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Webmasters / How Can I Debug My Wordpress Website? by Charisol: 8:18pm On Nov 01, 2018
Assume you had a bookstore that opens up in the new week, only to welcome the first client with an unhinged door and damaged roof … Of course, your client gets the wrong impression about you and finds the next available bookstore.

This is what occurs, when your website develops bugs and visitors are unable to access the services you provide them.

Though bugs and errors can occur for a number of reasons — some due to poorly created websites, or server errors, regardless of which, you’ll want to know what steps to take to place your website in optimal state should an error occur.

At the point of building your website, it is a standard practice to have the complete backup of site, to safeguard your content in the advent of errors or crashes. If you are yet to backup your website, proceed to set it up using tools such as Backupbuddy or Duplicator.

However, when server errors occur (i.e. users can’t get access to your website, due to an internal server issue which could be caused by too many users trying to gain access at a particular time) or some files got corrupted, and your server can’t identify the problem, below are efficient and quick ways to get the problem fixed:

Deactivate all plugins
An incompatible plugin could cause a server error as this is common with WordPress, and if the error is due to a plugin, learning how to deactivate plugins from WordPress, isn’t an entirely tough process.

Create more memory space
Insufficient memory space could trigger a server error. If your website on WordPress was created using “php”, allocating more memory space to it could offset the problem.

Update WordPress version
Downloading and updating your WordPress version could save you a whole lot, since this replaces your existing installation with updated folders. This is another great fix, since it doesn’t replace any content you have created on WordPress.

Image Errors
Another common WordPress error occurs with images. Content images may not get uploaded into the post, or may not display properly. Sometimes your entire media library doesn’t display.

Image errors mostly occur due to bad image types, or a change in folder permission. Most times a reset on plugins would restore permissions and allow you get past image errors.

Post schedule errors
Scheduling your posts on WordPress allow you a great deal of flexibility because you can be away due to travel, and your posts still gets published as you’ve set them to. Imagine the horror if you scheduled for a full week and none of those posts got published!

To fix this error, check the WordPress missed scheduled plugin and activate it (this would automatically check for all missed scheduled posts and post them appropriately)

Errors and bugs would definitely reduce the momentum of any team, since your users would need to rely elsewhere to get the services you provide.

Article first appeared on www.charisol.io
Business / What Is A Lead Magnet And Why Does Your Website Need One? by Charisol: 8:31am On Oct 25, 2018
What is a Lead Magnet?

Lead magnets are one of the most effective and multi-purpose digital marketing tools that enable you get more email subscribers to your website, or capture leads as the case may be. Studies have shown that websites capture less than 10% of their web traffic as leads when using contact buttons rather than lead magnets. Websites that use lead magnets are shown to capture up to 75% of their web traffic as prospects– that’s an amazing difference.

Lead magnets aren’t just for simple lead capture; they can be used for a much bigger purpose. If you use them as part of your sales funnel they’re even more effective. The idea behind this process is same. You position the lead magnet somewhere at the beginning or the first tier of your sales funnel. This makes it possible for you to further engage potential clients who have downloaded your lead magnet in exchange for their contact details, thereby bringing them closer to becoming buyers.

Why your website needs one?

- One of the most important goals of any business owner is to increase customers. By creating an irresistible lead magnet, you can generate more leads.

When you start a relationship with a new visitor on your blog, you don’t push offers to their faces, like asking them to buy your “XYZ product/service for $$$ price”. One of two things occur if you go this route. One, you stand a high risk of losing a potential client. Two, your website may lose integrity if the visitor flags you, thereby repelling other potential buyers. Either way, you might go out of business rather than grow in business.

The best way to go is starting small with a low commitment. Just as with human relationship, giving away something valuable for free is a good start. That would be your lead magnet!

If your lead magnet is as valuable as it promises, visitors will be keen on coming back to your website. Then you can push your offer.

Perhaps this time they will buy an hour-long consultation with you or be very happy to give a review or referral. Months down the line, they may subscribe to your “XY services” and eventually buy whatever your business offers.

- Every website owner has to come to terms with this reality: For your website’s lifetime, most people will not come back. You are also guilty of this in a way. You frequently revisit popular websites like Quora, Facebook, Twitter, etc. But how many smaller websites do you come back to?

Same goes for your site. Assuming your it gets about 100 visitors per day, of those 100, how many are new visitors vs. recurring visitors? Assuming 70% of them discovered you for the first time, you can be rest assured that 70 out of every 100 visitors may not revisit to your website again. Imagine how much opportunity is untapped because people drop by and never return.

Nonetheless, this shouldn’t scare or discourage you. Rather, it gives a clear understanding and trims your focus to a more dedicated audience. Now you know a repeat visitor has a much higher likelihood of becoming a viable sales lead than a first timer. So you should give more attention to your returning visitors.

You may be spending as much as $0.90 per click on an ad platform, but most of your visitors will never come back to “warm up” with your brand until they’re ready to buy. This is where a lead magnet comes handy; it changes your relationship with an absolute stranger!

Lead Magnet is one of the first processes of lead generation and customer acquisition that guarantees huge conversion and customer retention. You keep making repeated sales from every single customer. Companies like Google, Amazon, Godaddy, all perform the same process.

The fact is you can’t have a successful internet marketing strategy without lead magnets; they’re a vital part of website optimization, lead capture, and an effective sales funnel. You also get to keep in touch with your users and send them new offers or deals. In any case, settling for a mere 10% lead capture when you could have a 75% lead capture is ridiculous.

Full article at https://www.charisol.io/blog/lead-magnet-your-website-needs-one/
Business / What Are The Top Email Marketing Platforms In 2018? by Charisol: 5:40pm On Oct 24, 2018
Email marketing may not be a front runner in the business advertising segment today. But thanks to the modern digital craze, it still holds its place and no business, (virtual or physical) may fully thrive without it. The rewards of using email marketing today are endless. Another benefit is that it is measurable. When you execute a sales campaign or brand awareness strategy with email marketing, you can afterwards, analyse and assess the campaign’s performance by using analytics software. These platforms have been selected based on their efficiency overtime, with each catering to generic business’ email marketing objectives.

- SendinBlue is one of the top email marketing platforms that possibly has all you need to get started in email marketing, making it a great choice for small businesses. Its major attractive features, as shared by other predominant platforms, include:

A landing page builder
Automated email marketing option
You can design your email with provided, easy-to-use email templates
Transactional email and SMTP
You can send SMS with its SMS sending option
You also get to organise your contacts, tag, and move them between the lists
The service is well integrated with third-party lead generation tools.
- GetResponse’s significant advantage has been its simplicity. It is very easy to use, especially for beginners. Hence, it is best for small business owners who are just learning the ‘game’ of email marketing. Its features (which can also be found in other similar platforms) include:

Automated marketing tools
An easy-to-use drag-and-drop building tool that allows you manage your contacts, organise them into groups, create effective campaigns and content that suits each group.
Appealing email templates
A landing page builder
Webinars; a feature that includes interactive tools and guide to help you create a webinar, invite people and organise tasks and activities for the webinar.
API – an application programming interface. >> See explanation here
It is integrated with third-party tools like Google Docs, SalesForce etc.
It comes with engaging responsive forms, autoresponders, and A/B tracking (an analytics tool).
- MailChimp’s interface is superbly-designed with great tools and awesome support for all kinds of business owners. Its features offer you nearly all you need for your email marketing tactics. It is also perfect for WordPress users. The platform integrates well with WordPress, tons of e-commerce platforms and analytics that target your customers based on previous sales, preferences, and behavior. Its distinctive features include:

A location manager option that allows you to set up delivery times based on user’s timezones and setup segmenting based on a geolocation tool.

