layout editor, and an emulator. Visual Studio Code and Eclipse are other IDEs used for Android app development, streamlining the overall app development process. 

When it comes to iOS app development, the platform uses Xcode IDE which is simple to use and provides a comprehensive range of features, including but not limited to a code editor, a layout editor, a debugging tool, and an emulator. Xcode offers a powerful Interface Builder, making it easier to create user interfaces for their iOS apps with simple drag-down UI elements onto a canvas. However, both Android and iOS offer the best IDE tools, and each has its own pros and cons.

Android vs. iOS App Development: Cost of Development 

Generally, the cost of app development depends on a number of factors, including features, app size, complexity, technologies, add-on features, customizations, and third-party integration. However, the platform you choose for your app development also influences the overall mobile app development cost. When building an Android app, it’s crucial to create, customize, and optimize it to suit different devices across different original equipment manufacturers, resulting in higher app development costs.

While iOS app developers only need to build and optimize apps for iPhones and iPads rather than customizing them to different devices or screens. As a result, the time for iOS app development reduces over time, decreasing the overall cost of development. 

Android vs. iOS App Development: UI Design

The UI design is one of the biggest differences between Android and iOS app development since each platform offers a distinct visual look that makes it different from the other one. iOS mainly focuses on minimalism and simplicity. It allows iOS app developers to create more elegant and intuitive navigation, providing simple shapes and a limited color palette.

Android offers a diverse range of highly flexible and customizable designs, allowing Android app developers to create and customize their designs to a greater extent to meet their design needs with more gradients, rich colors, and animations. However, it’s important to take design considerations seriously since they put a great deal of impression on users’ minds.

Android vs. iOS App Development: ROI

Whether you build an Android or iOS app, the last thing you often think about is which provides the best return on investment (ROI). Generally, it happens that more users drive more revenue, meaning that Android has a wide margin geographically. 

When it comes to ROI, it’s not that true. Despite the fact that iOS has a very low market share, it provides a significantly higher return on investment compared to Android. It’s because iOS users tend to spend more money as compared to Android users. According to research, iOS spent an average of $24.7 billion on in-app purchases and paid downloads. 

While it’s just $6.7 spent by Android users, which is pretty low as compared to ioS ones. In addition, some iOS apps utilize it as a monetization strategy— which usually earns less compared to other approaches. On the contrary, more than 63% of Android apps use a monetization strategy, while it’s just 22% for iOS apps. 

Conclusion

The decision to embark on an iOS or Android project hinges solely on your target market, UI designs, user demographics, customization, unique features, and required business functionality. Development timeline and budget also play a significant role in this decision. For businesses aiming to launch a minimum viable product quickly and within a limited budget, an iOS app may be the best choice. On the other hand, if your target markets include Asia and Latin America, and your app requires features not supported by iOS, then an Android project would be the preferred option.

Regardless of the platform chosen, you can always develop another version for the alternate platform in the future. This strategy can help you reach a wider user base across both operating systems. To help you get the most out of mobile app development, it is advisable to consult with a trusted mobile app development company to ensure success. 

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Top Benefits of SaaS Application Development

Software as a Service” refers to a distribution model where the service provider takes care of everything, from hosting the applications to making them available for end-users over the internet. The demand for SaaS applications is rapidly growing faster than ever, driving massive growth to your cloud business while providing faster, better, and more efficient ways to serve your customers with exceptional experiences. Thanks to innovative SaaS technology, it is now easier to build and access SaaS applications from anywhere and on any device. 

With the SaaS application, you just need to pay for the resources being used, saving you time and money in the long run. It comes with a subscription model where you can bill per month, per year, or per user, making it the best option for businesses and startups looking to save more. Well! In this article, you will learn the top benefits of SaaS application development. 

So, let’s dive right in!

What is the SaaS model?

The SaaS model revolutionizes and transforms businesses by offering cloud-based programs to help clients scale up faster as they grow. With SaaS applications accessible over the internet from anywhere or any device, it outshines traditional software models. It’s the software SaaS providers who are responsible for building, installing, configuring, and updating the app. Moreover, the SaaS model allows consumers to subscribe to software, making convenient monthly or yearly payments instead of outright purchases.

Top Benefits of SaaS Application Development

Here are the top advantages of SaaS application development, including but not limited to:

1. Affordable Pricing

One of the biggest advantages of SaaS app development is its significantly reduced cost. In SaaS app development, you just need to pay for the resources you use, reducing overall cost and time. SaaS are usually shared or multi-tenant environments where the license cost of hardware and software is pretty low as compared to a traditional model. 

Furthermore, it is easier to scale up or down the resources based on your requirements, thus providing complete flexibility to manage your business more efficiently. As a result, it also reduces the overall maintenance costs for managing the hardware and software. 

2. Scalability

In general, SaaS solutions are highly scalable as they are hosted in the cloud and offer robust integration capabilities with other SaaS offerings. These traits of SaaS make it powerful for startups and businesses to grow in the cloud. With the SaaS model, you no longer need to buy different servers or software licenses to run or manage the application as compared to a traditional model. This model gives you complete flexibility to scale up or down the resources based on your unique business needs.

Convenient

SaaS businesses offer products that provide convenience for customers by managing IT development. Customers can access up-to-date, functional applications simply by connecting to the internet and signing in, saving time and effort and eliminating the need for IT expertise. In addition, Employees can quickly adopt new software programs and start using them for work tasks immediately. SaaS vendors solve technical issues, manage tedious technical tasks, and ensure data security, allowing you to focus on more relevant priorities during work hours.

Improved Efficiency

According to a survey, more than 99% of businesses today are using one or more SaaS solutions, offering a number of benefits to businesses around the globe. SaaS platforms are best known for their simplicity and ease, allowing businesses of all sizes to access data from anywhere, anytime, or delivering unparalleled efficiency.  There is no need to install software or hardware, SaaS solutions will handle the rest for you. 

Most SaaS platforms provide integration capabilities and various built-in features that streamline and automate your business processes and overall workflows.  Hence, automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks is a proven method to improve overall efficiency by reducing the time spent on manual tasks and minimizing errors. 

A significant amount of valuable time is consumed as exceptional workers manually handle data entry and retrieval, diverting their attention between tasks. In the same way, 54% of in-house employees dedicate more time to file organization and document retrieval than to actual work.

Time Management

Every business owner wants to save money, and SaaS provides a solution that not only saves time but also reduces costs. SaaS application provides simple and seamless installation, making it easier for beginners to get started with. The maintenance tasks usually associated with traditional software to be taken care of by the vendor in the case of SaaS. This eliminates downtime and the need for additional work hours required to upgrade standard software.

Security

It often raises security concerns when it comes to accessing corporate digital assets from various personal devices over public networks. While SMEs may lack the capacity to address these concerns, a trusted SaaS application development company like Crest Infosystems Pvt Ltd possesses all the resources, tools, and technologies to safeguard critical business data with strong security measures, user authentication, data protection compliance, and a robust recovery strategy. Additionally, automatic updates ensure reliable service delivery.

New Releases

With a SaaS model,  it’s the cloud service provider responsible for upgrading the solution and making it available for their customers. The costs and effort associated with upgrades and new releases are significantly lower than the traditional model, which often requires purchasing an upgrade package and installation, or paying for specialized services to upgrade the environment.

Conclusion

SaaS offers businesses numerous untapped opportunities to harness cutting-edge technology without the burden of managing hardware and software infrastructure. Thanks to advanced SaaS technology, businesses can now enjoy the advantages of tailored SaaS solutions and overcome major challenges without the complexities. With its convenience of accessing data from anywhere, SaaS reduces overall concerns about security breaches and viruses, making it a highly scalable and reliable solution for businesses of all sizes. 

Whether you are already using a SaaS or planning to move your business from a traditional environment to a cloud-based architecture, SaaS is a perfect solution for your business growth. To get the most out of a SaaS solution, it is advisable to consult with a reputed SaaS software development company to ensure success within a quick turnaround time and budget.  

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Staff Augmentation: What It Is & How It Works

Technology and rapid evolution have made it almost impossible for businesses to not be competitive continuation in this era of cutting-edge technology. Businesses need elite development teams. However, organizations may find it hard to swallow that truth due to their digital competitiveness to meet today's high-tech clients' needs. So, it is imperative to succeed in the tech space to detect and embrace new programming languages and technologies.

What can you do if IT hiring is costly and cumbersome if you are unable to produce a development team with the right mix and size to overcome the challenges of today? It is no surprise that IT staff augmentation and managed services can be confusing when choosing a suitable operating model for your IT projects.

In IT staff augmentation, individuals from outside a company join in-house teams to provide supplemental talent to remain flexible and avoid recruiting hassles, particularly if specialist or high-level talent is required. In this blog, you will learn what staff augmentation is, why it's important, what the pros and cons are, as well as how to hire offshore developers with the right augmentation model.

So, let’s get started with the basics!

What is Staff Augmentation?

An organization can augment its staffing needs & objectives by outsourcing workers for specific projects. Imagine you need seven developers to develop a gaming app, but you only have four members of your in-house development team. The hiring of four skilled developers might cause your project launch to be delayed, and you lose out on anticipated revenue, given that you need skilled developers with expertise in building robust apps. 

The three developers can be hired using staff augmentation within weeks, enabling faster product release and project completion. Furthermore, augmenting staff is usually an outsourced cooperative model. The developers who worked on your app won't have to be fired once it is released, so you won't have to go through the legal rigmarole of full-time employment documentation.

Types Of Staff Augmentation

Following are the types of staff augmentation, which include; 

Commodity-based augmentation

Assisting with basic IT tasks such as help desk and network administration, software maintenance, and network administration is the focus of commodity-based augmentation. An organization requiring a high volume of IT support may benefit from this type of staff 

augmentation model.

Skilled-based augmentation

IT professionals with the right skills and expertise in database administration, security, and software development are typically augmented with skilled-based augmentation. The advantages of skilled-based augmentation are that you can meet the demands of modern technology with the help of that support. This type of model is perfect for businesses with specialized IT support for different projects.

Highly skilled augmentation

Highly skilled augmentation mainly focuses on delivering the highest quality IT professionals with a high level of experience and expertise. This includes IT professionals with in-depth expertise, including cyber security, data analytics, and cloud computing. This type of model is perfect for businesses that come up with top IT skills and knowledge to handle complex IT projects more efficiently.

How does staff augmentation work?

To outsource an augmented team, you need to follow the following steps: 

Gathering project requirements

Outsource partners develop teams based on the client's requirements and the skills they need to complete their tasks. In the pre-sale and development phases, leading staff augmentation companies work closely with the customer.

Choosing the team

The right software development team of professionals will provide your augmented team with the professionals you need. Depending on the project's requirements, the outsourcing company will select professionals with appropriate skills, experience, and technical knowledge. It usually takes 1 - 3 weeks to complete this process.

Onboarding augmented team 

Your team needs to be onboarded at this stage before you can begin working on the project. Setting up communication channels and management tools is part of the onboarding process. 

Example of staff augmentation

Consider the case of a company that needs specialized skills beyond what is currently available to its in-house teams. Establishing an offshore development center may be one way to do this. By using staff augmentation, a company can quickly recruit and hire external professionals with the exact expertise it needs without having to worry about the time-consuming and expensive process of recruiting and hiring new employees. 

These professionals must possess technical proficiency and domain knowledge to ensure that the company can create an offshore development center according to its expectations.

The future of staff augmentation

With IT Staff Augmentation, you can hire dedicated software developers from an outside agency as needed for specific projects. If your team needs help with a software project that requires experienced human resources, choosing this option can be a great way to fill the gap. However, you need to make sure that it increases your value proposition.

Digitalization and automation of business processes are increasing enterprise data volumes. During the period 2022-2028, the global software market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7%. A sudden surge in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), eCommerce, and the Internet of Things has characterized the post-pandemic period in the software development market. 

In the Asia-Pacific region, China and India are two of the significant drivers of the 9.4% CAGR in the period 2023-2028. Therefore, there is an increase in the number of connected devices.

Benefits of staff augmentation

Here are the top benefits of using staff augmentation for your business in 2024; 

Increase productivity

A team from within your organization and experts from an outside organization work together on this project. Having them dedicated to the project the whole time will boost productivity because they will not 

be interrupted or delayed. If you are satisfied with their performance, you can hire them to work on longer-term projects. They can also answer any questions you may have directly.

Flexibility

When you replace a permanent developer, it becomes much more challenging, and when you replace an outsourcing team, it becomes even more difficult. The alternative is simply to replace the augmented developer without much hassle if the developer doesn't perform optimally or adds no value.

Quality assurance

In addition to hiring based on skills and expertise, staffing augmentation services allow businesses to retain a tight grip on their main initiatives and shape them to suit their needs. Project planning and operation problems can occasionally occur within the organization. The parent company retains complete control of staff augmentation solutions, however, thereby preventing any deviations.

Growth and adaptability

Companies can expand their working operations with ease & convenience since the system is flexible and doesn't require them to increase their staff. Therefore, businesses can now hire IT professionals on an as-needed basis with the help of staff augmentation services.

Enhanced project delivery

Since the experts brought in have the skills and experience required to complete projects on time and within budget, staff augmentation ensures the successful completion of projects.

Cost savings

Staff augmentation services can be cost-effective, one of their most significant benefits. Take the example of borrowing two developers to augment your in-house team. In-house teams are cost-effective due to the infrastructure they provide, the basic pay they receive, and other benefits they provide. The two augmented developers, on the other hand, only have to pay the basic wage without worrying about providing infrastructure or office space.

The Bottom Line

Hence, it is evident that staff augmentation offers organizations the best solution to cut prices while maintaining the essential resources they need for business success. In addition, you can increase or decrease staff augmentation according to your specific business needs. It is, therefore, essential for small businesses to be aware of the pros and cons of staff augmentation since, if it is done properly, it can be more cost-effective and efficient. 

Hiring new talent can be a difficult and complex task and results can vary from person to person. Using staff augmentation to onboard efficient talent without committing to long-term obligations can be an invaluable solution for such challenges. Moreover, staying competitive and taking control of your projects can be made easier when you hire flexible remote talent without having to worry about paperwork or other tedious procedures.

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Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs. VueJs

The popularity of front-end frameworks is rapidly increasing as they allow developers to build more complex and reliable applications in a minimum time and effort. The web development industry has been transformed by these innovative technologies.

Choosing the right front-end development framework that meets your unique business needs- is a challenging task for every business owner. There are tons of reasons for the pros and cons of each framework, and you'll probably end up back at square one if you try to weigh the pros and cons of each.

Being the oldest front-end framework, Angular is considered the most comprehensive. Or, should you opt for React because React is the most loved framework by many people, and they cannot be wrong at all? Talking about Vue.js, it is younger in the market and going to appear better than the other two. 

Well, in this article, we will be talking about the three most popular front-end technologies: Angular, ReactJS, and Vue.js, and we will cover each framework so that you can determine which one best suits your needs.

Let’s get started!

What is Angular?

Angular, developed by Google, was released in 2010 and is a TypeScript-based JavaScript framework. In 2016, Angular 2 (the first release of Angular 2 without the “JS” in its name – AngularJS) represented a shift in positioning and direction from the original AngularJS. 

Version 2+ of Angular is just Angular, and although AngularJS (1 version) continues to get updates, we'll talk mainly about Angular, and the most recent version is Angular 13, which was released on November 03, 2021.

There are many top-notch features available with the Angular framework, including control of the user interface, handling user input, validating forms, routing, state management, testing, PWA capabilities, and more. Unlike React, Angular offers a complete collection of framework capabilities.

What is Vue.js?

In 2014, Evan You developed Vue, especially after leaving his job at Google. Although no large company has endorsed Vue, it has seen substantial growth over the past three years. 

Contributors for Vue are supported by Patreon, and Vue 3 is currently located in its own GitHub repository; it is run using TypeScript. The current stable version of Vue is 3.0, released in September 2020 (with a few smaller incremental releases since then).

There are more tools in Vue compared to React, but fewer than Angular. It comes with state management and a router but does not offer HTTP client functionality or form validation features. 

It makes use of the virtual DOM to ensure faster and bug-free performance. Vue mainly focuses on creating user interfaces and reusable components compared to the other two. 

What is React?

