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In today’s digital age, businesses need to leverage the power of the internet to reach their target audiences effectively. Digital marketing encompasses all online marketing efforts, using digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and websites to connect with current and prospective customers. This comprehensive guide will walk you through the essentials of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://admin.darkbears.com/blog/post/add/Discover the comprehensive guide to digital marketing, covering SEO, content marketing, social media, PPC, email marketing, and more. Learn the latest trends and best practices to boost your online presence and drive business growth.">digital marketing,</a> its various components, and how to create a successful digital marketing strategy for your business. <h2>What is Digital Marketing?</h2>Digital marketing refers to all marketing activities that use digital devices or the internet. It’s an umbrella term that includes various online marketing strategies, such as content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and more. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing offers real-time data and insights, enabling businesses to adapt and improve their marketing strategies continuously.<h2>Why Digital Marketing is Important</h2><ol><li>Increased Reach: Digital marketing allows businesses to reach a global audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods.</li><li>Targeted Marketing: With digital marketing, you can target specific demographics, geographic locations, and even customer behaviors, ensuring your marketing efforts are reaching the right people.</li><li>Measurable Results: Digital marketing provides valuable metrics and analytics that help businesses measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and adjust strategies as needed.</li><li>Cost-Effective: Compared to traditional advertising channels like TV, radio, and print, digital marketing offers a more affordable alternative with a potentially higher ROI.</li><li>Enhanced Customer Engagement: Digital channels provide various touchpoints to engage with customers and build stronger relationships.</li></ol><h2>Core Components of Digital Marketing</h2><h4>1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</h4>SEO is the process of optimizing your website and its content to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). A higher ranking increases visibility and attracts more organic traffic to your website. Key elements of SEO include:<ul><li>Keyword Research: Identifying the right keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for.</li><li>On-Page SEO: Optimizing individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. This includes optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and content.</li><li>Off-Page SEO: Building backlinks from reputable websites to increase your site’s authority and trustworthiness.</li><li>Technical SEO: Ensuring your website is technically sound with proper indexing, mobile optimization, fast load times, and secure connections (HTTPS).</li></ul><h4>2. Content Marketing</h4>Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. The goal is to drive profitable customer action by providing content that educates, entertains, or inspires. Common content marketing formats include:<ul><li>Blogs: Regularly updated articles that provide information or insights on specific topics.</li><li>Ebooks and Whitepapers: In-depth resources that offer more detailed information on a subject, often used to capture leads.</li><li>Infographics: Visual representations of data or information, making complex topics easier to understand.</li><li>Videos: Engaging visual content that can explain concepts, demonstrate products, or tell stories.</li></ul><h4>3. Social Media Marketing</h4>​<a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/expertise/digital-marketing/ppc-social-media-ads">Social media marketing</a> uses platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok to promote your brand, products, or services. It helps in building brand awareness, engaging with customers, and driving traffic to your website. Key strategies include:<ul><li>Creating Engaging Content: Share posts, videos, stories, and other media that resonate with your audience.</li><li>Community Management: Actively engaging with followers, responding to comments, and fostering a sense of community.</li><li>Social Advertising: Running paid campaigns to target specific demographics and achieve business goals like increasing website traffic or generating leads.</li></ul><h4>4. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)</h4>PPC is a digital advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It’s a way of buying visits to your site rather than earning them organically. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/expertise/digital-marketing/ppc-social-media-ads">Google Ads and social media ads</a> are popular PPC platforms. PPC strategies include:<ul><li>Keyword Targeting: Using relevant keywords to ensure your ads appear in search results when potential customers are searching for related products or services.</li><li>Ad Copywriting: Crafting compelling ad copy that encourages clicks and conversions.</li><li>Bid Management: Adjusting your bids to ensure you get the most value for your budget.</li></ul><h4>5. Email Marketing</h4>Email marketing involves sending targeted messages to a group of people via email. It’s one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/expertise/digital-marketing/email-marketing">most cost-effective ways to reach and engage your audience, nurture leads, and convert them into customers.</a> Effective email marketing tactics include:<ul><li>Personalization: Tailoring emails to individual preferences and behaviors to increase engagement.</li><li>Segmentation: Dividing your email list into smaller segments based on demographics, behavior, or other criteria to send more relevant messages.</li><li>Automation: Using automated email sequences to nurture leads and guide them through the sales funnel.</li></ul><h4>6. Affiliate Marketing</h4>Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward affiliates (partners) for driving traffic or sales to their site through the affiliate’s marketing efforts. Affiliates can be bloggers, influencers, or other businesses.<ul><li>Affiliate Networks: Platforms that connect businesses with potential affiliates, manage payments, and track performance.</li><li>Commission Structures: Defining how affiliates will be compensated, such as a percentage of sales or a fixed fee per lead.</li></ul><h4>7. Influencer Marketing</h4>Influencer marketing leverages individuals with a significant following on social media or other online platforms to promote your products or services. This strategy builds trust and authenticity because recommendations come from trusted figures.<ul><li>Identifying Influencers: Finding influencers whose audience aligns with your target market.</li><li>Building Relationships: Developing long-term partnerships with influencers to foster genuine endorsements.</li><li>Tracking ROI: Measuring the impact of influencer campaigns on brand awareness, traffic, and sales.</li></ul><h2>How to Create a Digital Marketing Strategy</h2><ol><li>Define Your Goals: Clearly outline what you want to achieve with your digital marketing efforts. Goals could include increasing website traffic, generating leads, boosting sales, or enhancing brand awareness.</li><li>Understand Your Audience: Conduct market research to understand your audience’s demographics, preferences, behaviors, and pain points. Create buyer personas to represent your ideal customers.</li><li>Choose the Right Channels: Based on your audience’s preferences, select the most effective digital marketing channels to reach them. This might include SEO, social media, email marketing, PPC, or content marketing.</li><li>Create a Content Plan: Develop a content strategy that aligns with your audience’s needs and your business goals. This includes planning the types of content you will create, the topics you will cover, and the frequency of publication.</li><li>Implement and Optimize: Launch your digital marketing campaigns and continuously monitor their performance. Use analytics tools to track key metrics, identify areas for improvement, and optimize your strategies accordingly.</li><li>Measure Success: Evaluate the success of your digital marketing efforts against your defined goals. Adjust your strategy as needed to improve results and achieve your objectives.</li></ol><h2>Trends in Digital Marketing</h2><ol><li>Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: AI and machine learning are transforming digital marketing by enabling more personalized and automated customer experiences.</li><li>Video Marketing: The popularity of video content continues to rise, making it an essential component of any digital marketing strategy.</li><li>Voice Search Optimization: With the growing use of voice assistants like Alexa and Siri, optimizing for voice search is becoming increasingly important.</li><li>Data Privacy and Security: As data privacy concerns grow, marketers must prioritize transparent data practices and comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA.</li><li>Omni-Channel Marketing: Providing a seamless experience across all channels (online and offline) is crucial for engaging modern consumers.</li></ol><h3>Conclusion</h3>Digital marketing is an ever-evolving field that offers businesses endless opportunities to connect with their audiences and achieve their goals. By understanding the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/services/digital-marketing">core components of digital marketing</a> and staying up-to-date with the latest trends, you can create a successful strategy that drives growth and delivers measurable results.

