Since the last decade, cyber attackers have especially affected businesses that depend on computerized technology for conducting their daily business. Cyber crime is a significant threat to all businesses regardless of their sizes. Therefore, it is important to invest in cyber security in banking for protecting your business and data against malicious cyber criminals and hackers. It is important to build cyber resilience.
Cyber security in banking is of great importance. Since 2010, Indian banks have rapidly adopted newer technologies and digital channels while keeping up with the underlying objective of increasing revenues and footprints. 83% of CISOs agree on the increase in cyber attacks on banks since 2018.
Why is Cyber Security in Banking Important?
Since 2019, several banking institutions have been targeted by cyber attackers. Some of them include:
OTP Bank Data Leak
Database that was dated back to 2013 consisting of the personal data of approximately 800,000 clients including names, addresses, phone numbers, approved credit limit, work notes on client’s contract was made publicly available with. The database allegedly belonged to OTP Bank. According to the bank, there was no evidence on information leakage recorded in our bank, and the origin of this database remained unknown to the bank.
HCF Bank Data Leak
A database consisting of the data of the HCF bank customers was available on the internet with the personal information of the bank’s 24,400 customers. The database included customers’ names, phone numbers, passport details, addresses as well as the credit limit.
Alfa Bank Data Leak
Two databases belonging to Alfa Bank were found lying on the internet. The first database was dated back to 2014-15 and held the personal data of more than 55,000 customers. The database included customers’ names, their contact information, addresses as well as their place of work. It was speculated that these databases might have leaked during 2014 when the IT staff of the bank was going through mass layoffs.
Banks must be on their guard more than any other business since they are the custodian of money, which is the most valuable resource in the present times. In the case of a successfully deployed cyber attack, the results will be the most devastating. Since the foundation of banking lies in trust and credibility with the customers, it is very important to ensure cyber security in the banking sector.
The following are a few reasons why cyber security in banking is important and why should it matter to you.
The wave of digitalization: These days, the government is emphasizing ongoing digital. This means an increase in the population that is using digital money such as plastic cards and is going cashless. Therefore, it becomes important to employ precautionary measures that ensure cyber security for protecting your data and privacy.
Data breach leads to a breach of trust:Data breaches make it difficult for the customers to trust financial institutions. For banks, it is a serious problem since a weak cyber security system can lead to data breaches.
Financial Loss: When a bank suffers from a cyber attack, not only the bank but also, its customers suffer from financial loss. Recovering from this loss can be time-consuming. It will involve canceling cards, checking statements as well as confirming other minute details.
Your data is no longer yours: cyber security is extremely important when the attackers Once the attackers get a hold on your private data; it can be misused in any manner. Your data is sensitive and could reveal a lot of information about what might be leveraged by attackers.
How to Enhance Cyber Security in the Banking Sector?
Bank regulators should be allowed to examine third-party vendors that many credit unions are using these days for technology services.
Data breaches and cyber security incidents require a rapid response to mitigating the impact. Employ proactive measures to evade such cyber threats.
With security attack simulator and awareness tools, bank employees can learn about various forms of cyber attacks. This is ensured with the help of the tools four-step cycle. This includes simulated attack, knowledge imparting, an assessment which is followed by another simulated attack.
Injection, this word not only terrifies children but also, is a cause of immense worry for those who have suffered from ‘injection’ attacks. Last week, 90% of the deployed cyber-attacks were injection attacks. In an injection attack, attacker injects a malware or malicious code in a query or program. This allows the attacker to execute commands remotely that can read or manipulate a database. It can also enable the attacker to modify data that is lying on the website.
There are different forms of Injection attacks including XPath Injection, Blind XPath Injection, SSI Injection, OS Commanding, LDAP Injection, Format String Attack, Buffer Overflow, SQL Injection, Blind SQL Injection etc.
One of the most commonly deployed injection attacks is SQL injection. Considered as one of the top ten vulnerabilities, this injection attack is a code injection technique that targets data-driven applications by inserting malicious SQL statements into the entry field for execution. It was discovered in 1998 that is still being deployed by the attackers. SQL injection exploit security vulnerabilities in software of applications. This allows the attacker to manipulate, tamper, disclose or destroy data, changing the balances or voiding transactions etc.
What is an SQL injection attack?
SQL injection attack is deployed through parts of SQL statements in the web entry field for letting the website pass a freshly formed rogue SQL command to the database. It is an attack vector for websites that can be used to attack any type of SQL database.
Why are SQL injection attacks successful?
The reason behind the success of SQL injection attacks is the weak codes. These vulnerabilities can be easily exploited by attackers for the execution of database queries thus, allowing attackers to access sensitive and confidential information, modify database entries and injecting malicious codes resulting in the compromise of the entire data. SQL injection attack can easily encrypt sensitive data. This attack can allow attackers to read information like username, passwords, card credentials. It can also allow attackers to delete the entire database.
What are the different types of SQL attacks?
SQL injection attacks can be categorized into four types. These are:
Blind based: In this form of SQL injection attack, attackers are not required to see any error message for running the attack. Even if the database error messages are disabled, attacker can still route the blind SQL injection attack. It can be further categorized into Boolean-based blind SQL injection attack and Time-based blind SQL injection attack.
Error based: This SQL injection attack is based on the error messages that are thrown by the database server for gathering information about the building of the database. Attackers can calculate an entire database.