Read more at https://www.charisol.io/blog/5-top-email-marketing-providing-platforms-in-2018-pros-and-cons/
Business / These Are The 7 Best Web Hosting Companies In 2018 by Charisol: 5:07pm On Oct 24, 2018
There are dozens of web hosting companies, that gives you an allocation to host your website, and they provide you with tools that allows your website function appropriately, and here is a list of the top 10 web hosting companies, that rank well in 2018

- Bluehost ranks as one of the very best hosting platforms for your website. Bluehost allows very easy WordPress integration, and offers you a free domain name for up to a year.

- HostGator Cloud is equally a solid choice for hosting your websites, because HostGator offers you a great speed time average of 424ms as well as an impressive uptime, and compatible with WordPress. HostGator allows you some free extras. Free daily backup, Global content delivery issue, and free migrations, unlike BlueHost that charges $150 per migration.

- A2 Hosting has the reputation of being the fastest hosting company at 413ms, and also supports live chats just as HostGator.

- SiteGround: Another recommended hosting company by WordPress, and rated by hostingfacts to have a 99.9% uptime, although it has a load time of 716ms, SiteGround offers easy ecommerce installs, and free transfers for existing websites. You’ll also get free CDN (Content Delivery Network) and SSL (Secure socket layer) certificates, which is a huge bonus.

- Hostinger isn’t just any hosting site, it is fast, stable and offers tons of technical support options, to keep you running round the clock. Hostinger also lets you build your website with their free template designs, and has a super simple user interface.

- Also similar to Hostinger with its website builder, Web.com is an alternative, because it also supports WordPress, Joomla and a dozen others. Offered at $1.95 per month, Web.com gives you an unlimited bandwidth with a storage capacity of up to 300GB.

- Ipage: Thinking of getting the BlueHost kind of service at a cheaper rate, then Ipage is your pick, although it has a drawback in speed at 821ms, and an uptime of 99.97% as observed by hostingfacts.com. Ipage is hosted at $1.99 with a 30-day money back guarantee, making it a very effective and cheap hosting platform for many.

Find more resources on www.charisol.io

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Business / These Are The 7 Top Wordpress Plugins You Should Install On Your Website by Charisol: 10:06am On Oct 24, 2018
With millions of plugins out there — and more being added on a daily basis –it could become tough trying to narrow down which is best for your website. Considering that if plugins are overused, they could pave way for bugs and malware to infiltrate your website, we’ve handpicked the top seven plugins we believe are best and secure to use on your WordPress website.

- Jetpack seems like an ultimate toolkit for WordPress. It gives you what you need to design, secure, and grow your site in one bundle. With Jetpack, you can get free features such as:

Website customization with free themes, image tools, and rich content.
Increased traffic through automatic social sharing, related content, and faster load times.
Safer website via secure logins and protection from brute force attacks.
All these core features are free. Advanced features like daily backups, spam protection, and SEO tools can be added with one of three plans.

- With over 5 million installations, Akismet is a high-rated anti-spam plugin that prevents your website from publishing malicious content. Akismet does this by checking your comments and contact form submissions against its global database of spam. You can review the comment spam it catches on your blog’s “Comments” admin screen.

Major features in Akismet include:

Automatically checks all comments and filters out the ones that look like spam.
Each comment has a status history, so you can easily see which comments were caught or cleared by Akismet and which were spammed or unspammed by a moderator.
URLs are shown in the comment body to reveal hidden or misleading links.
Moderators can see the number of approved comments for each user.
A discard feature that outright blocks the worst spam, saving you disk space and speeding up your site.
PS: You’ll need an Akismet.com API key to use it. Keys are free for personal blogs; paid subscriptions are available for businesses and commercial sites. You can download the freemium version on WordPress.

- Yoast claims to be the original and top WordPress plugin for SEO since 2008. Well, given the millions of users who have chosen the Yoast plugin as their favourite SEO tool, one can hardly dispute this fact. Yoast SEO does everything in its power to please both visitors and search engine spiders. Below are some of the plugin’s power-ups your website will find most useful:

The most advanced XML Sitemaps functionality at the push of a button.
Full control over site breadcrumbs: add a piece of code and you’re good to go.
Set canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content. Never have to worry about Google penalties again.
Title and meta description templating for better branding and consistent snippets in the search results.
Content & SEO analysis: Invaluable tools to write SEO-friendly texts.
The snippet preview shows you how your post or page will look in the search results – even on mobile.
Yoast SEO tunes the engine of your site so you can work on creating great content.
The cornerstone content and internal linking features help you optimize your site structure in a breeze.
Integrates with Google Search Console: See how your site performs in the search engines and fix crawl errors.
Manage SEO roles: Give your colleagues access to specific sections of the Yoast SEO plugin.
Bulk editor: Make large-scale edits to your site.
The Yoast Premium even has a lot more features.

Read more on the seven plugins we recommend here: https://www.charisol.io/blog/7-top-wordpress-plugins-install-website/
Business / How To Build An Ecommerce/online Store by Charisol: 9:42am On Oct 24, 2018
More consumers would preferable shop through an eCommerce store, than from a traditional one, according to Shopify’s eCommerce industry report.

With more internet penetration in Africa, and other parts of the world, more eCommerce stores are emerging. Asides giants such as Amazon and a few others who have built a very strong reputation as merchant and eCommerce platforms, new brands are setting up personalised virtual stores for their users to access their products directly.

WooCommerce and Shopify have majorly influenced personalised eCommerce setups, but they both function in a couple of different ways, and this is what to know about them, and how to build your own online store with either of them.

WooCommerce:
WooCommerce functions majorly as a WordPress plugin, and is designed to fit small and large merchant websites that run on WordPress, and is very easy to install and customise.

If you plan running your online store on WordPress through your website, WooCommerce would be a perfect fit, and here are a few pros about WooCommerce;

Stylish themes and countless design templates: If you do pay attention to appearance, the WooCommerce plugin allows you to make as many design variations as possible, which gives you more control on the user’s experience.
Very strong SEO: Running your eCommerce store on WordPress comes with this advantage. Since traditional blog websites do well using WordPress SEO, WooCommerce lets your products dominate Google rankings with a well optimised SEO.
Supports multiple payment options: This is a primary requirement for any online store — to be able to receive payment from customers, and WooCommerce supports a wide range of payment options.
Although with the many features WooCommerce offers, there are some potential cons to it, depending on your kind of eCommerce store.

Pricing: eCommerce gives you multiple options to help you build a unique online store, from countless payment options, to design templates, WooCommerce charges differently compared to Shopify. With WooCommerce you’ll need to purchase separate hosting e.g BlueHost, a domain name, any extensions you want and an SSL certificate, which substantially increases its cost depending on the model of your online store.
Tech Support: WooCommerce was created as an extension, but in the event of an error, and you’ll need instant tech support, WooCommerce doesn’t support that yet, but you can still get your complaints settled by opening a support request.

