Author: Reginald Chan

  • Top Useful Hacks About WordPress That You Should Know

    Top Useful Hacks About WordPress That You Should Know

    WordPress has gone from a relatively obscure content management system (CMS) platform to one of the most popular ones in the past decade. WordPress (WP) has powered more than 30% of the internet since 2018 and is forecasted to hit 40% by the end of 2021. This phenomenal growth is due to the innovative features of WordPress that attract more new users. If you are using WP to operate your website, you will be facing stiff competition as more and more sites in the same category or industry as yours will emerge.

    To keep your edge against the competition, you should utilize WordPress to the fullest and know some useful hacks, and we will share some of them here.

    Perform Regular Updates

    Updating your site regularly may seem like an added burden to your website management tasks. However, updating your website is one of the essential WordPress maintenance tasks you need to perform to ensure the continued functionality and safety of your site. WordPress updates help you safeguard your website from vulnerabilities of running on outdated software. At least 50% of hacked WordPress sites in 2016 ran on outdated software. WP has impressive security features, but vulnerabilities can occasionally surface. However, these vulnerabilities are easily fixed if you update your website regularly.

    It’s not just the website that needs regular updating, but you also need to update your themes and plugins. Again, outdated plugins have a higher risk of vulnerability to hacking compared to regularly updated and maintained websites. Updating isn’t that hard. You only need to keep an eye out on your Updates tab and look for notifications or reminders to update. Simply clicking on the Update tab and Update button can keep your website running securely until the subsequent updates are released.

    Take Advantage of the Excerpt Feature

    Not many website owners realize the benefits of using the excerpt (summary) feature on their homepage and archives. Excerpts increase the interest and intent of site visitors and customers in examining your content further. Excerpts are also like teasers of the full content you are sharing with the viewers. When you make your excerpt or teaser interesting and engaging, you are increasing the engagement time of visitors to your website, which can positively affect your website ranking.

    Declutter Your Website

    While this hack comes as fundamental knowledge for website owners, it often gets forgotten or taken aside along the way. Many website owners take website organization and cleanliness for granted and pay dearly with slow webpage loads and low responsiveness. One simple hack is to reduce image size by compressing pictures can help speed up your site by making it load faster. 

    You are also saving precious storage space, which you can utilize for other important content. Displaying images in a grid layout gives your website an organized and compact look, which is pleasing to many site visitors. It is an excellent way of improving the user experience as users are often not patient enough to scroll down or sideways for too long. 

    Using caching plugins is another easy and excellent way of speeding up your website. Caching creates static copies of your page, post, or content and serves these copies to your visitors. Static pages are easier to fetch and help avoid back and forth queries from being sent to your database, thereby reducing the server load and improving your website’s performance.

    We have only some of the most useful hacks you can apply to your WordPress website. The online community is growing. The competition among websites is stiffer, so you need to be on top of things about your website. WP has an incredible array of features that you can discover and use to your advantage. Don’t stop with posting content and occasional maintenance. Take time to explore and be aware of the notifications and updates that are needed. It is often the basic things that make the most impact on your website.

  • Make Money out of Gambling Without Placing any Bets

    Make Money out of Gambling Without Placing any Bets

    The online gambling market was expected to grow to around $77 billion by 2026 according to Brand Essence Market Research. However, this was back in 2019 before Covid arrived and changed the way many people used the internet.

    Enforced lockdowns meant that millions of people started to work remotely for the first time in their lives, and many have continued to do so even after restrictions were lifted. For others, the lockdown meant seeking out new forms of online entertainment, and casinos were one of the things people discovered—making it a very popular style of betting.

    The growth of online casinos and gambling grew much faster than expected and a new group of players who had never walked into a traditional establishment before found themselves enjoying poker, online slots, and blackjack.

    However, there are no guaranteed wins in a casino, but there are other ways to make money out of this recent gambling boom. 

    Choose your niche area

    The key to making money out of any form of gambling is that you will have to understand what you are selling. The ways you can make money from casinos and sports betting will be from providing advice, presenting information, giving tips, or hosting an online sports channel.

    Decide what your best area is before you choose your medium. For instance, if you have extensive knowledge of horse racing then concentrate on that area, don’t write about ice hockey. However, if you like casino games then perhaps you can use this to your advantage.

    Here are some of the ways you might make some money from other people’s gambling. 

    Bring your knowledge to a YouTube channel

    If you feel comfortable in front of the camera and have some sporting knowledge, then you could start your own YouTube channel. Here you would dispense advice and predictions for sporting events.