Union based: In Union based SQL injection technique, attackers leverage the UNION SQL operator for combining the results of more than two SELECT statements. This attack helps in determining the structure of the main query with the help of blind SQL injection attack.
String based: This type of SQL injection attack takes place when the website is susceptible to SQL injection but does not show any consequences that would have otherwise shown after performing SQLi query.
How to prevent SQL injection attacks?
Sanitization and Validation: Sanitization refers to ensure that no dangerous characters are passed to an SQL query in data. Validation confirms that the data is submitted in the form in which it is expected to be.
Updating and patching vulnerabilities: It is important apply patches and updates as soon as possible in order to prevent attackers from exploiting the vulnerabilities.
Encryption is important: Hashing or encryption of passwords as well as other crucial information including connection string is important for maintaining the confidentiality of your data.
Penetration testing: Cyber security companies like Anteelo provide managed services like web application penetration testing help in preventing SQL injection attacks with input validation testing.
SQL injection has been prevailing in the world of cyber-crime since two decades and is still strongly impacting industries. It is therefore, very important to examine each vulnerability and work in the direction to patch it.
When it is about outsourcing application development work, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s all about looking for the right partner that is the most appropriate fit for your team. As per the Computer Economics study IT Outsourcing Statistics 2014-2015, 62% of big organizations are outsourcing at least a part of their application development work.
As time-to-market needs increase and IT budgets decline, the trend of farming out development work is both rising and broadening to contain new services. In response, service providers have extended their offerings to comprise of product, technical, and process services. Notably, this runs the gamut from product management, information architecture and quality automation, analytics, and more.
If a mobile application is developed and executed in the right manner, it has the capability of offering increased efficiency, growth, and revenue for your business. That’s why development is so essential, as faults in this phase can lead to the development of a dysfunctional app that wouldn’t give you the preferred results.
To attain success in mobile app development, you need clarity of purpose and focus. To make this possible during outsourcing, you and your team have to sit down and ask some crucial questions before outsourcing, so you can attain success and avoid some of the most expensive pitfalls.
Things you Should Know Before Outsourcing an Apps
Here are some of the most critical questions that you must ask to select the correct partner for your organization’s specific outsourcing needs.
1. What is the purpose of the mobile app?
Are you developing an app just for building an app or because you are caught up in the hype about mobility? Will your application be a business version of your website, or will it have a particular purpose? Asking yourself the intent behind developing a mobile app can help you come up with a capable mobile app that aids a definite purpose. To make your mobile application successful, it must be extraordinarily focussed and address a specific purpose/function. You can discuss with the outsourcing team and narrow down on a definite problem that it is going to resolve or the particular purpose of your app. Ponder about why your mobile app is needed, how your customers can profit from it and how the application can be a more convenient alternative when compared to your website.
2. What should be a probable deadline for the completion of the app?
Narrowing down to a deadline for the app is very important if the mobile app is to be developed for a particular event or occasion. If the mobile app is not finished before the event, the entire development is futile. Even a delay of a few days might make an enormous difference and cease the mobile app from serving its purpose — moreover, the plan for the release schedule for the app. In case your application is released in different versions, you have to prepare for the release date accordingly.
3. What programming methodology do you want?
How do you wish your end-users to interact with your application? This supports the outsourcing developers to create an appropriate wire-frame. Also, think about the visual design needs and User Experience. Briefing the developers about the non-functional and functional needs of your application can help them to develop product backlog. You would also want to explain the required programming interfaces, outside services/systems, and third-party vendors, sharing such details is important.
4. How do you need the app to be hosted?
Do you need your mobile app to be plugged in to a new or preexisting infrastructure? Ponder about the hosting space that you would want. Brief the outsourcing developers beforehand about the post-launch support that you might need to fix the bugs and tweaks that you may get from users.
5. From where do you need the app to be downloaded?
Did you have an idea that the delivery channels of an application can significantly affect the design of the application? Getting listed on the App Store and Google Play is essential. You need to inform the developers in advance about your requirements for listing and get them talked at the development and design stage itself.
6. What level of security is needed?
Tell the developers that you are expecting security protocols that ensure that is the app is protected and secure from hackers trying to attack and breakthrough code vulnerability. Also, ensure that you get the privacy policy of the application drafted.
7. Does your application need to adhere to guidelines?
Ensure that your business app adheres to corporate guidelines like consistent screen design, design of icons, and branding conventions.
8. What are some of the risks involved?
Through the course of mobile application development, you might face risks and uncertainties that can hinder the project. To steer clear of such hazards, make sure that you build a risk register at the onset of your application so that you can file the actions at every step. This way, you can hold your stakeholders responsible for each risk factor.
9. Who are the main stakeholders involved in the development process?
It is crucial to identify the main stakeholders who are involved in the development and usage of your mobile application. Who would be funding it? Who would be owning it? Who would be benefiting from it? Who would keep the app active? Who would maintain the app daily? Asking such questions and trying to understand the involved decision-makers can lead to the successful development and running of the app. By comprehending the needs of the stakeholders, attaining clarity about their role, and taking responses to help in developing a successful application.
10. What budget can be allotted?
Many times the budget is overlooked when it comes to developing mobile apps. This is a significant reason why it becomes tough to estimate one. Make sure to sit down with the developers and discuss the various variables at play, be it multiple operating systems, testing environments, and more.