Shopify:

Shopify functions as a shopping mall, everything you need to begin selling your products has been provided, unlike WooCommerce which is more of a self serviced eCommerce store.

With Shopify you’ll have a more simple approach compared to WooCommerce, and here are some pros about Shopify you should consider;

Pricing: Shopify gives you a more fixed cost, meaning you’ll get only the perks of the plan you pay for, and Shopify offers three pricing plans.
Dedicated Tech/Customer Support: Unlike WooCommerce, Shopify offers a steady and quick response tech support team, to effectively handle any issues you could possibly encounter.
Multiple Payment options: Shopify also supports multiple payment options, so you can accept payment from customers around the globe.
Increased sales channel: Compared to WooCommerce which works majorly with your WordPress website, Shopify allows you sell products on other sales platforms like Instagram or Amazon.
Although Shopify is really great for building your own eCommerce store, it is limited in design. With Shopify, you really can’t rebrand the looks of your store without some technical skill.

Between Shopify and WooCommerce, there isn’t one that you could particularly say works better than the other, the best way to decide which works better, will have to be judged based on your business model, and market outreach. If you’ve got an established brand, and you’ve got a lot of traffic to your home website, WooCommerce could then be the perfect fit for you, and if you’re into merchandising, and retail redistribution, then you should consider Spotify as a more appropriate model for you online shop.

Content first posted on www.charisol.io
Business / How Can B2B Businesses Leverage Facebook by Charisol: 9:37pm On Oct 04, 2018
Facebook as a tool has provided boundless opportunities for businesses, not just to connect and interact with their customers, but also with businesses within and outside their industry.

Finding other businesses within your niche, requires your availability and visibility, which can be enhanced by running specific Facebook ads, allowing other businesses to find what solutions you offer, which also puts you in a position to access more

Creating a business, is about providing a solution, and you’ll need to rely on other businesses to bring you solutions to specific problems, and also provide solution to other business in your niche.

So how can your business leverage the opportunities Facebook provides, to connect with other business, and build a stronger brand?

Create proper Ad content

To properly connect using Facebook ads, you need to create a specific ad content, that gets your message across to your target audience which in this case is a business. Without the right message content, your ads won’t deliver proper value on your campaign.

To create the proper content for your campaign, there are various template structures that allows you deliver the right message to the right persons.

Running Specific Ads

Facebook is build with an incredible algorithm, that allows you narrow down exactly who you want to see your created advertisement. With Facebook’s large user base, your ad could get lost or targeted at the wrong audience.

A Facebook tool, allowing businesses to create ads targeted at to a precise audience (in this case other businesses or business owners), gives you a superior ROI(Return On Investment).

Run test case

It is brainy not to throw in all your budget into Facebook ads without absolutely understanding what works accurately. Which is why, you should run a few ads, with a small budget and find a recognisable trend that works best for your campaigns. Some may fail, which is why you don’t want to get spent out on the wrong approach.

Find an enthusiastic team

Running your B2B ads on Facebook are quite simple, but as a business owner, you’ll certainly want to focus your time and energy on different activities, and while you should know what results you want, a team dedicated to this task will save you incredible time and resources.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/how-b2b-startups-can-leverage-facebook-ads/
Business / Which Advertising Platform Should I Use Between Google And Facebook by Charisol: 9:25pm On Oct 04, 2018
Many advertisers often view Google Ads and Facebook Ads in a competitive manner. However, this shouldn’t be so. Both brands are strategically posed as competitors. This is possibly a brand awareness and sales tactic. Indeed, the two digital marketing tools have differences. Yet, this hasn’t hindered many businesses from combining the two superpowers for their business advantages.

By advertising with both Google and Facebook Ads, entrepreneurs and brand managers are able to achieve the utmost exposure for their enterprises, increase sales and find new customers.
However, each platform has different and unique functionalities and they should be carefully considered before deciding which would suit a business’ digital advertising goals. Even with their distinct functions, there are tons of strategies that companies can employ to aline these functionalities to reap remarkable returns on their advertising spend. To that end, let’s delve into what each advertising tool is about and when it is most profitable to use which.

Google AdWords vs. Facebook Ads

Google Ads
Google AdWords is synonymous with “paid search” and the two terms can be used interchangeably. The primary focus of paid search is targeting keywords and the use of text-based advertisement. Businesses employing the use of AdWords bid on keywords – specific phrases or words added to search queries – in the hope that their ads will be displayed with search results in such queries. Each time a user clicks on the ads, the advertiser is charged a certain amount, thus the name ” pay-per-click advertising.” In essence, the users are paying for the potential of finding customers relying on the keywords and search terms they enter.
Facebook Ads is a prime example of the practice of advertising on social networks — “paid social”. Although advertising on Facebook can be similar to Google AdWords as both platforms are promoting their business via the internet, the similarity ends there. Paid social helps in finding patronage based on the things users are interested in and how they behave online.
In simple words, Google AdWords helps you find new customers, Facebook helps new customers find you.
When to Use Google Ads:

When promoting brand awareness

Google advertising offers two primary networks – the Search Network and the Display Network. Search Network embraces the totality of the Google as a search engine, and advertisers can bid on millions of keywords and phrases to target potential customers. The Google Display Network offers more visual ads such as banners, and seeing as the Google Display Network spans little or more than 98% of the World Wide Web; it is a great choice for advertisers who want to accomplish marketing goals such as brand awareness.
Relevance and ads quality

Google Ads provides an immense reach as an advertising platform, it addresses more than 40,000 search queries every second. It offers a wide variety of potential audience and this alone makes it an admirable inclusion to your digital marketing strategy. AdWords focuses on the quality and relevance of the ads, the more relevance the ads has to the user, the better the experience the user is likely to have, therefore they are more likely to continue using Google as their go-to search engine. This is why smart advertisers with ads of relevance, high quality and optimization rarely have to bid as highly as advertisers with poorer ads.
When to Use Facebook Ads:

When looking for ideal customers

Facebook is a pioneer of paid social and has become the centre in many businesses’ digital marketing strategies. Facebook also boasts a vast number of global audiences. However, its true strength lies in the potential granularity with which advertisers can target Facebook users.
Suggested Read: Social Media Metrics Every Business Should Pay Attention To
People basically share almost every detail of their lives and affairs on Facebook, they also search for and consume content that are in alignment with their personal interests, beliefs and ideologies delivering advertisers with the golden opportunity to tailor their advertising messages to target audiences in ways previously conceived as impossible. Businesses should consider Facebook as a way to get closer to their ideal customers.
When the resources available are limited

Facebook Ads are remarkably affordable, especially considering their impact and the granularity with which advertisers can target their ideal customers. This makes Facebook Ads a very attractive offer to small companies and businesses with limited resources.

Article: https://www.charisol.io/blog/google-ads-vs-facebook-ads-when-to-use-which/
Business / How Do I Build A Great Software Development Team For My Startup? by Charisol: 9:00pm On Oct 04, 2018
Starting up a business is a crucial and important task, and even more important is the early stage of that business. To build a lasting and successful business, there is more to it than just the business idea and business plan, you have to be consciously aware as a startup manager or team leader that your team is the major foundation of your business.

The potential talent your team possesses is decisive in the growth of your business, and that’s the reason you have to understand how to build a proper team, and also recognise the right talent.

