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Unlocking the Power of Search Generative Experience for Your Business

claire@8connect.com (Claire Chan) — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 04:40:46 GMT

If you've been looking for innovative ways to elevate your digital marketing efforts, then it's time to familiarize yourself with Search Generative Experience (SGE). This fresh approach to online search has been making waves in the digital consultancy world due to its incredible potential to deliver better user experiences and, ultimately, drive growth for businesses. In this blog post, we'll provide an easy-to-understand overview of Search Generative Experience and explain how it can benefit your organization.

What Is SGE?

Search Generative Experience (SGE) is an innovative technology that leverages artificial intelligence to transform the way we interact with search engines. Unlike traditional search that merely retrieves information, SGE goes a step further by generating personalized content based on user queries. This means it can create detailed answers, summaries, suggestions, and even customized recommendations tailored specifically to what users are looking for.

How Does SGE Work?

Unlike traditional search that lists links to different webpages, SGE employs artificial intelligence to generate precise answers tailored to user queries. For example, when someone searches for "best smartphones under $500," SGE doesn't just list websites; it provides a curated answer that includes product recommendations, reviews, and comparisons. By understanding the context and specifics of the search, SGE creates more personalized and relevant content.

Why Is SGE Important?

SGE is important because it represents a significant evolution in how search engines interact with users, offering tailored and highly relevant results. For businesses, this means an opportunity to provide a more personalized and efficient customer experience, which can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, by delivering high-quality, relevant content, SGE can boost a website’s SEO performance, driving more organic traffic and improving online visibility.

Now that user experience is more important than ever, embracing SGE can set businesses apart from the competition, making it a crucial tool for future growth and success.

How Will SGE Impact Search Results?

The impact of SGE on search results is significant. For users, it means quicker access to the information they need without having to click through multiple links. This makes the search process more efficient and satisfying.

Meanwhile, for businesses, it implies that appearing in these generated results can significantly boost visibility and engagement. Since SGE prioritizes high-quality, relevant content, businesses that provide valuable information are more likely to be featured. This not only enhances user experience but also improves a company’s chances of converting visitors into customers.

The Potential Downsides of SGE

Despite its benefits, SGE is not without challenges. One downside is the risk of content accuracy. AI-generated responses need to be as accurate as possible, which requires constant updating and quality checks. Another potential issue is the cost and complexity of integrating SGE into existing business systems. Small businesses may find it difficult to invest in this technology initially. Additionally, with search engines providing more direct answers, users might spend less time exploring individual websites, potentially reducing web traffic for businesses.

How You Should Prepare for SGE

High-quality content has always been a critical component of any digital marketing strategy. However, with the advent of Search Generative Experience, the importance of content has only been amplified. In this section, we'll discuss the role of content in SGE and how businesses can create content that caters to the new paradigm of online search.

1. Natural Language Processing and Content

One of the key technologies behind SGE is natural language processing (NLP), which entails teaching computers to understand human language. By incorporating NLP into their algorithms, search engines can better interpret the nuances of human language and determine the relevance of content related to user queries. This means that businesses must create high-quality content that is well-structured, engaging, and easy to understand, as this type of content resonates better with both users and search engines.

2. Creating Intent-Driven Content

To align with the principles of SGE, it is essential for businesses to create content that focuses on catering to user intent. This means conducting thorough keyword research and gaining insights into the needs, preferences, and pain points of your target audience. By addressing these factors in your content, you can create a connection with users and position your business as a go-to resource in your niche.

3. Long-Form Content and SGE

With the focus on user intent in SGE, long-form content has gained even more importance. By producing comprehensive and in-depth content, your business can effectively cater to the needs of your target audience and provide complete solutions to their queries. Additionally, long-form content is more likely to rank higher in search engine results and be viewed as an authoritative source in your industry.

4. The Importance of Fresh Content

Finally, to succeed in the era of Search Generative Experience, it's crucial for businesses to keep their content up to date and relevant. This means consistently producing high-quality and fresh content that addresses the latest industry trends and developments. By doing so, you'll maintain your digital presence and continue to engage users, which ultimately leads to long-term business growth.