Summary
If you have made your mind to outsource your software development, you must have found some software development companies that you’re considering working with, and you are on the horns of a perplexity of making the correct choice. There is nothing better than talking to them and satisfying every query that you might have. Choose the web development company that passes all your parameters and comes out as reliable and trustworthy as a lot of your business now lies in their hands.
Whenever we talk about the top programming languages to consider in the development ecosystem, the first few names that strike are Java, Python, C++, Swift, SQL, and JavaScript.
However, the world of programming languages is not confined to these languages only.
There are various other programming languages that are slowly and gradually rising up in the list of top programming languages. One such language that is emerging to be the new love of developers is Go programming language.
Wondering what is Go? And what makes developers fall for this programming language? Let’s uncover in this article.
What is Go Programming Language?
Also called Golang, Go is an open-source, statically typed, and compiled programming language designed by Rob Pike, Robert Griesemer, and Ken Thompson. The language, that appeared in the market in 2009, was designed with an intention to enhance programming productivity in the era of networked machines, multicore, and huge codebases. Something for which the Google team picked the best characteristics of the popular languages, like:
Static typing and runtime efficiency of C++.
Usability and Readability of Python and JavaScript.
The language has just entered into its version 1.13.1. But, has gained a huge momentum in the market – bringing it several steps ahead in Go vs Rust discussion and similar comparisons. It has entered into the list of Top 10 Programming language by IEEE Spectrum and become the fourth most active languages on GitHub.
Not only this, it has become the third-most highly paid language as per Stack Overflow developer survey 2019 with an average annual salary of $109,483. And the best part is, it is predicted to grow ahead effectively because of the key characteristics it comes up with.
Top Characteristics of Google’s Go
1. Open-Source
The foremost characteristic of Golang programming language is that it is open-source. That means, anyone can download and experiment with the code to bring better codes into picture and fix related bugs.
2. Static Typing
Go is a statically typed programming language and works with a mechanism that makes it possible to compile code accurately while taking care of type conversions and compatibility level. This gives developers freedom from challenges associated with dynamically typed languages.
3. Concurrency Support
One of the prime characteristics of go programming language is its concurrency support.
Golang, unlike other programming languages, offers easier and trackable concurrency options. This makes it easier for app developers to complete requests at a faster pace, free up allocated resources and network earlier, and much more.
4. Powerful Standard Library and Tool Set
This programming language also comes loaded with a robust standard library. This libraries offer ample components that gives developers an escape from turning towards third party packages anymore.
Also, it offers a wider range of tools that makes development process efficient. This includes:
Gofmt: It automatically formats your Go code, which eventually brings a major impact on readability.
Gorun: This tool is used to add a ‘bang line’ in the source code to run it, or run a similar sode code file explicitly. It is often used by Go developers when experimenting with codes written in Python.
Goget: The Goget tool downloads libraries from GitHub and save it to your GoPath so that you can easily import the libraries in your app project.
Godoc: The tool parses Go source code, including comments and creates a documentation in HTML or plain text format. The documentation made is tightly coupled with codes it documents and can be easily navigated with one click.
5. Testing Capabilities
Go language also offers an opportunity to write unit tests along with writing the app codes. Besides, it avails support to understand code coverage, benchmark tests, and write example codes to create your own code documentation.
6. Garbage Collection
The programming language also offers exceptional power of garbage collection. Meaning, developers need not worry about freeing up pointers or the situation associated with dangling pointer.
Because of these characteristics, the language has gained attention of various popular brands.
This, in turn, has made several startups and established brands consider this language for their app needs. But, in case you are someone who wish not to analyze the market scope and use cases on your own, it is better to get familiar with the pros and cons of Go programming language.
So, let’s begin with looking into the advantages of preferring Golang for your development needs.
Advantages of Golang Programming Language
1. Ease of Use
One of the biggest benefits of Golang language is that its syntax is similar to that of C and C++. There are not many complex functions to learn and implement. Besides, the documentation is simple and can be used quickly.
A ripple effect of which is that the number of developers taking an interest in working with Go language for building native and cross-platform applications are increasing.
2. Cross-Platform Development Opportunities
Another advantage of going with this language is that multiple types of applications can be developed in Go. This includes software and mobility solutions for Windows, Unix, Linux, BSD versions, and mobile platforms.
3. Faster Compilation and Execution
In Golang development environment, there is no Virtual Machine. The code is directly compiled to machine code, which makes the compilation process faster and more effective.
Besides, the compiler produces only one executable file after compilation. This file does not suffer from any kind of dependency and can be uploaded and run anywhere. This makes the code execution process faster.
4. Scalable
Another feature that makes Golang outshine other programming languages is that it is highly scalable in nature. It enables top android mobile app developers to handle multiple tasks at the same time, especially channels and goroutines.
5. Time Saving
With features like automatic declaration of variables, latency free garbage collection, and faster compile time, it saves consideration development time; giving developers enough time to be productive.
With this covered, let’s turn towards the drawbacks of going with Golang.
Disadvantages of Go Programming Language
1. Still Developing
Though the popularity graph of Go programming language is growing and it holds a promising future in the market, it is still in its nascent stage. This is making it tough for the language to beat the competition with popular names like Java.
2. Too Simple
Programming languages like Swift and Haskell are difficult to learn. But, at the same time, they offer a myriad of opportunities to perform abstractions and other complex processes. Something that is not possible in the case of Golang because of its ultra-simple design.
