<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
  <channel>
    <title>DEV Community: Optimal Virtual Employee</title>
    <description>The latest articles on DEV Community by Optimal Virtual Employee (@optimalve).</description>
    <link>https://dev.to/optimalve</link>
    <image>
      <url>https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F297294%2F27a01fd9-0c21-4394-acf9-6ef96319e6bc.jpg</url>
      <title>DEV Community: Optimal Virtual Employee</title>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve</link>
    </image>
    <atom:link rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://dev.to/feed/optimalve"/>
    <language>en</language>
    <item>
      <title>Laravel vs. Yii2: Why to prefer Laravel over Yii2</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Jan 2021 14:07:51 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/laravel-vs-yii2-why-to-prefer-laravel-over-yii2-44m0</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/laravel-vs-yii2-why-to-prefer-laravel-over-yii2-44m0</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Laravel and Yii2 are the most popular and competitive frameworks in today’s time. Both frameworks come with similar and different characteristics that influence the sophistication for the PHP developer. Here we have listed down the advantages, disadvantages, and features of the frameworks that will aid you in choosing the best one for your business.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As per a report by ValeCoders, 78.9% of the majority web servers use PH server-side programming language.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Laravel&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Laravel is a free open-source PHP web framework that comes with a refined and well-crafted syntax. It is created to assist &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/hire-software-developers/"&gt;web application developers &lt;/a&gt;as it relaxes the authentication, caching and routing following the MVC (Model View Controller - all the codes are in one place and easy to be found) architectural pattern. This PHP framework is based on Symfony with the GitHub source code, licensed under MIT license&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Advantages:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Security - Laravel provides very high security and provides full protection against malware attacks, security threats and SQL injections to even enter the web application.&lt;br&gt;
Minimal cost and good performance - Comes with Artisan tools that lessen the repetitive programming.&lt;br&gt;
Easy Authorization and Authentication for PHP developers&lt;br&gt;
Powerful Cache System - Redis and Memcached are supported and this PHP framework can also support various other cache configurations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Inbuilt Tools - Laravel originally comes with less inbuilt tools, but the PHP developer can use third party tools to resolve the issue.&lt;br&gt;
Lacks in community support&lt;br&gt;
Legacy systems are tough to transfer in Laravel&lt;br&gt;
Slow development&lt;br&gt;
Complicated reverse routing &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Features:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Dependency Injection and Management - It aids sighting the container IoC functionality while Dependency Injection detaches and injects complex codes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;High Security&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Modular - Simple design and development using a modular framework.&lt;br&gt;
Caching - Aids in keeping a good efficiency&lt;br&gt;
Authentication - Codeigniter lets you develop fully functional authentication with a simple command&lt;br&gt;
Routing - It aids in the development of URL’s that are search-engine friendly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Easy to understand database queries&lt;br&gt;
Offers templates&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Yii2&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Yii2 is an open-source object-oriented component-based MVC PHP web application framework which majorly assists fast development of advanced web applications and has a simple code. It provides solutions for example NoSQL databases, multi-level cache support, RESTful API, ActiveRecord, Query builder among others. The code mainly is for high performance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Advantages:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Web Applications - Lets the PHP developer build faster and is best foeCommercesightingce frames, content and data management system and forums.&lt;br&gt;
Dependency Injection and Management - It aids in sighting the container IoC functionality while Dependency Injection detaches and injects complex codes. It also protects against cookie tampering, CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) and CSS (Cross-Site Scripting).&lt;br&gt;
Easy learning with tutorials&lt;br&gt;
Tools - It has the perfect tools for code generation through CRUD.&lt;br&gt;
Easy Error handling and logging&lt;br&gt;
Huge Community Support&lt;br&gt;
Powerful Cache System - A good developer can create highly enhanced applications, best for Memcache, XCache, ABC and DB.&lt;br&gt;
Third-Party Frameworks - Codes from other frameworks such as PEAR and Zend can be used &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Disadvantages:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Features - Some features are not crafts well, therefore, PHP developers need to use JavaScript to overcome it&lt;br&gt;
Precise developing is needed&lt;br&gt;
Built on the static method&lt;br&gt;
Complex for new developers&lt;br&gt;
Thorough knowledge of programming and PHP is necessary. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Features:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Dependency Injection and Management - It aids in sighting the container IoC functionality while Dependency Injection detaches and injects complex codes.&lt;br&gt;
