Social Media for Educational Institutions

The role of an educational institution is not confined to imparting education and granting a degree, rather, it largely contributes to the overall growth of the students as individuals. Therefore, it leads to formation of an everlasting bond between the student and institution, mentors and fellow students. 

In this era, it is impossible for people to stay personally connected to each other and Social Media Optimization bridges the gaps irrespective of the physical distance between people. This medium is being extensively used by businesses, celebrities, NGOs and establishments from all walks of life to stay connected with the masses. Despite all the criticism and doubts surrounding this medium, it has been seen igniting several causes to high levels. 

When it comes to educational institutions, social media campaigns are not just a necessity but are also convenient. The major chunk of the social hub is occupied by the youth and every educational institution is associated with a huge number of youngsters which may be current, prospective or former students. Therefore, finding people to initiate conversations would not be a challenge which in other cases is a tough stage.

Moreover, Social Media is not merely a platform for fun, it is fast progressing towards becoming a parameter for judging brands and establishments. Be it selection of a mobile phone or recruitment in a new organization, people tend to visit the Facebook page to figure out the nature of the entity. Similarly, students have also started to explore the Facebook pages of Universities, Colleges before taking admissions and the nature of content on your page is bound to affect the decision. Social Media marketing is also gaming prominence across the globe.

Why your institution should be on Social Media?

·         Reputation – Even if you are not on social media, as a topic, you still are and it is better to be available for responding that to let conversations build on their own.

·         The Buzz – Your social presence will act as an active community for updates, discussions, queries etc.

·         Leverage Users - All the students at your institution are using Social Media and posts related to their University, College, and Institute will help in generating conversations about your institution.

·         Observing Trends –The response you get on an event, any sort of achievement or even on a guest lecture video will reveal to you what are the interest areas of students. This analysis can be used for framing activities, workshops etc.s

·         Word of Mouth – Any person belonging to the marketing realm would know the importance of word of mouth. Your active social presence will keep your institution’s name on top of minds which may result in recommendation and testimonials more often.

·         Information Broadcast – The medium can be used for making announcements without much effort.

·         Internal Boost –The institution can organize competitions between different departments as to who may get more social engagement ratio which will enhance performance and bring more enthusiasm.

·         Brand Building – The criteria for selection of an educational institution includes the quality of education, exposure provided, mentors and several mother factors. All these aspects can reflect through the institution’s social presence and it will be a more credible form of information in terms of transparency.

E.g. An album with pictures of Indian students abroad and foreign students in India which has several likes and comments from those students will leave a stronger impact that simply writing on your website that you offer “International Exchange Programs”.

This might bring you down to a question.. “Being present on Social Media is fine but who will manage it?

“. Well, to answer that, it is understandable that in case of a University or a College, the amount of information is going to be massive. The queries and responses would also be massive. The best way to deal with this is to hire a professional agency providing social media management services.

The Dawn of M-Commerce-4G Networks Make it happen

You will find a lot of people arguing about the logic and practical usage of Mobile Shopping. There was a time when similar arguments used to surround the concept of “eCommerce” until Amazon and eBay turned out to be the instant shopping destination across the globe.

E commerce gained its popularity owing to the immensely growing popularity of PC, Laptops and Internet. But technology does not remain stagnant at any point. In the world that we survive, time is money. The busy life in this age does not leave much spare time for people to go out and make purchases. Moreover, there is a rapid reduction in the amount of time people spend on their PC and Laptops as alternate devices such as Smartphones, Tablets, and iPads have made life easier while you are on the move. All people care about is connectivity irrespective of time or device that gets it to them. This is what fueled the need for mobile websites and mobile app development.

Now from the perspective of consumer oriented businesses, it is a need of the hour to reach the customers where they are browsing.

The major challenges that appear while going for M-commerce mobile web development are:

·         The internet speed, even 4G is lesser than Wi-Fi so the M-commerce website needs to be fully optimized.

·         The display screen is small and the challenge is to accommodate products in a comprehensive yet user friendly manner.

·         Mobile Screens are not user friendly when it comes to filling up forms which is a necessity for an M-commerce transaction.

Mobile Shopping is here to stay, but it might come to an end for your business if you give a poor mobile shopping experience to your customers. Worst of which would be to have the desktop version to be opening on mobile screen. The idea is to provide a convenient solution to visitors looking for a quick purchase online and there are several factors that help in achieving this.

·         The search tool must be very strong and provide suggestions.

·         Navigation must be minimum and search result/ product listing pages must carry single click checkout buttons with each product.

·         Though space is a constraint but recommendations must still be provided.

·         Buttons, Links, Forms that lead to conversions need to be presented prominently.

M commerce can be achieved with development of a mobile website  or through smartphone app development. However, your checkout experience, more than the quality of your product will determine if the user is going to make another purchase ever. It is important to integrate functionality that helps the user throughout the process.

Some examples of good checkout system elements are:

·         Quick Login options through other websites - Google, Facebook, Yahoo etc.

·         Data analysis while form is being filled (e.g. please check the number you entered, it is not valid)

·         Save address for later

·         Cash on delivery is always a customer’s delight

·         On form submission, if one field is incorrect or empty, the data filled in other fields must not be lost.

M-commerce is not a choice but a necessity and its time to explore this domain with your business, do it right and reap the fruits.

Custom Web Applications

Having problems keeping a track of customer records? Or-struggling with inventory and resource related data? Every business process can be simplified and streamlined with Custom Web Applications.