The Ultimate Guide to Digital Marketing

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized how we interact with technology, seamlessly integrating smart devices into our daily lives. From smart thermostats and wearable devices to industrial sensors and smart cities, IoT solutions are becoming ubiquitous. However, as the number of IoT devices grows, so does the surface area for potential cyberattacks. This article delves into the evolution of cybersecurity in the age of IoT, highlighting the challenges, advancements, and the importance of adopting robust security measures. <h2>The Rise of IoT and its Impact on Cybersecurity</h2>The IoT ecosystem comprises billions of interconnected devices that communicate over the internet. This connectivity allows for unprecedented levels of automation, efficiency, and data collection. However, it also introduces new vulnerabilities that cybercriminals are eager to exploit. The rise of IoT has significantly impacted the cybersecurity landscape for several reasons:<ol><li>Increased Attack Surface: With each new IoT device connected to a network, the potential entry points for cyberattacks increase. These devices, ranging from smart refrigerators to industrial control systems, often lack robust security features, making them easy targets for hackers.</li><li>Diverse Range of Devices: The IoT ecosystem includes a diverse range of devices with varying capabilities, operating systems, and communication protocols. This diversity makes it challenging to implement standardized security measures across all devices, leading to inconsistent security practices.</li><li>Data Privacy Concerns: IoT devices collect vast amounts of data, often including sensitive personal or organizational information. Unauthorized access to this data can lead to privacy breaches, identity theft, or even corporate espionage.</li><li>Legacy Systems and Compatibility Issues: Many IoT devices are integrated into legacy systems that were not designed with modern cybersecurity threats in mind. Ensuring compatibility while maintaining security is a significant challenge for IoT solution development.</li></ol><h2>Evolution of Cybersecurity Measures in IoT</h2>As the IoT landscape evolves, so too does the approach to cybersecurity. The following are some key advancements in cybersecurity measures tailored specifically for IoT environments:<ol><li>Enhanced Device Authentication and Authorization: Traditional authentication methods are often inadequate for IoT devices. Advanced techniques, such as multi-factor authentication and biometric verification, are being employed to ensure that only authorized devices and users can access IoT networks.</li><li>End-to-End Encryption: To protect data transmitted between IoT devices and central systems, end-to-end encryption is becoming a standard practice. This ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains unreadable without the appropriate decryption keys.</li><li>Zero Trust Architecture: The zero-trust model operates on the principle that no device or user, whether inside or outside the network, should be trusted by default. This approach requires continuous verification of each device and user trying to access network resources, significantly reducing the risk of unauthorized access.</li><li>Machine Learning and AI for Threat Detection: Machine learning and artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated into cybersecurity solutions to identify and respond to threats in real-time. These technologies can analyze patterns of normal device behaviour and detect anomalies that may indicate a cyberattack.</li><li>Custom IoT Development Services with Built-in Security: Companies specializing in custom IoT development services are now incorporating security features directly into the design and development process. By prioritizing security from the outset, these companies ensure that their IoT solutions are resilient to potential threats.</li></ol><h2>The Role of Custom IoT Development Companies in Enhancing Cybersecurity</h2>Custom IoT development companies play a crucial role in the evolution of cybersecurity within the IoT ecosystem. By offering tailored solutions, these companies can address the specific security needs of different industries and applications. Here’s how:<ol><li>IoT Solution Development with a Security-First Approach: Custom IoT development companies design and build IoT solutions with security as a foundational element. This proactive approach helps mitigate risks by integrating security measures such as secure boot processes, firmware updates, and device lifecycle management from the beginning.</li><li>Hiring Skilled IoT Developers: The demand for skilled IoT developers who understand the intricacies of both IoT technology and cybersecurity is on the rise. When you hire IoT developers with a strong background in cybersecurity, you can be confident that your IoT solutions will be robust against potential threats.</li><li>Ongoing Security Management and Updates: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/expertise/advanced-computing/iot">Custom IoT development services</a> often include ongoing security management, monitoring, and regular updates to address new vulnerabilities. This continuous approach ensures that IoT solutions remain secure over time, even as new threats emerge.</li><li>Compliance with Industry Standards: By adhering to industry standards and regulations, custom IoT development companies help businesses avoid legal and financial repercussions associated with data breaches. Ensuring compliance with standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and others is critical in maintaining trust and protecting sensitive data.</li></ol><h2>Best Practices for Securing IoT Devices</h2>To safeguard IoT devices and networks, businesses and individuals should adopt the following best practices:<ol><li>Conduct Regular Security Audits: Regularly assess the security posture of your IoT devices and networks to identify and address vulnerabilities.</li><li>Implement Strong Password Policies: Ensure all IoT devices use strong, unique passwords, and consider enabling multi-factor authentication where possible.</li><li>Keep Firmware and Software Updated: Regularly update device firmware and software to protect against known vulnerabilities and exploits.</li><li>Segment IoT Networks: Separate IoT devices from critical business systems and sensitive data to limit the impact of a potential breach.</li><li>Hire IoT Developers with Security Expertise: When developing custom IoT solutions, hire IoT developers who are well-versed in cybersecurity best practices to ensure robust protection against threats.</li></ol><h3>Conclusion</h3>The evolution of cybersecurity in the age of IoT is a dynamic process that requires continuous adaptation and vigilance. As IoT devices become more prevalent, the need for robust security measures becomes even more critical. Custom IoT development companies, with their expertise in secure IoT solution development, play a vital role in safeguarding our interconnected world. By understanding the unique challenges of IoT cybersecurity and adopting best practices, businesses and individuals can protect themselves against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.If you're looking to develop <a target="_blank" href="https://www.darkbears.com/expertise/advanced-computing/iot">secure IoT solutions</a>, consider hiring skilled IoT developers or partnering with a <a href="https://www.darkbears.com/company/contact">custom IoT development company</a> that prioritizes cybersecurity. This proactive approach will help ensure the security and reliability of your IoT deployments, allowing you to leverage the full potential of IoT technology with confidence.