High Security&lt;br&gt;
Fast development&lt;br&gt;
Caching - Aids in keeping a good efficiency&lt;br&gt;
Easy installation&lt;br&gt;
Advanced Technology for any component in the PHP framework&lt;br&gt;
Quick in performance&lt;br&gt;
Helps in growth - It helps to increase the traffic without further costs&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Comparing the two:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Similarities:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
MVC Architecture - Both Laravel and Yii2 support the MVC architecture&lt;br&gt;
Extensions - Both Laravel and Yii2 come with very helpful extensions that boost the performance&lt;br&gt;
Security - Laravel and Yii2 provide high degrees of security but Laravel still requires third party support.&lt;br&gt;
Validating Form - Lavarel and Yii2 comprise this feature but there is a difference in the execution.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Differences:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Requirements&lt;br&gt;
Laravel: It supports PH 5.5 or higher along with PHP JSON and MCrypt extension.&lt;br&gt;
Yii2: Yii2 supports PH 5.4 or higher only.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Test&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Laravel: Laravel supports Symfony tools for testing, for example, BrowserKit, DomCrawler and HttpKernel and PHP units.&lt;br&gt;
Yii2: Yii2 supports PHP unit out of the box sling with Codeception testing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Migrating&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Laravel: It permits the programme to incorporate seeders for the simple transfer of data.&lt;br&gt;
Yii2: It is simple and easy for testing and filling of static directories&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Debugging&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Laravel: It has a lot of options, for example, logging, Imho which can fix problems using Laravel-Debugbar Extension and Debugging Console.&lt;br&gt;
Yii2: It has the debugging console which includes callbacks stack&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusive Take&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
On one hand, we have Laravel which is a combination of all PHP frameworks and provides very trusted features, for example, Superob IoC, easy migration and integrated module testing while on other is Yii2 which has a faster deployment of modern applications with simple code. It also gives a full-stack framework which incorporates query builder, NoSQL database, RESTful API among others. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Laravel can be considered a bit superior and victorious in front of Yii2 but even then it depends on the business and the PHP developer. Even in a study, it was shown Laravel was considered by 43.7% people taking the highest percentage amidst 8 others.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>How Chatbot AI can take your business to the next level</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:40:56 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/how-chatbot-ai-can-take-your-business-to-the-next-level-2cjk</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/how-chatbot-ai-can-take-your-business-to-the-next-level-2cjk</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Chatbot AI is a software that can simulate human conversations. These bots are designed to decode and recognize the requirement of the user and deliver the apt solution. A chatbot functions on the methods of Pattern matching, NLU (Natural Language Understanding), NLP (Natural Language Processing), and others. The chatbots can be of different kinds such as Rule-based where a pre-defined path for the conversation has been set or Conversational chatbots that carry out a conversation with the user similar to how a human would. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;According to reports by Business Insider, 67% of the consumers worldwide use chatbot AI for customer support.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;How will it perk your business?&lt;br&gt;
As per the reports by Forbes, 80% of marketers by this year plan to start using a chatbot, that would scale up the competition even higher.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Here are a few aspects and features:&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;1. AVAILABILITY &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Accenture suggests, “50% of consumers no longer care if they are dealing with humans or &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/how-ai-can-be-used-for-android-app-development/"&gt;AI-enabled assistants &lt;/a&gt;, in such competitive times the quality of chatbots has shown remarkable growth. The 24*7 service of chatbots boosts customer satisfaction and assistance that increases sales.

&lt;p&gt;This benefits the company to maintain and handle customer requests without creating a load on Human Resources. In addition, it also aids the companies to expand globally as AI Chatbots have various languages inbuilt easing the communication. This further eases instant response and saves time both sides.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The Retail Executive suggested that businesses lost 75% of customers due to waiting times.&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;2. COST SAVING &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
As per the Chatbots Magazine, 30% of the customer service cost can be reduced by the implementation of chatbots and other similar AI. The process of recruitment itself involves preparing, sourcing, screening, selecting, hiring, and training that involves not only handsome amounts of money but also time and efforts at large whereas chatbot AI is a one time major investment. The IVR (Interactive Voice Response) can also be avoided which is time consuming and often leads to delay or cancellation due to long call hold time.