So, the most primary characteristic turns out to be one of the major disadvantages of golang language.
3. Absence of GUI Library
Another con of go programming language is that it does not offer native support for GUI libraries. This implies app development companies have to connect a library to their application manually, rather than using native solutions like that in the case of Java or Python.
4. No Specific Niche
Designed by Google with the motive to deliver endless support and solutions, the language has characteristics that goes well with all. However, the language has still not found a single niche to conquer.
While it is facing competition from JavaScript in frontend development world, it is lagging behind Python in the world of data visualization and analysis. Because of this, many developers are still hesitating from investing in this language for a particular purpose.
5. Poor Error Handling
In the case of Go language, a function is required to return error if any error is expected. Developers have to write a huge number of ‘if’ blocks to perform error handling process efficiently and effectively. Something that is one of the golang coding challenges when they have lost track to the error that can further result in missing out of some imperative error handling logic.
6. Lack of Frameworks
Last but not least, Go lags behind programming languages like Python, PHP and Ruby on Rails in terms of number of frameworks to go with.
Now as you know the pros and cons of Go programming language, it is likely that you might have made your mind of whether to embrace it in your app tech stack or not. But, in case you are still confused, feel free to contact our app developers.
With the onward development of search engine algorithms, website owners everywhere will need to make changes in how they conduct their SEO. Today, with advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning at their disposal, search engines can better understand the intentions of a user and provide results which accurately meet their needs. In addition, the changes in how we use the internet, mobile searches, for example, are also affecting the way we optimise our sites. With these developments in mind, here we’ll look at how this will impact SEO in 2019.
Changing content to match algorithm updates
RankBrain is Google’s machine learning, AI-based algorithm. Although it has been around since 2015, its use of machine learning means that it is continually discovering how to produce better results. One of its key abilities is to ‘understand’ the content of a website. Rather than rely purely on things like keywords to discover whether a site was relevant to a search query, it is able to consider the entire content to give it a more in-depth understanding of the subject matter being discussed.
It does this by analysing the pages for subject-related terms and other content that help it identify the topic and purpose more precisely than ever before. For example, it can understand whether someone is searching for a web hosting product, information about web hosting or a technical web hosting knowledge base and can differentiate between these different types of content to ensure the right pages show up in the user’s result.
What does this mean for SEO? It means that rather than focus simply on putting keywords in the right places, you’ll also need to ensure your content includes information which contains all the other related terms that the algorithm will look for.
Optimizing for ‘Mobile First Indexing’
Since the numbers of mobile searches overtook desktop searches, Google has moved its focus even further towards mobile devices. Last year, it introduced Mobile First Indexing, essentially using the mobile rather than the desktop version of your site as the one it uses to rank pages in results.
As a consequence, the focus of your SEO should now be on your mobile site. While the content may be the same on both, things to consider will include navigation, ease of use and, very importantly, loading times.
The latter will mean more webmasters using caching, CDNs, minification and image optimisation to speed up their sites, as well as a shift away from shared hosting to the much faster VPS. It will also see an increase in the number of sites using accelerated mobile pages (AMPs).
Structuring content for the way search results are displayed
As you may have noticed, when you type a question into Google, it is now able to produce an answer directly in the search results in the form of a knowledge graph. The knowledge graph is a detailed excerpt from a web page that is presented in a box right at the top of the search results.
Another change that Google has introduced is putting a list of related questions underneath the knowledge graph before showing the list of other ranking websites. Clicking on each of these questions produces a featured extract from other websites that answer those questions.
The rest of the top results also have features snippets which, in some way, give an answer to the question too. To get these most prized ranking positions, it means reconsidering how you present the information on your websites – such as in the form of questions and answers, lists and structured tables.
Providing search engines with structured data
Search engine have been calling for increased use of structured data markup for quite a few years and this year will see an increase in websites doing just that. The reason is simple, the more structured data you add to your HTML, the better a search engine can understand the content and structure of your site. Doing this enables the search engine to see your page’s relevance to a search query far easier and thus helps you rank for the right queries.
The other benefit of markup is that it can be used to highlight content that appears in the actual search results and which can help increase clickthrough rates – such as user ratings and meta descriptions.
Adapting to new search behaviours
As smartphone keyboards are an effort to use accurately and typing queries on smart speakers like Amazon Echo is impossible, more and more people are using voice search. Indeed, our fondness for it on these devices has increased the numbers of people using voice on PCs with Google Assistant and Cortana.
These types of searches have a consequence for SEO as we use different forms of language. When we speak, we use natural language, e.g., ‘find me a builder in Leeds,’ whereas with a keyboard, we’d just type ‘builder Leeds’.
This has obvious implications for websites that have heavily focused on keywords in the past. Natural speech is more likely to use longtail keywords and content which features them is likely to rank better in voice search results.
Conclusion
SEO is a dynamic process that constantly requires website owners to react to developments in search engine algorithms and to changes in the way people search the internet. Hopefully, the trends we have discussed here will help you make the right changes to your SEO strategy in the coming year, improving your rankings and increasing your organic traffic.
IoT devices enable businesses to generate large volumes of valuable data. This real-time information gives them a better insight into their performance, helping them to be more productive and efficient and have a better understanding of their customers while opening the door to innovation in workflow and new services. Here we’ll look at seven ways businesses can benefit from the IoT.