Here are some tips that’ll give you the right edge on building the right software development team for your startup

- Understand the industry
- Create a suitable work culture
- Identify your business needs
- Hire a dedicated software development team

https://www.charisol.io/blog/how-to-build-a-software-development-team-for-your-startup/
Business / Costly Mistakes To Avoid When Building A Team by Charisol: 7:27pm On Sep 27, 2018
Bringing in like minds with complementary expertise and skills will create a very formidable team for your growing company. The wrong hands might lead to the downfall of the company. Here are some mistakes to avoid, in the course of hiring or building that great team of yours.

Hiring too fast

The hiring process isn’t only about qualifications; you also need to consider how your potential team members will fit into your company culture. Are they hyper-competitive? Are they extremely laid back and won’t foster in an environment where they need to take their own initiative?

All should be considered in the hiring process. So ensure you don’t get engrossed with qualification demands only. It’s better if you take your time to ensure that they’re a proper fit. This is a more safer option, than finding out barely months down the line of employment that they you made the wrong choice.

Hiring people just like you

This may appear unfavorable to your belief system, but it’s not a good idea to have all your employees agreeing with you. Diversity of opinion and personality benefits the team experience.

Criticism is good as long as it is presented in a constructive and respectful manner, such acts can be extremely beneficial. No company succeeds when everyone is always in agreement.

For example a room full of optimists can lead to high expectations and a room full of pessimist can lead to excessive negativity, combination of personalities will ensure that you end up in consensus and balance.

Focusing on one skill group

If you have a perfect product but no expertise on selling then you will get stuck in the way. In team building, you do not focus alone on the technicalities of your product when hiring. Though you’ll always need developers to fix or improve your product and always ensure it’s in a good working condition, but what’s the essence of a company if it can’t make sales due to the non-availability of sales experts in the team?

Certainly, a perfect product minus sales expertise is going nowhere. Your team building is not complete without salespersons.

Not letting go

A huge challenge for most entrepreneurs/tech founders is having to relinquish someone off his position. This could be really tough for the first time — it’s an awkward state the founders don’t like.

While it might be a tough call to lay off whoever you deem unfit, you have to put sentiments aside and allow professionalism play. Great teams are not built on sentiments. When you trim the rough edges, you make way for the smooth ones. It’s necessary for the health of the company and team building.

Besides, there’s no point in having an employee who either isn’t suited for the job or not embracing team spirit.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/costly-mistakes-founders-avoid-team-building/
Business / 5 Tips To Effectively Manage Your Tech Team by Charisol: 8:14pm On Sep 25, 2018
A common management problem people encounter with developers is relying on the assumption that great developers equal excellent product delivery. Yet, even the dream team of the most solid professionals cannot conduct a mind probe to understand just precisely what you want. Since there is no place for vagueness or ambiguity during a tech project, here are five tips to help you effectively handle your tech team.

Hire the right people

Finding the right people you can work with is very imperative. Apart from hiring the dream team, you need developers that you can seamlessly converse with without resulting in harsh petty words or firing. Of course, the first thing to do when looking to hire developers is to review credentials and resumes, but it is more important to evaluate the person’s character. Is it compatible with yours? Can you bear to work with this person? Bear in mind that the project could drag on for months, so choose a person you can work with for many months without resorting to fistfights or conflicts.

Ask Questions

Be forethoughtful with your questions. Developers are known to be notoriously introverted and only choose to speak up when there are no other options. Also, be proactive with introducing new proposals straight from the development team.

Be open-minded and unafraid to show your limitations

Be approachable and open to new proposals and ideas. After all, the team has more experience than you in the technical aspect of your project and could offer advice on a better solution for your requirements. Do not feel incompetent when all the technical registers are used; it is their area of expertise, not yours. Show them you can listen and not weigh in on every discussion at the drop of a hat. Attempting to bluff your way through a technical conversation will do nothing good for your credibility. You’ll gain more trust by honestly asking for explanations in the area you are having difficulty understanding. During conversations, it’s OK to have questions or interferences like “excuse me, can you explain this in layman’s terms?” They won’t hold your questions against you as you are providing input in other areas that are not related to technical discourse.

Trust your programmers

Your responsibility is to keep the entire project on track. Therefore, you shouldn’t be too intrusive and act like you do not trust the technical team leader’s judgment. Do not overrule your developers’ ideas so as to push yours. Trust their expertise and facilitate them to do their job. Don’t prescribe how to achieve technical success. They had trained for this, after all.

An ideal way to go will be setting clear objectives and timelines, from the project level (daily, weekly, monthly, annually) to the team level (deadlines, market milestones). Then let them work within the parameters set, let them define and organize the work to meet the aims and objectives. That way, your team won’t lose morale from your accidental intrusiveness, and instead, you will have more enthusiastic and energized teams and therefore better work results.

Reward the skill of problem-solving

Everyone loves to solve a problem of some sort. Some love puzzles, and others, chess. Developers like to solve tech problem and puzzles. Also, everyone appreciatesan incentive of sorts to foster that characteristic of problem-solving — developers are not different. But finding the perfect incentives for programmers can be a bit tough. It appears that software develops are not driven by common motivators like greed, money or power. Instead, show them that you are paying attention. Recognise the team’s efforts and laud them for their hard work, instil pride in efforts through all-hands meetings or group messages.

One other thing you can do is to compensate technical staff appropriately. It’s rare for technical people to complain about the pay but it does happen that tech developers leave for jobs with higher pay and recognition. So ensure they are properly compensated.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/5-tips-to-effectively-handle-your-tech-team/
Business / How To Monitor And Effectively Deliver Your Email Campaigns by Charisol: 4:54pm On Sep 25, 2018
As with any type of marketing, your first step in email marketing should be to set goals. Do you want to use email to showcase products and services or bring more visitors to your website? Do you adopt email campaigns in driving increased ROIs, like distributing a coupon that brings in sales? No matter what your goals are, a good place to start is by building a list of people who’ve expressed an interest in your business or value offerings. But the million-dollar question is ‘how do you find these people and get their email addresses?’. Thankfully, it isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Start by asking them in exchange for a specific value.

Let’s examine a practical scenario. Supposing you own a pet supply shop, when you chat with customers, offer to notify them about discounts and special offers if they provide an email address. If you have a website, include a form that encourages visitors to subscribe to your mailing list, while giving them some form of value — which could be an eBook on general tips about your offerings.

Keep in mind that people must give you permission to send them commercial emails, and many countries have laws that require consent.

Your email marketing options

While there are many options to choose from, most email marketing tools share a few common features. The first is a contact database that stores your customers’ information. At the minimum, databases allow an email address for each contact. Most software services allow you to include additional information like name, mailing address, and other information.

Build your email database by adding the customer data you already have. Most services allow you to upload data from a spreadsheet — a handy feature if you have a lot of information to upload. Next, you want to give people the option to subscribe (and unsubscribe).

Most email services provide an online form that you can add to your website by copying and pasting some of the code. Visitors can submit this form to sign up for your emails. This data is then automatically transferred to your contact database.

One thing to keep in mind: forms are customisable, so you can request for the specific customer information you want. But your online sign-up form should be short and super-easy to complete — you’ll have more success growing a subscriber list if you don’t require too much information. All you need is their email address to get started! If you have information about customers, you can use it to sort the customers into lists. Let’s take the pet supply shop scenario again! If you know that a particular set of customers own cats, you can group them in a “Cat list” and send them cat food offers.