Embracing the Future of Online Search

As the digital world continues to evolve, it's essential for businesses to adapt their marketing strategies and embrace the latest trends in online search. By understanding and implementing the principles of Search Generative Experience , you can not only boost your website's visibility in search results but also provide users with a genuinely satisfying online experience.

Prioritize user intent, create high-quality content, and leverage the power of personalization to make the most of SGE and propel your business forward. If you want to realize your business’s potential, connect with us. 8 Connect Consulting is an award-winning digital consultancy that can provide the latest insights and tips on enhancing your digital marketing strategies. Contact us today!

OpenAI Integration with FirstSite

sandra@8connect.com (Sandra Lee) — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 21:13:44 GMT

The world of content creation and digital communication is evolving rapidly, and AI is at the forefront of this change. FirstSite has embraced this revolution by integrating OpenAI into its various products, further enhancing its offerings and empowering its users.

OpenAI Powers the Text Editor

One of the standout features of this integration is the AI assistant now available in FirstSite's text editor. This advanced tool is designed to help you generate content quickly and work more efficiently. It can perform two types of actions: quick edits and content generation.

Quick Edits

This feature allows you to modify existing text in a widget. The available quick edit actions include:

Making the text longer or shorter.
Translating selected text to a different language.
Improving the writing by rephrasing the text to sound better.
Fixing grammar and spelling errors.
Changing the tone of selected text to be more informative, witty, conversational, etc.

To use these features, you simply right-click a text widget, select 'Edit Text', and choose the desired quick edit action from the AI Assistant drop-down menu. You can then compare the original text with the suggested text and decide whether to accept the changes 1 .

Content Generation

The text editor's AI assistant also offers powerful content generation capabilities. You can create new content for titles and paragraphs without needing existing text. Here are the generate content actions you can take advantage of:

Generating a new title based on the descriptive text you provide.
Generating a title for the existing text found in the widget.
Generating a paragraph based on descriptive text you provide, with options for short, medium, or long lengths.

Again, using these features is straightforward. You just right-click a text widget, select 'Edit Text', and choose the desired generate content action from the AI Assistant drop-down menu. The information you enter into the fields helps the AI Assistant gain context and create the most fitting content.

Introducing OpenAdvisor: A Free Chatbot Platform

In addition to integrating OpenAI into its text editor, FirstSite has also launched a new free chatbot platform—OpenAdvisor. Currently in closed beta, OpenAdvisor allows users to create their own chatbot using OpenAI.

Whether you are a business owner looking to automate customer service or a developer exploring AI-powered solutions, OpenAdvisor can be an excellent tool to consider. You can request an invite to the platform at www.openadvisor.io and begin your journey with AI-powered chatbots.

The integration of OpenAI into FirstSite's products represents a major leap forward in digital content creation and communication. By providing users with powerful AI tools that can improve writing, generate content, and even create chatbots, FirstSite is paving the way for a more efficient and creative digital future. Don't miss out on this opportunity to harness the power of AI in your content creation process. Explore FirstSite's offerings and step into the future of digital communication today.

Revolutionizing SEO in Singapore: How Data-backed AI Outshines Traditional SEO Agencies

jean@8connect.com (FirstSite Administrator) — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 07:51:04 GMT

Embracing the Future of SEO: How Data-backed AI and Innovative Platforms Are Transforming Digital Marketing in Singapore

The digital landscape in Singapore is constantly evolving, and the demand for effective online marketing strategies has never been higher. One such strategy is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which has become an indispensable tool for businesses looking to improve their online visibility and drive organic traffic. However, the traditional SEO agencies in Singapore have recently faced stiff competition from a new, more powerful approach - data-backed AI. In this article, we will explore the shortcomings of traditional SEO agencies and how data-backed AI, as exemplified by 8 Connect Consulting, has consistently outperformed them.

What do SEO Agencies charge in Singapore?

SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. The techniques and tactics that once worked wonders can become obsolete overnight as search engines update their algorithms. Traditional SEO agencies, with their manual processes and dependence on human expertise, often struggle to keep up with these rapid changes. As a result, businesses employing their services may see a decline in their online performance and return on investment (ROI).