Facebook developed React in 2013; React is heavily used by Facebook's products such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The most current stable version is 17.0.2, released in March 2021 and the latest one is also on the headline.

In React, you can create components and subcomponents, which you can think of as UI pieces on a website. One key functionality is building components and subcomponents.

You can also use React to define how your components are rendered and to build SPAs that don't need to refresh the browser, thanks to third-party packages like React Router, a dynamic, non-refreshing routing library.

Overview of Advantages and Limitations

It can be difficult to decide what technology framework to use. The fact is, you cannot pick the best. Each framework has different strengths and weaknesses, so ultimately it depends on your business needs. 

There are many factors to consider when choosing a framework, which we will discuss here. However, the most important thing is to choose the framework that you love the most seeing your business's profitability. 

Advantages of React JS

A lightweight JS framework with a simple syntax that combines HTML and JavaScript, making it easy to learn. Documentation is readily available, which is a plus for beginners.

Provides excellent support for PWA (progressive web app) especially when you create-react-app templates.  

It offers Virtual DOM implementation and rendering optimizations which makes it extremely fast. 

Using functional programming with components, react creates modularized code that can be reused, resulting in easier maintenance and scaling. Apps can be developed more easily and scaled with more scalable infrastructure.

Limitations

There have been constant changes in React technology, which makes it a bit challenging to keep up with the latest documentation. 

Developers can make design choices freely since React technology is unopinionated. 

React utilizes JSX, which creates a learning barrier for some developers, despite its benefits.

Advantages of Angular

Angular makes use of TypeScript, which provides great support for type checking and other external tooling.

Google provides support for Angular, so it can be said that it is a trustworthy framework. 

They offer detailed documentation with a huge community, which makes it easier to learn. 

Autocomplete is supported inside external HTML templates for components in Angular, allowing for faster development times.

Limitations

There is a slowdown in performance due to the real DOM used, but this can be remedied with the use of ChangeDetectionStrategy, which assists in writing manual code.

Angular offers a comprehensive range of structures including various modules, components, pipes, etc., which makes it hard to learn this framework compared to React and Vue, which mainly rely on the components.

Advantages of Vue.js

Vue comes with detailed documentation, which helps developers overcome their learning curve. With just a basic knowledge of HTML and JavaScript, developers can construct powerful single-page applications. 

Vue is used to design robust single-page web applications.

Vue has a smaller footprint, so its speed and flexibility are optimal, which gives better performance compared to other frameworks. 

It can be integrated easily with existing infrastructure without having any impact on the system. 

Vue uses virtual DOM, which makes it faster than Angular.

Limitations

As a relatively new technology with a tiny market share, Vue has fewer resources than React and Angular, meaning that support and knowledge sharing are less common.

How to Choose the Right Javascript Framework for your Project?

It remains to be answered - when are the three frameworks to be chosen? Which benefits should be exploited to the maximum? We have listed the following criteria that can help you make the right decision regarding the most appropriate platform for your project based on the major advantages and disadvantages of each framework:

Choose Angular:

When you want to create a large and complex project such as building enterprise applications with Angular

When you are looking for simplicity

When you want great reliability and scalability

When you have Angular developers on your team

When you can afford some time to learn TypeScript before the project starts

Choose React:

When your project can accept reusable components

When your project’s front end is not too complex

When your performance and scalability are important 

When you are having tight deadlines

When you are looking for relevant experience in React.js development.

Choose Vue.js:

When your project scope is on the small side

When you want superior performance

When you have experienced front-end developers but have team members with JavaScript knowledge

When you are not experienced in learning a new technology

Angular, React, and Vue.js are by no means the only front-end frameworks available. There are a lot of exciting tools that will suit projects of different sizes and complexity.

It shouldn't be hard to put together the right technology stack and deliver a great software solution with the right approach and common sense.

JavaScript-based tools are available along with front-end development frameworks. You can always count on us for any development team you need to hire, such as a React.js developer team for example.

Let’s make a detailed comparison between Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs one by one: 

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Framework Size

Size matters for development frameworks since size influences application performance. Angular is one of the heaviest in size, with 143k. A framework and its application must be downloaded before an application can be used.

The second most popular framework is React, with a size of 43k, and the lightest framework is Vue.js, with only 23k. Therefore, if your application is not more complex and doesn’t have many sophisticated components, choosing the smaller framework would be the best option. 

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Performance

It is important to know that Web application performance directly depends on the Document Object Model, or DOM, which represents a web page in both the browser and in the source code. The DOM is what allows web pages to be modified during an update process. 

When only one item is changed on a web page, Angular updates the entire page and re-renders the whole web page. Regular DOM, particularly in single-page applications, affects performance, making it its Achilles' heel.

As both React and Vue.js make use of virtual DOM, they leave Angular in the dust. Changes can be made in a copy of the DOM without affecting the actual DOM. In addition, just the modified components of the virtual DOM are rerendered, and the updated virtual DOM is compared to a snapshot of the regular DOM. The performance of the application is greatly improved by this approach.

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Community

React was rated the most popular framework for developers in the 2017 Stack Overflow Developer Survey. The app enjoyed unparalleled popularity and support because it was constructed by the Facebook team. With more than thirty thousand developer members now contributing to React's development, its developer community has now exceeded thirty thousand members.

Traditional users have appreciated the advantages of Angular and the community has been quite supportive. Even with the statistics by Bestof.js showing AngularJS still has a lot more followers than its later versions, the first version of Angular still has many more followers.

Although Vue.js has many advantages, it doesn't appear to be popular with developers despite its advantages. Collaboration on framework functionality improves the framework's functionality and, more importantly, its library collection expands.

The components in React are sure to be reusable since they have been contributed by peers. In other words, React might be your best option if you are looking for community support and ready-made components.

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Popularity

Google Trends provides little insight into the popularity of "angular" and "react" since they are frequently used terms. However, the number of stars they receive on their GitHub repo is a good barometer of their popularity. 

Recently, Vue has been up there with React among the top frameworks. After a sudden drop in stars in mid-2016, it is back on top. Your development team will be able to overcome the shortcomings of these frameworks, regardless of which business framework you use. 

If the team is in the right hands, it can be assured that this will happen. Moreover, your developers are experts and understand these frameworks inside and out, so you can always rely on them to deliver the solutions you need. 

Or you can hire dedicated developers who are proficient in Vue.js, React, and Angular from a reputable company. 

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Scalability

The ability to maintain an expanding functionality is the essence of scalability as it applies to front-end development. A development platform should be able to support the growth of applications as they grow in size and complexity.

Both Angular and React are easily scalable when it comes to building scalable applications, according to developers almost unanimously. Modular development with Angular provides scalability, while component-based development with React yields excellent results.

Because it uses template-based syntax, Vue.js has a disastrous record when it comes to scalability. It becomes increasingly difficult to reuse templates within a large application, compared with JavaScript components.

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Learning Curve

It is very subjective that for some people technology A may be easier to learn than technology B; while others may find it difficult to learn. Having mastered JavaScript and understanding its concepts is the first step to learning the front end, so all three should be equally easy for you. 

Because Typescript is good to know when writing Angular apps (despite it not being required), it may cause more problems with Angular. React.js and VueJS appear to be more accessible to beginners than other frameworks, according to my research. However, individual preferences play a large role here.

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: User Friendliness

Angular, React, and Vue.js are the three most difficult technologies in that order. As a result, Vue.js has an advantage. It is easy for organizations to hire and onboard experienced JS developers, and also want to make them work seamlessly with Vue.js.

Angular Vs. ReactJs Vs VueJs: Popular Projects

Now we would like to sum up this article with this final point, describing some well-known projects that have utilized each of these frameworks, illustrating that you can accomplish big things no matter what the technology is. 

Netflix, Facebook, and Instagram are some of the most popular websites using Angular. React.js powers more popular websites including Forbes, BMW Price calculator, Santander Bank, etc. Some of the leading names like Alibaba, 9GAG, and FontAwesome are powered by Vue.js. 

Final thoughts

The major components of these frameworks are under continuous development, and new versions are released regularly as well as maintenance of existing ones. Since all of these frameworks have a high level of support, you can use them all safely. In contrast, Vue - which started more recently but is still growing quickly - is not growing as fast as Angular.

It is impossible to say which frameworks will be relevant in the long run, but each project is backed by a great community, and each is continually evolving. It's important to take a few things into account before jumping into a new framework. First, the expertise of your team can play a big role in choosing a new technology.

Hiring dedicated developers for your project from a leading custom web development company can also help. Lastly, your choice of framework may also be affected by the complexity and scope of the project itself. You can use this information to decide which front-end framework is best for your needs and goals by taking into account all the key differences.

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What's New in Flutter 3: Everything You Need to Know

Google developed Flutter many years ago, intending to build the best cross-platform software framework for mobile applications. One of the greatest advantages of using Flutter is that it can help build robust and scalable mobile applications for multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and even the web, using the same codebase. 

Although both Windows and Linux were in beta when building apps for Windows back in February, those platforms were still in stable support. But that has changed thanks to Flutter 3, which stably supports macOS and Linux during this year's Google I/O. In its announcement, Google highlights two points: The first is the low-cost Linux support provided by Canonical (Ubuntu’s publisher) and Google's collaboration to "offer a highly-integrated, best-of-breed development environment for developers".

Thanks to the hard work of our Flutter contributors who made Flutter now stable for macOS and Linux, in addition to Windows. There are various exciting things to come with the release of the Flutter 3 version, including the update on Flutter’s support for macOS and Linux, huge performance enhancements, mobile & web updates, and many more. 

Research shows that more than 91% of developers agreed that Flutter is a much smoother and seamless platform that doesn’t take much time to create and publish an application. On top of that, around 85% of developers mentioned that they could publish their app on multiple platforms than before. 

This article will explore what’s new in Flutter 3, including new features, performance improvements, and recent updates one by one. Let us dive in!

What’s New in Flutter 3?

Let us get a close look to see what’s next in the new release of Flutter 3.

Firebase Support in Flutter

There are more tools and services needed by app publishers than just the UI framework to allow them to move forward in terms of developing, releasing, and operating the apps, including data authentication, device testing, cloud functionality, and storage. Various services like AppWrite, Sentry, and AWS Amplify have received Flutter’s back for enhanced functionality.

Research shows that over 63% of app developers make use of Firebase in their mobile applications. The suite of Firebase plugins for Flutter has now become a key part of Firebase's offering in response to the real-life reality and the growth of Flutter. That means plugins now come under the Firebase’s repo and website. In addition to this, Google focuses on building new Flutter widgets that make it easier to use Firebase in your application.

Additionally, you can now get an overview of your app's stability via the Firebase Crashlytics plugin, which will allow you to identify the bugs simply by tracking the errors. They are built around critical metrics such as "crash-free users", which make it easy for you to keep an eye on the stability of your app.

Linux and macOS Support

In the days when Flutter was released, the developers' community was highly appreciative of it - Flutter is, to this day, considered to be the most powerful cross-platform development framework on the market. It is now also possible to build apps for Windows, Web, and embedded devices directly from the framework, in addition to Android and iOS apps. 

Flutter developers no longer face any challenges in creating applications for macOS and Linux devices since Flutter 3 is now available. Developers no longer have to do the tedious work of adding platforms to their products.

Gradle version update

You might have noticed that the generated files in Flutter 3 use the latest versions of the Gradle and Android Gradle plugins while creating a new project using the Flutter tool. While in an older version of Flutter, you used to crash the versions to 7.4 for Gradle, and 7.1.2 for the Android Gradle plugin manually.

Dart 2.17

The latest version of Flutter 2.17 features a new Dart SDK, a version with a new language - regardless of whether you use Flutter, these new features are accessible to all developers. 

The hallmark feature of Dart 2.17 offers app developers the ability to extend enums and override its default functions quickly and more efficiently. It allows enums to work very similarly to custom-written classes.

Flutter’s Games Toolkit

The Flutter 3 is way more focused on casual gamers and has released an easy-to-use casual games tool kit for game developers. It comes as a starter kit of templates and credits for Ads, and cloud services. 

The most interesting fact about Flutter 3 is that its engineers have created a fun pinball game powered by Firebase and Flutter’s web support, showing the versatility of the latest Flutter 3 update.

Theme Extensions

Theme Extensions allow app developers to add anything to the ThemeData of the material library. Developers no longer need to extend ThemeData and implement copyWith, lerp, and other methods, and they can now mention ThemeData.extensions to get their job done in no time. In addition, they can offer ThemeExtensions as a package developer.

Menu Cascading and Support for the MacOS System 

The latest version of Flutter offers a wide range of features, including interactive models for compilation to build support, internationalization, and fresh inputs for platform-specific integration, and offers the best accessibility. 

The main objective for all these updates is to offer complete flexibility in using the operating system and share optimal UI and logic based on requirements more effectively. The new features of Flutter offer great support to the platform beyond rendering pixels.

Ads

With the new release of Flutter 3, it is now possible to create personalized ads based on the unique needs of publishers and manage Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATTT) requirements. Google provides a User Messaging Platform (UMP) SDK that substitutes the previous open-source Consent SDK.

Web and Mobile Updates in Flutter 3

Let us take a look at the following features of Flutter 3 in terms of web and mobile

For Mobile Updates

iOS Variable Refresh Rate Support

Flutter 3 will now support variable refresh rates on iOS devices that have ProMotion displays, along with iPhone 13 Pro and iPad Pro. The increase in refresh rates for Flutter apps from 60 Hz to 120 Hz can provide smoother animations on these devices than they had earlier been able to. 

Foldable Phone Support

Foldable mobile devices will be supported and will have a great collaboration with Microsoft. With these new features of Flutter 3, Flutter app developers can now create dynamic and productive experiences on foldable devices. 

Streamlined iOS Releases

Flutter 3 offers a new option to create an ipa command that helps app developers to launch their iOS applications more efficiently than before. 

For Web Updates

Web App lifecycle

Flutter 3 comes with its new lifecycle API for web applications that gives complete flexibility for developers with full control over the bootstrap process of their Flutter app from the hosting HTML page. 

This helps Lighthouse to determine the speed of your app and can be applied to various use cases to streamline the development process.

Image Decoding

The image decoding feature in Flutter 3 made it possible for Flutter Web to perceive and use the imagecoder API in the browser automatically. Asynchronously, this API decodes images with the browser's codecs to ensure there is no interruption to the main thread. 

Thus, images will run twice as fast without blocking the main thread, and it will remove all the junk caused by images previously.

Significant Improvements in Flutter 3

The development of Flutter isn't just about the extended platform support of the framework. In addition to the new support for Material Design 3, the framework has added a host of other features and functionalities to make it easy to use.

Furthermore, Flutter is now fully native to Apple silicon for development. When Flutter was released, it was compatible with Apple M1-powered devices. Now, Flutter takes full advantage of Dart's support for Apple silicon, enabling much faster compilation on M1 devices and universal binaries for macOS application development.

What to Expect Next in Flutter?

The major highlight of Flutter 3 is that it is now available on 6 different platforms: Android, iOS, Web, Windows, Mac, and Linux. Now the next and most important question that people may have is ‘what to expect next in Flutter?’

According to Google's product manager for Flutter, Tim Sneath, the project will support both Chrome and Firefox. The goal of building support for those platforms has been to provide Flutter with a robust platform to develop. 

Moreover, Google will continue to enhance Flutter in two significant areas: improving developer productivity and expanding its capabilities in the upcoming years.

Closing Line

Therefore, it can be said that the latest release of Flutter 3.0 shows the massive success of Google, which will attract many more businesses to join its community. As a result, the Flutter community is expected to grow continually much faster with the increasing number of Flutter applications. Finding technology better than Flutter is a question to think about when building applications for multiple platforms to cover a wide range of audiences and provide the best experiences. 

If you are planning to build an application for multiple platforms and are not sure how to get started, I would recommend you hire an experienced Flutter developer from a leading Flutter app development company that can help build robust, scalable, and feature-rich applications at affordable prices.

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Website Development Cost in 2024

A website plays a significant role in fueling the growth of your organization. A high-quality, functionality-rich, and scalable website for your organization allows you to deliver the best service with immersive customer experiences. Whether you hire a professional web developer or go DIY with a website builder, the average cost of website development in 2024 depends on your business needs. It costs more to design a website with more features & components that are custom-built or require a high level of customization. 