    The first thing you need to know is how to create a YouTube channel, you will also need confidence and a great personality. Knowledge and interesting insights will also be the key to you growing your audience.

    Be aware though, that making a YouTube channel is hard work and it will be some time before you can start thinking of joining the highest-paid vloggers.

    Write a blog on sports or casino games

    If you don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera then let your writing speak for you instead. Football – or soccer – is the biggest sport in the world and an enormous amount of money is bet on every game. If you are willing to put in the effort and time you could make a football blog by reporting on injuries, upcoming games, transfers, and of course predictions.

    Alternatively, concentrate on casino games if this is more your area. An interesting site about basic strategy, gambling stories, casino news, and the latest slots could attract players wanting to understand more about their favorite games.

    A successful blog can lead to revenue through advertising, affiliate marketing, and guest posts. Online casinos need traffic and they have lucrative affiliate programs where a successful website owner could own $000s each month.

    Casinos give away sign-on bonuses and free bets, and people search for these online, so if your blog lists the newest ones you can make money through click-thru ads. For example, you can review casinos for 50 free spins no deposit in 2022, which is the most popular search in the recent months.  

    Tipping and reselling tips

    Many gamblers look for online predictions and tips before sporting events. These either come in the form of free tips or from a paid subscription. Tipsters use social media such as Facebook, blogs, websites, and email lists to send out their weekly or daily tips.

    If you believe you are knowledgeable in one particular sport then it is possible to sell your tips. It is completely legal to do so but you must make sure you advertise legally and with no false promises.

    The key to being a successful tipster is being honest, building trust, and of course, nailing a high percentage of predictions.

    The other way to make money from tips is by reselling. This simply means you join one or more tipster services and then sell these tips on your own platform. 

    How do you make your blog or channel successful?

    You will need to know how to increase your Google ranking so that people can find your blog. This means using SEO to boost your site through keywords, relevant content, following the new Google Core Web Vitals, and optimization.

    At the start, you shouldn’t be thinking about getting rich quickly but concentrate on producing quality content to build something that other people will enjoy visiting. Through trustworthy, relevant content you will gain a loyal audience.

    You can invite guest posts onto your site to help build content, and write for other trusted websites to build awareness. Through these methods, you will generate quality backlinks. Always, avoid black hat SEO techniques such as keyword stuffing. 

    By creating a clear digital marketing strategy, you can promote your sports or casino brand, gain traffic, and build trust which will help you towards success. 

    Playing in online casinos

    If you don’t want to write or promote yourself on YouTube then you could just enjoy the many online games available. You don’t need to gamble any money as there are many free-to-play slot machines, poker tournaments, and blackjack games available.

    You could also join a kasyna online and then use the sign-up bonus to try your luck at winning some money on roulette, or craps. If you are going to use online casinos then remember they are entertainment, only gamble what you can afford and practice before you bet. Learn basic strategy for blackjack and try to break the house. 

    Summary

    With effort, time, and knowledge, you could build a successful sports betting or casino platform. There is definitely room for a blog or YouTube channel on these subjects, and there are also certainly enough players and sports betting fans out there to build an audience out of.

    The keys to making money from this will be quality content, good SEO, honest advertising, good predictions or information, a winning personality if vlogging, and a genuine love for what you are presenting to your audience.

  • How To Improve Your Work Experience And Feel Safer?

    How To Improve Your Work Experience And Feel Safer?

    A safe and conducive working environment helps unleash the best versions of people in a workplace. Quality work, ideas, and growth among workers help to generate a natural flow of things, especially in a busy work environment. You can always expect top-notch results when tasks are assigned and completed in time. 

    Quality workmanship can be improved when the staff feels safe. There are also issues to do with clock-in and clock-outs. It’s critical to ensure that each worker is assigned work that they are abv to handle. To help bring this matter into perspective, below are ways on how to improve the workplace and feel safe. 