Customers who own dogs would be on the “Dog list”, and get different offers. The more information you have about your customers, the more relevant your emails can be.

Now you’ve got your database, let’s talk about the emails.

Email templates allow you to create a design that matches your brand. You can reuse your template for similar email campaigns. Many people read email on their mobiles, so be sure yours are mobile-friendly. Many email marketing tools allow you to preview your email on different devices before you send.

Another great feature to know about is the ability to schedule when your emails go out. An email marketing tool can be used to track what people do when they receive it. You might find that most of your customers open their email first thing Monday mornings or during lunch on Friday. You can then use your email service to record those preferences and send future emails at more relevant times.

Email marketing services also track who clicks the links in your email. These links typically go to pages on your website. You can then track what those people do, once they’re on your site. As you learn about your customers’ behaviour, you get to deliver more personalised content. Lots of email marketing services offer a personalisation feature that places relevant content into an email template, based on a person’s interests. You can use this feature to send specific messages to different people within your database.

While most of your emails will contain general information that “all pet owners will appreciate”, your email template can include one or two fields for content that is tailored to suit each pet-specific group. By targeting each group with a personalised email, you increase the chances that they will not only read your email but also click to visit your website.

Evidently, email marketing tools make running a successful email program much easier. Next, let’s explore how to craft a compelling email and how to best manage your campaign.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/monitor-deliver-email-campaigns/
Business / Should I Have A Specific Design Template For My Social Media Accounts? by Charisol: 4:29pm On Sep 25, 2018
Social media users come across hundreds or even thousands of social media posts daily, depending on how much time they spend online. But only a handful of these posts are powerful enough to make each person stop scrolling and pay attention to what’s being communicated. Such posts usually have something in common — they’re high-quality, visually appealing, shareable and dynamic.

Creative visuals make the difference between amateurs and professionals. Since it’s obvious that graphics put your brand in the spotlight when it comes to social media, custom brand designs are important for optimising your social media profile and building your presence online. It makes it easy to differentiate your brand from the sea of competitors. Though having a specific design template for your social media makes your posting process much shorter and straightforward, templates should always be open to evolution.

Instead of sticking to a specific social media design template for your social media pages and profiles, explore the option of having a template for each type of content that goes on each channel. For instance, the template you use for text-only posts should be different from the one for infographics, which should be different from the one for pictures, which should be different from that of clients’ testimonials and reviews. However, despite the creative tweaks, all these templates should complement one another and deliver the same brand consistency.

It is important to consider that the same type of graphics that work with Facebook may not necessarily work with Twitter. On Instagram, the same type of content that works for the regular landing page may not work for stories. Different social media platforms already require different dimensions for their images but it’s important to optimise every post for that particular platform, starting with the design itself.

Key Elements

There are certain elements of your social media that should remain the same, regardless of the platform. They include like your logo, font type, colour and mission statement. Think of Coca Cola’s vibrant red, Cadbury’s rich purple, Facebook’s muted blue and Nike’s ‘Just Do It’. Consistent branding is the key ingredient to brand recognition and success.

Another thing with specific templates for your social media is, templates are easily duplicated and can be improved upon. Imagine your most vicious competitor steals your template idea and even makes an upgraded version of it for their social media, what’s a graphic designer to do? This is why having certain elements in your templates that convey consistent branding is more important.

Think of the fashion industry, Christian Louboutin (Luxury shoe Designer) is known for his red soles. He has a variety of designs that women all over the world are dying to own and other shoe brands (luxury and high-street) are too keen to provide. What sets him apart from the sea of luxury shoe designers, are those red soles (commonly referred to as red-bottoms) — men and women all around the world are eager to own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes solely because of the soles. It is important to note here that these shoes hurt beyond measure and are virtually impossible to walk in, but his branding conquers all of that, judging from the number of women who own these shoes.

However, this isn’t a yardstick to delete all your already existing templates. Rather, it’s to shift your focus to dynamism and cohesiveness rather than sameness and stereotypes. Always bear in mind that social media is ever-changing and brands are forever sending mixed signals to their consumers. But the brands which will stand the test of time and expand their core audience, are those that never take their eyes off brand consistency.

While working towards brand consistency and recognition, never ignore providing valuable content. Everything you post should be relevant and add value to your users. Valuable content works simultaneously with high-quality graphics for a wider reach across social media platforms, resulting in more potential traffic to your website.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/social-media-design-templates/
Business / How To Increase Your Website’s Google Ranking by Charisol: 4:10pm On Sep 25, 2018
The general consensus to this question is always to create more content and to improve SEO. Whilst these are good answers, they’re just not enough. There are other factors that contribute to Google ranking your website higher. Here are five of them.

Increase your content quality

Google doesn’t want you to upload content for content sake. Perhaps you’ve heard, at some point, that “content is king”. But with Google “quality content is king”.

If your website only creates loads of contents, without having the quality (which include relevant statistics, images, nice readability, moderate keywords etc), Google won’t necessarily rank your website higher, instead you are at a high risk of moving down while others websites abiding by the rules move ahead of yours.

Eliminate Zombie Pages

Zombie pages are pages that do not add any specific value to your website. Examples of zombie pages are old and outdated blog posts, e-commerce pages with no sales, category and tag pages.

Usually, when users search on Google, the search engine will have to index through websites with related information as to what the user is searching for. If your website has more pages to be indexed before finding the right page, then a website with fewer pages but similar information, will be ranked higher.

Fix SEO Breaks

With quality content, better page indexes but technical SEO faults, your website won’t be getting a higher ranking on Google, but there is a fine way to fix this, it’s called ‘Auditing’. By auditing your website with an auditor tool, your backlinks and SEO work as intended, and practically improving your ranking on Google.

Suggested Read : 5 Digital Skills Every Startup Needs on Its Team

Improve CTR (Click Through Rate)

Click-through data has proven to be a huge and critical resource for improving search and quality ranking. This is because a high click-through rate shows Google that your content is more relevant to the audience, which ultimately increases your page ranking on Google.

Learning ways to improve your Click-through rate will bring you outstanding results.
Optimise for Mobile

A stunning and graphically updated website is great, but if you’ve got so much on your website, that mobile users find it bogus and intimidating to use, they will most likely not visit your website over. It’s important your website is optimised and highly responsive for mobile users.

Optimisation for mobile users not only improve your users’ experience, but also allows your website to be indexed by search engines — which improves your website visibility and ranking.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/how-to-increase-your-websites-google-ranking/
Business / How Can I Dominate My Business Space And Become A Winning Brand On Instagram? by Charisol: 3:48pm On Sep 25, 2018
Social media is opening new space for competition. If you are smart and bright, your chances of survival are as good as that of a subterranean insect surviving in an elephant stampede, (pretty sorry to say). So, does that mean you can’t survive? Obviously not! You need to arrange and get things done in a planned way, or simply read this guide to know what works, what doesn’t, how to dominate your space and become a winning brand on Instagram.

Your Identity is key:

Your Instagram presence is your identity. It is one stage that shouts the deep-rooted saying “photos talk louder than words”. This does not mean you must be a specialized photographer to sail on Instagram, but you must establish your identity and make it truly stand out.