The Evolution of Cybersecurity in the Age of IoT

What’s the first step in setting up an online business? – Building an online storefront. Today, there are innumerable website builders for DIY eCommerce website development; still, people are more inclined towards WordPress development.Why?Because 40% of the online eCommerce websites are empowered on this open-source content management system, however, a few features seem more like a necessity rather than an alternative.&nbsp;The ability to list down products, inventory tracking, order shipment and fulfillment, payment system, and many more is a pre-requisite of a business owner, which a default WordPress installation cannot do. And that’s where WooCommerce – An eCommerce plugin for WordPress comes into play. This blog post talks about a few WooCommerce alternatives that can be a better option for specific use cases. It also explains why there’s a need for such alternatives, how they’re better, and some of the downsides compared to WooCommerce. But before listing down the alternatives, let’s get the basics clear. <h2>WooCommerce -The Basics</h2><h4>1.It’s a WordPress Plugin</h4>For beginners, it isn’t a standalone DIY Site builder. Instead, it’s an open-source WordPress plugin. This means that WooCommerce works as a third-party integration within WordPress.It means:<ol><li>Customer needs to acquire hosting services from a web hosting provider.</li><li>Later they install and configure WordPress CMS.</li><li>Once they build the web design using a theme, they can install and configure WooCommerce to handle the eCommerce functions.</li></ol><div class="se-component se-video-container __se__float-"><figure style="width: 100%; height: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1KahlicghaE?feature=oembed" data-percentage="100%,56.25%" data-size="100%,56.25%" data-align="" data-file-name="1KahlicghaE?feature=oembed" data-file-size="0" data-origin="100%,56.25%" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.5em; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></figure></div>The above is a short promo video to give you an overview of the WooCommerce platform. <h4>2.It’s versatile</h4>WooCommerce works with both physical and digital goods.Here, you can sell products with innumerable variants and configurations. It also allows instant access to download digital items. When it comes to marketing, WooCommerce website developers can use it for the affiliate marketing model. <h4>3.It’s free to use: But, I’m sure you’d always prefer opting for paid ones!</h4>To date, the basic WooCommerce plugin is free to use.If users want to integrate additional features and flexibility, they can install plugins and other multiple add-ons that are not free. Yes, they’re PAID.So, as the online store expands and the user base increases, it’s essential to improve the customer experience for seamless shopping. In such cases, it becomes necessary for store owners to buy those plugins, and those additional costs are worth every penny. <h2>Why and who needs WooCommerce alternatives?</h2>Since WooCommerce allows the quick launch of an online store, it is the first choice of businesses and enterprises to build a quick online store. Moreover, due to its popularity and ease of use, technically advanced people store.Though it is highly popular, there might be some scenarios where it may not have the specific features you need for your business. WooCommerce lacks seamless integration with other third-party tools and plugins that can grow your business. Apart from this, choosing WooCommerce will let you figure out web hosting on your own. It has no backend integrated and synchronized.&nbsp; Moreover, it does not come with support for payment gateway, printable invoices, and shipping solutions which makes it even harder to manage an online store. That’s where businesses often need to pick an alternative to WooCommerce to leverage better solutions. This blog post focuses on WooCommerce alternatives which include both plugins for WordPress and entirely new platforms that offer variant features and options best-suited for business. So, let’s discuss a few top WooCommerce alternatives and what it offers to expand online business opportunities. <h2>Which are the top WooCommerce alternatives? </h2><h4>1.Shopify – An easy and simpler approach for Ecommerce Development</h4>Both the e-commerce giants, WooCommerce and WordPress are open source and self-hosted platforms. It simply means that finding hosting to maintain the website is on your shoulders. Though it’s quite convenient for developers web design beginners might find it a bit difficult.And that’s where Shopify wins the race.Offering a comprehensive package of online store builders, Shopify has everything that a business might need – hosting, domain name, design, themes, marketing all together in the dashboard.Let’s talk about the main thing now,<h5>PRICE STRUCTURE:</h5><ul><li>Shopify Lite&nbsp;– $9 per month.</li><li>Basic Shopify&nbsp;– $29 per month.</li><li>Shopify&nbsp;– $79 per month.</li><li>Advanced Shopify&nbsp;– $299 per month.</li><li>Shopify Plus&nbsp;– If you want to avail yourself of Shopify Plus, get in touch with our eCommerce experts and discuss how they can customize Shopify’s web development service for your business needs.</li></ul><h5>WHAT IT DOES BETTER THAN WOOCOMMERCE?