Reginald Chan

Author: Reginald Chan

  • Monitoring Customer Reviews Effectively With Proxies

    Monitoring Customer Reviews Effectively With Proxies

    There are many different things that businesses must pay attention to, like marketing, sales, product development, customer experience, and so on. But one of the most valuable assets a company can have is knowing what customers think about its products or services.

    After all, the customer is always right. Companies are always competing to deliver their customers precisely what they want. This customer-centric approach has revolutionized business numbers and how successful companies can be.

    In the past, it was challenging to gather a large amount of data that can tell companies exactly what their customers think. However, this is no longer an issue.

    The Voice of the People: Reviews and Grades

    The internet has introduced various business benefits. Companies are making the most of their online efforts to boost business results. Among many things, the web is a great place to learn what customers think about businesses, their brands, products, and services.

    One of the best indicators of customers’ sentiments is reviews. With grades, customers can quickly indicate the level of overall satisfaction with a product. Reviews allow them to share their opinions, what they found great, and what they disliked about something.

    Most people will leave reviews or grades. More importantly, everyone will read some reviews before deciding whether or not they should buy a product. Not only can other customers learn from this, but companies can improve as well, with review monitoring.

    Review Monitoring as a Business Necessity

    Review monitoring is an essential technique for brand monitoring. It’s the process of gathering and monitoring online conversations about a business or its products. One of the best ways to do this is by using web scraping.

    This practice helps companies gather large amounts of data from review sites and put all that data in one place. Apart from monitoring customer feedback and brand mentions from different sources, it also involves analyzing the data and establishing practices to improve and maintain the brand image.

    This helps companies generate better future reviews and address all of the negative ones quickly to reduce damages. At the same time, companies can learn a lot about where they can improve their service. Furthermore, web scraping also lets companies gather customer feedback about other companies anonymously.

    This lets companies learn why their competitors are so successful and what they are doing right. But at the same time, they can discover their weaknesses. However, scraping is limited on its own without using proxies. Proxies are essential for this process and help overcome various challenges.

    What Challenges Proxies Help Overcome

    Proxies are 3rd party servers that enhance the customer review monitoring process with web scraping. The first major issue with scraping is that sites can block it. Review sites don’t want companies to extract their data.

    A proxy can change the IP address of the scraper and let you gather data continuously without being blocked. Since monitoring customer reviews is an ongoing process, it’s essential to have fresh data coming in regularly. At the same time, companies often scrape their competitors’ websites.

    A proxy lets you do this anonymously without anyone being able to figure out who is extracting data from their site.

    This helps companies hide their intentions from their competition. Scraping and proxies also let you filter out the exact data you need with the utmost accuracy. This helps businesses get usable data that is structured, ready to be analyzed. 

    What Type of Proxies Work Best

    There are many types of proxies out there. Not all of them are great for gathering customer reviews. Some of them are designed for personal use and simple IP address coverage. Overall, the best proxies for customer review monitoring are rotating proxies.

    They allow you to send out hundreds of requests to a single website. This is very important as web crawlers go through a review site many times to gather data from different pages. They prevent blocks and let you rotate your address countless times, granting free access.

    Furthermore, these proxies are built to process many requests. They are a lot faster and save money when it comes to monitoring customer reviews. These proxies also offer a high level of anonymity, making them perfect for the job.

    Conclusion

    Knowing what your customers think about your business at all times gives you valuable business intelligence. It helps make informed business decisions and changes to perfect your service while mitigating negative sentiments online.

    All companies need to get on with the times and take full advantage of modern tools and data. Business data is the future, and soon, companies will have to have actionable information at their disposal. This is why scraping and proxies are essential in modern business.

  • What You Need to Know Before Starting a Dropshipping Business?

    What You Need to Know Before Starting a Dropshipping Business?

    Want to open up a business but you’re not sure where to start? A lot of people don’t even try to create their own brand and company, as they are too afraid to follow their vision. But thankfully we live in a time where information is handed to us, all we have to do is take it and run with it. Having an idea is crucial, but the same goes for actually making the next step. Interested in something as niche as dropshipping? Here’s what you need to know before starting a dropshipping business!