1. Asset tracking
The tagging of items using inexpensive Bluetooth or RFID tags and the use of internet-connected readers to track them means almost any asset can now be connected to the Internet of Things. This enables companies not only to know where all their assets are but also to check their usage, maintenance history and, in some industries, an asset’s health.
Preventing assets from getting misplaced can improve efficiency and cut down on unnecessary repurchases. In sectors like healthcare, where critical equipment can be located across a hospital, it can be life-saving. The ability to check usage and maintenance ensures compliance with regulation and helps companies understand when assets need upgrading. The monitoring of asset health is critical in many industries and can help prevent manufacturing processes coming to a complete standstill or, as in the case of inflight aircraft engine monitoring, prevent catastrophes.
2. Inventory Tracking
Tagged inventory can also be connected to the internet using the same Bluetooth or RFID technology, giving companies real-time stock level data. This can reduce the cost of manual stock taking while providing more accurate, up to date information. This provides much better inventory management and, as it is connected over the internet, can be used across multiple sites. It is ideal for retailers and for the manufacturers, wholesalers and logistics companies that serve them.
Indeed, using Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) and satellite tracking, the location of tagged inventory can even be tracked during transit.
3. Better communication with customers
The vast amount of data being collected using the IoT provides companies with the opportunity to give valuable information to their customers. In retail, for example, it enables them to offer omnichannel personalised marketing. Personalised marketing has proved very successful for online companies who use data from their websites to provide tailored offers to individuals. However, for businesses with both online and bricks and mortar stores, the IoT enables data from all forms of interaction to be collected. Supermarkets, for example, can learn about a customer’s in-store habits from their loyalty cards and send them online offers tailored around this.
Other types of IoT device can also help companies send valuable communications. Smart meters, for example, can help energy companies show customers where money is being wasted or where they can save from a different energy package.
4. The development of new services
Not only does IoT data help companies send valuable data to their customers, it can also create opportunities to offer them new services. The ability to monitor asset health, as mentioned above, means businesses can also track the health of the products they sell and offer their customers add-on maintenance services.
We get our boilers serviced annually as a precaution but wouldn’t it be useful if the service company knew in advance that a part was about to fail and contacted us to replace it before it packed in? The same service could be applied to cars, televisions, computers, vacuum cleaners and many other items we use.
It is not just with breakdowns where additional services could be offered. Manufacturers of products which use consumable parts could monitor when those parts were due for replacement and offer a service to send them before they ran out. This would be ideal for replacing ink cartridges, lightbulbs and batteries, etc.
5. Improved security
Today’s IoT-enabled CCTV cameras bring many security advantages. Any business owner can now view multiple premises, internally and externally, from anywhere. And the advancement in CCTV technology means these systems use AI to identify suspicious activity, send out warning notifications and use facial and other visual recognition signals to track and record perpetrators.
6. Visual analytics
The same IoT technology is also helping businesses to gain greater insight into customer and employee behaviour. Connected cameras using artificial intelligence can gather valuable data which enables retailers to better understand how their customers interact with their store layouts, promotional materials and product displays. With employees, it is possible to learn how individuals interact with machinery, use their time and undertake processes. This can help improve workflows and lead to greater efficiencies on the shop floor.
7. Efficiencies and improvements
IoT data can help businesses make major efficiencies and develop improvements. It helps manufacturers speed up workflow and cut bottlenecks. It enables logistics companies to reduce energy costs, reroute vehicles when there are traffic jams or organise deliveries for the quickest routes. It even helps theme parks know which attractions are most popular and when: ensuring adequate numbers of staff are available and that unpopular attractions are replaced.
Conclusion
The data gathered from IoT devices is enabling companies to make important changes to the way they operate. It can improve asset and inventory management, enable better communication with customers and offer the potential for new services. It can also improve security, offer insights into customer and employer behaviour and help introduce efficiencies and improvements.
Leading SEO site, Backlinko, recently undertook a major study of over ten thousand voice search results. Its findings were not only interesting but informative, highlighting the things which websites need to do to rank highly for voice searches. When you take into consideration the growth in the number of voice searches, these actions become crucial if companies want to maintain their organic traffic levels in the future.
How voice search is increasing
The growth in voice search is powered by the wide number of devices that can now recognise speech. These include laptops, phones, watches, smart speakers and other smart devices like TVs. It is estimated that by the end of next year, half of all searches will be done by voice and a third of them on devices which have no screen.
The key user of voice technology is the younger generation. 66% of voice searchers are under 35 and these are also the demographic that owns most of the smart speakers and other devices. Important, also, is the fact that according to a 2018 Global Web Index survey, 75% of mobile voice searchers made an online purchase in the previous month – a key indication that voice search is being used for shopping.
With this growth in mind, here are eight important statistics and their implications for websites.
1. The average spoken search result is around 30 words
This figure indicates the average number of words spoken back by a device when a voice search is given. It is the vocal equivalent of a knowledge graph or featured snippet shown on a screen. The importance here is that it underlies the need for sites to provide succinct rich snippets or answers to questions which search engines can use to give spoken answers. Those sites that do this have a better chance of being chosen.