</h5>Shopify eases building an online store less since it has a comprehensive range of tools in a single dashboard. With Shopify, you do not need to worry about things like security, hosting, or updates – Shopify does it all for you. <h5>DOWNSIDES COMPARED TO WOOCOMMERCE</h5>You can find a wide variety of themes for WooCommerce. It’s quite easier to scale your website with WooCommerce since it deliberated full control of your website.&nbsp;Since Shopify uses the liquid coding language, its advanced chances are tougher. <h5>WHO SHOULD USE IT?</h5>Shopify is a good choice for absolute beginners who still want a great-looking, fully functional store. <h4>2. Magento – A high powered fully functional eCommerce-focused CMS</h4>Missing some features in WooCommerce?In that case, an extension might overcome the problem. However, there are people who would want each and every e-commerce feature integrated into their store. Such configuration not only scales your business but also expands your selling opportunities. And that’s where Magento plays its colors. Magento is a solid and strong WooCommerce alternative for people who are technically advanced and looking for solutions apart from WordPress. <h5>PRICING</h5><ul><li>Starter plan: $2000 per month</li><li>Pro plan: $3147 per month.</li></ul>There’s also a free, limited open-source version available for novice developers.<h5>WHAT IT DOES BETTER THAN WOOCOMMERCE</h5>Magento eCommerce website development is highly beneficial for a larger business. It’s a unique content management system with every little feature an online eCommerce store might ever need and thus eliminates the need to find plugins or add-ons.<h5>DOWNSIDES COMPARED TO WOOCOMMERCE.</h5>When it comes to setup, Magento is not a tough nut to crack. But its designing and configuration usually demand an experienced eCommerce developer, whereas WooCommerce is relatively easy for beginners.Honestly, the paid version of Magento Commerce is relatively heavier on budget.<h5>WHO SHOULD USE IT?</h5>Choosing Magento can be the best option for growing a business with advanced eCommerce needs. It’s quite rare to find a need for customization in Magento. But you’ll need an experienced developer or spare some good budget to hire the one.<h4>3. MemberPress for selling membership subscriptions</h4>MemberPress is a WordPress plugin with every membership feature you can ever expect. Right from subscription management, drip content to awesome pricing pages, most of your subscription operations are all set.<h5>PRICING</h5><ul><li>Basic Plan&nbsp;– $129 per year.</li><li>Plus Plan&nbsp;– $249 per year.</li><li>Pro Plan&nbsp;– $369 per year.</li></ul><h5>WHAT IT DOES BETTER THAN WOOCOMMERCE</h5>The premium support of Membership is what makes it a standout amongst the crowd. These sites are completely different as compared to regular eCommerce stores. The WooCommerce documentation is fine for quick fixes, but sometimes you need something more than that. Apart from this, WooCommerce requires an extra extension for full membership, which is not the case with MemberPress.&nbsp; <h5>DOWNSIDES COMPARED TO WOOCOMMERCE.</h5>MemberPress lacks a regular eCommerce shop for fixed-price items. Also, WooCommerce has support for more payment gateways. <h5>WHO SHOULD USE IT?</h5>Anyone who needs an entire membership or subscription suite in one place. <h4>4.Easy Digital Downloads for selling digital downloads</h4>The name says it all. This platform will turn any WordPress site into a full-fledged digitized eCommerce store. You can purchase different add-ons for multiple extensions like software licensing, payment gateways, frontend submissions, and more. The essential plugin creates a store, manages marketing, and accepts payments. <h5>PRICING</h5>The core plugin is free, and the add-ons start at $15.20. You can also buy add-on packages starting at $108.50. <h5>WHAT IT DOES BETTER THAN WOOCOMMERCE</h5>When it comes to selling digital downloads, EDD is the best and the simplest option to be considered. Though WooCommerce supports digital sales, its configuration process is a bit confusing, and some of the free advanced features of EDD, like product bundles, need to pay extension in WooCommerce. On the other hand, EDD adds customer management, discount codes, shopping cart, and data reporting in a single go with one installation. Furthermore, if selling digital items is your goal, with EDD, your dashboard isn’t cluttered with physical product features.<h5>DOWNSIDES COMPARED TO WOOCOMMERCE.</h5>EDD is restricted to only virtual goods. So, if you plan to sell physical products alongside, WooCommerce is the best. The EDD Simple shipping add-on can help you with physical products, but it’s limited and does not have variables like shipping company integration, cost, reporting.<h5>WHO SHOULD USE IT?</h5>If you want to sell digital products like eBooks, photography, videos, and music, all works will start with EDD.<h3>WHICH OF THESE WOOCOMMERCE ALTERNATIVES IS BEST FOR YOU?</h3>Now the ball is in your court. WooCommerce works wonders with a majority of the eCommerce stores. However, there may be random situations when WooCommerce might not serve you better. In such a case, check out the above alternatives and select the best as per your business needs. If you’re thinking of going for a fully tailored eCommerce solution, I would suggest you&nbsp;hire the best eCommerce website development companyto get a responsive solution at a competitive price model. Have any other questions about choosing between these WooCommerce alternatives? Let us know in the comments!