When you take a look at brands that have utilized Instagram visually, one thing is extremely self-evident — the identity of the brand appears in each photo.

a) Famous Insta Celeb

As often as you can, check the Instagram profile of celebrities and take a cue from them. The lesson is your Instagram presence or profile ought to tell the individual who you are. Although lots of Individuals post arbitrary pictures on Instagram, you can either choose to go that way or remain positive and give your profile that personal feeling.

b) Famous Brand Account

Once more, the brand identity is reflected in the photography stream. So, the primary concern is, select your image identity, and afterward, utilize that on your Instagram profile.

Utilize Hashtags (loads of them at different points):

A very effective approach to gaining likes on Instagram is using lots of hashtags on your picture, at minimum 15 and maximum of 20.

Examples are, #TagsForLikes, #FollowForFollow #Instapic and so forth. On the off chance that you are beginning off new on the stage, the right hashtags can do wonders for your Instagram account.

Tag the Right Profiles

Instagram conveys the capacity for you to tag the correct profile in your picture. If, for instance, you are posting a photo of yourself running, and you are wearing Puma shoes, simply go ahead and tag the official handle of Puma. The effect of this is your picture appears on Puma’s profile under labeled pictures, and some person who hasn’t known about your brand will probably find and relate with you. Since you’ve associated with their favorite brand. Tagging right profile also gives a sense of professionalism.

Frequently Post Instagram Stories

One way to get around the decrease in post engagement on Instagram is to expand your posting in another area. Instagram Stories offer a variety of engagement opportunities, including the newest Poll feature. The algorithm takes into account all actions of engagement like replying to a Story or sending a Story to someone. The more engagement, the more likely your posts will show up in the feed.

Fill your Bio

It is evident that some individuals disregard the need to have a fully informative Instagram profile. Ensure, you have no less than one contact detail, possibly your site, or your Twitter handles or even your email address so individuals can connect with you.

Also, utilize a proper “Display Picture” and not only an abstract picture — like that of a flower. More importantly, you should consider using the description space carefully to advance yourself, your image and your business.

Here’s what’s more. However senseless it might sound, check for syntactic or spelling mistakes in your depictions. A slight grammatical mistake in your profile bio could destroy a considerable measure of things for you.

Utilize Witty Captions

We underestimate the power of well-crafted words. Once in a while, a single word is adequate to appropriately portray the picture. On different occasions, you may utilize a more nitty-gritty depiction. Instagram is about your pictures talking, however tossing in right word(s) goes a long way in making your pictures more alluring. In a nutshell, be witty, unique, probably idyllic yet dependable. Ensure your words depict your pictures well enough.

Develop a Following

Instagram enables you the capacity to share pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and so forth. If you have a record on those social channels, ensure you share your picture there. This would increase your engagement across several platforms at the same time.

Use Live Video

Another way to boost your Instagram presence is through the Use of the Live video. Much like the previous suggestion, Instagram Live videos are another way of engaging your followers. The video bumps up in stories feed and your followers might also receive a notification if they opt-in.

Jump on Trends

Whether there are fleeting hashtag trends or holiday posts, timeliness is an important factor when it comes to the Instagram algorithm. This is not to encourage you to participate in every viral meme. Instead, choose the ones that are most applicable to your brand and test out a post with it.

For instance, “The Pokémon Go mobile game” was a trend last year that took over social media. Many brands quickly jumped on it by offering Pokémon-themed deals, posting about catching a rare one and even advertising as if they were near a gym. The trend was massive and presented a great opportunity for brands to attract new customers.

It’s not too late to master Instagram for your business. If you haven’t gotten started as a business on Instagram, don’t panic, you can start right now and join the bandwagon.

https://www.charisol.io/blog/boost-instagram-presence-outsmart-competitors/
Jobs/Vacancies / Re: Write For Charisol Tech And Have Your Content Shared With Thousands Of US Based by Charisol: 10:32am On Sep 25, 2018
Do you like to inspire business to succeed using with technology? Join our team
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFYWqAKUsEDP4h-xbny7V7oe-zeT3765JzQ40577Hhc4OqmA/viewform
Business / Bad UX Can Totally Ruin Your Online Business, Here’s How: by Charisol: 8:00pm On Sep 17, 2018
From on-boarding new users through very long sign up forms, non-responsiveness of websites, to poorly created information architectures, a bad user experience (UX) can lead to a negative brand perception of an online business.

According to a 2016 study by Forrester, a well-designed user experience could boost your conversion rate by up to 400%. Hence, investing in a good UX is imperative to improving brand perception, retaining users and ultimately increasing revenue.

Now that we know the essence of a good user experience, below are ways a bad UX can ruin your online business:

Website Abandonment

According to Webopedia, a webpage abandonment is:

A term used to describe a visitor on a web page who leaves that page before completing the desired action. Examples of abandonment include exiting before signing up for a newsletter or downloading an incentive.

Depending on your industry, booking abandonments, form abandonments, and cart abandonments are various kinds of abandonments that a bad UX could instigate. While various marketing reports have shown that bad UX, price comparison, customer indecision e.t.c are reasons a customer could abandon your website, the numbers hover around 15–30% for a bad user experience.

The aim of your online business is to attract, retain or engage users, creating an experience that turns them away is certainly not a right step in that direction.

Negative Brand Perception

People spend more time on other websites than yours, so once the experience with yours presents them with a cognitive load that differs from their mental model, they end up perceiving your brand negatively.

Opinion science and dynamics play a huge role in what a current customer gets to say about your business or a new customer gets to see/hear about it. These perceptions usually decide whether a sale could become the last or a new one will ever come your way.

According to research, 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. And they make that decision quickly: 68 percent form an opinion after reading between one and six online reviews.

Customer loyalty is extremely important for your online business, and having a bad UX is not a way go get such. In this case, you do not only lose business, your reputation could also be damaged.

Low Search Engine Rankings

Google recently announced that beginning in July 2018, content that is slow-loading may perform less well for both desktop and mobile searchers.

With the advent of machine learning, the search engine algorithms have become more complex, and are now bringing user experience considerations to the same level as content quality.

A major philosophy of Google has always been delivering the best UX to searchers, and this could be said of other search engines too. Website UX issues such as performance, accessibility, mobile friendliness, page speed e.t.c all constitute a huge component of ranking factors.

Having a bad user experience could therefore prevent your online business from maximizing it’s full potential in organic search results, which then reduces your conversion rates. Should you decide to acquire users via paid search ads? A bad UX could also lead to a low Quality Score which then increases the Cost Per Click of your ad, causing you to spend higher in getting users.

Competitive Disadvantage

A great way to keep users engaged is by providing a stellar user experience while they interact with your business. Users will not think twice before abandoning a product or app which causes them frustration. In most cases, they will even consider moving to a competition, even if it costs slightly more.

From a business angle, you could be giving your competitors an edge, since your attracted users have a high chance of moving to them. The demands for a great user experience has grown so high that customers are now more impatient than ever in dealing with a frustrating product experience. A good user experience is no longer an icing on the cake, but rather a major ingredient of the cake itself.

According to Marc Hedlund, the founder of Wesabe, his company lost to Mint because Mint had a better design.

The way users interact with your website online is equivalent to offline interactions with your customer service team. If customers get a bad impression of your business online, their reactions would be similar to how they would if they had encountered a bad customer representative of your business.