&lt;p&gt;The Company saves the cost of unnecessary human resources while the Chatbots handles the user queries. It has been speculated that by 2021, 85% of customer interaction will be handled without human agents.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The top five countries in terms of chatbot use are the USA, India, Germany, the UK, and Brazil.&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;3. FEEDBACKS&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
Feedback is a chief factor for any business, regular checks with the customers, and suggestions must always be accepted to improve the recommendations and functioning of the business. The feedback forms and questionnaires are a part of the feedback process and assist in business improvement.This process can easily be carried out by chatbots with high accuracy.

&lt;p&gt;58% of users say chatbots have changed their expectations of customer service. The chatbots are even capable of predicting and managing the traffic or keeping a record of popular demands on basis of which the feedbacks can be provided to the company for improvement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As per Forbes, three in five millennials have used chatbots at least once in their lives.&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;4. SALES PARTNER&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
To keep up with the sales even at odd timings, chatbots are a great solution. &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/how-are-artificial-intelligence-apps-helping-us-in-daily-life/"&gt;Chat bots can solve the queries of the user and aid them in making the correct decision&lt;/a&gt;. They store the personal information of the particular user and provides recommendations accordingly that helps in boosting the business. 

&lt;p&gt;In a recent study it was observed that 70% people prefer texting over calling. A notable amount of people have been satisfied with the results of chatbots to help them while online shopping which has in turn created remarkable differences in the business sales.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A survey conducted observed that 83% of online shoppers need support while shopping online.&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;5. CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
The machine learning in an a chatbot AI constantly improves and updates itself in fields such as user experience, linguistic capabilities, and usability. It is not possible to conduct trainings for humans regularly as it demands time and money, instead one can track chatbots for constant improvement.

&lt;p&gt;The first chatbot, ELIZA, was developed in 1966. Chatbots AI have come a long way since then which has made it possible to rely so convincingly on them. The constant improvement in the chatbots guides the business in making modifications which perks in keeping up with the competition.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As per Ray Kurzweil, an inventor, futurist, and an engineer at Google suggests that chatbots will become indistinguishable from humans by 2029. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In a space of cut throat competition one must keep up with the market strategies in order to constantly improve the business and sales. The chatbots AI have at multiple occasions proved to be very valuable for the business. Even at the time of this coronavirus pandemic such chatbots can be very helpful as customer assistance must not be disrupted.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Best PHP Frameworks for Your Web Development Project</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2020 02:18:16 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/best-php-frameworks-for-your-web-development-project-3ec2</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/best-php-frameworks-for-your-web-development-project-3ec2</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;PHP is a popular programming language that companies use for web development besides Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, CSS/HTML, etc. According to a recent W3Techs Report, 78.6% of all the known websites use PHP as their server-side programming language. It may be because WordPress, the famous content management system that empowers almost 34% of websites on the internet, uses PHP. Further, the extensive usage of PHP is also because of its easy to grasp nature. However, still, many businesses that &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/hire-web-developers-in-india/"&gt;hire web developers&lt;/a&gt; for their website face coding complexities. Even if you &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/hire-php-developers-in-india/"&gt;hire PHP developer&lt;/a&gt; with experience, they may face designing glitches while working on your website. With the modular evolution of coding practices for web development, there is a new trend of adoption of new tools, frameworks, and libraries for successful web development. The use of tools and frameworks avert the need to start coding from scratch and also saves time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;Best PHP Frameworks for Your Web Development Project&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Choosing a PHP framework shoulders the workload of a PHP developer coding for a web development project. PHP frameworks make it easy to configure several coding functions. Thus the use of such frameworks allows developers to focus on core functionalities of the web projects.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If you are a web developer to code a PHP website, here are the best PHP frameworks for your web development project: &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;I. Laravel&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;Laravel is a popular open-source PHP framework. It follows the MVC model and helps PHP programmers to code in a secure, precise, and well-documented manner. Laravel recently launched version 6.14.0, which comes with a new dispatchAfterResponse()method, that can be used for web projects. This feature enables the dispatch of a little coding job instantly and omits, sending it to a queue system. Laravel’s unique Artisan CLI (command-line interface) helps in task scheduling during an event's occurrence for glitch-free web development. It efficiently automates the tedious coding tasks thanks to its built-in command-line tool called Artisan. Artisan not only creates a skeleton code but also makes it easy to manage the code database system.