WooCommerce Not Working Out? Here Are 4 the best Alternatives to Manage Your Online Store

When you start a business or plan to expand your business in this digital era- a perfect website is the one of the first things you will require –in order to create a strong online presence of your business. It can be the best way to let your target audiences and customers know that you offer great products or services. At this point, you may have two choices –either to team up with a web development company or hire someone? Well, which one could be the best choice?Here we’ll learn the advantages and downsides of both, there are dozens of factors supporting the&nbsp;<a href="https://darkbears.com/expertise/web-apps">benefits of hiring a web development company</a>&nbsp;to help in developing your brand’s online presence.<ol><li>Web development companies can be trusted todeliver excellence to their clients as they possess a team of experts with many areas of expertise. Whereas, finding a good web developer is not an easy thing as resumes and portfolios of work don’t always assure that you can get the kind of work you are actually looking for.</li></ol><ol><li>Zero risk. With firms,there’s basically no risk. Professional Web Development Company is bound by their terms of agreement and their reputation to accomplish the project and also own plentiful resources to deliver the results.</li></ol><ol><li>When it comes to hiring a web development company, you can be assured that you will get your project completed on time. Whereas, even if you hire a talented developer, he may missdeadlines.It can be detrimental mostly to new business owners for whomresources are precious and the ability to build products timely and efficiently can make or break them.</li></ol><ol><li>Helps you choose a website platform that’s suits your needs perfectly. There are a plenty of platforms that can be used to build a website, each with advantages and downsides – and different price points. A Web development company can help you choose the best one.</li></ol><ol><li>Dedicated project managers. Web development companies offer you experts and dedicated project managers to make sure that your projects are being managed in the best possible way &amp; all your queries are dealt with in an efficient manner. They keep you updatedabout your projects progress on a regular basis and ensure that project shapes up according to your needs and expectations.</li></ol><ol><li>Helps you reach out to target audiences. A beautifully designed website may grab the attention of users but may not appear in Google search results. And eventually, all the efforts to build the website may go waste. Web development companies can offer you some of the best cutting edge technologies for ecommerce development and online marketing services to maximize your sales and brand value across multiple retail channels at a very competitive price.</li></ol><ol><li>Exceptional customer service is their main strength. They help you guide and provide the best possible solutions and support to their clients.</li></ol>