It's no secret that websites are the best marketing tool for growing businesses online in today’s fast-paced world. It is estimated that over 71% of businesses of all sizes own a website. Building a high-quality website requires a lot of factors to consider, such as website features, functionality, size, and complexity for your business. According to a survey, it has been found that over 88% of online consumers won't return to a website if they encounter a bad or so-called poor experience. It is therefore important to prioritize your online presence to attract and retain customers more efficiently.

If you are a business owner planning to build a feature-rich and mobile-first website and are wondering about the website development cost in 2024, you have come to the right place. In this blog, we will talk about the website development cost in 2024 and discuss various factors that affect the overall cost of website development. 

So, let’s get started with the basics!

What Is Website Development?

The process of designing, developing, and maintaining websites is called website development. It covers key aspects, including web design, programming, publishing, and database management. In other words, it is the process of building a web application that works over the Internet. Markup and coding are core elements of website development, which are enabled through languages such as PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Aside from this, other core aspects, such as the management of content management systems (CMSs), the integration and migration of eCommerce sites, and security configurations, are also included.

How Much Does It Cost To Build a Quality Website in 2024

The cost of website development in 2024 will depend on a variety of factors, such as how complicated the website is, the key features, the main functions, the UI/UX design, and the development method. However, costs for developing a basic website in 2024, are expected to range between $2000 and $5,000. It is possible to spend upwards of $10,000 or higher prices on more complex websites with advanced functionalities and lots of customizations.

The price may vary based on the region and the experience of a dedicated website developer or website development agency. When it comes to website development projects, it is always a good idea to get multiple quotes from different web development agencies, compare prices, and then choose the best one accordingly. Last but not least, consider hiring a leading website development company that can help you build a quality and scalable website for your business. 

How Much Does Website Hosting Cost?

The website hosting cost may range somewhere between $2.95 and $399.99 per month, depending on the hosting plan you choose for your website. The hosting plan depends on what type of website you need & what spaces and features you wish to have. However, it is advisable to choose a website hosting plan ranging from $2.99 to $20 per month for a single-page website or a blog since you will get all the features to host and run your website in that plan.

Different ways to build your website and its cost 

The cost of building a website comes down to how you want to handle the web development project, whether you want to build a website yourself, which will save money, or want to hire a dedicated website developer or professional web development services, which will cost more. However, each approach has its own pros and cons, which are as follows; 

Method 1: Hire a Website Development Agency

Professional website development companies are the perfect choice when you’re planning to build a functionality-rich, fully functional, and scalable website while taking your worries off. Leading web development agencies offer a comprehensive range of services like web design and development, app design, QA & software testing, and digital marketing to ensure you get the best service possible to meet your website needs on time. 

However, hiring a reliable web development agency for your website development project can cost thousands of dollars compared to hiring an independent contractor. So, if you are ready to spend more on website development, you can hire a trusted website development agency for yo ur web design and development project. 

Advantages; 

Here are the pros of hiring a web development agency for your website development project;

Access to higher resources to tackle complex web development projects.

Offer a full range of services, from web design and development and support & maintenance to digital marketing services to market and promote your website.

If anything goes wrong with the site, the Agency offers 24/7 customer support service to identify the issue quickly and efficiently.

Disadvantages;

Some drawbacks include;

Comparatively higher costs on website development

The agency takes time to finish a project since they work on hundreds of projects at a time.

They don’t prioritize your project if it is small or with a low budget. 

Their charge per hour is comparatively higher than hiring an independent freelancer. 

How Much Does It Cost?

Depending on the size and location of the website development agency, it could cost you somewhere between $10000 to $70000. However, this is just an estimated cost & it may increase or decrease based on your specific web development project needs. The cost may vary depending on the complexity, size, unique features, functionality, third-party payment gateway integration, and customization. Hence, there is no actual way to predict the accurate cost of website design & development. All of it depends on your website functionality and business needs. 

Method 2: Hire a Dedicated Website Developer

Hiring a dedicated web developer or a freelancer can help you build a stunning, mobile-friendly, and more professional website up to the highest standard. Having an experienced developer with prior experience in website design and development will understand your ideas, recommend key features that could enhance your website functionality, and allow you to grow your business more quickly and effectively. 

If you are wondering how to find a dedicated web developer, consider platforms like Upwork and Fiverr to get the best talent across the world, select a suitable developer, get an interview, and assign a job to the one that matches your needs. 

Advantages; 

It will help you build and launch your website quickly. 

A dedicated developer or independent freelancer will provide you with a top-quality and professional-looking website.

You don’t need to spend much time on research or learning web development skills.

Disadvantages; 

If you face any issues or need to make any changes to the site, it may happen that your developer is not available when needed. 

It will cost more when you hire a professional website developer or independent freelancer for your website development.

You may experience difficulties when tackling the issues on your own if you are not tech-savvy. 

How Much Will It Cost?

Hiring an independent freelancer or website developer costs based on their rates per hour for a project. Either you can hire a developer based on a fixed price model or an hourly rate. So, you can also set a fixed price for your website development project or hire a developer based on hourly rates. So, it’s up to you whether you choose a fixed-price model or an hourly rate based on your flexibility. 

The hourly rate of a website developer in India may range somewhere between $10 to $40 per hour, whereas the hourly rate of a website developer in the USA could be $50 to $100 per hour. On average, the cost of building a website may range somewhere between $2000 to $10000, depending on the size of the project, complexity, functionality, and customization. In addition, to save website development costs, it is best to hire a dedicated web developer or independent freelancer from India. 

Method 3: Build a Website Yourself

Building your website yourself or Do It Yourself (DIY) is one of the most cost-efficient approaches for creating a website at a significantly reduced cost. If you consider designing your website yourself, it will reduce the overall cost of website development & will require only basic costs to configure and host the site. 

This cost will come down to purchasing a domain name, choosing a hosting plan, selecting a premium theme, and installing an SSL certificate. With a website building like WordPress, Wix, Webflow, or Squarespace, you can complete the website very quickly & easily using drag-and-drop options or ready-made page template designs.

Once you build your website yourself, you will have to take care of every aspect of the website, including design and development, responsiveness, and testing on different devices and platforms. It’s up to you how you make your website template mobile-friendly while ensuring its security. On top of that, you will need to decide which third-party plugins or add-ons you want to install to make your site feature-rich and fully functional. 

However, the DIY approach is best suited only when it comes to building a basic website with a tight budget, so it might not be a good idea for large-sized website design or development. Large or most complex websites require a lot of challenges, including website navigation menu, fixing design issues on different platforms and devices, various customizations, performance issues, and numerous problems that only an experienced developer or leading website development agency can handle. 

So, be sure to follow this approach only when you’re confident and require a simple website or blog for your business. On the contrary, hire a dedicated website developer if you are planning to build a complex or large-sized website with lots of features and customizations. 

Advantages; 

The following are some advantages of the DIY approach for your website development; 

It’s best suited for those who have a limited budget 

It allows you to implement your ideas and build a site accordingly

It lets you learn new skills, gain some web design experience, and learn about website development.

Disadvantages; 

There are some drawbacks to using a DIY approach for website development; 

The process might be time-consuming or overwhelming

It may be frustrating to build a website yourself if you have no prior experience in web design and development. 

The website look may not be more appealing than a professional website. 

Not suitable for a non-technical person.

The cost of website development using a DIY approach

The DIY website development cost may range somewhere between $150 and $300, depending on the type of your website & business needs. You will need a domain and web hosting to build a basic website. The cost of a domain name will be around $11.99 to $14.99 and $2.99 to $8.99 for website hosting. Hence, you may expect to pay approximately $150 to $300 when building your website yourself. 

Conclusion

Finding top talent for your business isn't as challenging as figuring out how much it will cost to build a website in 2024 and beyond. You can find highly experienced web development professionals in India who can guide you through the process of building your ideal website from scratch, whether you want a simple WordPress site or a large online store. If you are a business owner with a tight budget, consider hiring a dedicated web developer from India to save costs on website development and get the best web developed on time and within your budget.  On top of that, if the budget is not your restriction and you want to build a functionality-rich, customizable, and highly scalable website with a full pack of services, consider hiring a leading web development agency with a proven track record of delivering large and most complex web development projects to worldwide clients more successfully.

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How To Build Cross-Platform Mobile Apps For Your Business

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices, businesses of all sizes continuously invest in mobile app development to maximize their business growth. Building cross-platform mobile apps is a time-consuming and challenging process that requires significant time, money, and proper development methodology to ensure the app's success. If you are a business with a unique app idea in mind and want to build cross-platform mobile apps for your business, but don’t know how to do that or where to start. 

No worries! The best way to build cross-platform mobile applications is to hire dedicated app developers with proven years of experience in creating quality and scalable cross-platform apps. Be it Android app development or iOS app development, hiring mobile app developers can help create robust mobile apps customized to your business needs. 

According to a survey, the global cross-platform app development framework market is projected to grow with a CAGR of 16.8% by 2033. 

Over the next decade, Flutter is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% by mobile app frameworks. Furthermore, a CAGR of 16.7% is expected for JavaScript-based frameworks and React Native between 2023 and 2033. The demand for cross-platform app development will continue to grow in the upcoming years due to its cost-effectiveness, scalability, and powerful capabilities. 

In this article, you will learn how to build cross-platform mobile apps for your business from start to finish with an ultimate guide. If you are considering cross-platform app development for your business, then continue reading this article further. 

So, let’s get started with the basics!

What Is Cross-Platform Mobile App Development?

Cross-platform mobile app development is the process of building mobile applications for different operating systems like Android, iOS, and Windows using the same codebase. With cross-platform frameworks, you don’t need to write separate code for different platforms, which reduces the overall time and cost of mobile app development. 

How To Build Cross-Platform Mobile Apps In 2024: The Ultimate Guide

Creating cross-platform apps is much easier than developing native mobile apps, but it comes with some challenges and limitations. Here is the step-by-step guide to build cross-platform mobile apps in 2024 for your business. 

Step 1. Ideas & Conceptualizaions

The very first step of how to build cross-platform mobile apps is to perform in-depth market research and planning for app development. Know your competitors like how they are doing, what works for them and what doesn’t, and the latest market trends they follow to remain competitive. 

Do extensive research about your app, like what you want to achieve from the app, who your target audience, and what is the main goal or objective you will address. Write down the scope of your app development project describing the main goals, and objectives, and proceed further accordingly.

Step 2. Select a Cross-Platform App Framework

Since there are so many cross-platform app development frameworks out there in the market, choosing the right one may be challenging. It requires you to perform research on the most popular frameworks, like Flutter, React Native, Ionic, or Xamarin, know their pros and cons, compare their features, and then decide what works best for your business app. 

In addition, you can also look for various other features, like performance, core technologies or languages they work on, community support, and their learning curve. Make sure to put your app needs first when it comes to choosing the right cross-platform mobile app development framework for your business. 

Step 3. Decide a Programming Language

Now that you have successfully chosen a cross-platform framework, it’s time to decide which programming language you want to use for your mobile app development in 2024. Identify the programming language based on the framework you have chosen. Ensure that you put readability, familiarity, and maintainability as the top priority when deciding on a programming language for your app development. Choose a stable language like Dart that offers sufficient features and support for your app development. 

Step 4. App Design

After choosing the right cross-platform framework and programming language, now is the time to create a beautiful design for your mobile app. Wireframes and prototypes are the two essential steps of the mobile app design and development process. Here you will need to pay attention to creating a user-friendly and intuitive user interface for your mobile app.

Afterward, you can go with testing the basic architecture, design, content, features, and functionalities of the application. Don’t forget to test the UI with real users and collect feedback so that you can implement any further improvements accordingly. 

Step 5. Develop a Mobile App

Once you have created a wireframe, prototype, and user interface for your mobile app, now is the time to write clean and maintainable code-based design and features. Before you start the actual development process, consider creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and then proceed the way you want. Here you will also need to create a desired method for app development while ensuring that it is perfect for both the iOS and Android platforms you’re targeting. 

Afterward, you can go with the testing process of your mobile application on multiple devices, emulators, simulators, or browsers. Ensure that your app is fully functional and is working as expected properly without having any issues. Last but not least, your app must be bug-free and deliver outstanding results on both iOS and Android platforms. 

Step 6. Testing The App Thoroughly

App testing is the most crucial step to launch your mobile app successfully. Once your app is designed and developed, it will have to pass through multiple testing processes to ensure that the app is well-designed and developed and doesn’t contain any bugs or fixes. This is the step where QA & software testers perform extensive testing, including performance testing, unit testing, usability testing, beta testing, and much more.  

Testing multiple versions of the operating system and different device capabilities and configurations should be carried out using a simulator or emulator. Both QA testers and developers work together to ensure nothing everything goes exactly the way they want. 

Step 7. Deploy and Launch Your App

Now that you have developed your cross-platform mobile app and tested it thoroughly, you can now proceed with deploying and launching the app on the market. You can launch and publish your app on Google Play Store and Apple App Store and distribute it through desktop app stores, including Mac App Store, Microsoft, etc. based on specific needs and use cases. Once you have a successful launch of your app, it’s time to optimize the listing and promote it to your target audience. 

Step 8. Make Improvements Based On User-Feedback 

Once your app is launched in the market, it’s time to gather user feedback about the performance of your app. Respond to users' comments and make the approvals accordingly to ensure you’re able to solve their problems in real-time. Bringing further improvements to the app is the most crucial step in making the app successful and competitive in the market. In addition, keep up with the latest trends and key offerings to ensure your app is also able to deliver the best results that surpass user expectations and needs efficiently. 

Conclusion 

You can find several cross‐platform app development tools like Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin for Android and iOS mobile applications. In addition to the user interface (UI), the Business Logic/Service, and the Data Abstraction Layer (DAL), the additional Service Interface Layer (SIL) and Data Abstraction Layer (DAL) will provide the right level of abstraction to enable one to adapt to any future platform that may appear, client or server. Apps and services can connect to whatever device the world can think of with the help of the SIL and the DAL, and this allows them to expand their business the way they want.

In the present day, a mobile app that can run on multiple platforms is best developed cross-platform. Cost-effectiveness, time efficiency, and ease of maintenance are a few of the benefits it has over native app development. If you are considering cross-platform mobile app development, consulting with a leading cross-platform app development firm can help.

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Unleashing the Power of Cross-Platform App Development for Seamless User Experiences

In the dynamic realm of digital innovation, Cross Platform App Development Company has emerged as a game-changer, offering strategic advantage to businesses seeking widespread reach and optimal user engagement. As technology continues to evolve, the demand for versatile and scalable solutions has intensified, making Cross-Platform Development the go-to choice for forward-thinking enterprises.

At Crest Infosystems Pvt. Ltd., we are at the forefront of revolutionizing the digital landscape through our expertise in Cross-Platform App Development. Our seasoned team of developers leverages cutting-edge technologies to create robust and efficient applications that seamlessly run across diverse operating systems.

Why choose Cross Platform Development? The answer lies in the efficiency and cost-effectiveness it brings to the table. By utilizing a single codebase, businesses can significantly reduce development costs and time-to-market, ensuring their apps are available to a wider audience in record time. Our commitment to excellence in Cross-Platform App Development is reflected in the intuitive and high-performance applications we craft for our clients.

Navigating the complexities of modern technology, we specialize in harnessing the potential of frameworks like React Native and Flutter to deliver unparalleled user experiences. Whether it’s iOS, Android, or Windows, our Cross-Platform solutions ensure consistent functionality and aesthetics across all platforms.

Partner with Crest Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. for a future-ready approach to app development. Embrace the era of Cross-Platform App Development and position your business for success in the digital landscape. Explore limitless possibilities with us and witness your vision transform into reality.

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Video on Demand (VOD) App Development

The demand for Video On Demand (VOD) app services across the globe has increased with the increasing use of smartphones and Smart TVs, resulting in a higher number of subscriptions for VOD app services. The way people used to access video content has transformed now completely through Video On Demand (VOD), allowing them to access the video or watch online streaming from any device and anywhere. 

Be it its favorite movies, TV serials, seasons, web series, or other kinds of video content, thanks to VOD made it possible to access them from any device, anywhere, and at any time without any hassle. Some popular video streaming apps like Netflix, Disney, and Hulu have become an essential part of our daily lives which has increased the growth of the VOD app market.