2. 36% of voice search results are from sites which use structured data
Google has been asking webmasters to use structured data to markup their websites for several years as it gives it a clearer understanding of what the site’s content is about. Many sites, however, have failed to make progress with this. The fact that over a third of voice research results come from those sites, is a clear indication that it’s helpful in getting you ranked.
3. Voice results come from sites with high domain ratings
The company Ahrefs has a globally acknowledged rating system that is used to rank all websites from high (100) to low (0) based on the quality and size of their backlinks. In voice results, the average site had a rating of 77. This figure is a key element of your domain authority as it signifies how well your content is linked to by other high authority domains.
A score of 77 means a website has around 6,000 to 7,000 backlinks from other authority domains. The hint here is that creating quality content that others want to link to is a crucial long-term strategy for those who want to do well in voice results.
4. The average voice search result performs well on social media
It is not just getting backlinks that has an impact on voice search results. A page’s performance on social media has an influence too. The average result has almost 1200 shares on Facebook and over 40 Tweets. This is a key indication that search engines are taking other people’s views into consideration when they produce their results.
5. The average reading age is 14
With the average voice result having a reading age of just 14, it means making the vocabulary of your content accessible if you want to rank well in voice searches. However, that doesn’t mean dumbing down too much. A reading age of fourteen might not seem very sophisticated but the average UK reading age is said to be nine to eleven and The Sun newspaper has a reading age of around eight. Fourteen is the reading age of the Guardian which is by no means a dumbed down read. Bear this in mind when creating your content.
6. Few voice results had the exact search term in their title
This is further evidence that advances in Google’s algorithm have reduced the importance of keywords. Using RankBrain, Google can understand the whole of your page without having to focus just on the keywords in the title, meta descriptions and headings. The good news is that this allows you to concentrate on creating content for the user and not for the search engine.
7. The average page had a word count of over 2000 words
While the number of words spoken back by a device averages at around 30 words, the pages from which they come often have over 2000 words in their content. The implication here is that when voice searches are carried out on devices with screens, Google is focusing on providing detailed, long-form content.
If this includes product pages on eCommerce sites, then one can only assume that those products with lots of customer reviews perform best. Normally, very few product pages have anywhere near such detailed content.
8. 70% of results on smart speakers are from sites which use HTTPS
HTTPS is the secure form of HTTP, the protocol that controls how information is formatted and transmitted across the internet. The difference between them is that HTTPS encrypts data, making the transfer of personal information, such as banking details, secure during purchases. Those companies that use HTTPS are labelled as secure on browsers with the green padlock icon. Those using old fashioned HTTP are labelled ‘not secure’.
The 70% figure is a clear indication that search engines have a preference for HTTPS in their voice searches and that companies wishing to rank well need to adopt it. To do so is simple, all you need to do is purchase and install an SSL certificate for your site.
Conclusion
As voice search becomes more widely used, it is increasingly important that websites optimise for it. The statistics produced in this survey shows the factors that influence how a website performs in search results and hopefully, the finding shown here can help you to make your site perform better for voice searches.
Despite the enormous benefits that the cloud brings, there are several issues that many enterprises face as they transition to this new technology. These include making choices about the right time to migrate, the best way to do it and which services to move. Other issues concern security, the use of managed services and whether to opt for a multi-cloud or hybrid cloud approach. Here we’ll look at these challenges in more depth.
Planning the move to the cloud
Research by the Cloud Industry Forum shows that 88 per cent of UK enterprises have now adopted cloud technology with two-thirds expected to expand their use during the next 12 months. In doing so, many will shrink their in-house data centres or close them entirely. The result is that they can scale down or eliminate the expense of paying for the physical premises, hardware, applications and security that a data centre requires and replace this setup with a more agile cloud infrastructure.
The issue is that planning the migration of many different applications from the data centre to the cloud can be a challenge that takes considerable time to carry out and which often stretches already busy IT teams beyond capacity. Indeed, many IT teams lack the skills needed to carry out a successful migration.
The solution is not to undergo this process in isolation. You should find a provider that will carry out the necessary assessments, assist you in designing and developing the infrastructure you will need and which will then plan and undertake the migrations on your behalf.
Finding the right cloud solution
The cloud provides a range of benefits for enterprises, it’s cost-effective, secure and provides the scalability businesses need to be agile. Finding the right cloud solution, however, can be a challenge. Crucial requirements include ensuring all your applications are ready for migration and finding the best platform on which to host them.
The complexities involved often means that, for some enterprises, standard-package cloud service setups might not provide the best solution for their needs. Increasingly, businesses are looking for service providers that can offer bespoke cloud or hybrid solutions that provide the ideal environment for all their applications.
Managed solutions
Many companies that migrate to the cloud attempt to keep costs down by managing their IT in-house. However, moving parts of your infrastructure to the cloud or to a multi-cloud/hybrid cloud environment can make managing these integrated services more complex. Add to this the constant development of new applications and technologies means that maintaining a highly trained IT team can be very expensive.
By outsourcing your IT management to a credible provider, not only are the on-going training costs reduced, it also frees up your IT staff to concentrate on more business orientated projects which can drive the company forward. Service providers employ certified IT teams who are able to expertly manage all aspects of your solution and are compliant with a wide range of regulations and industry standards.