Moreover, traditional SEO agencies tend to charge high rates for their services. In Singapore, the cost of hiring an SEO agency can range from SGD 600 to over SGD 5,000 per month, depending on the scope and complexity of the project. For small and medium-sized businesses, these rates can be prohibitively expensive, especially when the results are uncertain.

The Rise of Data-backed AI in SEO

The emergence of advanced technologies, such as OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Google generative AI models, has enabled businesses to overcome the challenges associated with traditional SEO agencies in a more effective and efficient manner. Data-backed AI, a technique that leverages automation and machine learning algorithms, has significantly transformed the SEO landscape. By analyzing vast amounts of data, predicting trends, and optimizing websites at an unprecedented scale and speed, data-backed AI has revolutionized online marketing practices. In addition, 8 Connect Consulting has successfully developed a low code solution for enterprise implementation , simplifying the integration of AI-driven SEO strategies for businesses.

8 Connect Consulting: Pioneering the AI-driven SEO Revolution

8 Connect Consulting is leading the charge in Singapore's AI-driven SEO landscape. With our data-backed AI and automation techniques, we have consistently outperformed traditional SEO agencies in the country.

Here's how they do it:

Enhanced Speed and Efficiency: 8 Connect Consulting's AI-driven SEO tools can analyze and optimize websites at a significantly faster rate than human experts, allowing businesses to stay ahead of their competition and maintain their online visibility.
Cost-effectiveness: By automating many of the labor-intensive tasks associated with SEO, 8 Connect Consulting is able to offer their services at more affordable rates compared to traditional agencies.
Superior Results: The use of data-backed AI allows 8 Connect Consulting to deliver more accurate and effective optimization strategies, resulting in better search engine rankings and higher organic traffic for their clients.
Adaptability: With the ability to learn from data and adapt to changes in the search engine landscape, 8 Connect Consulting's AI-driven SEO strategies can ensure that businesses remain competitive in the long run.

The digital marketing landscape in Singapore is experiencing a significant shift, as data-backed AI continues to outperform traditional SEO agencies. Companies like 8 Connect Consulting have demonstrated that AI-driven SEO strategies can deliver superior results, faster, and at a more affordable cost. As businesses look for new ways to improve their online presence, it's clear that the future of SEO lies in the innovative and efficient world of artificial intelligence.

Complementing this revolution in SEO is FirstSite , a flagship product by 8 Connect Consulting. This award-winning Google optimized website management platform seamlessly integrates with their data-backed AI SEO solutions, immediately addressing the technical optimization aspect of the equation. As a result, clients benefit from a comprehensive and cutting-edge approach to online marketing that not only enhances their search engine rankings but also drives higher levels of organic traffic.

In summary, the combination of 8 Connect Consulting's data-backed AI SEO strategies and their award-winning FirstSite platform offers a powerful and cost-effective alternative to traditional SEO agencies. Embracing these innovative solutions can help businesses in Singapore thrive in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Your tech venture is more likely to succeed if you do this

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 04:23:58 GMT

Why more than 70% of technology implementations fail

Technology implementations can often fail for a variety of reasons, but one of the main reasons is the way in which providers charge for their services. Specifically, many providers require upfront payment for their technology, rather than allowing customers to make monthly payments. This can create a number of problems for both the customer and the provider.

One of the primary issues with upfront payment for technology is the cost of updates and upgrades. When a customer pays for a technology solution up front, they are often responsible for covering the cost of any updates or upgrades that are required to keep the technology current. This can be particularly problematic for customers who are using complex or rapidly evolving technology solutions, as these solutions may require frequent updates and upgrades.

Another issue with upfront payment is that it can create a disincentive for providers to build high-quality technology solutions. When a provider receives payment up front, they may not feel as much pressure to ensure that the technology they are providing is of the highest quality and able to meet the customer's needs. This can lead to technology solutions that are not fully functional or that quickly become outdated.