    What Is Dropshipping?

    First of all, you need to know everything about this in order to be successful at it! The method of dropshipping has been around for some time now, a lot of people all across the world are familiar with it. If you are totally clueless, try attending a high-ticket dropshipping course online, and see if that’s something you are interested in trying. The actual term dropshipping means that the product is being delivered to someone not directly from the company but through a third party. Meaning that stores don’t keep items in stock, but buy them through third party sellers and shipping it directly to the customer. You might not even realize that you are receiving an item that’s been dropped shipped to you – and it doesn’t really make a big difference as long as the item arrives at your doorstep in moderate time. 

    Chose A Product To Ship

    Now, you might think that the market is already overflowing, so why would you even try to create a dropshipping business in the first place? In all actuality there are so many items that can be sold this way, even if the market is saturated – you just need to spend a little bit of time and energy on marketing and promoting your business. The products are an essential part of the story, so you need to prioritize making a business strategy where you’ll decide on the exact products you want to sell – keep in mind the sizes and weights of those products, you want to make it weigh less than 5 pounds so the shipping costs don’t reach astronomical levels. 

    Find A Supplier

    Once you figure out what kind of products interest you, it could be literally anything – from handmade jewelry and accessories to school supplies and tools. The only thing you should consider is making a business plan with a supplier of the products you like. This can be tricky, but you should consider all the pros and cons of your desired supplier and see if that is something that will work for you. The best way to do it is by going to the source itself – contact the manufacturer of the product you are interested in and see if you can strike a deal or not. All in all, it shouldn’t be that hard to do, as dropshipping wasn’t invented yesterday and with the ever growing popularity of online shopping, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon!

    Make A Website

    Nowadays you can’t have a business if you don’t have a presence online, more specifically a functioning website customers can browse and shop on. But, the fastest way you’ll rise to success is by using an already established e-commerce platform for these types of things, so you have a good head start. You can always go back and make a website from scratch once you establish yourself on the market. Start small and work with what you got, as a beginner you should consider taking this route just to make sure you make it, the first few months are crucial and you don’t want to lose any potential profit.

    Know Your Benefits

    Like with anything else, you want to know all the positives and negatives, especially when it comes to your potential new business. The world of dropshipping is evolving and growing each year, but one thing is clear – anyone can do it! Obviously, you need to have some knowledge in business, economics and have a general understanding of the market, only then will you become successful. The good thing about dropshipping is – it can be done from wherever you are, just choose a seller, anywhere in the world and create a business. 

    Explore Your Customer Base

    Another essential factor in your success is the customer base! You need to do a little bit of research about marketing and consumerism, and also see what kind of product suits different kinds of consumer groups. If you choose a niche product your customers will be pretty specific due to gender or age. All in all, this is a common marketing strategy and you shouldn’t overlook it even if you are going into dropshipping business – this will help you greatly to reach success faster!

    Want to start a dropshipping business in 2021? Here's what you need to know!

    See Other Companies

    What better way to get successful fast than by looking at what your competition is doing! Now that doesn’t mean you need to copy everything they do, but it’s a good way to understand how things work, and to pick up all the tips and tricks that might work for your own dropship business. Every business is different, from the products to the packaging and shipping, so you have the freedom to see what works best for you and your business!

    Things To Be Aware Of

    Live any other business, dropshipping isn’t a fairytale – many things can go wrong and you should be aware of them! It’s actually not too uncommon for people to get scammed by fake suppliers and manufacturers and this is the quickest way to ruin your newly found business and lose money along the way. But this shouldn’t drive you away from pursuing this kind of work, there are plenty of well-known companies and manufacturers that are open and willing to work with you – you just need to choose them carefully!

    Starting any business is time and energy-consuming, regardless if it’s from your basement or across the ocean – you’ll still need to invest lots of resources in it. At least you are already interested in a specific field like dropshipping, so all you have to do is gather information and make the next step as you transform your dreams into reality!