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;II. Symfony&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;Another open-source PHP framework, Symfony is a developer’s favorite. Boasting of the MVC architecture, it serves as a reliable platform for web development. It promises easy coding and time saving for web development projects. Web developers can add additional modules according to the project needs. It also features framework components to define the style and architecture of your application or other large-scale enterprise projects. It boasts a database engine–independence that complies with most web best practices and allows for integration with other libraries. Symfony allows full customization features for developers so that can make the end product user-friendly.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;III. CakePHP&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;CakePHP simplifies the web development of complex applications and is extremely simple and elegant to use. It helps developers work with multiple visually-impressive features. The use of pre-written codes saves a lot of development time, and the MVC model brings in a more professional approach to the coding that collaborates the data with the logic and keeps it in the database. Some of its unique features simplify the coding tasks such as code caching, validation, translation, database access, and authentication. CakePHP 4.0 accelerates the process of web development, thus making developers more productive.&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;b&gt;IV. Yii&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/li&gt;Yii is an object-oriented framework based on the Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY) concept. It is best suitable for the development of large-scale websites, as it can be easily integrated with the features of jQuery and AJA. Yii is highly extensible and features a powerful class code generator Gii. The framework offers multiple packages for security and sets of configurations for speeding things up.

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusion&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
We hope this list of best PHP frameworks for web development will help web developers reduce time-to-market for end products by reducing their workloads.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Why Adopt PHP CRM System for Your Business Automation?</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2020 10:43:12 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/why-adopt-php-crm-system-for-your-business-automation-3dcn</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/why-adopt-php-crm-system-for-your-business-automation-3dcn</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt; What is CRM? &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Customer Relationship Management or CRM solutions automate a business’s interactions with its end customers adding to their ROIs. These innovative solutions garner information about customers and initiate automatic processes to improve support and services to them. It prioritizes the customer’s preferences and facilitates better services to them on behalf of the business. The implications and benefits of a CRM system are not limited to the existing customer base; these tech solutions also identify new customers bringing home higher profits for the business. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt; What are the Benefits of Leveraging a CRM Solution for Business Automation? &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Investment in a CRM system helps businesses capture a significant market share thanks to improved and streamlined processes. CRM scripts offer reliable and highly automated solutions of client management to a transaction. It collectively tackles sales, marketing, and relationships with their customers on behalf of a company. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A growing company may find it challenging to manage and process the increase in customer data, and CRM systems play a significant role in leveraging such data. Modern CRM solutions aid field teams to access data like customer personal information, purchases or product information and delivery schedules to support the sales cycle in real-time. Popular CRM systems also ensure the confidentiality of customer data and trade insights. It drastically reduces the chances of data breaches and leaks.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Why a Customized PHP CRM System? M&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Companies that use CRM systems to communicate with their customers leverage technology to automate internal processes. This translates to less manual work, increased efficiency, and more time to focus on the end customers. Businesses that hire PHP Programmers to design their customized CRM scripts benefit from the immaculate organization and automation of communications. Such systems can be developed to meet the distinct needs of the business through PHP development. Sometimes, PHP developers formulate CRM solutions that can manage customers, contacts, vendors, products, and more. They incorporate interactive dashboards, sales team management functionalities, call logs, meeting scheduling, quotes record, order management functionalities, automatic invoice generation, etc. to aid business processes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Why Optimal Virtual Employee for CRM Development?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
If you are a business looking to &lt;a&gt;hire web developer for custom CRM development&lt;/a&gt;, Optimal Virtual Employee (OVE) can be your best bet. Your business can benefit from our end-to-end solutions like full-time offshore employees in a cost-effective manner. We work actively with our PHP programmers ensuring that projects are wrapped up in time, offer quality outcomes, and manage offshore employee retention. OVE’s CRM development team boasts of keeping up with the latest IT trends and beautifully adapts to client specifications to create a program that simplifies customer relationship management. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a&gt;Hire a remote team of PHP programmers in India&lt;/a&gt; through Optimal Virtual Employee and enjoy reduced recruitment costs. &lt;br&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;li&gt;This is how businesses can leverage global level IT solutions at affordable pricing. Such cost-saving help businesses make a mark in the competitive market. It also helps them stay ahead of the curve with expert solutions. 