On the other hand, when a customer pays for technology on a monthly basis, it creates an ongoing relationship between the customer and the provider. This means that the provider has a vested interest in ensuring that the technology they are providing is of high quality and able to meet the customer's needs. It also gives providers an incentive to continuously improve their solutions to retain the customer.

Additionally, having the ability to make a choice on a service provider is vital. Customers should have full access to the source codes of their technology solutions so that they can switch providers whenever they need to. This is important for ensuring that the customer is always able to find the best solution for their needs, and it can also help to create a more competitive market for technology providers.

Another aspect to consider is the cost-benefit of paying monthly. It is often less expensive to pay for technology on a monthly basis, especially when considering the cost of updates and upgrades. Monthly payments can also make it easier for customers to budget for their technology expenses, which can be particularly helpful for small businesses and startups.

In conclusion, while there are many reasons why technology implementations can fail, one of the main reasons is the way in which providers charge for their services. Upfront payment can create a number of problems, including the cost of updates and upgrades, and can also create a disincentive for providers to build high-quality technology solutions. On the other hand, monthly payments can create an ongoing relationship between the customer and provider, give more flexibility in switching providers and also provide more cost-efficient approach.

8 Connect Consulting is an award-winning digital advisory that provides more than 200 agencies and business owners with technology that works. Our experienced team understands the importance of selecting the right technology solution that fits the specific needs of the organization and providing ongoing support to ensure long-term success. We work closely with our clients to understand their unique needs, and offer a wide range of technology services, including consultation, implementation, and ongoing support to ensure the best outcome for our clients.

What sets 8 Connect Consulting apart from other providers is our full suite of capabilities. We don't just offer technology solutions, we offer a complete suite of services that can help businesses succeed. This includes News Media and Fund Raising networks. Whether your business needs a new website, news coverage, or access to funding sources, we can help. We are committed to supporting our clients through every step of the process, from initial consultation to ongoing support and maintenance.

.COM or .COM.SG or .SG Which is Better for Your Domain Name?

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 12:16:11 GMT

Register your domain with an SGNIC accredited registrar and build your Google Optimized website with an Award Winning nocode website builder today.

Choosing the right domain extension is crucial for businesses in the Singaporean market. Two popular choices for local businesses are .com.sg and .sg. But which is better suited for your business? In this article, we’ll explore the differences between these domain extensions and help you decide which one can boost your online presence and improve your local SEO efforts.

The .COM (You MUST get this one)

The .COM extension is undoubtedly the most popular domain name extension worldwide. It was first introduced in 1985 and remains the top choice for most businesses, individuals, and organizations. This extension is short, memorable, easy to spell, and recognizable. It is highly recommended that you get a .COM domain name for your website if it is available, especially if you plan to target customers worldwide. A .COM domain name can give your website instant global recognition, which is vital if you want to expand your business internationally.

Understanding .com.sg and .sg Domain Names

Before diving into which option is better, it’s essential to understand what each domain extension represents.

.com.sg: A second-level domain under the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of Singapore. This is specifically designed for commercial entities that have a valid Singapore postal address and administrative contact. It is regulated by the Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) and is ideal for businesses targeting the Singaporean market.

.sg: A more general Singapore domain that is available for anyone with a connection to Singapore. It doesn’t specify the type of entity registering the domain. While it can be used by businesses, it is also popular among individuals, personal blogs, and foreign applicants looking to establish a local presence.

Which is Better for SEO?

When it comes to local SEO, both .com.sg and .sg are optimized for search engines like Google to favor businesses that target Singaporean users. However, there are key differences:

.com.sg for Commercial Entities : Businesses with a .com.sg domain name may benefit from a higher level of trust from local consumers. The .com.sg domain extension shows that the company is a registered entity with a legitimate presence in Singapore. This can positively influence local search engine results and build confidence among potential customers. It is particularly useful for local businesses, educational institutions, and professional services such as law firms or medical practices.

.sg for Flexibility : On the other hand, .sg is a more flexible choice. It doesn’t tie your website to any specific type of business or legal entity, making it ideal for personal blogs, foreign companies, or businesses that don’t want to go through the more stringent domain registration process associated with .com.sg.