Video On Demand (VOD) apps has brought major changes in the sports and media & entertainment industry, forcing them to build video-on-demand apps for their business to remain competitive in the fastest-growing marketplace. 

As reported by a study, the revenue of the VOD global market is expected to grow by USD 126,548 million by the end of 2025. Many companies have already started using video-on-demand services to revolutionize their business and offer the best streaming experience for their users online. 

Well, in this article, we will be talking about Video On Demand (VOD) App Development including its top features, essential steps, top benefits, and the cost of development. 

Before we dig deeper, let’s know what the Video On Demand (VOD) app is. 

What is a VOD App?

VOD stands for Video on Demand which refers to any video service that offers video content in the form of movies, serials, seasons, etc., to the user’s screen or device. VOD gives freedom to watch things such as what they want, and what they don’t want and allows them to skip or change uninterested video content at ease. 

Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, etc., are some of the most popular examples of Video On Demand (VOD) that offer video streaming services. VOD apps often come with a subscription model, free and premium. The free version has limited video content to watch and if you want to watch more videos such as the latest movies, and seasons, you may need to upgrade to a premium one. 

They offer complete flexibility for users to either stream the videos or download them to watch them after some time. In addition to this, the VOD app allows users to watch videos at a lower bandwidth, which makes it pretty easy to access more users.

The flexibility of such apps has naturally increased the demand for video-on-demand applications and subscribers are willing to invest in VOD app development as a result. Now that you have understood the Video On Demand (VOD) app, let’s know what’s the reasons to invest in the Video On Demand (VOD) app development. 

Reasons to Invest in VOD App Development

There are enormous business prospects for the VOD industry as the Internet is becoming more and more popular in developing economies. With smart devices facilitating VOD streaming, this is one of the fastest-growing business sectors, and is now the best time to invest in this sphere. 

In 2018, many large enterprises spent more than $90 billion on video content and are expected to grow by $100 billion by the end of 2024. It is experienced that on average, people spend over 83 minutes a day watching digital video which is expected to grow by 97 minutes in 2024.  

According to Google Trends, there was nearly a 300-500% increase in searches for live-streaming apps in 2020. And the SVOD subscriptions are predicted to reach 383 million worldwide by the end of 2024 (Techjury, 2020).

It's another reason to consider investing in VOD-related apps when the demand for video content is increasing due to the pandemic. Video-on-demand categories are most popular right now in various sectors including education, training, and live sports.

Advantages of VOD App Development

With more people getting hooked on streaming video each day, video streaming apps are growing in popularity. The biggest reasons for creating a thematic video-on-demand platform are numerous and here are the top five.

1. Affordability

Users can stream videos from anywhere in the world at any convenient time with these solutions, as they are easy to use and convenient. The movies and sports events do not have to conflict with their schedules anymore; they can watch the videos whenever they like.

2. Budget

It is common for people to prefer low-cost platforms where they can get the most bang for their buck, and content owners can benefit from a platform that can be cost-effective while also offering unlimited access to video content from the library and is not dependent on any particular provider.

3. Flexibility

The demand for customized platforms is increasing as these platforms are accessible via any device that has internet access and specific apps, making them more widely accepted. A strong motivator for more users to opt into these platforms is remote access. 

You should focus on developing a user-friendly video-on-demand platform and invest in it if you want to make the most money.

4. Varieties

There are a variety of options for streaming video on the VOD website, displaying various categories of videos, including movies, TV shows, sports, fitness, and so forth. It is possible to further subdivide each of these categories for easier access, making it more efficient and effective.

5. Stream of Income

You can instantly provide a path for content creators, as well as video entrepreneurs, to acquire new customers by making your site accessible to them. Subscription options help to generate more passive income for businesses. 

6. Continue to be Ad-Free

It removes the expected impediments and aids in the ad-free streaming of video. It is unquestionably one of the biggest problems with television, digital platforms, and other video streaming services.

Must-Have Features while Developing VOD Application

You need to understand some features before you begin developing a VOD app so that you can assess, map, and analyze your users' viewing habits so that you can add them before you start developing a streaming video app with the maximum return on investment. 

To help you launch your video-on-demand (VOD) app successfully, we have done some fundamental research and created a list of the most essential features that must be in your video streaming app. Here are some of the most essential features that you should consider for your video-on-demand (VOD) app development. 

Video Content Management 

Reliable Video Hosting 

Progressive Web App

Multiple Revenue Models 

Video Marketing 

Fully Customizable 

Video Player

Whitelabel 

Analytics 

Security 

100% Customizable For Niche Industries

It is crucial that the VOD app is customizable for the benefit of the developers to be able to develop its monetization model for maximum ROI according to business goals and objectives.

Whitelabel Services to Own them: In exchange for the services, creators will have total ownership of any streaming apps they provide.

Integrate Robust HLS Video Player: 

It will be extremely convenient for multi-device viewing with a high-quality video player that can preserve video authenticity and be compatible with all relevant formats.

Manage Priceless Assets with Video CMS

The in-built content management system can help enhance the productivity of all content which ensures their particulars.

Robust Infrastructure for Video Hosting

It is provisioned on the cloud with a secured network of VOD hosting that increases the overall potential of your VOD app.

Progressive Web Apps for Mobile Home Screens

Add features such as push notifications and smaller app sizes so the users can experience a similar experience on the web as well as through native apps. Additional features would make the app a hit among the users.

Multiple Revenue Models to Stimulate Growth

Utilize best video monetization platforms in order for the potential of VOD apps to grow exponentially by enabling revenue models such as transactional VOD, third-party ads,  subscription video on demand, and server ads, which are given options to disable or engage.

Analytics to Be the Game-Changer Every Time

The application of content analytics to create and manage content effectively will enhance its quality, as well as the way it is distributed. Analytics will always prove to be a valuable tool for increasing traffic and engagement.

Security protocols shielding content’s originality

SSL Certificates with end-to-end encryption support can enhance the value of a showcase platform, as they can geo-block content in particular areas thus enabling geo-blocking to become a useful showcasing strategy.

Video Marketing to Increase Conversion Rates

VOD streaming platforms providing video emails to users can increase user engagement rates and contribute to a successful business model. Video emails are proven to be more effective than email marketing.

VOD Monetization Models SVOD: With Subscription Video-on-Demand (SVOD), subscribers pay a monthly fee to access the app. Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and Netflix offer this service.

TVOD: In Transactional Video-on-Demand or TVOD, users are charged according to the videos they wish to watch. This is a cost-effective option since users only have to pay for the content they wish to watch.

AVOD: AVOD is an ad-centric model, which is completely free for watching videos. One of the best examples of ad-based and on-demand models is YouTube which allows all users to watch videos directly on the app. However, this is also called a hybrid model, combining all the 3 models. 

Must-have Video Streaming App Features

Let’s take a look at some of the most essential features of the video Steam app, which are: 

User registration and login: The app must have a feature to log in with social media, so users can quickly log in to the app using their preferred social media channels and share the links of live streams later to attract more users.

User profile: Additionally, you might need to add two types of profiles (trainee and trainer) so the app can offer more tailored video recommendations in the future. Another good idea might be to add a rating to the trainers' profiles to help trainees choose a trainer.

Live video streaming: This is the most essential feature needed to maintain the quality of the streaming video as on top priority. As reported by 67% of the viewers, live video streaming is the most loved feature of any VOD app. 

In-app video storage: 

This feature allows users to download movies or video content to their devices to watch them later. They can also save their favorite videos or their past live workouts on their profiles and share them with their friends. 

Real-time group chats or live comments: The feature facilitates communication between the streamer and the audience, which increases the length and frequency of engagement.

Comments and discussions: It offers a medium to collaborate or communicate in a small group or leave feedback, ratings, or reviews about the workout after watching the video.

Search functionality: This feature helps users who want to search for more videos or live streams outside of their network. It makes it easier to search by geolocation, type of workout, and more.

Subscriptions and push notifications:  This is also a must-have feature that keeps users informed about the most recent streams, news stories, or updates. 

Analytics: This feature helps in monitoring users’ preferences, search behavior, number of clicks made on ads, time spent on the platform, and various other info or data sets gathered from a specific user’s activities. 

VOD application development process:

In the process of creating a video-on-demand (VOD) app, the same procedures that you would follow to create a typical app are followed. Now that you're entering a thriving and competitive field. On the other hand, the on-demand app is a very well-known product in the market and requires a few steps to follow while creating a VOD app for your business. 

Step 1: Knowing the customer’s need

Knowing your customers is the very first thing you can do to better understand their on-demand needs like what they want and what they don’t. You can create a campaign to test and better understand your users.

Step 2: Determining the Current Trends

Researching the app specifics is definitely on the list of to-dos in the on-demand business. However, it is better to come up with a unique way to top the competition than spend too much time researching your competitors.

Step 3: Choosing the Right Business Model

It’s crucial to identify which business model better meets your needs. The company often uses two types of business models: The first one is used to build an app for your current business, and the second one is used to have an app that doesn’t require handling the business at a higher level.

Step 4: Prioritizing the Right Features 

Determining top features including login or register, filters, payment gateway, real-time tracking, shopping cart, ratings & reviews, push notifications, etc. In addition to this, try to figure out unique features that make your Video On Demand app stand out from the crowd. 

Step 5: UI/UX Design

It involves a combination of essential features such as elaborate graphics, color schemes, icons, and their positioning with seamless interconnections, intuitive navigation, and other factors relevant to your target users to provide the right user experience.

Step 6: Develop the VOD App

In addition to creating the most intuitive experience, you may want to have robust connections with your database, the server of the application, and the web servers. In the early stages of the development process, the backend architecture needs to be fully established.

Step 7: Test & Launch

The quality assurance department needs to ensure there are no defects in the product. If there are, they are corrected to avoid future issues. This step is critical to ensuring the beta release of the app is glitch-free. In addition, It eliminates the bugs and functionality issues that often cause problems at the time of launching the application. 

Now that you are done with the process of developing Video-on-demand (VOD) applications, let’s know how much it would cost for development. 

Cost Of On-Demand Video App Development

Just like other apps, the cost of creating on-demand video app development depends on several factors, including app features, size, third-party services, unique functionality, app complexities, etc. In addition to this, it most often depends on the Video On Demand app development company and skills and experience based on past work that you opt to hire for your on-demand video app development. 

However, the company’s location and development center also impact the cost of on-demand video app development. 

For instance, if you are hiring on-demand video app developers from India from a reputed company like Crest Infosystems that holds over decades of experience in creating on-demand video streaming apps and services for global clients can help reduce your cost to a greater extent. 

If you are hiring app developers from the USA, it will cost you around $50 to $250 per hour. Hiring an app expert from India may cost somewhere between $15 to $70 per hour. 

Have a video streaming app in mind and want to give an edge in the new era? Getting started with India’s most renowned video-on-demand app development company can help accomplish your business goals more efficiently. 

Wrapping Up

Thus, the demand for the Video On Demand (VOD) app market is growing exponentially at a faster pace with the significant growth in the VOD app development industry. That means, investing in the VOD app development would be a good move seeing the current app market shares and its growing statistics and popularity.  If you are planning to build an on-demand video streaming app or service for your business, talk to mobile app development services experts who can help create the most intuitive VOD app that offers live streaming with seamless experiences across all devices and platforms with easy accessibility.

[crestinfosystems]

Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is battling Microsoft Azure for leadership in public cloud computing, while Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is close behind. Cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) companies are leading in this market segment.

There is a particular dominance of AWS. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has maintained its 33% share of the global cloud market, Microsoft Azure at 19%, and Google Cloud Platform at 7%, according to Statista. 

Google Cloud, with its capabilities in artificial intelligence, is especially well-positioned for growth in the AI market - and offers discounts as well. Microsoft is powerful in SaaS, and Google Cloud, with its strengths in artificial intelligence, excels in providing discount services.

Well, in this article, we will make a detailed comparison between Google Cloud vs. AWS vs. Azure and help you understand which one is the right solution for your business. 

Amazon Web Services

Its comprehensive set of tools is unrivaled, but its price structure can be confusing. AWS is more focused on the public cloud than the hybrid cloud or private cloud, meaning that interoperability with your data center isn't a top priority for AWS.

Features of AWS

Amazon offers tons of numerous features and functionalities with the best-in-class services, such as:

Analytics and machine learning

Developer and management tools

Productivity tools

Cloud app integration

Storage solutions

Computing

Pros and Cons of AWS

Let’s have a look at the top advantages and disadvantages of AWS. 

Pros of AWS

As the first modern cloud service provider, Amazon Web Services enjoys many advantages that stem from its massive global operations and its status as the first modern cloud service provider. 

AWS's growth has been enabled by these factors, which allow it to offer a large range of interruption-free services worldwide. It has the following strengths:

Supports almost all types of operating systems such as macOS

A full array of services

The constant growth of service selection

Great availability and maturity

The ability to handle a large number of end-users and resources

Simple startup

Like any other cloud platform, AWS has some drawbacks too.

Cons of AWS

It costs more compared to other ones 

It requires extra charges for essential services

Additional charges for customer technical support

Sharp learning curve after startup

Resource caps

Microsoft Azure

If you're an enterprise customer, Azure is a close competitor to Amazon Web Services, it has an exceptional cloud infrastructure - few companies have the enterprise background (and Windows support) that Microsoft does. 

The hybrid cloud is a true strength of Azure; the platform can interoperate seamlessly with data centers.

Features of Azure

Through the existing infrastructure Microsoft created for its software and business app offerings, Azure has repurposed and offered many easily configurable, deeply integrated services, such as:

Comprehensive IoT integration

Cloud development platform

Blockchain technologies

Predictive analytics

DevOps features

Pros of Azure

Azure, which has a rich development history in the IaaS area, has several strengths that correspond to its traditional role as a provider. Some core benefits and strengths include:

Fairly low on-demand pricing

Simple to set up and configure with the Microsoft family of software

Discounts of service contract for Microsoft cloud computing users

It has various built-in apps that offer support for various languages like PHP, Java, Python, .NET, etc.

High redundancies to reduce downtime

Wide availability

Cloud computing, however, does not come without its flaws, and you need to determine if the downsides of Azure will outweigh the potential benefits. 

Some drawbacks of Azure are:

Complex to learn and understand compared to other platforms

Doesn’t come up with a more professional design than other ones

Difficulties in reporting regarding network management

Reporting issues through technical support

Low data management

Google Cloud

While Google has been well funded, it entered the cloud market later and does not have as much of the enterprise focus that is necessary to appeal to corporate customers. 

It is an industry-leading company with market-leading capabilities in artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and data analytics.

Features of Google Cloud Platform

The Google Cloud Product team is quickly catching up to its competitors, backed by Google's extensive global reach and seemingly endless capacity for innovative thinking. 

It offers the following services, including:

Machine learning and artificial intelligence engines, such as vision API, cloud speech API, etc. 

Data storage and management

Productivity management

Cloud app development

Business Analytics

Pros of GCP

In addition to its high-performance computing, machine learning, and developer tools, Google Cloud Platform's strengths are its developer-orientation and developer-focused cloud platform. It includes the following benefits:

It uses the most popular languages like Java and Python

Generous sustained-use discounts

Easy to set up and configure

Faster response times

Data load balancing

Greater scalability

Though Google Cloud product has numerous features and advantages, there are some drawbacks too, to look into them.

Drawbacks of GCP

Limited advanced features

Lack of diversity of features

Low global data centers

Low service offerings

Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure: Global Market Share

AWS and Google Cloud combined had been observed to outperform Microsoft Azure cloud revenue in the quarter ended 2021. Microsoft's Azure cloud outperformed its competitors in commercial-cloud revenues in the fiscal quarter with US$17.7 billion, a 50% increase over the previous quarter, despite AWS' Goliath-like stature.

According to Amazon's AWS company, the cloud business reported revenue of US$13.5 billion in the last quarter of 2012 (an increase of 32%), while Google Cloud reported revenue of US$4.05 billion. 

As reported by Canalys, the global cloud market size for April 2021 is $41.8 billion, growing 35% over the previous quarter. Amazon Web Services (AWS) includes more than 32% of the market, while Microsoft Azure covers 19% and Google just has 7%.

Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure: Price Comparison

It is cheaper to operate cloud-based instances on Google Cloud compared to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Furthermore, the instance types of accelerated computing tend to be more expensive than others.

For small businesses 

With Amazon Web Services, a monthly cost of around US$69 is the norm for a very basic instance with 2 virtual CPUs and 8 GB of RAM. In Azure, you will pay about US$70/month for the same types of instances (2 vCPUs and 8 GB of RAM).

At 25 percent less than Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform will provide you with the most basic instance, which contains two virtual CPUs and eight gigabytes of RAM. Your monthly cost will be about $50.

For large businesses,

It will cost you about US$3.97/hour to run the most expensive instance provided by AWS, which includes 3.84 TB of RAM and 128 vCPUs. Azure offers instances with up to 3.89 TB of RAM and 128 virtual CPUs. The cost is approximately $7.69 per hour.

The largest instance on the Google Cloud Platform has 3.75 TB of RAM and 160 virtual CPUs. Prices are approximately $5.32 per hour.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Options

While none of the three vendors offer hybrid or multi-cloud offerings significantly, they each provide different tools that provide flexibility to customers.

AWS Hybrid and Multi-Cloud

VMware Cloud on AWS

Amazon EKS Anywhere

Amazon ECS Anywhere

AWS Local Zones

AWS Wavelength

AWS Snowcone

AWS Outposts

AWS Snowball

Azure Hybrid and Multi-Cloud

Azure Active Directory

Azure Security Center

Azure Blob Storage

Azure Centinel

Azure Backup

Azure Stack

Azure Arc

Google Cloud Hybrid and Multi-Cloud

Cloud Run for Anthos

Traffic Director

Cloud Build

Operations

Anthos

Looker

Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure: Availability Zones

The fact that Amazon Web Services (AWS) was the first in the cloud domain means they have had time to set up and grow their network. They host their data in different locations across the world. 

Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) also host their data in different locations but their availability zones differ. AWS, Azure, and GCP all host in multiple locations worldwide.

AWS has zone availability with over 12 more on the way.

Azure has nearly 54 regions across the globe and is available in 140 countries worldwide.

Google Cloud Platform has nearly 20 regions worldwide with 3 more on their way.

Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure: Services

Now you know what all three of these cloud giants have to offer in terms of services. With five years of a head start, Amazon Web Services has the most functionally varied and developed cloud computing services.

Check out these AWS and Azure Tutorials! AWS offers over 200 different services, whereas Azure offers more than 100 different services. Google Cloud offers around 60 different services, while Azure and AWS offer a combined of 200 services.

Let’s have a detailed comparison between Google Cloud vs AWS vs Azure. 

Google Cloud Vs. AWS Vs. Azure: Which One is Right For Your Business?

Your best choice of public cloud vendor will depend on your needs and workload. In fact, you might find that some of your projects call for an entirely different cloud provider. 

Several experts expect that enterprises will heavily invest in multi-cloud computing soon. The move may help mitigate vendor lock-in and help match workloads with the best available service.

Considering AWS Cloud Solution

If you're looking for a more personal relationship, then small boutique shops might be a better option. AWS has a rich collection of tools and services, along with its massive scale and low prices.

Despite Amazon's enormous size, there are managed service providers that can provide such excellent customer service. 

Considering Azure Cloud Solution

Microsoft, meanwhile, has its Microsoft shops as its greatest draw. Azure works well with all your existing .Net code, and it is easier to connect your server environment with Azure and migrate on-premises apps more quickly and efficiently. 

In addition to this, Azure mainly focuses on the hybrid cloud that replaces the legacy data center environment with the fastest-growing and most scalable Microsoft cloud.

Considering Google Cloud Solution

Talking about Google Cloud, it is rapidly growing but it still seems like a work in progress. Naturally, Google does not have any experience dealing with businesses. Although the company has been investing billions in its cloud effort, it remains committed. 

Cisco, which does know how to work with large companies, is also a partner in its cloud efforts. Google's cloud is built on its core strengths, which are scale and machine learning. Most people should check it out if they didn't like what they saw a year ago. It's for sure they will be surprised.

Final Thoughts

Therefore, the choice between cloud vendors will vary based on the type of business and its application requirements. This is why certain types of businesses may be more attracted to a certain vendor. For example, if you run a company that uses Microsoft products, you may want to investigate Azure.

If you are a startup, web-based company looking to scale and grow faster, considering Google Cloud Platform would be the best option. The AWS system will probably be the best option for you if you are a large enterprise and looking for a wide selection of services and worldwide reach. Additionally, if you are building a customized application with cloud capabilities, migrating to cloud services, or experiencing costs and scalability issues with your existing infrastructure, approaching a leading cloud service provider can help.

[crestinfosystems]

How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Is Transforming The E-commerce Industry

The nature of online shopping is constantly changing as a result of artificial intelligence (AI). Nowadays, the use of AI and machine learning in e-commerce stores is changing the way people used to work and provide services to their clients in the past. With Machine Learning, retailers should be able to provide customers with a more personalized shopping experience, ranging from virtual buying assistants to virtual ordering assistants.

Thanks to predictive search, most e-commerce stores offer consumers personalized product recommendations and a personalized shopping experience based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. There is a growing trend of AI and ML in the eCommerce sector as it is helping them provide an exceptional experience to their customers. Therefore, it has been a decade of exponential growth for the eCommerce industry, crossing $5 trillion in 2021 from $680 billion in 2011. 

Over 37% of businesses and organizations that use artificial intelligence will eliminate over 85 million jobs, and approximately 97 million new jobs will be created by the end of 2025. It is estimated to have closer to a 20% market share, up from its 3% share a decade ago in 2024. This blog will help you understand how artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming the e-commerce industry and creating more business opportunities for e-commerce store owners. 

So, let's get into it!

Understanding Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning  

Both Machine learning and artificial intelligence are closely related to each other. Two of today's most trending technologies for developing intelligent systems depend on these two areas of computer science. Online shopping is constantly changing due to rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The AI system helps shoppers find the right product in the store by identifying exactly what they want or are looking for. 

Intuiting human behavior, recognizing natural language, recommending products, and understanding natural language are some of the areas in which AI excels. In contrast, machine learning uses learning algorithms to do its needful work. Artificial intelligence includes machine learning, which aids machines in learning and understanding on their own.

How Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Is Transforming The E-commerce Industry

Numerous factors will help you understand how artificial intelligence and machine learning Is transforming the E-commerce sector. These include;

Help In Decision-Making 

Machine learning can help improve decision-making, without a doubt. Managing an eCommerce store requires lots of decisions regularly. Your business might benefit from dropshipping, or a newly launched product might do well with your customers, but machine learning helps make better, more informed decisions by backing them up with data. Moreover, machine learning algorithms provide businesses with meaningful insights into large amounts of data rapidly and efficiently. 

Excellence Customer Support

The use of artificial intelligence chatbots can make customer service and support more efficient for eCommerce shopping sites and online stores. When customers find solutions to their problems, they like and appreciate them. With this chatbot, customers can get the information they need by talking to a live agent in an app. 

Chatbots that use AI are also useful for re-advertising abandoned carts to customers. Therefore, chatbots are an excellent way to maintain customer engagement and enhance their shopping experience.

Personalized Shopping Experience

It's not enough to offer your customers the same services as retail outlets; they also expect more personalized offers from your business. It has been the personalization of products and services that has driven the eCommerce business. Adapting to customers' unique needs and demands is becoming much easier thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning. 

For example, if a recent buyer of an iPhone wants to purchase an iPhone, the store should suggest the best iPhone cases based on his browsing history and behavior. This way, you are more likely to increase sales if you provide your customers with the best product recommendations.

Voice Assistants in eCommerce

AI plays an increasingly significant role in eCommerce, particularly with voice assistants. In the future, customers will not have to type a search query to find their desired products. This is because AI voice assistants will understand simple voice commands so that they can reach their desired products very quickly without any difficulty. 

The voice assistant plays an integral role in an eCommerce store like Amazon. It will speed up product searches and make placing orders easier for customers by implementing voice assistants in the stores. Hence, artificial intelligence will help users get more relevant answers to their questions.

Implementation of chatbots

In this modern world, chatbots are potentially found in every aspect of e-commerce, even though they have been prevalent in e-commerce for years. Furthermore, consumers prefer self-help tools such as chatbots over customer service to resolve their problems. Chatbots are convenient and offer prompt responses because they are easy to use and deliver the best experience online. 

It is estimated that 1.4 billion people worldwide use chatbots today, and studies have shown that deploying one increases sales by 67%. Businesses should strive to provide global consumers with the best shopping experience through their brands' unique chatbots. Therefore, businesses should ensure that their chatbots are embedded with high-quality scripts to avoid repeating answers by bots. 

Process Optimization

Integrating AI and ML into eCommerce businesses is an excellent way to improve customer experience. By automating your ordering and delivery processes, AI solutions can assist you in enhancing work efficiency. It is also possible to use artificial intelligence to improve warehouse and inventory management so that you can handle your supply chain more efficiently. 

Likewise, your customers will benefit from a pleasant shopping experience with automated ordering and delivery processes. In addition, it is possible to boost your business through process optimization. 

Improved Inventory Management

Sometimes, eCommerce stores can struggle with inventory management, which may even cause them to fail. You can manage everything efficiently using inventory management, regardless of whether you have overstock or understock. And it will be easier for you to manage your supply chain and track your customers' behavior using artificial intelligence. Thus, using AI and machine learning can help you improve inventory management in eCommerce, resulting in more efficient inventory management and fewer stock-outs.

Fraud Protection

Fraudulent transactions can be detected more efficiently with AI and machine learning technology. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence can enable you to instantly detect any suspicious activity, thus protecting your customers' confidential information. And your customers will be more likely to trust your business when they pay online or conduct transactions over the Internet with you. More than 95% of all purchases will be made online by 2040. So, the prevention of fraudulent transactions is essential in such a situation.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Through immersive technologies such as AR and VR, brands are improving shopping experiences and customer satisfaction more efficiently. Businesses are changing the way they operate because of these technologies, which are revolutionizing the world of e-commerce. Virtual experiences are being used to engage customers by all small startups and e-commerce giants. Retailers use AR and VR to develop innovative marketing campaigns to capture customers' attention and influence their behavior.

Therefore, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence will assist e-commerce businesses with different functions, such as enhancing customer experience, optimizing website and app performance, providing individualized services to customers, managing customer relationships, and controlling the warehouse. And eCommerce will benefit from AI and ML in the future since they are evolving at a much faster pace.

Analytics And Forecasting

With AI, business owners can analyze where potential customers originate, which will help them improve their targeting. AI also suggests which age or gender groups to target based on what relevant interests they display on social media. Aside from increasing lead generation, AI can also help predict the success of planned innovations in the retail industry by marketing to clients who are shopping with your competitors. 

Thus, it is much easier to predict a company's performance using machine learning models based on historical and market data.

Mobile Commerce and AI technology

Mobile commerce is one of the newest trends in the e-commerce industry, and AI will continue to improve e-commerce websites' UX (User Experience). Your eCommerce website is visible through smartphone applications if you use mobile commerce. So, ensure that your website is visually appealing to your customers and delivers the best shopping experience on mobile. Business owners can make the right decisions based on customer data and behavior thanks to artificial intelligence.

E-commerce business owners can optimize their websites by selecting images and videos using AI applications. It is imperative to optimize your online store for desktop and mobile devices to rank well on the Google search engine results pages. This way, AI can enhance the shopping experience on mobile and the usability of your eCommerce store.

What To Expect In the Future? 

We live in a world where machines are almost everywhere. AI and machine learning have become integral parts of many eCommerce businesses worldwide. Machine learning helps businesses interact with their customers better, contributing not only to eCommerce success but also to their general success. The future looks quite bright, considering the plethora of AI trends, applications, and benefits available today. Thus, AI and machine learning will continue to play an increasingly important role in eCommerce in the upcoming years. 

This technology will become more necessary with time, and once again, it will be the first to disrupt the eCommerce industry. It would be ideal to work with a team of skilled app developers to incorporate AI and machine learning into an e-commerce store. However, a good understanding of algorithms and trends based on AI is important for AI developers. So, you can hire developers and get a free consultation from experts using a leading software development company in India.

Conclusion

Hence, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies directly affect customer service and business expansion in the eCommerce sector. Using machine learning solutions in your eCommerce organization can generate business benefits in each division. It will be increasingly beneficial to the eCommerce industry with the growth of AI capabilities and machine learning algorithms to better operate their online eCommerce stores and provide the best services with the utmost customer experiences. 

There is no limit to scope and opportunity in the thriving eCommerce sector, and AI and ML concepts can help you take advantage of them efficiently. In addition, enhancing customer service, increasing productivity, and improving HR decisions are necessary for running any successful eCommerce business. Thus, e-commerce companies can save thousands of dollars by integrating AI and ML features into e-commerce development.  Apart from exploring other opportunities, consulting with leading AI and ML technology solutions providers can help you stay on top of technological advancements. If you are an eCommerce business owner and want to integrate AI and ML into your online eCommerce business to improve customer experience and provide the best level of services. It is always best to hire dedicated experts from a leading e-commerce development company in India. 

[crestinfosystems]

How to Develop an Effective Digital Marketing Plan

The right digital marketing strategy makes it easier for businesses to understand their target audience, buyer personas, and target competitors. Digital marketing is way more cost-efficient and delivers excellent results with successful outcomes compared to traditional marketing. It helps businesses to evaluate which marketing tactics work best and track their real-time progress, as well as allows them to adopt more effective strategies for achieving their business objectives through digital marketing. 

In addition, it can also be helpful to define your brand's value proposition in a digital marketing plan. The idea is to begin your various outreach campaigns from this pre-defined point. According to CoSchedule, businesses that create plans get three times more success compared to those that don’t.

However, digital marketing plans have specific outcomes and are measured by tracking them against those outcomes.  This means they can be easily measured, but they should also be flexible so that you can adjust them as necessary. In the vast online space, getting lost in your communication and failing to get your desired results is very easy. 

That is why it is essential to create an effective digital marketing plan. And you can take your business online by developing an effective digital marketing plan. More than 5 billion people access this world each day. In this article, we will discuss what a digital marketing plan involves and how to create the right one for your business. 

Let's get into it!

What Is a Marketing Plan?

You can optimize the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns with the help of a marketing plan that helps you set goals. Planning this way can help you understand your target audience and develop your marketing campaign goals. 

Doing this gives you a better understanding of everything you do in marketing. You can also communicate your marketing team's "big" strategy and tactics with a comprehensive marketing plan. Lastly, it gives you a way to track campaign success.

A marketing plan should have:

Both long-term and short-term marketing goals

A well-optimized description of your target audience

Plan high-level marketing strategies and tactics

Consider adding the following items to your plan if you have a more detailed plan:

An overview of the current market situation

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

Estimated budget or financial considerations

An execution timeline or roadmap

You can also create a more creative version of a marketing plan than what is typically heard from marketing experts. And you could create an infographic, a presentation, and even an interactive website to share your plan. The following is an example of a single-page marketing plan.

Are Marketing Strategies and Marketing Plans the same thing?

Marketing plan vs. marketing strategy is a subtle distinction that needs to be understood. The first step to creating an effective marketing strategy is to consider how you will: 

Communicate the values of your company

Accomplish your business goals for long-term growth

Establish a competitive advantage 

As opposed to a business plan, a marketing plan details the specifics of how you intend to reach your goals on a day-to-day basis. Marketing plans and strategies are symbiotic: plans must have strong strategies to guide them, or else those strategies are useless without effective plans.

Digital marketing plans are what you need.

It is easier to put into action digital marketing strategies that have a clear plan for your business. It provides you with an easy way to organize your tasks. This way, you can continuously engage your audience and drive them to action by constantly connecting with them, engaging them, and driving them to take some actions. 

Planning, coordinating among departments, and effectively integrating digital marketing efforts are among the functions of a digital marketing business plan.

Ways To Determine the Online Presence of Your Business? 

You may want to consider the following things when planning your digital market strategy:

Target Customers: Analyzing your audience and their needs will help you understand them better. You must know how your target customers acquire your products and services to determine future sales. You must also know where they are physically when they buy them, and what type of marketing materials work best.