    Improve The User Experience On Your Website

    As much as you want to make it easier for your clients to find you and the servio=ces or products you provide, you must have the same mindset regarding your employees. There are so many tutorials that claim to provide solutions towards improving website user experience. You have the option to check out the website that makes sense in terms of the information provided. Whether it is your website’s maintenance, plugins, or other SEO features, you need a web developer who has your business interests at heart. Below are ways to find the best web developer who can help improve the user experience:

    • Determine the type of website you want to run – If you are running an online business and one that requires that your employees be involved, then you need a website that will accommodate everyone
    • Compatibility – Hire website developers who will ensure that your site is compatible with a wide range of devices. Consider web development companies that have the tech to make this a reality
    • Attention to detail – You don’t want your website to be an epic fail just because you hired the people. When hiring a web developer, ensure that they have a keen eye for detail. There are nitty gritties that might initially seem insignificant, but they’ll greatly help towards boosting user experience
    • Unending support – Whether its web hosting services, website maintenance, or the web development services in their entirety, hire web developers who’ll provide you with support

    Have Some Form Of Insurance In Place

    Among the many steps you can take to feel safe is by having an insurance policy in place or workers compensation insurance. This will help whenever you find yourself in sticky situations at the workplace. You have to take into account accidents that occur in the workplace. In such scenarios, you could hire a personal injury lawyer who will help you whenever the need arises. You will feel a lot safer when you know you have a backup strategy in place for when things go sideways.

    Become Knowledgeable

    Conducting business in today’s competitive market space requires that you become knowledgeable in all matters of business. Diversity in business knowledge will help you make informed decisions. There are impromptu situations that may pop up in the workplace and ones that will require your decisiveness. further your education by enrolling into business institutions that teach and promote great workmanship. In today’s world, knowledge is power! 

    Create Policies That Are Against Discrimination And Harassment

    Some workplaces are quite hostile; these are workplaces where employees feel discriminated against, harassed, or even bullied. These are vices that will not allow employees to be the best that they can be. As an employer, you should come up with policies that promote coexistence without having employees feel discriminated against. This might mean setting rules that everyone will adhere to and all with the intent to create a safer work environment. 

    Participate In Challenging Tasks

    If you are a boss or involved in managerial tasks, ensure that you are taking part in the most difficult of challenges at the workplace. This will help to boost your employees’ morale. Nothing is as rewarding as seeing the boss take part in various chores at the workplace. Make it a habit to jump on tasks that you feel you can handle without having to embarrass yourself before the staff. They will not only help to boost confidence but it’s also a great way to boost self-esteem. Consult your employees whenever you feel overwhelmed. 

    It goes without saying that people work better when they are comfortable, safe, and at peace. So, if you are looking to have an efficient company that is well known for productivity, then you should make sure that your employees are up to the task by ensuring their safety. The above points will help you achieve this and more.

  • How to Work with Composition in UI?

    How to Work with Composition in UI?

    The composition is something often associated with painting and architecture. However, mobile app and web designers also cannot go without knowing the rules of composition. This knowledge helps them to build attractive and intuitive products that are easy to use.

    If you’re interested to know more about what composition is and what rules professional UX/UI design agencies use for great interface design, continue reading this post.

    Contents:

    • Types of composition
    • Composition rules that apply in UI design
    • Attention vector
    • Visual object hierarchy
    • Size
    • Color
    • Form
    • Balance
    • Results

    Types of composition

    Professional designers like this company use two main types of composition ‒ static and dynamic.

    Static one is characterized by the calm arrangement of objects, the balance of forms, and the atmosphere of stability. It focuses the user’s attention on one key action. An example of a static composition is the Google search engine website or the ticket search page.

    The dynamic composition can be described by a large number of elements and a sense of movement. There is a hierarchy of objects where the main elements are distinguished in the first place. It performs a more complex function than the static composition and shows the client several elements at once. When you know how to direct users’ attention, you can create an attractive product that stimulates them to buy or perform other target actions.

    Having learned about the types of composition, let’s move on to the rules that are used with both types.

    Composition rules

    There are six basic things a designer needs to know how to operate. These are a vector of attention, visual hierarchy, size, color, shape, balance. Using them effectively will allow you to control the attention of users and make solutions that are more useful for businesses. When you know how to direct users’ attention, you can create an attractive product that stimulates to buy or perform other target actions.

    You will also benefit the visitor. Following these rules, the product becomes easier to perceive. Let’s consider each component in more detail.

    Attention Vector

    The arrangement of materials can be made in an F-shaped or Z-shaped pattern. In the first case, the basic information is located in 2 horizontal blocks, and the basic information is descended further in a vertical row. In the second pattern, the user’s attention “jumps” over evenly distributed content like the letter Z.

    With materials in place, it’s best to publish important marketing content and headlines using the F-pattern. For a different purpose, a Z-shaped model is suitable.

    Tip: When reading a text, many people do it from left to right. If you place a large heading on the left side and other text on the right, the user’s attention will go through the heading, then go to the main part of the content.