For SEO purposes, if your target market is specifically in Singapore, both domain extensions can help your business appear in local search results, but .com.sg might give you an edge when it comes to commercial credibility.

Factors to Consider in Your Decision

1. Your Target Audience

If you are a local business targeting Singaporean consumers, a .com.sg domain name signals to users that your business is based in Singapore and adheres to local regulations. This can give you a stronger local presence, especially for business owners looking to establish trust with local customers.
If your business has a more global focus or serves an international market, the .sg extension offers more flexibility and is less restrictive, while still providing a local touch.

2. Registration Process

Registering a .com.sg domain requires a valid Singapore postal address and administrative contact, often linked to a business registration or SingPass ID. This additional requirement ensures that only legitimate Singaporean companies or professionals register under this extension.
The registration for .sg domains is simpler and does not require proof of business registration, making it easier for both foreign applicants and local users to obtain.

3. Domain Transfer and Ownership

Both .com.sg and .sg domains are managed by SGNIC, and the transfer process is straightforward. However, transferring a .com.sg domain may involve more steps, especially if the ownership includes a corporate regulatory authority or other professional bodies.
If you plan to sell or transfer the domain in the future, .sg might offer more flexibility.

4. Pricing

Due to the higher level of validation required, .com.sg domains tend to have a higher price than .sg domains. This is something to consider, especially for small businesses or startups with budget constraints.

When to Choose .com.sg

Your business has a physical presence in Singapore with a registered office or address.
You want to establish your company as a local, credible commercial entity.
You are a local professional body, such as a law firm, medical practice, or educational institution, where credibility and trust are vital to your target audience.
You plan to focus solely on the Singaporean market and want to take full advantage of local SEO.

When to Choose .sg

You are an individual or a foreign company looking to target Singaporean users without needing a registered business.
Your business caters to both local and international customers, making the general Singapore domain more suitable.
You need a domain that is flexible in terms of ownership and transfer, or one that has fewer restrictions in the registration process.
You want a more affordable option for your domain name, especially if you’re starting small and expanding later.

Which is the Better Domain Extension?

Ultimately, the decision between .com.sg and .sg comes down to your business goals, target audience, and how much emphasis you place on building a strong local presence in Singapore.

If you are a Singaporean business looking to grow within the local market and prefer a more professional image, .com.sg is your best choice.
If you value flexibility, or your business has a more global or personal focus, .sg may be the better option.

Either way, both domain extensions are excellent for improving your business’s visibility on search engines and building a local online presence in the Singaporean market.

.net .org .info .biz .us and many others...

Apart from .COM, there are numerous other domain extensions available, such as .net, .org, .info, .biz, and .us, among others. Each domain extension is unique and can be used for different purposes. For instance, .net is often used by networking companies, while .org is typically used by non-profit organizations. .info and .biz domain extensions are ideal for informational or commercial websites, respectively. Finally, .us domain extension is exclusive to American websites, and it is not accessible outside the US.

In choosing the right domain extension for your business, it is important to consider the geographic location, purpose of the website, and the branding strategy. If you are targeting the Singapore market, .com.sg or .sg domain extensions may be the most appropriate options for your business. However, if you are targeting a global market, .COM is the best option. It is essential to consider the implications of each domain extension before making a decision.

Think of your domain strategy like picking out a prime location for your physical business. You don't have to take everything, but missing out on the perfect spot could cost you big time later on when you have to buy it from someone else.

Register your domain with an SGNIC accredited registrar and build your Google Optimized website with an Award Winning nocode website builder today.

Winning with No Code

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 13:41:02 GMT

We started with Code

Our journey began in 2005 when we were the clients. We wanted to build our business and started hiring agencies and outsourcing companies. In building our business (in F&B related services), we felt that the outsourcing model needed a better solution. It needed a company that was a partner who was vested in the success of the project. When we couldn't get great coders we acquired a team and trained them in systematic models that encouraged sustainability and scalability. When we couldn't get our hosting company to respond 24/7 within 15 mins, we started our own hosting company. With the same challenges faced by boutique marketing agencies and small business, we found success through collaboration. Collaboration often yield better results than competition. 8 Connect began a journey of the familiar building and maintaining Wordpress websites, mobile apps, Facebook games and the likes. Which we still do till this day for clients who need it or just want to stay with the familiar.