  • Best MBA Programs In The World

    Best MBA Programs In The World

    Acquiring an MBA from one of the best business schools worldwide gives you a world-class qualification in the academic world. Also, it opens doors of opportunity for an exploration into a new country where you get to meet new people, learn new cultures, a new language, and many more. Apart from that, an MBA degree gives you direct access to top companies worldwide where you get to meet their board of directors and their leaders. MBA also helps individuals get insights and new visions on how business deals and transactions work and how to manage them effectively. Getting your MBA abroad also helps students understand risk-taking as a profitable business trait, allowing an individual to test the validity of his or her business instinct. As long as you meet the school’s requirements you are applying for, you will be offered admission. Nevertheless, you have an edge to secure admission if you can purchase convincing proposals writemyessayonline.com. Below is an essential information requirement.

    Basic Eligibility Requirements

    • A 3 or 4-year Bachelor’s degree or equivalent from an accredited institution or university.
    • Letters of recommendation from the academic and professional perspective.
    • Personal Statement (you will find a template on your desired university website page)
    • GMAT/GRE 
    • A minimum of 2-3 years of work experience in a related field. Some universities ask for long years of working experience.
    • Updated Resume/CV
    • Proof of English proficiency: TOEFL/IELTS/PTE/Cambridge English

    As an aspiring business and Management personnel, choosing the right school where the MBA degree program is taught with the right facility matters. For clarity, you can always check Forbes on top MBA schools before deciding the school to apply to. The school you choose has a role to play in your area of specialization, and it also includes the opportunities after the program. It is advisable to do background research before applying to any school. However, we have listed top universities ad business schools around the world where you can get the best learning process that can mold you into an expert business individual anywhere in the world.

     

    United States of America

    The United States is the originator of MBA and has been providing quality over the years in business education specialization. It started with the University of Pennsylvania after the launching of Wharton Business School in 1881. Other universities in the United States have also offered top ranking MBA programs that have attracted many international students.

    Top MBA Universities in the US:

    • University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School
    • Harvard University – Harvard Business School
    • Yale University – Yale School of Management
    • Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
    • The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
    • Columbia University – Columbia Business School
    • UCLA Anderson School of Management
    • Northwestern University – The Kellogg School of Management
    • Michigan Ross School of Business
    • Stanford University – Stanford Graduate School of Business

    Europe

    In terms of providing solid business education, Europe has cemented its place behind the United States through its internship programs and practical trainings. Universities in Europe have been recognized for producing experts and professionals in the business world. A full-time MBA program in Europe is one year, and they do not admit many students. This means you must be ready to put in extra effort if you want admission to any University in Europe. This is why it has always competed with the United States. You can find out more about this institution on quora.

    Top Universities for MBA in Europe

    • University of Cambridge – Judge Business School
    • University of London – London Business School
    • INSEAD, France
    • University of Navarra – IESE Business School
    • Imperial College London – Imperial College Business School
    • ESADE Ramon Llull University HEC Paris
    • IE University – IE Business School
    • University of Oxford – Saïd Business School
    • Bocconi University – SDA Bocconi School of Management

    Canada

    Over the years, Canada has gained popularity among international students aiming to study abroad. Canada is blessed with high-profile universities and business schools that offer one of the best Business and Management academic qualifications. Also, the Canada Universities MBA program is affordable unlike other countries like the UK and US.

    Top Universities for MBA in Canada

    • University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management
    • Queen’s University – Smith School of Business
    • HEC Montréal
    • McGill University
    • Sauder School of Business
    • Concordia University – John Molson School of Business
    • Western University – Ivey Business School
    • York University – Schulich School of Business
    • University of Alberta – Alberta School of Business
    • Simon Fraser University – Beedie School of Business

     

    Asia

    Asia has been described as the center of Earth’s oldest civilizations through its impacts for a long time. Asia is mostly known for manufacturing and production, the MBA program is very cheap, and the admission process seems straightforward. However, the turnaround for the MBA program in Asia due to China’s advancement in technology and innovation is very remarkable. This has prompted many western universities to open campus branches in China and has been advantageous because international students now apply to study in China. In a nutshell, this is why Asia is ranked as an ideal place to get an MBA degree.