Cutting IT costs
As enterprises expand their use of and reliance on IT, one of their biggest challenges is to prevent the costs becoming excessive. Cloud services help reduce costs in a number of ways. Firstly, they reduce the requirement for a large-scale data centre, its ongoing operating costs and the capital expenditure on hardware. The use of managed services can also reduce the need for such a large IT team and the associated training costs. Additionally, the pay as you use pricing of cloud means that costs, as well as services, are scalable, helping you to keep them to a minimum when IT requirements are low.
Data storage and security
The storage and security of data is a key challenge for enterprises, especially with the increasing number of threats and regulations. Data breaches can lead to huge fines but, perhaps more importantly, can have a devastating impact on the company’s reputation.
While there have been concerns about data stored in the internet accessible cloud, service providers have to comply with strict standards and regulations to ensure customers’ data, such as personal and mission-critical information and intellectual property, is secure.
Conclusion
Migrating to the cloud can bring many benefits, giving enterprises access to the latest technologies, such as the IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis. With so many businesses already employing cloud IT, maintaining competitiveness may rely on such a move. However, migration is not without its challenges as we hope this post has shown. That said, by choosing the right hosting partner, these can be overcome. If you are looking for a cloud hosting provider who can offer the services mentioned in this post, check out our enterprise cloud hosting page.
Your website may have a lot to convey but if the content is not structured properly on your website it could mean people leaving your website soon after landing on it. It is no secret that websites that do well have been designed well and the information on them is easily accessible. However, it needs to be acknowledged that such websites cannot be created overnight and requires a lot of planning.
Well- planned Information Architecture is the secret sauce here that can be the difference between a website that is high on bounce rates and a website that has visitors staying on it for a long time.
By now you’re are probably thinking – But isn’t Information Architecture just another fancy word for UX and UI design?
The answer is No. Information Architecture is the scientific process of structuring the content that needs to be displayed on a website. IA helps to create a blueprint that will outline the hierarchy of information on your website and also tell you about what to highlight or how much to display.
IA helps to organize a website’s content in such a way that it helps a user to easily find it and use it.
UX on the other hand has a much broader umbrella under which IA is also included.Â
Thus to sum up, Information Architecture is responsible for ensuring that there a good user interface in place and it is the starting point for UX design.
Here are five innovative tips that will help you integrate Information Architecture into UX design.
Keep the goals of your products in mind
Before you start constructing your information architecture you need to be clear about the expectations of your users from your website or app. This means that you should be able to see the bigger picture of what is the end goal of whatever is being offered on the website. There should be a clearly outlined product objective and product strategy that is understood by all the members of the creative team. Understanding of objectives means that there is a clear understanding of what to do and where to begin. When goals are clearly outlined, it helps to get all the teams on the same page and designers can get started without the possibility of wasted man hours due to clarity of targets to achieve.
Consider Gestalt principles of Psychology
Cognitive Psychology involves the study of the mind and mental processes which help people to acquire, process and store information in the brain.
Familiarity with psychological principles can help designers create designs that will facilitate users performing those actions that are desired of them. For example – making a purchase.
There are psychological principles known as the Gestalt principles that can help designers come up with effective designs.
These principles are
Similarity: Objects that look somewhat similar are going to be perceived as part of the same group. This similarity could on the basis of shape, colour, size, texture or value. This similarity helps users to see unity between the design features. The different circular tabs on the website which talk about the different areas that the WWF works on is are examples of the principle of similarity.
Continuation: This principle talks about the flow of the human eye from one object to another. Elements that are arranged in a continuous line are considered by the brain as grouped together. In UI design, the continuity principle helps draw attention to grouped information that will create smoothness on a page and help a reader to move from one content slice to another. Amazon uses the principle of continuity to communicate that each of the products below are similar and related to each other.
Closure: The principle of closure works on the human eye’s ability to close a shape or perceive a shape as complete even though the image or shape might not be complete by mentally filling in the missing pieces of the shape. Artists have long recognized the ability of the human mind to complete an incomplete image and used this in their art. The logo of the World Wildlife Fund www.worldwildlife.org is  an example of the closure principle.
Proximity:Â The principle of proximity says that when objects are placed next to each other, the human eye sees them together as a group even though the elements might not be related to each other. Lines or shapes can be used in UI to surround elements and create proximity. For e.g. putting words and a picture in a box can give the message to the brain that both are in proximity to each other and hence related. Pinterest uses the principle of proximity to great effect to group images together and create the impression that all the images are related to each other although they are not.
Figure/Ground: This principle concludes that the human eye will separate an object from its background and thus highlight the correlation between an object and the space surrounding it. AngelList does a very good job with the figure-ground principle and tells us that the focus should be on the white on top of the black background.
Using the principles above designers have created powerful content that draws in visitors from the word go.
Plot the navigation system
Navigation can be defined as a number of steps and procedures that guides users through an app or website to explore the various parts of the website or app and complete a successful interaction on the site where their goals are fulfilled. When it comes to Information Architecture, users should be able to move seamlessly through content on the website or app.
So, navigation is inherently dependent on good IA.
Create Personas
Different people with different personalities will visit your website or app. Creating personalities or personas’ which are hypothetical representations of the people who will visit your website or app is also a good way to find out how to best position the content on the site.
Based on your research you can create these personas of different users who will visit your website or app for their different needs. These personas will help you understand the needs, aspirations, behaviour and targets of your real customers. The personas will help broaden your horizons about the different kinds of consumers that are out there and help you relate to them. Using personas will ease the process of designing and also help create a good UX for your target users.