The most cost effective way to manage business is to convert time taking manual work into automated processes and this is possible through web application development. Custom web applications are used to manage painstaking processes such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Employee Communication and Data Sharing (Intranet), Inventory Management, Recruitment Management etc.

Using a custom web application for internal purposes will not only help you business in cost cutting and time saving aspects but will also enable you to analyze important data through reports that can be generated in a few clicks. You can easily study the pattern of saved information over the years. Moreover, since the application is designed as per your organization structure, it allows you to categorize and manage information under desired sections and sub sections.

An experienced and expert software development agency can assist you in building the web applications based on your requirement. You can also migrate or upgrade an existing application to new technology in order to enhance the functionality and compatibility of the application with other systems. You can also carry out porting of web applications to the modern technology platforms, server   database porting, migration of data or legacy applications migration from stand alone to web platforms.

The web application development process includes conceptualization and structure finalization, architecture designing, user interface designing, coding, testing & quality check, installation and maintenance. 

Source: http://www.stercodigitex.com/blog

Advantages of Custom CMS

One question that occurs to almost everyone looking for web design & development, is, whether to go for an Open Source CMS such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal or get a custom content management system developed for the website. The answer is simple, if you are looking for a unique and distinctive website with features relevant to you requirement, you have to go with Custom CMS website development services.

Some of the major advantages of a Custom CMS are…

•         Possibilities

The true beauty of a sculpture reflects when the artist’s hands shape itand not a predefined mold... similarly, in web development, when your website is developed with a custom CMS; you get the benefit of enhanced possibilities. There is no design or functionally related limitations, which allows the developer to create the website exactly the way you imagines it.

•        Design Freedom

Unlike open source CMS; custom CMS enables you to design the website and all the elements within it in your own way. There is no plug-ins to be added and you can make every website element look in line with your customized theme. There have been instances where the plug-ins have not been updated or discontinued which affects all the websites they are being used in. But, with a custom CMS, you never have to worry about updating stuff.

•        Secure

The term “Open Source” in itself explains the vulnerability of the system. Custom CMS is comparatively far more secure as the coding is custom and cannot be easily hacked.

•        Scalable

Custom CMS allows you to integrate/ connect your website with other applications such as CRM, ERP, and other custom web applications.

Therefore, while making this decision, consider carefully what you need and what you will get.


Source: http://www.stercodigitex.com/blog

Going for an E-commerce website? Here are some useful tips!

E-commerce is gaining prominence with every passing day. The phenomenon is already a huge success in North American region but in the past few years, there has been immense growth in Asian regions in terms of online sellers and buyers.

While developing an E-commerce website, your sole aim has to be convenience of the website visitor and in order to accomplish that, the following aspects need to be given due importance. Here are some essentials of E-commerce website development.

Loading Time

Online shoppers run out of patience too fast until they find something worth the wait. Try this out on yourself while you browse through shopping websites. If your website is not fully optimized in terms of size, it might end up repelling visitors and discouraging them to browse any further. There are too many options out there and to be counted among the top ones, you need to ensure your website’s performance is good.

Navigation

Patience of the website visitor again being the concern, what makes browsing experience better is – not having to look for things. In your E-commerce design, all your offerings must be categorized in a condensed structure, and presented in a way that every product is accessible in minimum possible clicks. Mega Menus are of a great help for this aspect to be addressed.

Variety

Freedom of choice is every shopper’s pride and unless you give your website visitors many options to choose from, you aren’t getting anywhere with your E-commerce initiative. Make sure every category has ample offerings under its kitty.

Rating & Reviews

Recommendations and reviews work more that they are thought to be. Encourage your shoppers to leave reviews about the products they purchase, this will largely influence the prospective shoppers.

Recommend

Get smarter and empower your website with the ability to understand the nature of the shopper and recommend suitable products. This feature can pull information from the recent browsing history of the visitor and recommend items accordingly.

Tools

Enhance the browsing experience of your website visitors with essential tools such as picture zoom in effect, multiple angle views of the product, compare feature, wish list feature etc.

Build a Relationship
Once a visitor converts into a customer after making purchase don’t let the relationship end there. This does not imply that you begin to spam their email with mailers;it means you have an opportunity to strengthen the bond and earn loyalty. Send the customer a discount coupon on first purchase, free shipping on liking the Facebook page, and request to add a review / ratings etc. it’s good to be on top of minds and it’s good to stay connected. Make the most of E-commerce website development , after all,the World Wide Web is meant to establish relationships..

eBooks The transformation of reading

From holding a book in hands and lying under a tree to turning pages digitally on your Galaxy Note, reading has come a long way indeed..

What determines the experience of the reader is not the fact that it is paper or digital screen, it lies in how seamless the transition from one page to another goes or how beautifully the graphics blend in. When it comes to digitizing books, these factors can only be enhanced which means eBooks are far more interactive, engaging and convenient than traditional book reading. The growth of this medium and increasing demand for digital versions of exiting boos has proven that this technology is here to stay.

Advantages of Interactive eBooks…

·         More comprehensive evaluation methods and instant results

·         Simplified navigation

·         comfortable night reading

·         Search for a term/ phrase in the entire eBook and get instant results

·         Interactive questions

·         Easy to carry – your iPad will save all your books without any heavy baggage

·         font adjustments to suit your comfort

In case of e-learning material, eBooks are helpful in many ways. The students get a virtual reading experience, which is more comfortable in terms of navigation, bookmarking, references, instant access to word meaning, definitions and related material. Moreover, it unburdens the teachers as the eBook takes care of the exercises. Students can self assess their performance through instant test results.

Interactive eBooks are developed using HTML5 technology y and ePub 3 format.