Website: By regularly analyzing your website, you can learn about your website's current positioning on the digital platform, your user experience, your social media presence, and more.

Competition: It is crucial to understand how your competitors are marketing their products. Look at how your competitors advertise their products and services, how they price and distribute certain products and services, and how they maintain an online presence through this technology.

How to create an effective digital marketing plan: a step-by-step guide

Now that you have a clear understanding of your components, it is time to write your marketing plan. Following the seven steps will help you create a stellar marketing plan.

1. Identify stakeholders

To develop a marketing plan that pleases your stakeholders, you must identify them and find out what their needs are.

Your strategy and priorities will be guided by identifying which of these stakeholders are most relevant for this project. Consider a scenario where you're generating leads for your sales team. Stakeholders in this campaign include your sales team. You do not just have to figure out their needs, but also their big-picture goals, such as:

How do they define a qualified lead?

Can they contact these leads if they have the following information?

What is the minimum number of leads required to reach their sales goal?

Therefore, the stakeholder satisfaction stage must be met if you want to achieve stakeholder satisfaction. Only one out of three organizations succeed at this stage.

2. Create your team

The right people need to be on board to complete the job properly. It is common for project teams to have no more than six to ten members. Marketing is as true as cooking when there are too many cooks spoiling the broth. You should not focus on a large group of people, but rather on a small group of experts and authorities who can accomplish the task. 

If you are planning to implement content marketing, for example, you may need:

A project manager

An SEO expert

A content writer

A digital marketing person to promote the content

3. Create a communication plan

A lack of communication accounts for 29% of project failures. It might make the difference between success and failure for a project if there is a documented communication plan in place. Set up a communication system for your team from the beginning, such as:

The platform do you use, for example, Slack, Email, or Microsoft Teams, and how do you meet to discuss the project? How can your team members ask questions and address concerns - what is the chain of command? The use of time tracking in marketing projects is a very effective way to increase transparency and communication.

It's life's way of ensuring that some things take longer than expected. Monitoring your time can give you insight into when this occurs, so you can allocate more resources or hire a new team member based on the requirement. Therefore, team members can work much more efficiently together and independently when they are all on the same page, reducing the stress associated with ambitious projects.

4. Create a task list

There are three easy steps you can take to create a task list for your project: 

Create a scope of the project, such as which tasks you need to handle in this project, and which do you not. 

Make a work breakdown structure (WBS), like the first step of a marketing campaign, which might be market research, so you can use them as a framework for bucketing your tasks. 

Within the example of market research, some tasks might include: putting together focus groups, developing a white paper, and creating a case study. Prioritize your project's activities following stakeholder preferences because using these techniques can help you prioritize internal tasks.

5. Make a schedule for your marketing plan

In a marketing plan, you can schedule your marketing activities using Excel. However, a static document has numerous disadvantages. In particular, the lack of integration with other platforms is one of its biggest shortcomings. 

However, it is possible to compare milestones and deliverables across multiple projects using more sophisticated project management tools. In addition, they allow you to compare your team's work for one project. Marketing campaign milestones, gaps, risks, and resources can all be identified through a visual project schedule.

6. Generate a risk management plan

Most organizations use risk management practices, with only 3% of organizations not using them at all, and 27% always using them. Conducting a SWOT analysis is an effective way to anticipate risk and that gives you a general idea of what you are:

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Security Threats

Using an agile planning model is another step to prepare for marketing risk factors. A major component of agile planning is the use of iterative approaches, in which you continuously assess and re-evaluate your ways throughout the project. And when something isn't working, you switch it up rather than sticking to your original plan. 

7. Monitoring and reporting

Time management is already one of the most significant aspects of managing a project. One way to ensure projects are delivered on time and successfully is to track their progress using time-tracking tools. 

It will show you how much progress has been made on the project and where team members may be falling behind. Be sure to monitor your key metrics during your project. This kind of reporting is usually, included in most marketing project plans.

Now that you have understood how to develop an effective digital marketing plan with a step-by-step guide, let's know what elements you should consider for your marketing plan. 

Essential Components of a Marketing Plan

Marketing plans are no different from marketing projects, so neither will be the same. Consider the following eight essential elements that are common to successful marketing plans.

1. Know the Target Market

Depending on how you plan to engage the target audience with your email marketing campaign, you might use this information. An ICP is the ideal customer profile that you should outline when launching a new product. 

2. Identify Your Goals and Tools

The importance of this step is well-known to all professionals in the marketing industry. You must define your strategy's goals to make it successful, so it is imperative to do so. It is helpful to develop measurable goals that are suitable for your situation.

3. Competitive analysis

Your marketing efforts are equally significant to the success of competitor analysis. There are different ways to analyze your competitors, depending on your marketing campaign. For example, to identify your SEO competition, you must know:

Who are my top SEO competitors?

How does a competitor's content rank on the top of Google?

Could my competitors have more content than I do?

What kind of content does my competition use to drive results?

4. Brand Strategies

Your brand's strategy must include a few key components, which include the following things:

The position of your brand

Proposition value of your company 

Your mission statement

5. Budget Planning

If you don't crunch the numbers now, they will come back to bite you later when you lay out your big vision for brand expansion. Thus, you must determine the budget plan to proceed successfully. In addition to budgeting for any costs, you should also consider: 

Focus groups 

Visual assets

Paid ads

PR

Etc.

6. Responsibilities and Resource Planning

One of the most significant components of any plan is planning the resources. To meet the goals of your marketing project, you must identify, acquire, and assign resources. Resources can be anything, including people, tools, facilities, materials, or a monetary budget.

The following steps you must consider while allocating resources; 

Create a timeline for your marketing project.

Determine the resources required to get the project done.

Discover and set up available resources.

Develop a plan for achieving unavailable resources.

7. Metrics and measurements

You can track the project's success in real time by setting your metrics at the beginning of the project so that everyone knows what success looks like. The right metrics depend on your overall project objectives and goals. Keep in mind, however, that vanity metrics, such as social media impressions, don't provide reliable indicators of engagement.

8. Tasks and schedule

Have you ever heard of a plan without a clearly defined timeline? And it’s a good idea to think and plan out things better. You can also plan a timeline for your marketing project using a visual planning tool like Toggl Plan. And you can then schedule your marketing plan accordingly. 

Conclusion

Therefore, repurposing and atomizing your marketing assets will enable you to achieve more with less. However ineffective campaigns, lower ROI, and unexpected costs are all consequences of operating without a solid marketing plan. Therefore, you should align marketing objectives and activities with your overall business goals with the help of a marketing plan to make it work out.  There is no doubt that you need digital marketing services for your business, whether you are an e-commerce company or a brick-and-mortar company. Although effort, time, and coordination are required, the result is well worth it. The company will be able to achieve higher marketing results due to a more effective marketing plan in place.

[crestinfosystems]

How To Build SaaS Software Faster in a Limited Budget

Over the past few years, SaaS technology has become the talk of the town, even if you're not aware of it. According to a study, over 86% of businesses will rely exclusively on SaaS apps by the end of 2022. Several products have changed the way businesses used to operate in the past, such as Zoom, Google Docs, Trello, and Slack. So, the question is how to build a successful SaaS product faster and on a limited budget. 

And how can SaaS products help you make money, or if it is a good idea to get them developed? Well! The right answer is YES! SaaS offers numerous growth opportunities for modern businesses to help them grow and scale while staying on the minimum budget. So, if you are looking to build a SaaS product and want to know how you can create SaaS software faster within a limited budget, then this blog is for you. 

In this article, we have come up with the most effective tips and tricks that will help you learn how to build SaaS software faster on a limited budget. So, without taking much more time, let's get into it!

SaaS Product Market Overview

There wasn't much demand for SaaS products five or ten years ago, but they are now becoming more popular, and businesses are investing in them. According to Gartner, SaaS software adoption is a significant driver of the rapid growth in custom software, with a 10.5% growth in 2021. 

Building SaaS products in 2022 is a strategic move that will pay off soon for entrepreneurs, and 88% of business executives will do so after 2021. By the end of 2022, Statista estimates that the SaaS market will be valued at $171,9 billion, up from 145,5 billion USD in 2021. 

Therefore, it is not unreasonable, given the market growth that has been demonstrated thus far. SaaS markets in the US rank at the top of the list, but if you look at the market from a long-term perspective, Asia-Pacific has a more significant profit margin.

Let's now get into the tips and tricks to create SaaS software faster and on a minimum budget.

How To Build SaaS Software Faster on a Limited Budget?

Follow the proven tips below to get your next SaaS software product developed much faster and at a lower cost. 

Reduce complexity for faster deployment

It may take longer to develop software if the project requirements or architecture are complex. It is also not always true that the team size impacts the project's complexity. Software is built faster with fewer people when it comes to simple newsfeed-like applications, for example. Since Uber-like apps have several independent modules for drivers, customers, and administrators, these applications require the most significant amount of time to develop it. 

In addition, your product teams must work on architecture modules simultaneously so that you can speed up the development process. To move forward, your teams will need to finish each model step by step, which means that project complexity affects the overall timeline and cost.

Consider a software development partner with no more 6-hour difference

A 6-hour difference between you and the outsourcing development team can leave you with 2 working hours of overlap between your time zones. It is usually sufficient to catch up on daily projects and discuss updates on further developments. So, it will make your workflow even more complicated if there's a more than 6-hour difference. 

Adapting to schedules means starting earlier or finishing later, depending on the circumstances and the differences in time zones. That may not seem significant, but SaaS projects take an average of 3-6 months to develop. It means that it will negatively impact your communication and increase your development time, which will ultimately increase your costs. Therefore, keep track of time zone differences to reduce development time and cost.

Choose the right technology stack

Choose the most advanced and least popular tech stack if you can, but be aware that it may cost you much more time to find developers who can handle it. The price of their skills will also be higher because of this. And it is a matter of supply and demand! Consider choosing a tech stack that speeds up development if you want to monetize your app as soon as possible. 

However, it is possible to reuse components with just minor changes between the front end and the backend in Ruby on Rails, for example. It can save time when building similar features from scratch. Therefore, you should ensure your product is scalable if you are planning to expand its features, especially when creating a tool from scratch. 

If you are planning to change your software in the future, choosing a tech stack that allows for maximum scalability is crucial. I will reduce the cost of future changes and possibly save you from having to rebuild it. It is one of the main reasons that developers spend time and resources fixing bugs, which is why your tech stack should be capable of handling them appropriately. 

Furthermore, TDD (Test-driven development) is one of the most effective ways to prevent bugs. And using a TDD-friendly tech stack can help you avoid such challenges more quickly.

Create a list of important tasks

You will be able to reduce the effects of your budget on all areas of your company, including development, marketing, and operations. This will be possible as soon as you start generating revenue from your SaaS. A Minimal Viable Product (MVP) in place when launching your startup business will allow you to monetize it faster. 

To build a high-quality SaaS on a limited budget, you can source the most talented developers with a small budget from a reliable SaaS software development company in India. Depending on how many features you want in your app and how complex they are to develop, you will be charged more for app development. 

Therefore, you should focus on the product's core features that will convince your customers that it is worth their money to reduce development costs and time. 

Consider the right pool of talented developers

It's important to consider outsourcing versus keeping your SaaS in-house team if you're just starting out developing one. And it may seem easier and more sustainable to build a team of developers in the long run. However, if a startup company needs to ship its tool to market quickly and build it from scratch, it may not be the best option.

So, you shouldn't look only at hourly fees when comparing outsourcing and hiring. Your development team needs to be assembled, your developers need to be trained, and then your product needs to be built. Furthermore, you should factor in the costs of renting office space, equipment and tools, public contributions, and recruitment. 

For example, the German government requires paid leave of 30 days per year. Thus, outsourcing experienced developers with core technology expertise can help you monetize your product faster as they will be able to launch it faster and more quickly.

Rely on 24/8 development pipelines

You can also implement a cyclical support and development workflow by organizing your so-called '24/8 development' pipeline. You would accomplish this by converting the small overlaps in your support and development processes into cyclical systems. For instance, a difference of 9 hours between you and the vendor minimizes the efficiency of interactions and discussions regarding the project updates- and this is because you are in California, and the vendor is in Luxembourg.

However, It's possible to create a project development workflow that runs almost non-stop. Here's how it works: your in-house team is working 8 hours per day one by one, while your vendor's outsourcing team is working 8 hours daily. To keep the other team updated on the progress of the project, one team prepares a daily report at the end of the working day. 

The Luxembourg-based team, for instance, finishes their working day at 9 am, which means your product team starts at 9 am. As a result, you minimize project idle time and establish a development pipeline that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Implement CI/CD Pipelines

Software developers need to practice continuous integration and deployment, which means daily or weekly integration of changes into a shared repository. The automated verification process for each integration helps detect possible errors and bugs more quickly. Every time new functionality is added to CI/CD, it is then integrated into the process. 

Thus, it is simply a way of automating the software release through continuous delivery/deployment. It is important to remember that CI/CD pipelines are fundamental to DevOps operations, as they lead to high development velocity. Moreover, these tools assist in building software more efficiently by minimizing manual errors, increasing iteration loops, speeding up feedback, and ultimately reducing SaaS software development costs.

Get Client Feedback

Developing SaaS products does not always lead to immediate success- you should test them out before launching them. Encourage users to provide feedback early in the process using Google Forms or in-app feedback. If you wish to extend the free trial for your users, you may invite them for an interview and ask their personal opinions about your product.

So, you'll have to iterate your product several times before it becomes a final product. After launching the software product to the market, it is important to gather feedback from clients frequently to make further improvements and updates.

Get reviews before scaling the product

Now is the time to create an effective marketing plan that will enable you to scale lead generation once your product has been validated with your target audience. And you should collect testimonials from your potential customers before you launch paid campaigns on your social media channels. 

It may require you to ask two core questions while sending a request for a SaaS tool review. Are there any problems you have solved with this product? How would you feel if you no longer had access to this product? 

To make it easier, utilizing online review platforms such as Trustpilot or Capterra can make the process of collecting reviews easier and can also be beneficial for your search engine optimization.

Conclusion

You should launch your SaaS product as quickly as possible to get feedback from customers if you are developing a product on a shoestring budget. The outsourcing process is faster than building a technical team in-house if you also have a low budget and a short timeline for completion. Choosing developers is only the first step; you must also opt for the right tech stack you want to use to scale your app quickly in the future. 

Thus, building a product that evolves with your users' needs depends on collecting and documenting customer feedback after launching the product to the market. Moreover, you'll want to scale your marketing efforts when the market validates your SaaS so that you can maximize product sales and improve ROI.

[crestinfosystems]

What Are The Types Of Software Integration?

Getting software integration right is crucial for businesses in this competitive age. Businesses need to integrate emerging systems to achieve optimal efficiency and functionality when more systems are designed to communicate with each other. And the functionality requirements for modern applications must also keep up with the evolution of the IT and technology industries. 

However, the management of a growing business may require the use of multiple software solutions. For instance, a clothing company could effectively accommodate an increasing customer base using inventory management and order optimization software in place. Thus, the synchronization of disparate data sources is necessary when organizations rely on more than one software subsystem for business functions. 

Consequently, top leaders and managers will better understand their organizations' full scope and be able to manage data effectively with the help of software integration. If you are a business owner and want to streamline your business processes to function seamlessly from a single panel, you have come to the right place. Well! In this article, we will cover everything about software integration, what is software integration, the types of software integration, and the importance of software integration for your business. 

So, let's start with the basics!

What is Software Integration?

Integrating different types of software parts or subsystems is known as software integration. When organizations migrate from a legacy system to a cloud-based app- they may need to integrate software. Integrated software is also useful for companies that use multiple databases or have a variety of applications. Businesses can be more effective at using and analyzing their information when all data is collected and processed within one system.

Connecting systems will traditionally require the assistance of a software integrator. In addition to designing and implementing integration applications, these specialists can help companies to meet their objectives. Fortunately, today many software providers offer integrated solutions that simplify system platform connections with technological advancements. 

In doing so, users gain valuable insights, manage integrations, and experiment with the latest technologies without the need to hire dedicated software engineers, developers, or specialized integrators.

Types of Software Integration

There are four main methods to consider when performing software integration, including below;

1. Star Integration

The process of star integration involves connecting all the subsystems within each software application. It was named after the fact that its diagram looks like a star when all its systems are interconnected. However, the integration of several systems can also create spaghetti-like links depending on the number of systems involved. 