    Top Universities for MBA in Asia

    • China Europe International Business School 
    • The University of Hong Kong
    • INSEAD, Singapore
    • The Chinese University of Hong Kong
    • City University of Hong Kong
    • National University of Singapore – NUS Business School
    • Antai College of Economics & Management
    • Hitotsubashi University Business School 
    • Nanyang Technological University – Nanyang Business School
    • HKUST Business School

    One of the compelling reasons you need to study for an MBA is because organizations want people who are experienced and have problem-solving skills in challenges faced in business. MBA offers such an opportunity, and apart from that, you get to learn how risk-taking works in the business world, not to make a reckless decision. Getting admission into the Universities mentioned here requires extra effort, but it is well worth it.

  • The Roles of Technology in Today’s Trend in Business

    The Roles of Technology in Today’s Trend in Business

    Indubitably, technology has become an inescapable part of our lives. Everywhere we go, we are greeted with its different marvels. From smartphones to artificial intelligence, technology is unquestionably developing at an ever-increasing pace. Perhaps the area most affected by it is business. 

    Just think about how much you rely on tech solutions to tackle everyday work tasks. Nowadays, business owners are always thinking of new means of incorporating technology into their industries, so clearly, it has a huge role in setting trends. To better understand this role, read on for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between tech and industry trends.

    Automation

    Without a doubt, modern solutions have changed the way we go about completing our tasks. Some would say that businesses have become over-reliant on technology. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Advanced software and automation have cut the time employees need to generate reports, conduct audits, and track finances in half. Technology has made automation an indispensable part of any industry thriving for success. This trend brought about some negative impacts, though. According to recent statistics, around 400000 people lost their jobs due to automation in the 1990s and early 2000s. Because of the coronavirus-induced lay-offs, this trend is becoming even more pronounced. Automation in itself is not inherently negative, though. It is up to business owners to strike balance between the use of technology and traditional labor.

    Marketing

    Marketing has always been an important aspect of running any business. After all, a company cannot flourish without a loyal customer base. Technology has clearly affected marketing trends and made advertising your products or services much easier. The great advancements in telecommunication have completely revamped the marketing industry. For instance, SMS and email marketing were the norm two decades ago. Currently, social media is the uncontested winner when compared to other advertising channels. Of course, these tech solutions have facilitated things for small businesses, as entrepreneurs do not have to waste thousands of dollars on T.V. ads to get the word out about their companies anymore.

    Gaming

    In the 80s and early 90s, most people would have scoffed at the idea of video games becoming a legit industry, but here we are now, with hundreds of releases each year! Technology has made this possible thanks to the new developments it introduced, including VR. The industry has also become more accessible for enthusiasts, given the introduction of user-intuitive engines. Gaming is now a huge trend, considering how many businesses are opting for gamification to appeal to younger demographics. Not only that, but the gaming industry also changed as a whole with the introduction of online stores. Digital copies are now more popular than physical ones. Perhaps this variety of options is what has helped video games become more mainstream.

    Publishing

    Have new solutions made paperback books obsolete? Well, experts are divided on this point, but one thing is certain: Technology has totally transformed the publishing industry, forcing the business owners operating in this sector to rethink their strategy and try to become more inclusive. 

    This, in turn, started a new trend: audiobooks and e-books. Thankfully, books are currently more accessible to a more diverse demographic. Because of the introduction of audiobooks, visually impaired individuals are now able to consume written material much more effectively. Furthermore, Kindles and other e-book devices have become the new norm, considering how they enable people to read books on the go. 