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Remote CRM development also omits massive infrastructural costs and adds to positive ROIs. When you hire web developers with Optimal Virtual Employee, we ensure that the offshore PHP development team functions efficiently to increase business productivity. 
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Geographically distributed CRM development teams save a substantial amount of fixed costs. For Example, companies that hire PHP programmers from OVE do not have to bear employee management costs. 
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Remote teams of PHP developers increase business productivity and slash down the time to market. 
&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Moreover, once you hire PHP developer from OVE for CRM development, they work as per your time zone or as per your convenience.

&lt;p&gt;In the end, it's true that businesses profit from automation that CRM systems bring along. PHP CRM systems are perfect solutions for customer management of a growing business. Efficient custom CRM development in India is a sure shot way to develop global solutions at slashed prices. &lt;/p&gt;


&lt;/li&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>4 Major Mistakes in Website Design That You Must Know About</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2020 13:21:21 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/4-major-mistakes-in-website-design-that-you-must-know-about-okj</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/4-major-mistakes-in-website-design-that-you-must-know-about-okj</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The average lifespan of a website is 3 years, according to multiple researchers. This means that if you have a website that is older than that you must be already looking at revamping the design or getting a new design that is more modern and attractive to the potential users. However, there are some mistakes that some people make while creating a new design. Let us see what these are and how to overcome them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;We all want to make a website design that not only brings in high-quality traffic but also drives good leads, and builds your company’s credibility among the visitors. And the key to achieving these goals is to create high-level content that not only answers the visitors’ queries but also gives them a sense of what you stand for. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;There are literally millions of websites that undermine the importance of content by either copying it from somewhere else or making it shabbily. In both scenarios, a user is most often put off, leading to low-quality traffic and even lesser leads. Because, content not only means text but also includes images, infographics, videos, and even white papers, testimonials, case studies, and contact forms.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;1. Not Designing With Focus on Functionality:&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;A poor website design fails in nudging visitors towards taking the desired action on the website. At times, some website designs fail to give a seamless experience to visitors, while also stuttering when a user tries to fetch some data. Here are some very important elements for improving the functionality of your website:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Information architecture and navigation&lt;br&gt;
Call-to-action buttons at relevant spots&lt;br&gt;
Data rendering mechanisms&lt;br&gt;
Social media integrations &amp;amp; attributes&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;2. Not Checking &amp;amp; Maintaining Page Rankings:&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Even if you are not focussing heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) your website will be ranking for some keywords at least. There are multiple ways of finding out where your website is positioned, such as MOZ and AHREFS. You must ensure that when a web page is redesigned, the page ranking is maintained even after the redesign. That way, you will not lose out on existing traffic. You can also use this opportunity to figure out new keywords that you can target for more traffic to your website.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;3. Not Trashing Underperforming Content&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On any given website, there will be content that is not performing well and leading to leakage of revenue. For instance, there could be a case study that is not relevant to the keywords being targeted in your advertising campaigns. It is advisable to remove that case study and replace it with something that is more relevant. Also, there could be dozens of images and infographics that have become outdated with time and so, it is necessary to remove them when you decide to go for website redesigning. Not doing that will leave you with an oldish-looking website.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;4. Not Working On Webpage Design &amp;amp; Copy Together&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;It may sound obvious, but design and copy have to flow together in good website design. This means that your designers and copywriters have to work together to bring out something attractive and appealing to the eye. Copy often has to be made in a certain way so that it serves the purpose of helping the design as well as lead generation. Long-form content tends to work better with search engines, however, pay-per-click advertising requires short-form and punchy content that makes an immediate impact. It is a delicate balance that we must take care of.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;h2&gt;5. Underestimating Stakeholder Inputs, Revisions &amp;amp; Timelines&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;p&gt;New website design will have everyone getting curious about it. All people, whether from sales or operations, will be passionate about the new design and will want to contribute effectively. Besides, the management may suggest several rounds of revisions or iterations, which is likely to impact the workflow. Therefore, setting up realistic timelines is extremely essential for a successful website design project. &lt;/p&gt;


&lt;h3&gt;Conclusion&lt;/h3&gt;:

&lt;p&gt;At &lt;a href="https://optimalvirtualemployee.com/"&gt; Optimal Virtual Employee&lt;/a&gt;, the &lt;a href="https://www.optimalvirtualemployee.com/hire-web-designers-in-india/"&gt;website design teams&lt;/a&gt; have years of experience in working on all industries, be it healthcare, real estate, finance, or small businesses. They follow the best practices for website design by amalgamating core ideals with modern trends. With a track record of launching over 1000 websites, they are a trustworthy team that can be relied upon when you want to redesign your website to bring in new business and stay ahead of the competition. Starting at $9 per hour, you also get the best deal in terms of cost savings and hassle-free experience.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Why is Remote Work Such An Attractive Option for 21st Century Businesses? </title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2020 05:47:44 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/why-is-remote-work-such-an-attractive-option-for-21st-century-businesses-2j6m</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/why-is-remote-work-such-an-attractive-option-for-21st-century-businesses-2j6m</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;According to a recent study conducted by the freelancing platform Upwork, over 63% companies now have remote workers, up from 48% just a year ago! The work output from remote workers has also increased by 168% during this period of time. Hiring managers are of the opinion that remote work will be a bigger trend than even artificial intelligence in the coming decade. Besides, remote workers have much higher levels of productivity and motivation than regular office employees. However, there are also significant challenges to this trend. Let us go deeper into those.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;The Television&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Back in the 80’s when television sets were big and bulky devices, you needed to get up and manually switch channels whenever you wanted to. Now that was quite a cumbersome experience for most of us. However, things changed in the 90’s when we had televisions with remote control. It was much easier to simply switch channels or change the picture settings with the click of a button. That change revolutionized everything, ranging from DVD players to gaming consoles to even fans and lights! &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now it is quite normal for us to use remote controls for managing electronic devices. Amazingly, even aircraft have become remote controlled. At the start of the 21st century, the world saw a massive leap in technology with the advent of drones. These small, remote-controlled aircraft are being used everywhere from law enforcement to disaster management, and even kids seem to enjoy using them as toys!&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Digital Nomads&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
The workforce of the world’s largest companies are also seeing the same type of technological revolution. With a plethora of remote working tools and softwares available online, it has never been so easy to manage a remotely located workforce. There are innumerable collaboration tools, program libraries, online courses, time management tools, software code repositories, and open forums which are helping remote workers do their work from anywhere in the world. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Earlier, business owners wanted to directly supervise the workers and therefore arranged them to be present in offices. However, workflows have become so quantified and process-oriented that you no longer have the need to supervise physically. At the mere click of a button, you can see how the project is progressing and who is doing what.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Also called as “Digital Nomads” the remote workers are changing the way businesses operate. Digital nomads can work from anywhere, such as coffee shops or shared workplaces. All they need is a connected device with the required software tools. That has become the defining trend of millennial, who wish to marry late, travel the world, and enjoy diverse experiences. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The remote workers or digital nomads have moved on from conventional office environment, where there is added pressure on performance, such as:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;1) Being seen at your desk most of the time means that you are working diligently. &lt;br&gt;
2) Arriving early and leaving late means that you have a high level of commitment.&lt;br&gt;
3) “Hard Work” means exceeding your working hours rather than quality output.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Rewards and recognition are given to people who tick these above boxes.&lt;br&gt;
Hallway discussions and cafeteria chatter is strongly discouraged.&lt;br&gt;
Team meetings tend to go longer than usual because people get involved in debates frequently.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Challenges&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
However, there are some challenges too in &lt;a href="https://optimalvirtualemployee.com"&gt;hiring remote workers&lt;/a&gt;. How to ensure that the person is working only for your project and not on something else? How to maintain discipline of putting in the required number of hours each day? These are some issues that each and every business is trying to address in their own way. For IT companies and digital agencies, it is comparatively easier while it may be difficult for others like banking and finance companies. But with the cost and productivity advantages that you get from remote work, it is imperative to solve these issues that work for your particular situation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusion&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Just like the revolution in remote-controlled gadgets, a paradigm shift is happening in remote working. Older reservations are being dispensed with in favor of newer advantages. Over the next decade or so, we may have a very small portion of the workforce that travels to the offices. Most businesses will be having up to 70% of their staff work remotely or as freelancers, helping the companies increase productivity and conserve costs. &lt;/p&gt;

</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Which are the best examples of iOS App Development using Xamarin?</title>
      <dc:creator>Optimal Virtual Employee</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Apr 2020 09:56:45 +0000</pubDate>