In conclusion, user experience is closely linked to how much you spend trying to convince new users or keep current users. A bad UX simply makes you spend more in both cases, with a resultant increase in customer acquisition cost (CAC) (in the former) and a decline in customer lifetime value (in the latter).

https://www.charisol.io/blog/bad-ux-can-ruin-online-business/
Business / 1. 7 Social Media Metrics You Should Pay Attention To by Charisol: 9:26am On Sep 13, 2018
In the world of social media, trends change quickly. By knowing the right social media metrics, you should be paying attention to, you’d easily get the expected results your social media campaigns should bring.

Brand Awareness
Brand awareness refers to how much attraction your business is gaining across all its social media platforms during a specific period of time — usually referred to as reporting periods.
These metrics broadly show your current and potential audience– the rate at which your followers are increasing, as well as how much people has seen a particular post since it went life.
To properly track your brand awareness, you need a brand monitoring tool, that’ll give you insights to how your brand is improving across its social platforms.

Brand Engagement
The brand engagement metric shows how well people are interacting with your social posts and contents. This metric reflects primarily in Facebook and Instagram likes, post shares, retweets on twitter, as well as comments on content.
To properly tracking your engagement rate, compare your post approvals (how much applause or likes a post is getting), against your total number of followers.
A Brand Engagement metric also known as Virality Rate, goes a step further by showing how much shared your contents, compared to the views.

Conversions
Conversions on your contents shows the rate at which people, after following a link on a post, take actions on the landing pages your url led them to.
A high conversion rate means your contents are valuable and engaging to your target audience. To calculate conversion rate, you’ll need a structured setup, which will include skills with data analysis.

Consumers
The consumer metrics refers to how your active followers feel about your brand, and this is expressed in Consumer Testimonials, Customer Satisfaction Scores, and Net Promoters Score (which refers to customer loyalty).
Consumer metrics involves a bit more effort as compared to the first three. This is because, to properly gather consumer metrics, you’ll need to get in contact with already existing customers, and have them express themselves on how they relate to your brand.
So now you understand the grip of these four major pillars, here are some more Social media KPIs that you need to take note of;
https://www.charisol.io/blog/7-social-media-metrics-you-should-pay-attention-to/
Jobs/Vacancies / Write For Charisol Tech And Have Your Content Shared With Thousands Of US Based by Charisol: 4:12pm On Sep 12, 2018
Do you enjoy writing articles? Are you a tech enthusiast? Do you like to inspire business to succeed using with technology? Charisol Tech is looking for trusted authors who can contribute to our blog and inspire people. You don’t have to be experienced, our editors will help turn your writing into a professional piece you’ll want to share on social media platforms like Linkedin and in future job interviews. Join us!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFYWqAKUsEDP4h-xbny7V7oe-zeT3765JzQ40577Hhc4OqmA/viewform

Business / 5 Digital Skills Every Startup Needs On Its Team by Charisol: 4:54am On Sep 05, 2018
Transforming an idea into a business takes a lot of effort, determination, business know-how, the right tools, and basic skills. Skills are the real tools of any business, most importantly startups. They are really what makes a business profitable, and also durable.

Since many startups fail in the early years, here are five very important digital skills, every startup needs to have on its team.



Digital Marketing

Brand awareness is crucial for a business to survive, as well as thrive. Too many businesses, have so many great ideas and offers for their potential market, but getting their message and product to their target customers is usually a struggle. This is a challenge digital marketing helps to overcome. It is very important as a startup to a specialist in this area — be it a specialised agency or an expert on the team



Continue Reading:5 Digital Skills Every Startup Needs on Its Team
Programming / 5 Most Relevant Programming Languages Every 21st Century Developer Should Know by Charisol: 6:25pm On Aug 14, 2018
There are certainly many programming languages in the software development ecosystem, but here are are the top five most relevant programming languages, that would makes you not only make you a better software developer, but also give you the edge you need among your competitive peers — so you can also work with the leading tech like Google, Microsoft, and many other global financial organisations beyond Africa!

Python
Python is popular as a general-purpose programming language in the 21st century because of its vast adoption in web/software development as a primary language or support language (including it’s frameworks). It is also extremely useful for penetration testing, which makes it a very important language to learn –it can build and equally break.

In 2018, the need for developers using Python has increased by 6% compared to 2017. Companies that use Python include: DropBox, Yahoo and N.A.S.A

Java
Java is one of the most relevant programming languages that has existed for ages. But it still hasn’t lost relevance, thanks to the consistent rise in the use of Android mobiles and applications. The language inAndroid applications are written in JAVA, and even if nothing else is considered, your current ability to develop Android software will prove invaluable.

Anyone who needs to develop an Android app would definitely need this programming skill.


Read On...
Programming / How To Land Foreign Gigs As An African Programmer by Charisol: 6:18pm On Aug 06, 2018
How to Land Foreign Gigs as an African Programmer

The world is getting digitized at an amazingly fast rate. Although Africa is lagging behind, the continent isn’t completely out of the loop. Tech hubs and coding programs across Africa have become increasingly popular, leading to more opportunities for the population at large and serving as a leveraging ground for the under-educated sect. But with this advantage comes a disadvantage. There are more programmers in Africa than full-time jobs to go around.

Since programming falls under the category of jobs that can be done remotely, the unemployment gap can be closed when programmers apply for jobs all across the world. Although the thought of competing with global counterparts can be intimidating, it’s totally worth the shot. Here are some tips on how to land foreign gigs, as an African programmer.

Set yourself up for success

Several things lead to success, but preparation is always the first step. In this case, having the right tools to execute tasks is paramount. You can start by having the right updated software, a bank card that works for intentional purchases, fast internet connection and a reasonably stable source of electricity. Then sign up to sites like Upwork and Freelancer. At the initial, you may get jobs that are seemingly small from these sites but small is a good place to start.

Niche down

Being a programmer who is proficient in more than one programming language is good but narrowing down by picking one out of the others and becoming an expert at it is important. In your online profiles, state your preferred programming language. Clients usually feel better when they think they’re working with a specialist (which is essentially what you are, although you might not use that term). As a specialist, charging more than the average will go almost unquestioned. It also will not hurt to specify whether you’re a Software Developer, User Interface Designer or something else.

Upsell yourself

If you’ve only worked on bite-size projects, upsell those projects and the skills you gained while working on them.. However, at this stage, make sure you are only accepting low-risk jobs, while you build the much-needed skills to reach your target audience.

Show off your work

Although this is a form of marketing, it’s a low-cost high-value form. It might feel uncomfortable at first to blow your own trumpet (so to say), but just as it takes time to build up and train a muscle, you’ll get used to it. Showing off your works to friends, classmates, and even your internet community could easily equate to showing your works to potential employers. Don’t forget to place a code on your Github profile. It’s also really good to create a portfolio website, where potential clients can see more of your work.


Continue Reading: How to Land Foreign Gigs as an African Programmer
Programming / The Best Online Remote Software Development Communities To Join by Charisol: 10:50pm On Jul 26, 2018
A community is a group of people that come together to grow as one, solve each other’s problems and generally support one another. An online tech community is quite the most amazing place for a software developer to belong, coupled with the chance to work and interact remotely, all in a bid to hone your skills as a programmer and become well-rounded. Whether you are a budding software developer, or simply a tech enthusiast, here is a list of the best online software development communities you can join. They help refine your tech skills and enhance your versatility towards becoming a geek with a world-class talent.