Integrate Principles of Visual Hierarchy
The main agenda of visual hierarchy is to ensure that content on a website or an app is designed in such a way that the user on the site understands the amount of importance that needs to be assigned to each block of content on their own.
This technique takes advantage of the fact that the brain differentiates between objects based on things such as size, colour, alignment and contrast.
Visual hierarchy is of utmost importance in interpreting the content on a website or app and also enhancing the visual performance on the site.
One of the core aspects of visual hierarchy that designers should keep in mind while working on the web pages is the scanning patterns of people as studies have shown that people first scan a web page before reading it.
Designers who familiarize themselves with the principles of visual hierarchy can create an information architecture that will integrate vital elements of content on the areas that are most scanned and thus drive users towards taking the desired actions.
Conclusion
It is important for you to understand the people don’t want to wade through a maze of ambiguous content to finally reach what they need and this means that they should easily get access to whatever it is that they have come for in the first place. Here, information architecture is key to building an interface that will give your users exactly the kind of value that they are looking for. Remember, good information architecture and good UX design are mutually inclusive.
As the mobile world is getting overflowed with new devices and mobile apps, the users’ demand for more innovative features is touching the sky. It has become imperative for all mobile companies to introduce a WOW factor to their operating system for gaining the limelight in the market. In this constant race of engaging their target audience with convenience and innovations, many times Google and Apple have been found to get inspired by each others’ ideas and features. They, in different instances, have shown that they pick the best features of each other and introduce them in their devices. Remember when Tim Cook said he relies on Google Search? This give and take of inspiration is something that is still in practice in the year 2019. While, we have heard a lot about the features Apple copied from Google’s Android, today we will be looking at the other side of the coin. Meaning, the features that Google has cloned from Apple’s iOS in 2019 and earlier. Features that have traditionally played a role in defining the Android mobile app development cost.
Android Features that Have Been Inspired from Apple
1. Fast Sharing Feature
Google is introducing a ‘Fast Share’ feature on Android devices that will work similar to AirDrop in Apple. This feature will combine WiFi and Bluetooth functionalities together to send files, URLs, and text snippets to people nearby.
However, there will be a difference. Unlike AirDrop, the transfer functionality will not be confined to your contact list and device. You will be able to share files with anyone using Chromebooks, iOS smartphones and who wear AndroidOS smartwatches.
2. Battery Saving Features
Google has announced that Battery Saver will be one of the significant Android Q features that will hit the market in 2019. This feature will turn off the battery saver mode automatically when the battery is charged up to 90%. Likewise, it will turn the Battery saver mode ‘on’ again when the charger is unplugged.
It is again a feature that is much like the ‘Low Power Mode’ of iOS, where the battery saving option is turned off automatically when the iPhone is charged to up to 80%.
3. Facial Recognition
The feature of unlocking devices and apps using facial recognition or better say Face ID is again a feature that Apple brought into the market. They first introduced the idea of scanning faces for authentication purposes, which is now considered as the main element for Android devices.
In fact, as per the sources, Android Q is coming up with an advanced level of facial recognition features that will give heads on challenges to Apple’s Face ID feature.
4. Native AR
Google has proven to be the best in the market to try different AR-based features on smartphones and other devices. They have brought various new opportunities in the market with respect to AR technology. A recent proof of this is that Google, as per the sources, is introducing AR effects into their messaging app to make it competitive to Apple’s iMessaging app.
However, it was Apple IOS who took the first step in the direction of integrating Augmented Reality in the mobile world and give us the best of both the real and virtual worlds.
5. DND (Do Not Disturb)
Again, Apple introduced the idea of making the process of DND (Do not Disturb) accessible and visible to users. They took the first step of giving users an opportunity to customize the DND activities and manage them. Google just followed the footsteps of Apple to give this freedom to Android users and give them a peace of mind during meetings and in other such situations.
6. Gesture Controls
The gesture control facility that we are enjoying on Android devices is also one of the features copied from Apple devices. It was Apple who ditched the home screen button and introduced the idea of using gestures for operating devices. And now, Google has brought this feature into the Android market.
7. Emojis
Not just the technical features, Apple has also proven to be the first in the market for making app experience enjoyable. They have introduced a series of realistic emojis right from the beginning. And Google is known to be trying to bring improvements in their emojis every year to make it aligned to Apple’s emojis.
8. App Store Features
Asking users for a one-time and all-or-nothing request before installing any application is an old Apple approach. And now, Google has also introduced Apple’s features of apps asking for users’ permission for the first time for accessing the camera, or other such features.
9. Performance Improvements
Google again turned towards Apple for learning how to deliver higher performance and user experience to their target audience.
Just like Apple, Google has also started showing no support for older devices to cut down the efforts of Android app developers to make their app features available for all the devices. And this way, the tech giant has come up with a solution to fight against the challenge of platform fragmentation, while ensuring that the performance is not compromised.
Bonus: Ecosystem
It was Apple that introduced the idea of making an ecosystem where all the Apple products function in sync with each other. They initiated the concept of building a synergy between products and brand services to ensure users never leave the ecosystem and the ROI numbers remain intact.
Google has recently embraced this concept of connecting all of their services to encourage users to leverage their services and thus, add to their profits directly or indirectly.
So, these were some of the significant features that came to Apple’s iOS first before they were applied in the Android market, making both the platforms appear similar to some extent.
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