      <link>https://dev.to/optimalve/which-are-the-best-examples-of-ios-app-development-using-xamarin-52hb</link>
      <guid>https://dev.to/optimalve/which-are-the-best-examples-of-ios-app-development-using-xamarin-52hb</guid>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Since it was launched about 7 years ago, Xamarin has seen remarkable success as a cross-platform iOS app development technology. There are an estimated 1.7 million developers all over the world, who are working on it. More than 10,000 companies are utilizing their powerful features in a variety of industries such as transport, utilities, healthcare, media and more. The platform has grown significantly over the last few years and has evolved into the Xamarin Test Cloud, which is a part of Microsoft. That along with HockeyApp allows developers to test and debug products, in addition to their development. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The advantage with Xamarin is that the iOS app development can be used for Android and Microsoft mobile platforms by simply re-using the code. This significantly reduces the development and testing time requirement and simplifies a lot of work. The iOS App Development Teams can reach a reuse level of even 90%, by resorting to using Xamarin. Forms, a library of shared codes. So, clients no longer have to hire a large team for iOS app development and can instead develop their mobile app by using just one resource, an iOS Xamarin developer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;In this article, we take a look at some of the best examples of iOS app development using Xamarin:&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;OLO FOOD APP&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Olo Food Ordering App has built a cross-platform app that helps the hospitality industry go digital, quickly and without a major investment, using Xamarin. Their food ordering platform has grown tremendously, and they are now managing online ordering services for over 35 million customers annually. Initially, they started off as a text service and then graduated to hybrid JavaScript frameworks. Unfortunately, that did not work very well and they decided to adopt iOS Xamarin for their app development. That’s when the scenario turned around for them and most of their development engineers upgraded themselves into iOS app developers. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Olo achieved huge success with their food ordering app because now restaurants and catering service providers could simply plug into their platform at a minimum cost and start getting customers online. With orders flowing in steadily, they achieved greater scales of economy and are currently clocking annual revenues of the US $70 million. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;CA Mobile Banking App&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Credito Agricola is the largest bank in Portugal with over 100 years of banking history and more than 2 million customers. The bank was under pressure from their customers to enable mobile banking at the earliest. The bank was ready to develop a solution, however, it needed a quick solution as well as robust security. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;CA made technical analysis and determined that a cross-platform app would be the best solution for them, based on Xamarin. The reason was not hard to understand. It had a much shorter development time and offered excellent security features. They finalized the technology partner for iOS app development and that company developed this application in a record time of 3 months! The iOS Xamarin app is highly complex because, in addition to the normal banking services, the app also enables services for small and medium enterprises. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The app has continued to perform very well and CA has rolled out some amazing online services, wherein new customers can open their accounts online within 5 minutes! The bank no longer needs any paper documents for processing and their app can easily scan the identity card and signature of the new customer without any hitch. The bank has been at the forefront of mobile banking and has proven that with the adoption of mobile banking, it can not only reduce the processing times but also improve the level of customer service.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fareboom Travel App &lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
An online travel booking agency based in California was facing an existential threat because their booking engine was outdated, web-based, and lacking a fare-comparison feature that most competitors were offering. Due to its inability to compete, the company was facing a significant shrinkage in revenues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;On the technical side, the legacy system required a major revamp to bring it up to speed and remain in contention. In view of the complexity, their mobile app development agency developed an entirely new solution, one which not only brought them up to a state-of-the-art level but also gave them added solutions to become a market leader. They developed an iOS Xamarin app wherein the developers introduced major search algorithm upgrades, a complex recombination tool, and specific analytics. These features significantly improved the performance of their mobile application.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The application required the UI/UX to be created from scratch and so Xamarin was used so that the app could be released simultaneously on both Android and iOS. As a result, the iOS Xamarin application was released within the timeframe and it went on to perform well at the app store market.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusion&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br&gt;
When businesses are facing tough challenges in terms of technology and market competition, they need outstanding technology solutions to be created. For that, Xamarin is an excellent platform that is suggested by iOS app development agencies. There are many sterling examples of iOS Xamarin apps that have performed extremely well in managing highly complex requirements.&lt;/p&gt;

</description>
      <category>ios</category>
      <category>iosappdevelopment</category>
      <category>appdevelopment</category>
      <category>mobileappdevelopment</category>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>