1. STACK OVERFLOW:

Stack Overflow is known to be the biggest software community on the internet. The platform offers you access to tons of questions and answers in the range of computer programming and solutions to algorithms while allowing you to interact with other developers in the software development community.

Find the StackOverflow community at https://stackoverflow.com/

2. GITHUB:

Github functions primarily as a “Version Control Tool” - a tool used for managing different versions of a particular app, for improvement or backup - for computer programmers and software developers, but the platform is also a “Developers Disney land”, because it gives programmers access to find many world-famous apps in Code!

Joining the GitHub online community lets you build your own apps and collaborate with other software developers remotely, while taking advantage of its version control ability.

Find the GitHub community at https://github.com/

3. GOOGLE DEVELOPERS:

Google developers is a platform created by Google to give you access to software development tools to build software programs using some of Google’s products such as Google maps and Google Apps. The Google Developers platform also hosts discussion groups and blogs for software developers; something you don’t want to miss out on.

Find the Google Developers community at https://developers.google.com/

4. DEVELOPERS FACEBOOK:

Developers Facebook is another platform similar to Google Developers. Developers Facebook allows you to build apps using their API and even allows you to integrate your apps into Facebook. You also get to collaborate with other software developers, which will in turn, improve your software development capability.

Find the Facebook Developers community at https://developers.facebook.com/

5. FREECODECAMP:

FreeCodeCamp gives you the opportunity to learn how to code for free, challenges you to build your product version and even awards you with a Certification based on your performance. You get to enjoy many benefits with a like-minded community learning alongside you.

Find the FreeCodeCamp community at https://www.freecodecamp.org/


Continue Reading
Business / Does Your Business Need A Mobile App? by Charisol: 3:18pm On Jul 24, 2018
The 21st century has ushered in a lot of incredible changes. Technology happens to be a highly significant one of the lot. Day after day, businesses are beginning to optimize their services with the latest tech trends. Indeed, we’ve come to an age where you can now do almost everything on your mobile phones. As a business owner, you may wonder how this affects commercial activities and businesses in particular. Should businesses go for mobile applications?

If the modern mobile craze is anything to go by, it's a clear indication that your business could be in trouble if it isn't mobile-optimized. There are several ways to make your business mobile-friendly. You could choose to build 'responsive' websites or 'progressive' web apps or opt to join the accelerating mobile app trend. By and large, your business benefits in several ways from using mobile apps. Mobile applications can:

- strengthen your brand image,

- boost your website traffic,

- open new revenue channels,

- give you priceless customer insights,

- offer fast and seamless user experience,

- make your business location-independent,

- increase your customers’ engagement and drive them to action, amongst others.

Need easier features and upgrades?

Indeed, mobile apps have a way of enmeshing into the lives of their users. If your business is more of a ‘people-brand’, you could feel the need to connect better with your users. Here's where a mobile app comes in handy. Features like ‘push notification’, ‘gamification’, ‘loyalty rewards’; all embedded in a direct, easy-to-use interface, could be highly rewarding on mobile -- both for the user and your business.

While mobile apps have a lot of benefits, it's important to know where, when and how to adopt it in your business value chain. We know this at Charisol. That's why our talented mobile app development team is willing to help you with insights to determine what mobile-optimization method is best for your business.

We are a software development agency with a community of talented software developers that leverage on the “work without walls” culture to provide solutions for clients around the world.

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Science/Technology / Top 10 Social Media Management Tools For Your Business by Charisol: 2:55pm On Jul 23, 2018
Every business owner can find a use for social media sites these days. You can use them for marketing, research, customer service and much more. However, effectively monitoring your social media sites isn’t always easy. This is why it is essential to use effective tools that can help you. With social media management tools, posting content on social media channels becomes a smooth process. Many of these tools have amazing features enabling users to post content on multiple platforms simultaneously. With these tools, Social media management just got much easier for brands.

In addition, social listening tools can help brands ‘listen’ to keywords and hashtags. These tools monitor what clients say about your brand on social media, and make your online community stronger by discovering key influencers to engage with. They also provide final social media analytics results needed to make smarter marketing tactics.

After some diligent research based on user experience and ratings, we have come up with these 10 excellent social media management tools that can help build and maintain a business’s prominent online presence for your business.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT TOOLS

1. HOOTSUITE

Hootsuite is an enterprise level platform which is considered as the most widely used social media management platform, loved by over 15 million professionals. When it comes to managing several profiles at once, scheduling and analyzing your social media marketing campaigns, HootSuite can be a big help. HootSuite also helps brands to save a lot of time as they do not need to sign in to each social network individually.


Source: Charisol

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Programming / Software Professionals! Start Getting Opportunities In Your Inbox Today! by Charisol: 2:27pm On Jul 19, 2018
Are you eager to find a place where you can help make a real difference to the tech world? Do you want to be a part of developers delivering full-cycle custom software development services?. Here is a great chance, “Find out how to maximize this moment...

Apply Here before the end of today.
Gaming / We Are Hiring, Join Our Team And Start Your Career At Charisol Tech by Charisol: 12:32am On Jul 19, 2018
Are you eager to find a place where you can help make a real difference to the tech world? Do you want to be a part of developers delivering full-cycle custom software development services?. Here is a great chance, “Find out how to maximize this moment...

Apply Here before the end of today.
Science/Technology / We Are Hiring, Join Our Team And Start Your Career At Charisol Tech by Charisol: 5:36pm On Jul 17, 2018
Are you eager to find a place where you can help make a real difference to the tech world? Do you want to be a part of developers delivering full-cycle custom software development services?. Here is a great chance, “Find out how to maximize this moment...

Apply Here before the end of today.
Properties / Why Startups Need Software Agencies by Charisol: 5:57pm On Jul 12, 2018
Businesses in today’s digital world need dedicated software for successful operation and growth. Although there are various pre-made and existing software to meet business needs — ranging from accounting software to manage financial relationships, to relationship management software that links your business to hundreds of potential clients — these programs are not always the ideal option for start-ups. The reasons for this include their high costs, poor integration with other apps and even upgrade delays.

In the world of startups, there’s no standard solution. Today’s small and medium-sized businesses need custom software to solve their biggest challenges.

Here are the top ways your business can benefit from the services of a software development company:


They provide custom solutions that help your business

Because many pre-existing programs come in one-size-fits-all packages, businesses lack the tools and resources that are suitable for their unique models. A reputable software development agency can quickly assess their needs and build a custom program that integrates seamlessly with their business processes.

They bring your ideas to life

If you develop a new idea for your business that requires a particular type of software that is not pre-existing to execute the plan, working with software development agencies allows you to have your software custom made to suit your business needs or any new plans your business may need to execute.


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Webmasters / We Are Hiring, Join Our Team And Start Your Career At Charisol Tech by Charisol: 5:28pm On Jul 12, 2018
Are you eager to find a place where you can help make a real difference to the tech world? Do you want to be a part of developers delivering full-cycle custom software development services?. Here is a great chance, “Find out how to maximize this moment...

Apply Here before the end of today.
Programming / We Are Hiring, Join Our Team And Start Your Career At Charisol Tech by Charisol: 5:11pm On Jul 12, 2018
Are you eager to find a place where you can help make a real difference to the tech world? Do you want to be a part of developers delivering full-cycle custom software development services?. Here is a great chance, “Find out how to maximize this moment...

Apply Here before the end of today.

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