Top 7 Benefits of Hiring Offshore Web Development Company over Freelancers

If we look at the top websites such as Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo etc, the common fact that comes out is that all of them are developed using PHP. Well, to state here almost, 84% of the websites use PHP for delivering an extravagant experience to its users.Being an excellent server-side programming language, it handles the development of complicated apps and websites in just the right way. &nbsp;Not only it covers all the developmental domains, but also insists on depositing security and stability to the overall venture via its sophisticated and robust frameworks.Therefore, the fact remains still the same that PHP and its associated frameworks will gain a tremendous traction in the upcoming year 2019. So, here find the top 9 of them which will definitely make their mark in the foreseen times.Before getting into the discussion of top PHP frameworks, firstly find out few advantages of using them.<h2>Here are lined up Top Frameworks of PHP</h2>1) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;LaravelAccording to a report by Sitepoint survey, Laravel framework was released in 2011. It is widely used for developing robust websites worldwide and is acquainted with an advanced ecosystem for handling instant hosting, caching, authentication and restful routing.Laravel offers plentiful screencast tutorials which are called Laracasts and is loaded with quite a number of object-oriented classes and libraries that help in magnifying the code clarity and presentation.2) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SymfonyProjects such as Drupal CMS and phpBB heavily relies on Symphony framework for its seamless operation and execution. If we throw some light corresponding to its programming benefits, it comes with an admirable flexibility, support and enriched documentation.Flexibility, reliability, ease of testing, long-term support, large community, elaborated documentation are some of the major points that go in favor of Symphony as a programming framework.3) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Cake PHPNow, when we talk about CakePHP, the first thing that comes to our mind is backend stability. Well, yes CakePHP is very well known for providing a sealed backend compatibility to your websites. It is inculcated with plentiful inbuilt features such as value verification, handling cross-site scripting, verification processes and others.4) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Code IgniterUndeniably, it can be described as one of the most lightweight frameworks of PHP. With its capability to operate on shared platforms, it is widely used for developing the websites in which the conflicts between different versions can occur.It is the one that strictly adheres to MVC architecture and provides a free working environment to the developers.5) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fat-free frameworkIt can be described as one of the top PHP frameworks that are currently ruling all the market virtues. The fat-free framework is loaded with numerous plug-ins, libraries and a sophisticated routing architecture.Attributes of several routers such as URL, Cache etc are being used for designing the Fat-free framework and it sets all the advanced rules and regulation for developing robust and sophisticated websites.6) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ZendUsually, the Zend framework is not used for developing minor projects, the reason being it is encapsulated with a lot of configurations and versions. Few features such as drag and drop options, enhanced coding, debugging and testing tools allow the developer to deliver high-end website solutions for their clients.7) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;PhalconPhalcon is quite fast in nature when compared with other PHP frameworks since it is written in C and C++. The major focal point of Phalcon is to deliver optimized performance and assists in developing top-notch websites.Several features such as enhanced speed, enlarged cache memory, asset management etc form a major part of this framework.8) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yii2It is mainly known for delivering an easy installation process. Yii2 allows the developers to write the code within a short time frame and also magnify the overall execution of code with the aid of different error handling techniques.It is an object-oriented framework that is conjugated with a different set of jQuery and multiple AJAX features. &nbsp;Yii2 is encapsulated with a code generator that helps the developer to harness the required code according to their requirement.Closing In:Among so many existing PHP frameworks it is really a toil task to identify the one that suits with your venture requirements. At&nbsp;<a href="https://darkbears.com">DarkBears</a>, we insist on selecting the most reliable framework that completely adheres with our client requirements.With us, you can expect quality, excellence, and commitment while you handover your venture in our hands.&nbsp;Hire PHP developers&nbsp;from the team of ours and you will never be disappointed when you will have a look at the final version of your websites.&nbsp;Laravel app development&nbsp;is already the one where we rank the charts and there are many more to come.<div><ul><li>It levels up your websites and adds an impressive speed.</li><li>Most of them stick to the MVC framework, this is easy to adopt</li><li>Ample libraries form the part of these frameworks. Modules for validation, data handling, and filtering are there to ease the developmental efforts.</li><li>Secure your websites from cyber-attacks and failures.</li><li>Easy solutions are available for handling any kind of failure or distortion.</li></ul></div>

Let’s Find out the Top 8 PHP Frameworks that will Rock in 2019

After a long working week, I am in real need of dumping myself in a book. Reading is one of my hobbies (most favorite one) I usually find myself an escape through a book from all the chaos going around. So planning for this week’s read, I was looking for something good. I don’t have many options; still, I do not want to choose anything which I will only read half. So my mind got into thinking, what makes a book really good one. And I came up with these facets, which makes a book, good book for me – Interesting title, A detailed table of content, Preface (this helps me to connect with the author), Tight plot, Awesome language so that the characters feel real and moving in front of you, and last but not the least greater level of impact on mind of reader.Yes, this makes complete sense and now, it will be easy for me to pick up my next book.As I was mulling over this question of what makes a book, good one in my mind, my thoughts at the back of my head were reflecting characteristics of what makes a website good website, maybe because for all our needs we turn to Google to find and full fill them. Also we spend so much time online that websites have become part of our daily routines and we have educated ourselves to differentiate between a good and a bad website.Now let’s quickly sum-up the characteristics of a good website as well. Here are the essentials that every successful website and compelling book have common in them.A Killer HeadlineA headline is the first thing that catches your audiences’ attention. While crafting a compelling headline, ensure to use impactful font type, size, and style and color to make it stand out from the rest of the text. Your headline on the website tells a lot about your services, and products, making visitors to stick around. The headline is a key element, and it must be clear, concise and tempting that can persuade visitors to learn more about you and your services.Likewise, a good book contains a compelling, gripping and interesting title and tells what the book is all about without reading anything else.User-Friendly NavigationAnother quality of a successful website is that it should have simple navigation. Make certain to have navigation as easy as possible to enhance the usability of your website. It should be all hassle-free to visit your website and access the pages that have already been visited along with a simple to understand and easy to access navigation bar or menu. There should be consistency on each page of your website, and make sure that visitors need not hunt for the navigation bar, it should be clearly visible.Just the same characteristic, I will search for in my favorite book – a detailed table of content that makes you access any page or topic quickly.Introduction PageIt’s essential to have an ‘<a href="http://darkbears.com/blog/about-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">About Us</a>’ page on your website that provides information about you, your team, your values, vision, mission, purpose and more – to build trust among your customers. It also creates a sense that they’re doing business with real people and helps ease any worries they might have.A good book always has a ‘Preface’ – a preliminary statement in a book by the book’s author, setting forth its purpose and scope, expressing acknowledgment of assistance from others and more – all it helps connect readers emotionally with the book.Unique, quality content Unique, well-crafted and valuable content on your website can leave a great impression on your visitor’s mind, and it probably can help them with what exactly they’re looking for, and perhaps even give them a reason to keep coming back.An interesting and beautiful language makes a book stand out among the thousands of other books. Books with a captivating story and memorable characters are hard to put down.High ReadabilityMost people enjoy websites and books with a high level of&nbsp;readability. For great readability make sure to choose the standard font size and type, highly readable websites and books are&nbsp;fine-tuned and sophisticated.Perfect ImagesMany times images can help understand your services and products at a glance. You can enhance the user experience by using including pictures of every product you sell.In a good book, author makes all the efforts to create characters that will be remembered long after the book is finished. The pictures are made in your mind through words and remains there for a long time.On the other note – Responsive DesignAdding responsive design helps enhance users and e-readers experience. It accommodates a website or an eBook to any screen size and enables to automatically retract and expand according to the screen size of the computer, tablet, or mobile device being used.