The spaghetti process refers to this method because of this. And team members can reuse software functionality through this kind of integration. Integration of new subsystems will, however, require considerable time and money for businesses when they need to add them.

This approach to system integration leads to jumbled and difficult-to-map IT infrastructures instead of the ideal neat ones. In addition to offering more functionality than single point-to-point connections, multipoint connections can also be extremely complex to integrate. 

2. Horizontal Integration

Communication within an organization is achieved through Enterprise Service Bus or horizontal integration. Message transmission and monitoring are two of its main features. Aside from data transformation and mapping, it also provides other services. Furthermore, horizontal integration will reduce the number of connections between subsystems. 

The flexibility of this approach allows teams to add, subtract, or adjust systems without interrupting the others. Large businesses with many disparate systems can benefit from this type of software integration. The expense of integration decreases as the system expands, so using this method is also cost-efficient. This way, businesses can benefit from horizontal integration in the long run.

The healthcare sector is a common example of horizontal integration with simplified integration methods for medical systems. An ESB integration interface can also be structured so that it can effectively integrate with existing on-premises applications by taking a tailored approach to software development.

It will only be necessary to link the ESB to existing subsystems that generate data or require integration and data movement. EDI, MFT, and application connectors could be used to facilitate data transfer, transformation, and integration from multiple sources by using technology, including Managed File Transfer (MFT), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), and application connectors.

3. Vertical Integration

As a short-term solution, vertical integration is considered a faster and more affordable alternative to horizontal integration. It involves developing functional entities for each of the company's software systems and vertically syncing them. Therefore, bringing business processes together vertically can maximize efficiency and competitiveness, among other benefits. 

In addition to improving vendor communication and reducing operating costs, it can streamline supply chain management for retailers. However, scaling a software product will be difficult due to vertical integrations. As a result, each system will be isolated from the other and will not be able to share information appropriately.

4. Common Data Format Integration

When businesses need to convert or transport data, they use a common data format, a method that eliminates the need for an adapter. A data format that is accepted by both systems is necessary for this method to be effective. Businesses can benefit from data conversion and automation through the use of common data formats. 

It offers many benefits, including seamless communication and independent operation of all subsystems. However, it is fairly complex and requires extensive coding skills, which is a disadvantage of this integration.

Why software integration is the right choice for your business

Here are a few reasons why you should consider software integration for your business. 

Integration of software can be a challenging process but it provides significant benefits to organizations of all sizes. Software integration delivers the following numerous benefits when done correctly:

Higher productivity and efficiency

Quicker business processes

Improved data accessibility

Improved data flow

Improved security

Reduced costs

Reduced errors

As the digital business landscape continues to evolve thanks to the technological industry, businesses must leverage the benefits of software integration. Therefore, continually refining and adapting to industry demands is part of the data integration process.

The challenges of software integration

There are certain challenges to successfully implementing software integration since it is a rather complex endeavor.

Choosing the right integration tool

Even though software integration can be beneficial to organizations, it can also be challenging to select the right tool that fits your needs from the many available options. A hybrid integration tool is a good choice to stay on the safe side. 

By integrating local applications with cloud-based applications, hybrid integrations eliminate integration barriers between local and cloud-based applications. Furthermore, it reduces costs by relying less on hardware by centralizing risk management of shared data.

Environmental changes

The ever-changing environment of updates and improvements to systems often leads to integrated software solutions not lasting very long in the IT industry due to the rapid rate of development. Therefore, changing technology creates significant changes in the environment, so integration tools must also adapt and become obsolete. Nevertheless, integrated systems often serve a specific purpose, so when technology advances create challenges, these tools need to be updated as well.

Legacy system complications

Software integration can be difficult (and impossible in some cases) in organizations with monolithic architectures, which interweave independent software systems with each other. For software integration, it is usually necessary to replace the entire enterprise system, which is a complicated task that requires a lot of time and resources.

Software Integration Process

Following these best practices can help businesses connect disjointed systems efficiently once a method is chosen carefully for software data integration.

1. Gather Requirements and Specifications

The first step should be to document and determine the different requirements for integrating the software systems. In addition, it is imperative to define what the purpose of the individual application is, and how it is used for the specific system. Therefore, getting a better understanding of your software requires dedicated managers to ask these questions.

The main purpose of the software subsystem?

How do they perform specific actions?

What do they want from users to function efficiently?

What sorts of data the does system collect?

2. Information Analysis

You should note down all requirements and definitions to determine whether application integration will be possible or not. Whenever this is the case, businesses must evaluate their current processes and determine what their software solutions need to be. As a result, research will start improving the existing system, linking them together more effectively.

3. Create Architecture and Management Plans

As part of this process, the team will develop a blueprint for integrating the systems. It is critical to detail the tools used in the integration plan. For example, diagrams can be used to show how the systems will integrate with other applications. The executive team will be able to view and share the plan more easily if it has a visual representation.

4. Create the Software Integration System

By utilizing the blueprint, it is finally possible to develop the software integration system. To make sure the system works as expected, the business team should be diligent during setup and run regular tests. However, developers must pay close attention to details when developing systems and ensure they are fixed as soon as possible.

5. Start Using the Integration System

The organization can begin using the integration system once tests show that it is working well and without error. It is imperative to download and set up the software properly before you start the integration process.

6. Identify System Performance Periodically

Once the system is running, developers should test its performance and verify that it is functioning correctly regularly. If there are discrepancies or inefficiencies in the process, these will be identified and fixed as soon as possible.

7. Maintenance

Maintaining the newly integrated system is one of the most overlooked steps, yet it is also an essential step for its smooth operation. So, it is the responsibility of the system integrator and the system user to run scheduled diagnostics to detect any new errors and inform the IT department of any problems.

When should you consider software system integration?

Integrating hardware and software modules into one cohesive infrastructure enables all components to function together. The benefits of this type of integration, also known as IT or software integration, are as follows.

Increased productivity: By integrating systems, the daily processes can be controlled centrally, increasing the efficiency of the entire process. Accessing all apps and data from one place helps companies get more work done in less time.

Cost-effectiveness: It is often cheaper to integrate all disjointed components than to replace them with a custom-built, single system. Additionally, implementing a new computer infrastructure can be a difficult process.

Faster decision-making: Data is now integrated rather than being scattered across siloed storage. Therefore, performing analytics doesn't require manual downloading and exporting. The benefit of having an integrated view of all information is that you can make better decisions more quickly by obtaining meaningful business insights.

More accurate and trustworthy data: All departments are up-to-date using the data from all components of the system, with more concise and accurate data predictions.

Other benefits of software integration include;

Enhanced analysis 

An application that integrates related data makes it more meaningful and powerful. It is better to bring together data sources to analyze trends and draw conclusions more quickly when using multiple sources of data. 

Improved data security 

Security for your data can be managed much more easily when using one unified system application rather than several. It is simpler to manage, backup, and administer data when integrated with these tasks.

Better customer service 

Integration of CTI and CRM software will enable you to provide customers with more effective assistance since accessing customer information is crucial for maintaining healthy relationships.

Increased sales potential 

It will have a positive impact on your sales potential to integrate systems that streamline all aspects of your sales process and improve your order fulfillment rate.

Conclusion

Hence, software integration is beneficial to both MSPs as well as for internal IT teams as it streamlines critical IT processes, boosts efficiency, and allows business owners to focus on revenue-generating tasks. This way, IT management is simplified, and technicians can save a lot of time switching between disparate applications by integrating applications like BMS (professional services automation), VSA (remote monitoring and management), and IT Glue (IT documentation).  Therefore, you can improve your business processes, streamline operations, and reduce time and cost with software integration. If you are looking for software integration services and want them to be done seamlessly at reduced costs then hiring a software integration expert from a reliable software integration company in India can help further.

[crestinfosystems]

E-commerce Trends in 2024 You Need To Know

E-commerce has generated a lot of businesses as consumers spend more time on online websites and storefronts for shopping needs in recent years. Companies hoping to succeed across industries need to keep up with e-commerce trends because the digital world is flooded with various options. In the coming years, the number of retail eCommerce sales is projected to increase, which is good for eCommerce businesses, but it also means that competition will be more likely to grow. 

There were 425 billion U.S. dollars in revenue for European eCommerce in 2020, and the growth continues to grow. The revenue of this industry is expected to reach 569 billion dollars by 2025. According to experts, global retail e-commerce sales are predicted to reach 8 trillion dollars by 2026, from about 5 trillion dollars. The opening and continuous optimization of online shops have provided many businesses with a means to increase their revenue. 

Thus, keeping an eye on consumer preferences and expectations will be crucial for eCommerce store owners and online retailers who wish to capitalize on this growth. Following are 2024 e-commerce trends that can help you and your business make the most of your online presence.

So, let’s get into it!

Top E-commerce Trends You Must Look Out

Following these top eCommerce trends can help you build customer trust and keep your business on top of the competition in 2024. 

Mobile commerce

The demand for mobile apps is increasing with emerging technologies and will continue to grow in the upcoming years. As of Dec 2022, there are over 7.26 billion mobile phone users worldwide, including smart & feature phones. Research suggests that over 91% of users of the world's population own mobile phones. In addition, it is estimated that smartphone users will reach 7.516 billion by the end of 2026.

For eCommerce retailers, this is good news because consumers prefer mobile commerce to purchase products and services online. Approximately 69.9% of all retail eCommerce sales are expected to be based on mobile commerce by the end of 2024. Mobile devices account for more than half of all internet traffic, so you need to ensure your website is optimized for mobile viewing.

Paying Attention To Customer Experience

Focusing on the entire customer experience is now more crucial than ever. With so much competition online, poor customer service is almost guaranteed failure. The chances are good that a customer will only return if they have a good experience on your website. Now that consumers are accustomed to shopping online, businesses must focus on making it easier for them to find and buy things.

To improve the customer experience and ease of payment and shipping, you must include quality in all aspects of your brand, including your logo design, tagline, and CTA. Additionally, leading brands strive to improve customer experience after purchase, which is why improving customer experience is extremely important. So, try to create everything as elegant as possible to give your brand an appealing look. 

Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality

AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) have begun to play a bigger role in the retail sector in recent years. We're seeing more and more brands now, allowing you to interact with products in a way that you can't get from a traditional store. As of now, big brands are adopting this technology more frequently.

There is likely to be some piece of furniture you have your eye on that you would like to have in your living room, or maybe it is a piece of jewelry that you would like to wear on your finger. However, the cost of doing so will prevent smaller businesses from adopting it for many years.

Voice Search

As voice searches are becoming more popular, businesses should optimize keyword content and content related to them. Mobile services like Siri and Cortana, along with smart speakers such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home, are now frequently used for task completion. 

According to Think with Google data, over 72% of owners of smart speakers say they use them day-to-day. In addition to creating shopping lists, ordering products and food, and conducting web searches, you can also use these speakers to organize the home and other tasks. 

Online Sales Will Continue to Increase

This statistic may help you decide if you want to put in the time to keep up with the times after reading these top eCommerce trends for 2024. According to Statista, it is estimated that global retail eCommerce sales will reach approximately $8 trillion by the end of 2026, following a 60% growth rate over the next few years. 

With improvements in website design, consumers are more comfortable shopping online and trusting online stores more often. Experts predict that the global COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term positive effects on eCommerce, despite its tremendous impact on online sales.

Accessibility

A well-designed website is essential for e-commerce to succeed, and those who can do both are the industry's future. According to research, over 94% of eCommerce websites fail to comply with AA standard requirements for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Your business could reach a greater audience and gain an advantage over your competitors if you address these accessibility issues first.

It's more than just avoiding the legal risk that's important to make your site more accessible for your users. Easy-to-use websites are more shopable. People with disabilities often struggle to reach details in low-contrast text, enter lengthy forms, or navigate with a keyboard.

Subscription commerce drives customer retention

The use of subscription commerce for retaining customers and generating future revenues is a powerful strategy for businesses. The key to success in 2024 will be to create meaningful customer relationships because it's cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. 

Over the next three years, 40% of weekly digital shoppers are expected to use subscriptions. Thus, it eliminates manual ordering from your customers' lives, giving them one less thing to worry about, and subscription commerce is ideal for businesses that have frequent customers who order the same items.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI solutions make it easier for eCommerce businesses to increase efficiency and target their daily operations. With AI, eCommerce businesses can offer better customer experiences and come up with creative solutions that are more relevant to their customers. 

According to a HubSpot survey, over 63% of people are unaware they are interacting with AI because they are so easy and accessible today. Using AI in your eCommerce site is possible in an indirect manner or even without a user realizing it.

In-app purchases on Facebook and Instagram

Since Millennials and Gen Z are becoming more powerful consumers, Facebook and Instagram have become more popular for in-app purchases. More than 48% of respondents to a survey in these age groups believe social media influencers have some level of trust. 

Facebook Shops recently launched to simplify selling on Facebook, which made it easier to use Instagram Checkout last year. As a result of their efforts, both Facebook and Instagram have enabled the purchase process on their platforms without requiring users to leave them. 

The rise of Augmented Reality (AR)

You can notice the rise of AR with the growth of emerging technologies in the eCommerce industry. More than 50% of shoppers engage more with 3D images of products than static images, according to Retail Brew. Augmented reality (AR) will be particularly useful for home decor & fashion businesses focused on online shopping. For example, customers can see what they look like wearing a certain outfit or how certain furniture items fit in their homes using augmented reality (AR). 

By doing so, online shoppers will have a good understanding of the products and services. This way, AR will help businesses enhance customer experience and user engagement more efficiently. 

Personalization

Personalized experiences increase customer loyalty, engagement, and bottom lines for e-commerce sellers when they leverage customer data. People are more likely to purchase from businesses that offer personal touches that appeal to them if they know the brand well enough. Over 49% of customers admit that they are more likely to visit the site if they experience personalized shopping while shopping online. 

Your customers will lose their loyalty to a brand that invests in knowing them across all channels if you don't personalize your content. Moreover, customers want personalized offers throughout their entire customer journey, so you must engage them on the channels that they prefer.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are designed to be more like native apps rather than traditional websites. These apps allow users to browse as if they were on a native app rather than a website, making it easier for them to access information on their mobile devices. It reduces the likelihood of changes leading to unexpected consequences by decoupling the commerce engine from the store's front while providing customers with native mobile experiences. In 2022, smartphone sales are estimated to reach over $432 billion in sales, a significant increase from current levels. 

It's not surprising they're gaining popularity since they perform fast, send push notifications, and show up on the device's home screen. Thus, mobile shopping is no longer just a novelty, it's becoming more common. Moreover, you can use PWA in conjunction with a headless commerce architecture to provide fast, reliable, amazing mobile shopping experiences. 

Rise of Influence Marketing

Creating connections between influencers and creators and their audiences is the main reason for the growth in the influencer marketing industry. Influencers are now able to build relationships with their followers, allowing them to promote products and services when they promote them. According to the State of Influencer Marketing 2022: Benchmark Report, more than half of eCommerce stores work with influencers. 

In addition, over 90% of survey respondents believed that influencer marketing was an effective marketing tactic, compared to less than 10% who disliked it. On top of that, you can take help from Influencers with creating anything your target audience will find valuable to create valuable content. So, think broader than just advertisements when working with an influencer in 2024 and beyond. 

Fast Delivery

We are no longer in the days of packing and sending products on their way, trusting they would reach their destinations in a week or two. Amazon set the industry standard for delivery when it offered next-day and same-day deliveries for the first time. On-time delivery has become the top priority for e-commerce business owners. 

Speed, communication, and personalization are all key factors in meeting the demands of modern consumers when it comes to their orders - customers want to know whether their order has been processed, where it is at each step, and when it will arrive. Hence, it is no surprise that delivery has become a part of the instant gratification culture. 

Multiple Payment Options

To boost conversion rates on mobile devices, you also need a wide selection of payment options, otherwise, you risk losing a sale. eCommerce sites should decide whether or not to offer alternative payment methods due to the expected rise in mobile shopping in the future. Furthermore, more ways of paying will help you take advantage of more than one emerging trend as you strive to offer a personalized customer experience. 