    Freelancing and Remote Working

    Around 10 years ago, the thought of working full-time from home or fully controlling your work schedule was a far-fetched dream. Due to the lack of proper means and technology, remote work was not a thing, and most people had to settle for traditional 9-5 jobs. This is not the case anymore, though, especially given the outbreak of COVID-19. We now have the technology to sustain remote jobs. Business owners everywhere have taken notice of this new trend and started integrating it into their business models whenever possible. Not only do many clients deal with freelancers to finish urgent tasks, but traditional employees now have the freedom to work from home without having to contend with long commutes. Overall, this trend has made most industries more flexible and adaptable.

    It is impossible to ignore the role of technology in setting business trends. By just looking at the way different industries operate today, you can clearly see the massive change that modern tech solutions have made. Whether you are an employee or a business owner, tracking the most recent trends in your sector and incorporating technology into your everyday life as much as possible will help you see a boost in your productivity and income.

  • Does the Accessibility of Your Site Improve Your SEO?

    Does the Accessibility of Your Site Improve Your SEO?

    Accessibility has become an integral part of web development. It refers to making websites accessible for people with disabilities who may need an assistive device to browse the site and interact with its content. Any Website Accessibility Consultant will tell you that a key to good accessibility is implementing its techniques correctly. It will help you avoid, for example, illogical and confusing descriptions for screen reader users.

    Meanwhile, SEO – Search Engine Optimization – is based on improving the site’s usability and content to enhance crawling and users’ experience simultaneously. It covers many elements, from keywords and headings to the speed of a website.

    Do they overlap? Short answer: Yes. But let’s take a closer look at what you can do to gain a double benefit from it.

    Alt Attributes

    Alternative text is one of the most common practices in accessibility as it allows screen readers to decipher images on a page for those with visual impairments. Make sure you create precise descriptions for alt attributes instead of marking them just as “image.”

    Search engine bots cannot see images on your website, so adding the alt text helps them see more content, and your technical SEO can benefit from it. It may be very tempting just to put a bunch of targeted keywords there, but you should remember that you write it for people in the first place. To create the perfect alt text, keep it short (about 125 characters), descriptive, avoid keyword stuffing, and write naturally.

    Headings

    Use headings to bring a hierarchical structure to a web page, making it easy to scan and increase user experience. It makes nesting one topic in another less confusing and more readable, allowing users to focus on interesting points and skip the excessive details for them. Headings help people with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities get a precise impression of a web page, making navigation easier for their assistive devices.

    At the same time, a good structure allows your website to aim for featured snippets. When creating content, ensure you do not use more than one H1 heading because it will break the smooth navigation, and use the following headings only to divide content into logical parts in a particular order.

    Video Transcripts

    Content represented as video becomes a commonly used tendency for providing users with specialized information because it allows explaining anything along with illustrative examples. It may be impossible for people with hearing impairments or foreign language speakers to receive any information this way, so it would be better to provide them with transcripts.

    The simplest solution is subtitles – YouTube will even supply your video with automated ones (although they may need some editing). Still, you may want to put some time and effort into creating a text transcription of the whole video to be placed on the same page below. Since search engines are text-based, it will help them understand the video’s content and index it.

    Remember not to stuff your captions with keywords hoping that no one except search engine bots will notice them. It may significantly lower the overall user experience for people who rely on screen readers and those who prefer reading to watching. Write an exact transcription of the information contained in the video naturally.

    Sitemaps

    First of all, sitemaps are useful for quick and easy navigation and provide an overall picture of the site. HTML sitemaps with links to your website’s primary pages allow the user to get direct and immediate access to a page they are interested in the most.

    Second of all, sitemaps help search engines find hard-to-reach pages, index your website entirely, and better understand its content. It is crucial to keep your sitemap updated with new licks regularly.

    Conclusion

    As accessibility impacts a website’s general usability, it affects your SEO, too. It’s that simple. However, using accessibility techniques to stuff your website with “hidden” keywords can be a disastrous mistake.