    Visual hierarchy

    When creating objects, place them in a strict hierarchy. You can highlight important content in different ways: by changing its size, color, shape, adding a contrasting background, etc. But you should not select all of these methods at once, and this can lead to confusion and cause chaos on the page.

    The size

    The larger the size of the content, the more attention it will attract. Make the main part bigger. Side elements should be made smaller so that they visually didn’t stand out from the rest. So the user’s attention will immediately be riveted first to the largest element on the page, then to the smaller ones.

    Colour

    A color palette is a good way to highlight objects. Bright colors are often used for interface elements like buttons, switches. When highlighting, you can use contrast (for example, black and golden), saturation, brightness. Use more saturated and vibrant colors for important elements and leave paler colors for side information.

    The form

    The more complex the element, the more difficult it is for the user to understand it. By highlighting important elements in complex interfaces, you will help the user to more easily perceive information and save them time.

    If your design is complex, try highlighting a button, title, or other users interface element in some way.

    Balance

    Elements of the composition should be balanced out in connection to each other. If you incorrectly place the icons or buttons, it may seem that they are higher in a hierarchy with respect to each other. Try to arrange the elements on the page carefully.

    Conclusion

    Composition plays an important role in user interface design. When designing a UI, decide which type you will use: static or dynamic. Decide what information the user will see first and what actions they need to perform.

    Use composition rules when designing interfaces. Violation of these recommendations may be justified, but it is recommended that you conduct a split test and make sure that such intentions are appropriate.

  • Tips To Help You Search For The Perfect Real Estate

    Tips To Help You Search For The Perfect Real Estate

    Buying A Property is One Of The Biggest Decisions Of Your Life

    Collecting the investment to buy a property in itself is a long journey. It requires you to work hard and for long to be able to collect enough funds to proceed towards the dream of owning a property. It is therefore obvious that you want to put all your effort into finding the perfect real estate. Mistakes in this kind of investment can cause major issues in the future and can be very expensive. 

    The first thing you need to start with is to choose a specific type of property you are looking for. Zero in the details on exactly what amenities and locality you need. Follow the below tips to make your journey towards the purchase of your real estate smooth.

    Prepare For Long Term

    When you buy a property, you will end up living there for many years to come. This is a vital factor to keep in mind. Without this planning, you will be looking for a new property in the future again which can be very expensive. If you are purchasing real estate to invest in a retail business, then you will need to see if the area is up for economic growth. If you are looking at having a family, then it will be worthwhile to see if there is enough room for kids. If there isn’t much room then look if options of conversions in the property are possible. One thing you will definitely need is storage space. Over time, we all tend to collect many things which don’t have to be used all the time (Christmas Decor?). Storage space will provide you a safe place where you can store all this stuff and reuse it whenever needed.

    Get An Expert On Board

    No matter how much information you can gather about the property that you like, getting an expert opinion will provide you with much-needed peace of mind. The majority of real estate agents have good local knowledge and can help you make the purchase process easier. Once you have decided on what you like, go ahead with the final lease review for a retail space or residential property and get legal advice on the same. This will ensure that all the procedures and documents are in place. One of the biggest mistakes first-time property buyers make is that they take it upon themselves to go through the whole process. This can not only overwhelm you but also cause you to overlook some important details related to real estate.

    Take Care Of The Fundamentals. 

    You must distinguish between what are the fundamental requirements you need in your property from the superficial ones. For example, you can easily change the color of the walls in your property but you possibly can’t change the floor area. Features that are not beautiful can easily be replaced. The investment there will be less. However, you cant change the shape of your room or loft if space there is not how you would want it to be. Learn as much as you can about the property you have your eye on. This will prepare you for any future expenses that you will incur rather than taking you by surprise. 

    By doing thorough research and a little bit of patience you will surely be able to make an investment that will be beneficial for you for years to come!

  • 9 Things To Check Out Before Getting Into Crowdfunding

    9 Things To Check Out Before Getting Into Crowdfunding

    Crowdfunding is a method of raising small sums of money from many people for a project or cause. It’s called crowdfunding because it’s the product of a group of people working together. Since the campaigns are often conducted online, they are frequently spread via social media and dedicated crowdfunding campaigns to reach a large audience. 

    What Things Do You Need To Check Out?