In fact, Statista shared online data indicating that digital wallets and mobile wallets accounted for more or less 50% of eCommerce payments worldwide in 2021. In addition, the market share is expected to reach more than 53% by the end of 2025. Online shoppers want faster transactions without sacrificing security, whether the transaction is through a digital wallet/mobile app, cryptocurrency, or biometrics. 

Sustainability supports business growth

The demand for environmentally friendly products and brands with shared values will rapidly grow in 2024. Companies who wish to succeed should incorporate a circularity strategy into their business strategy since some sites offer eco-conscious shopping experiences (from products to fulfillment practices). More than half of consumers believe the pandemic has made sustainability more important to them. Therefore, a sustainable shipping option, minimal packaging, and easy recycling and refilling are also important factors for shoppers.

What To Expect Further?

Online shopping is now at the top of customers' minds due to the pandemic, and experts predict this will continue for some time to come. The rise of E-commerce in retail will be crucial to success in 2024, and industry experts predict massive growth in the years to come. A post-COVID world is forcing retailers to adjust their strategies after COVID-19, which accelerated growth in the e-commerce world like never before. 

According to Statista, e-commerce sales worldwide will grow from $5.7 trillion in 2022 to $7.5 trillion by 2025. Thanks to evolving technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality, e-commerce isn’t going down soon anytime. It is also expected that merchants will flock to e-commerce in record numbers in order to meet the consumer demand online.

Conclusion

There is great promise for e-commerce in the future. You can be part of the massive growth in e-commerce by keeping an eye out for these top e-commerce trends and implementing them into your business. And you will be sure to stand out if you adapt these trends to your current work model. Therefore, the digital world is no different from the physical one, as trends change constantly. When improving your eCommerce business strategy and increasing sales, you need to embrace one or more of the above-listed eCommerce trends for 2024.  In addition, if you need help with growing your online eCommerce business, consulting with a leading eCommerce development company can help you grow and scale your business quickly and more efficiently.

[crestinfosystems]

Important Tips to Improve Your Website Navigation

Having an easy-to-use and smooth site navigation plays a significant role in maintaining high retention rates and low bounce rates. The overall user experience is most impactful on conversion rates, so make sure that you pay attention to the website navigation structure. 

Most website owners, however, are concerned with the aesthetics and multimedia of their sites and ignore the fact that even well-designed sites can lose up to 55% of visits because of poor navigation. Users prefer to switch to another resource instead of spending time on a page to find the information they need.

However, there are various other aspects of a website design that facilitate a seamless user experience and many of them can ruin it if overlooked. Good aesthetics and good functionality are all critical to a high-performance website, from its layout. Text style and size must be flexible enough to accommodate different browser sizes and resolutions.

Well, in this article, we will discuss the top 12 important tips to improve your website navigation and explain to you why website navigation is important to creating a seamless user experience on the site. 

Let’s start with the basics!

What Is Website Navigation?

Website navigation is the menu that includes the top menu bar, sidebar menus, and links in the footer of a website, which allows users to browse different internal pages on that site. Designing website navigation is much more than anything that makes your site easy to use and user-friendly.

Website navigation helps manage a website for users and allows search engines to crawl it through internal link architecture. Links within an internal link architecture indicate how pages are related to one another. 

The most significant information appears at the top and leads to more detailed information toward the bottom. With the layout, the information is presented in a hierarchy of importance, adding context and adding context to subsequent pages.

What’s Good Website Navigation?

In other words, good website navigation allows users to quickly find the information they are looking for without redirecting them from one page to another page. It should be the same across all pages on the entire site and consistently deliver the best experience to visitors regardless of what devices and platforms they are using. 

Why Is Website Navigation Important?

Navigation is crucial to keep your website easy to access and usable for all visitors. Visitors will be more comfortable browsing your website if your navigation is excellent, allowing them to spend more time looking around. 

Good website navigation should allow users to search with ease and more conveniently. Clear, smooth, and intuitive website navigation is quite beneficial to your site and business as it helps to: 

Find the information users are looking for 

Boost customer retention rates and conversions 

Enhance customer satisfaction

Encourage users to stay longer on a site thus reducing bounce rates

Guide users through the entire website

Display more options to help users

Optimize SEO on the site

Now that you have understood what website navigation is and its importance for your website and business, let’s take a look at the following tips to improve your website navigation. 

Top 12 Important Tips To Improve Website Navigation

Follow the below tips and tricks to improve your website navigation: 

1. Select the Menu Order Strategically

Make sure that your navigation menu is more precise and perfectly aligned with the goals of your website. Ask yourself a few questions; are you looking for users to place an order, or do you want someone to reach out to you? You may probably need to customize your navigation bar to tailor to those specific needs based on what you are looking for. 

It's a good idea to start working on your website before you start writing your content. Statistical studies show that people are more likely to remember what comes at the start and the end of all of the other information. 

2. Be Specific With Your Menu Items

Help your website visitors understand where they are on your site by making it easy to locate them. As a result, great website navigation is not only easy to use but provides users with what they are looking for and encourages them to return.

Furthermore, context plays a role in attracting visitors. It is essential to provide some description with buttons, icons, images, or text content to other pages. By doing this, your website visitors will know what to expect on the different pages of your website since they know what the menus and navigation look like.

3. Keep in Mind the website architecture process

Structured websites include categorization, labeling, and content organization- referred to as web architecture. The main objective of website architecture is to achieve your business goals through your website by transforming first-time visitors into loyal customers through an excellent user experience.

With Treejack, you can measure the effectiveness of your website content structure. You can also learn how users navigate your website to reach specific pages and make recommendations to improve your website design.

4. Make Responsive Navigation for Mobile

With the growing use of mobile devices, having a responsive website is crucial to ensure smooth and seamless user experiences across all devices and platforms. The hamburger menu is one of the best examples of mobile responsive navigation that delivers the best experiences to visitors on desktops, mobiles, and tablets. This type of menu often comes in a compact size that works best on all mobile devices without causing any distortion to other buttons.

Some Interesting Stats About Mobile Internet Traffic

More than 83% of mobile users expect a seamless experience while browsing a website using their smartphones.

Google is largely responsible for 96% of search engine traffic that comes from mobile devices.

More than 70% of web traffic derives from mobile devices.

We may all be addicted to our mobile devices, but aside, it is paramount to ensure your site is mobile-friendly and responsive to any device or screen size. Therefore, a mobile-first design is imperative to ensure business success.

5. SEO and Search Engine Rankings

Website navigation affects SEO and Search Engine Rankings dramatically. Many factors have been shown to affect search engine ranking, but navigation systems can help provide some relief in rankings. 

It helps identify pages seen by search engines and how they are ranked in search results for specific keywords or phrases. Having a good navigation system will also make your website users find what they're looking for much easier than ever, so your site will have a better user experience, and visitors will come back again and again!

6. Linking Back to the Home Page with Your Logo

Linking your logo at the top of the page to the home page is a simple step many people overlook. Using this feature, users can find their starting point with their IDs. Therefore, the logo has to represent your brand, something that your target audience will be familiar with.

7. Make Primary Navigation Standout

Make sure you do not hide your main navigation and should be visible. It must be visible to your website users to grab their attention immediately. Generally speaking, you can easily find website navigation at the top of every page or position on either the left or the right. In addition to this, try to make it stand out from the rest of your page.

8. Keep Menu Item Options to a Minimum

Keep your drop-down menu short and your main menu as minimal as possible, giving it no more than seven items. Having fewer items in your main navigation will help your website visitors find what they are looking for quickly since this is the maximum amount of information that the human short-term memory can hold at a time.

9. Add a Search Bar

It doesn't matter if your website contains lots of information, having a search bar is essential. It allows website visitors to quickly find the page they are looking for without further requirements to scroll through the website. In addition to this, using a visible sticky search bar will help users navigate through the site very easily. 

10. Fix internal-broken links & provide 404 page

Linking within your website saves time and effort when browsing different sections and pages, as internal links provide a linkable structure for your website. It is more likely that users will leave your website because of broken internal links as they will lead users to unavailable pages.

It will improve the user experience and increase the duration of the visitor's session on your website if you replace broken links with the new page URL or 404 (not found) page.

11. Adding a Fat Footer

Those who limit footers to contact information and social media links are going out of style. There are lots of websites with fat footers that provide links to the key pages with contact information and links to social media pages. Generally, a fat footer includes the header navigation bar with fewer links to other specific pages, including the privacy policy. In the case of scrolling down and remembering something or looking it up, fat footers can be very useful.

It is possible to evaluate the user experience of website navigation by using Google Analytics before and after applying changes.

12. Google Analytics to track user experience 

You can use metrics -such as page load speed, bounce rate, average session duration, number of pages visited during each session, and conversion rate based on traffic volume to evaluate user experience. Identifying how users responded to changes in your navigation system of the website and how they altered their experience navigating the site will help you make better decisions on how to improve the system.

For a complete overview of the performance of your website, you can compare data for any period by adding the Google Analytics tracking code to your website.

Final Words

To satisfy the user's intention while visiting your website, you must optimize many aspects of the user navigation experience. You can start by improving your website navigation experience using the previous tips and insights. It is essential to have easy navigation on a website to lead visitors through the buyer journey and increase conversions. 

Business owners should align their navigation strategy with their business goals. If your menus are overly complicated, certain features are difficult to find. And when you use misleading words, you are more likely to lose visitors. It will cost you some precious conversions! This is because it directly influences how long users spend on your site, how they feel about your company, and whether they are willing to make a purchase.

Following the above best practices for creating a seamless navigation experience on your website. If you are non-technical and have no idea how to improve your website navigation, I recommend you speak to an expert web strategist from a leading website design and development company for better assistance.

[crestinfosystems]

Benefits of Offshore Software Development for Your Business

The popularity of Offshore software development is rapidly growing among small and medium-sized businesses, providing access to top-notch talents and reducing the overall costs of software development projects. Software development outsourcing is a complex business decision for enterprises or project managers, whether you are launching an app business or managing a project. Many companies are turning to offshore software development to get the best talents, save costs, and meet their business goals more efficiently. 

According to a survey, the global IT outsourcing market is estimated to grow by $1065.1 billion in 2030. And it is further expected to grow this way as more and more companies find new ways to remain competitive in a fast-paced digital landscape. If you are a company wondering what benefits offshore development can provide to your business & how it can help achieve your business goals, then this blog is for you. Well! In this blog, you will learn about the top advantages of offshore software development for your business. 

So, let’s get into it!

What Is Offshore Software Development?

Offshore software development is a type of software development strategy that companies use to outsource software development projects to a team residing in a foreign country. The main advantages of offshore software development are its significantly reduced cost and access to a wide range of talented software engineers who may work with you according to your time zones and preferences.

Top Benefits of Offshore Software Development for Your Business

Offshore software development offers numerous advantages for companies to get the right pool of talent from overseas, cost-effective software solutions, and complete flexibility to work from anywhere. Here are some benefits of offshore development which includes; 

Access to the right pool of talents

Furthermore, offshore software development allows you to hire people from anywhere instead of having to hire people in your hometown. Your local market may not have enough talented developers to meet your development needs, so outsourcing development is a great way to utilize this pool. There is a current shortage of software developers in the US, so hiring onshore or within your locale may not be an option. 

Going offshore gives you access to a much wider pool of professional talents in the software industry. To build a specific product, your team can choose what type of software expert they need.

Lower Costs

If you are a small business owner, offshore software development can be an excellent investment. As a result of their large resources and technical expertise, software development teams offshore usually have a lot more cash available and have access to newer, more advanced technologies than their local counterparts.

According to Deloitte, more than 70% of businesses opted for outsourcing to reduce their overall costs on software development projects. Due to the technological development and testing taking place in the United States and other major cities, technology companies are largely responsible for developing and testing the technology. 

In addition, you can leverage the latest technological advances to create more efficient business solutions through outsourcing software development. It is common in the US and Canada to put profits ahead of business goals.

Faster Time To Market

Recruiting for tech positions takes 50% longer than for other job roles, which suggests that offshore software development can also help companies accelerate time to market. Identifying and hiring the best candidate for a tech job role takes an average of 66 days, according to the study. Think about a business that aspires to grow, but lacks the right people to make it happen. 

If the company's short-staffed development team cannot build a new feature in months, a new product might be rolled out sooner as a result. It would be necessary for the company to hire more workers to meet the demand. As a result of wasting less time on hiring, offshore development reduces development time. Furthermore, getting their products out there and making money through this channel is also a great way for small businesses and startups to expand.

Increased Flexibility 

In addition to increasing flexibility, offshore software development allows teams to work on projects when onshore teams are unavailable. Due to its ability to support 24-hour development cycles, companies can meet tight deadlines and accelerate project timelines. This is helpful for companies that have a fluctuating demand for their products or services since it allows them to adjust the size of their development team and work around the clock.

Reduced Time-To-Hire And Onboarding

The work of offshore software developers can start immediately due to the availability of a pool of highly skilled, pre-screened developers. The time spent hiring and onboarding new developers can be significantly reduced as a result. Moreover, onboarding new developers is also often a much easier process with offshore providers since they often have established onboarding processes.

Mitigating Risks And Ensuring Security

Information that is sensitive to clients is kept confidential by offshore software development companies following secure protocols. Startups can also be assured and guaranteed that their intellectual property and data are safe with measures such as disaster recovery plans.

Focus on your core business

When you partner with offshore companies, you can free up internal resources while allowing you to focus on core business processes. Therefore, you won't need to post ads or conduct interviews because offshore software development companies handle hiring.

Access to the latest technologies  

In-house developers lack access to the latest technologies and skills commonly found in offshore software firms. The difficulty is with hiring an entire team that's knowledgeable in multiple technologies, whereas hiring a developer who's an expert in one will be possible with an offshore software development approach. 

Disadvantages Of Offshore Development

When selecting the right outsourcing strategy for your business, you need to keep in mind some flaws of offshore software development despite all its benefits.

Time zone differences

Working with people in a far-off country presents an array of challenges, but perhaps the biggest one comes from the time zone difference. The challenges of co-working with someone across the globe will be significant. You will be able to work when your team sleeps and vice versa. And there will be some serious communication delays unless your partner is committed to staffing night shifts around your work schedule. 

Furthermore, you will have to wait until your team's shift starts to get their response in case you need clarifications or just want to contact your team, which can cause further delays. When it comes to regular and timely communication, offshoring is not the most suitable option for you if you are concerned that you will lose money and time simply visiting your partner.

Cultural Differences

It's important to keep in mind that cultural differences may create some unpleasant interactions between you and your developers even in the absence of the language barrier or time gaps. It is also possible to include national holidays - most foreign countries are used to having 15 to 20 official leaves or holidays, and they often don't coincide with one another. 

If you work with a foreign team, you'll find some of them unavailable or not working just because there's a traditional holiday in their country. Despite these cultural differences, they can cause major inconveniences and even conflicts when it comes to doing business. 

Quality Control Issues

Despite the stereotypes surrounding offshore development, there is some truth to them. It is also difficult to control the quality of the code developed and delivered by offshore teams. Many factors isolate these developers from the rest of your team, such as time zone delays and language barriers. 

Therefore, you need to put in a great deal of effort and dedication to ensure that they perform to your standards at every turn. Apart from that, the lack of modern equipment and poor working conditions might further exacerbate the issue; which results in poor quality work that doesn't meet your expectations.

Language Barrier

There might also be a language barrier to get through the situation. Most software developers speak some English, but their ability to speak English might not be on par, resulting in serious communication problems. So, you might end up in uncomfortable situations where your developers don't follow your instructions because they don't understand you, so they do things other than what you asked.

Conclusion

Hence, offshore software development has become the first choice for businesses looking to create high-quality software at significantly reduced costs. Companies can rely on the expertise and resources of offshore development teams to develop high-quality and innovative software solutions for their business. Although offshore development provides so many benefits, you also need to keep in mind some of its drawbacks, including poor communication, collaboration tools, and effective project management.

Last but not least, offshore software development provides numerous benefits to companies in terms of reducing costs, increasing talent pool access, and speeding up the time it takes for products & services to reach the market. For enterprises aiming to remain competitive in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, it can become a powerful tool with meticulous planning and execution. If you have a software development in mind and are looking for an offshore software developer for your software design or development project, consulting with a leading software development company can help.