Professionally Designed or Developed Websites are like Good Book

Whether you own a small business or a large one, website security is the primary concern. Unfortunately, with the advancement of technology, various online attackers and spammers are preparing themselves to discover a new method to attack your website. Therefore, regardless of the costs involved, diligence and pre-emptive efforts must be an indispensable part of your organizational approach.Your online site can be vulnerable to attacks like cross-site scripting, SQL injections, insecure direct object references, etc.However, if your website is on the Laravel PHP framework, you can use the Laravel security features to secure your site and network.We have created&nbsp;a Security Checklist&nbsp;that you can keep handy and stay ahead of your website security concerns.<h4>1.&nbsp;Choose the right server host.</h4>This is basic, but numerous business owners and site admins end up making mistakes. It will help if you decide carefully between a shared and dedicated server. Additionally, you need to have a website backup in place. Also, make sure that the server is compliant with security protocols like SSH, SSL, FTPS, and VPNs.<h4>2.&nbsp;Use the latest and updated version of PHP and Laravel.</h4>Experts always recommend that it’s best to use the latest version of every platform. It is because constant updates from the developers are accomplished to make the system sturdier and failsafe.<h4>3.&nbsp;Don’t forget to assess the firewall setting regularly.</h4>If you want your website optimized with security, ensure that all essential firewalls are in place. There are several choices to pick from, so it is highly recommended that you hire a professional Laravel&nbsp;website development company&nbsp;that can guide you in making better decisions.<h4>4.&nbsp;Use Laravel security features smartly.&nbsp;</h4>Laravel provides several in-built security features – for instance, the Authentication system from Laravel. The Laravel system practices two authentication methods to authenticate user information – protectors are used to validate the user data for each user request. At the same time, providers work to recover user information from the database.Many Laravel developers who provide development services must pay heed to build up the database and the standards and determine the controllers – the rest is for the method to take care of. The built-in authentication features will automatically begin to get synched with the site or the app.<h4>5.&nbsp;Shielding from SQL injection.</h4>SQL injection is a simple form of unprecedented attacks on sites and apps. These occur due to user information stored in cookies. Use PDO parameter covering to prevent others from striving to improve the SQL queries.<h4>6.&nbsp;Filter and Validate All Data.</h4>Laravel has an Eloquent ORM that uses PDO parameters for binding and limiting SQL injections to an extent. But Laravel also proposes other means to craft SQL queries. Filter and validate everything! No matter where the data comes from, a configuration file, GET, server environment, POST, do not trust it.<h4>7.&nbsp;Store Passwords Using Strong Hashing Functions.</h4>Keep in mind that all your passwords and other crucial data are hashed, using solid hashing functions such as Bcrypt. Don’t use vulnerable hashing functions, such as SHA1 and MD5. Laravel framework comes with a native hash tool; use it and leverage the benefits.<h4>8.&nbsp;Use Laravel’s built-in encryption.</h4>We highly recommend leveraging Laravel’s built-in encryption mechanism rather than building your own. As of PHP 7.2, more antiquated encryption libraries have been depreciated, such as Mcrypt. But, PHP 7.2 supports the considerably better Libsodium library preferably. So, if you want to use a distinct encryption library, take a look at Libsodium.<h4>9.&nbsp;Shielding from Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).</h4>For every active user on your Laravel site or app, the system creates a CSRF token. The use of tokens is to limit outside parties from producing fake requests. Every time a request is made, the platform matches the request saved in the token. If the request does not match the saved token, the request is considered void, and the process does not get executed.<h4>10.&nbsp;Security from XSS or Cross-site Scripting.</h4>In the XSS attacks, the breachers hack the JavaScript of your site, so whenever a prospect comes to the affected page, the wicked script gets delivered with the worst effects. Therefore, it is crucial to have XSS security in place. Luckily, the Laravel platform has in-built native Laravel security features to shield your site from XSS attacks. The system begins on its own and is the most reliable way to preserve your database.<h4>11.&nbsp;Keep a backup of the website.</h4>Fortunately, all sorts of pre-emptive actions need to be taken to protect your site; entrepreneurs should regularly take the site’s backup. In addition, your website admin should save some hours for a backup daily to always support your site in its purest form. Then, in case of any crisis, you will always have the opportunity to return to the backup place.<h4>12.&nbsp;Use HTTPS.</h4>Do you know when HTTP is deployed on your site, every type of exchange occurs in textual format? That includes sensitive data like personal data and even passwords. It is simple to seize textual content. So, use HTTPS deployment to make your website safe and robust. SSL certification is now moving from the HTTP to HTTPS format, which a competent Laravel development company can establish.<h4>13.&nbsp;Use Laravel Purifier.</h4>In our opinion, one of the&nbsp;Laravel security best practices&nbsp;is using the HTML Purifier to improve the system’s security. Since this is quite technical, we suggest you hire a developer with expertise for the work.<h4>14.Log All the Things.</h4>No matter whether your logging fails, be it login efforts, password resets, or debugging data, you must be logging and with an effortless-to-use and developed package, such as Monolog.<h4>15.&nbsp;Check Your SSL / TLS Configurations.</h4>Ensure that your server’s SSL/TLS configuration is updated and perfectly configured. It doesn’t utilise outdated versions of TLS, insecure cyphers, solid security certificates without weak keys, and many more by scanning it regularly.<h4>16.&nbsp;Send All Available Security Headers.</h4>There are various safety headers that you can utilize to make your websites and applications more protected with minimum effort. These include X-XSS-Protection, HSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and a Content Security Policy. Ensure that they’re being configured accurately and sent in your request replies.<h4>17.&nbsp;Adopt a Content Security Policy.</h4>Whether you have a small static website, a large static website, one page, or a complex web-based application, executing a Content Security Policy (CSP) is the best way to stay ahead of your security concerns. It accommodates the mitigation of a range of standard attack vectors, such as XSS.<h4>18.&nbsp;Don’t forget to monitor your application security.</h4>Monitor your application security to suspect behaviours and attacks. Understanding when your application is beginning to get attacked is vital to preserving it before it’s too late.<h2>What are the Best Laravel Security Packages that every Laravel Developer must know?</h2><h4>Laravel-ACL</h4>Laravel-ACL package shields controller methods like routes and CRUD in applications and ensures a safe authentication process through role-based appropriate permissions.Additionally, to verify the security status, this package utilizes voters to scan role-based privileges.<h4>Laravel Security</h4>For eliminating any vulnerability of the XSS from the codebase, Laravel Security is an essential package. Currently, Laravel 5 from CodeIgniter 3 is used in this framework to protect your business.<h4>Laravel Security Component</h4>If you want to combine Laravel with Symfony’s security core, using this package is an ideal way to achieve it.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Honestly, Laravel is one of the most compelling PHP frameworks in the technology world for&nbsp;web development services.&nbsp;However, the best reason the significant Laravel framework has become prominent and valuable is the features that it comes equipped with. Laravel Security is, therefore, not highly difficult to secure proper protection, given the presence of such numerous pre-existing security features.Certainly, as a developer or business owner, you can choose to add more features, but the website can perform well even without doing so.They are straightforward to use and support systematic protection against common attack factors and are well experimented with beforehand.In a nutshell, you can achieve it in your web development work, and the points mentioned above would ensure better user compatibility.Are you looking for a reliable Laravel website development company? Your search ends here. We are renowned for delivering high-quality, scalable, and timely web solutions to different business verticals around the globe. &nbsp;