    Never underestimate the human and financial capital needed for crowdfunding. Money is never given away for free. However, there are some things you can do to improve the chances of producing successful campaigns by planning and preparing ahead of time. They are as follows:

    1. Do Your Research

    Know who the rivals are and what is currently available on the market. Make a name for yourself by carving out a niche. What distinguishes the product or service from others. Visit stores in person. Observe how people communicate with similar goods to yours. What does it seem like they’re looking for before purchasing a product?

    For example, if you work in the retail industry, you can go to a clothing store and observe how people communicate. You’ll find that several customers touch the fabric first. Then consider the overall style. Then there’s the cost. From that, you can infer that how the material feels and looks is more critical than price. 

    2. Know How It Works

    Crowdfunding can take many forms, including reward-based, equity-based, donation-based, and peer-to-peer lending. You can borrow money outside of conventional bank loans by Investing in peer-to-peer lending and you can easily create a portfolio of loans that pay higher interest rates than banks if you are willing to take the risk.

    Lending Club, Prosper, and Kiva are three of the best charitable peer-to-peer crowdfunding platforms. They focus on giving people the tools they need to get out of poverty. Lending Club, for example, offers personal loans up to $40,000, with borrowers having the option of investing in individuals or institutions.

    3. Set a Funding Goal

    If you’re planning to launch a campaign on Kickstarter, keep in mind that the funding model is all-or-nothing. You get to keep the money if you hit or surpass your funding target. If you don’t, you won’t get anything. Indiegogo, for example, operates on a slightly different model, in which you keep the money regardless of whether you meet your target.

    It’s important to consider how much money you’ll need to get your company up and running, as well as how many people you know who would be able to contribute. While your campaign will draw in new supporters, most of your support will come from people who already know you. Keep your expectations in check. Bear in mind that once you’ve started your campaign, you won’t be able to adjust your funding target.

    4. Invest In Social Capital

    To be competitive, you must tap into your networks and enlist their support in reaching your funding target. For example, a month before the campaign, you might send emails to close friends and family explaining why you’re launching and then follow up with them a week before the launch and on launch day. 

    You can also submit personal texts with your campaign connection to anyone you feel comfortable texting. Encourage them to place a pre-order and share it with their social media networks so you can take advantage of the whole network impact. For the platforms’ algorithms to view your campaign favorably, you must reach about 30-40% of your funding target in the first 36-48 hours. 

    5. Organization

    Donations can be lost due to poor customer service. If you’re going to work for a group, make sure everyone has a good understanding of their responsibilities. Who will be in charge of the campaign, and who will respond to campaign feedback? Who will give updates to supporters, and who will post updates and ads on social media?

    Establish a plan ahead of time and double-check that everybody understands their responsibilities. Getting a disorganized campaign, no matter how excellent your product is, would reflect negatively on you. 

    6. Look For Exemptions In Your State

    To take advantage of the advantages of crowdfunding, you don’t need to use an online site. Until making a final decision, search for exemption companies in your state that authorize you to advertise a private stock offering and sell up to $5 million in shares to citizens that do not meet the Federal Accredited Investor requirements. 

    7. Designing a Great Digital Marketing

    Video is important. The wording that would accompany your campaign would give people a logical reason to invest. A great video captures the pitch’s emotion and establishes the team’s reputation. People will trust you because of your emotional appeal and importance.

    It is essential to plan ahead of time for your digital marketing campaign. Prepare what you can for letters, tweets, and social media updates that you can submit at critical points throughout the campaign. Make a version of your business plan that you’re comfortable giving to strangers. People can, in any case, ask for it. 

    8. Reward Ideas

    Consider how you can personalize these starting points to create crowdfunding rewards that are true to your project’s goals, style, content, and values. Consider how you can make these incentives appealing to your supporters and target audience, as well as what they value. Remember to thoroughly cost out your incentives before putting them on your list to ensure that they are fair and deliverable. 

    9. Learn From Others

    Take the time to research other successful projects to see what worked for them. Please take a look at their videos, pay attention to the script, and be inspired. However, be realistic about what you can do with your available resources. Adapt your ideas to match your budget and target audience. Remember, it’s easier to raise funds for a cause that affects a large number of people. Consider the marketing and how you can make your story as accessible as possible to as many people as possible.

    The significance of crowdfunding cannot be overstated. It is vital for new businesses. If you’re developing a high-demand product or service or launching a new campaign, crowdfunding is an excellent way to gauge interest. It assists you in generating a large amount of awareness. As a result, you must double-check everything before launching your campaign. A botched crowdfunding campaign will leave you with regrets and put your product or service in the worst possible position.