    If you are aiming to improve your SEO by implementing accessibility solutions – it is a good start. But it is essential to remember that you introduce those changes to help people in the first place, not search engines. It is better to add keywords only when they are organic and relevant to your content and focus on conveying the information in as many alternative ways as possible.

    Ensure that accessibility techniques you choose are universal and compatible with assistive technologies and do not lower user experience by breaking the site’s structure. Making it work for everyone will always increase your traffic and ranking.

  • Does the Translation Industry Play a More Important Role in Business Than You Expect?

    Does the Translation Industry Play a More Important Role in Business Than You Expect?

    As more and more businesses aren’t focused on a single region, but expand to new markets, a global perspective is what you need to expand your business. Taking part in worldwide relations requires translation services enabling you to communicate with partners and clients freely.

    Communication is the key to success, and the content which you provide to your potential customers should be of the best possible quality. Your brand should be prepared to speak the language of anyone that you’d like to reach out to. Hence professional translation services are essential for the growth of your company.

    Entering the Global Market

    Globalization has enabled plenty of local companies to broaden their activity, which, in turn, has a significant effect on their profits, as they can enter larger markets. However, that requires additional measures. These include adjusting your legal requirements and making sure that you take the cultural differences into consideration.

    Going global is a process that requires you to understand the target market, which is more complicated than just translating the words to another language. It can significantly increase your income, but only if you are sure that you are sufficiently understood, and all the law regulations are adequately translated. The worst-case scenario is a translation of legal documents that is full of mistakes, which could carry serious legal consequences. You need professional translators to be sure that what you offer is clear.

    Reaching for Help

    Reaching for outside help is beyond inevitable. Even if you think that your language skills are sufficient and you or your employees communicate fluently in the target language, remember that your customers will judge you based on the quality of language you use. The professional translation is of great importance as any spelling or grammar mistakes, as well as lack of localization of the content, might be off-putting, no matter the quality of your services.

    You have to remember to choose the agency or service provider wisely. It’s best to pick the one that provides a variety of translation services so that you wouldn’t have to find another agency for each type of translation job, as it would lead to chaos. What’s more, pay attention to the number of languages that your documents can be translated into. Agencies as Architekst that offer you translation to more than 140 languages in various fields are a wise pick, as you wouldn’t have to commission translations to other agencies or freelancers.

    You might need help with regards to marketing services, legal translations, and website translation. All of those require specific technical knowledge to be able to transfer the specialistic vocabulary properly, so don’t hesitate and choose specialists in the field.

    Demand for Non-English Languages

    English is a lingua franca that is used by most people in the business world. However, if you seek to reach out to clients who aren’t speaking English well, you’d need professional translation into other languages as well.

    Chinese, Arabic, and Spanish are the best choice as they are spoken in countries with some of the biggest markets, which is why they are of great importance in business world. You should spread your services to non-English-speaking countries too, as their economic significance is rising.

    Moreover, over 50% of Google queries are in languages other than English, China has started its “going out strategy”, and 78% of online shoppers are more likely to buy in localized online stores. Consequently, sooner or later, if you want to be a big player in the market, it would be impossible to expand your business without translation to other languages.

    Localization

    Worldwide communication requires not only translation on the linguistic level; the text or speech also needs to be well domesticated. Cross-cultural commerce requires understanding the target audience and adjusting your way of speaking to a particular country or region.

    That is what is hidden behind the term localization. To speak to your customers and achieve marketing succes through personal communication, you need translators who are aware of the domestication processes. Personalized message adherent to the foreign client increases your chances to convince your clients to buy your products. Functional localization is crucial to communicate with trading partners, agencies, and clients so that the flow of information remains undisrupted.

    Conclusions

    Remember that 90% of the customers would choose their native language while shopping online if possible, and 75% would prefer to read information about the product in their native language. The quality of your translation might significantly influence the outcome while entering the global market.

    Don’t be afraid to go worldwide with the help of translators who would make it more comfortable and efficient. As you see, the translation industry is of great importance in your business. Decent translation services might be expensive, but remember that they are worth it, as you’ll be able to reach more customers.