Security Checklist Every Laravel Developer Can Use

Today, users across all age brackets use the internet and, especially for computer-savvy users, the internet is the first place they’ll go, to seek what they’re looking for.Nowadays it seems like everyone has a website or a blog for sharing their thoughts, information about themselves or what they do online. How essential is it to have a web presence now compared to just a few years ago? Perhaps it depends on what you do. Now let’s talk about startups, large and small. No matter what the size of your startup is, it would not hurt you to get a website.Since majority of people are turning to the web to find more about things, web presence can be a great way to introduce your business to millions. The internet has no physical limitation; it covers a wider area than the few miles, local to your business’ office.Your web presence reaches out to the millions who can find you in search engine results, which could have audiences from right next door or in another country. Depending on your type of business and offerings, this could drive a great traffic and generate leads.Who doesn’t want to make fortune on the internet and setting up a web store? If you’re looking to sell goods or services over the internet, you need to develop a website for your business. By hiring a&nbsp;<a href="https://darkbears.com/expertise/advanced-computing">professional web development company</a>&nbsp;services, you’ll be on our way to create an enticing and secure website for your customers.A website development company can help build super quality, technically advanced &amp; great looking website for your business, which can help you drive great profits.​<a href="https://darkbears.com/company/contact">Good website development companies</a>&nbsp;provide web solutions ranging from ecommerce portals, multi-channel eCommerce, cross-channel integrations, responsive websites, along with online marketing services which drive traffic, increase our business effectively through online sales.

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Let’s Find out the Top 8 PHP Frameworks that will Rock in 2019

Professionally Designed or Developed Websites are like Good Book

Security Checklist Every Laravel Developer Can Use

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