A better way than Wordpress

By 2013, 80% of the company's 60 man development team was dedicated to the creation, maintenance and debugging of Wordpress sites. We realised that easy as Wordpress is for our clients, they still required the constant support on maintaining, and upgrading the platform for bugs, security and browser updates. And as simple as the platform may be, there was still a learning curve on using the content management admin of Wordpress. At that same time, we've noticed a growing platform Wix that provided a simple enough drag and drop system, which many solopreneur were turning to fit their smaller budgets. It was a great idea and platform and we wanted to get our clients onboard. As we worked on a couple of projects we realised there were a few parts to the platform that still wouldn't work for our clients. Including site export capabilities, a lack of no code integrations to platforms like Google sheets/Air table etc, limited access to extensions unless you were familiar with their inhouse framework, lacking Google search performance etc.

We knew then we just had to apply our technical expertise to create an easy to use, no code, Google optimized website system.

No code website that is also Google Optimized with endless possibilities

FirstSite was built on these principles, it had to be easy to use like Wix, and Google optimized and expandable like Wordpress.

With 80% of our projects coming from marketing agencies, FirstSite was built for Marketing Agencies . The platform had to allow the ability to create any website from scratch in a few hours and not days. Where they did not need to hire technical staff to have this done and where their strengths in design can shine through. They save on Adobe XD licensing and hiring Wordpress developers to implement web projects. Using FirstSite they can collaboratively design web projects with multiple stakeholders. Our partners are able to deploy projects faster and at a lower cost with better SEO performance.

Subsequently, event companies started to using FirstSite as well to create event sites. With the faster turnaround, they are able to create unique designs and experiences for every event. FirstSite became the choice for event organizers for the faster turnaround and lower cost. Like our marketing agency partners they now did not have to rely on developers to build their event website.

The advantage of no code and ease of use, allowed non-technical business owners the ability to launch their website at a low cost and really quickly. The increasing number of small business owners that used FirstSite escalated with the Covid situation. Small business owners needed to get online fast and be found on Google to survive. Firstsite is built for Entrepreneurs .

With the world going mobile first, FirstSite had to be mobile responsive. But mobile responsive isn't going to be enough. Your website will also need to be a mobile app.

Your website also a mobile app

Future proof

Starting mid-June 2021, Google will implement Core Web Vitals , their new metrics for measuring website performance. Sites that score well on Core Web Vitals will have an edge over other sites, enjoying improved SEO while giving visitors an outstanding experience. Months before 8 Connect Consulting has been preparing FirstSite for Core Web Vitals. FirstSite websites will be optimized for Google even before the new standards are applied.

With FirstSite, website owners will no longer have to worry about Google updates, browser updates, new device standards and other shifts in the fast changing technology world. Your website will be future proof.

8 Connect Consulting Receives a 7 Figure Investment From Hiddan

Sat, 22 May 2021 10:23:41 GMT

8 Connect Consulting received an undisclosed 7-figure investment from Hiddan LLC to launch a new service 8X.

As seen on RedTV The American Rodeo , Channel News Nebraska , Daily Herald , and Fox 28

Singapore, 18 May 2021 - 8 Connect Consulting received a 7-figure investment from Hiddan LLC. For many years, they have been a trusted technology partner for agencies throughout Singapore. The newly formed 8X team will be based in the US.

In recent news by the Singapore’s Economic Development Board, Singapore's appeal to tech investors grows with global shift to remote work , industry observers said having stakeholders close by is no longer crucial for collaboration in this digital age - especially in a small city like Singapore.

8 Connect Consulting, a Singapore-based technology company, is proud to announce that it has received an undisclosed 7-figure investment from US-based Hiddan LLC to launch a new service 8X. 8 Connect Consulting is already established for developing innovative digital products in Singapore.

About its 8X service, 8 Connect Consulting shares that, "8X will be a newly launched premium service that complements FirstSite. The new team comes with more than a decade of excellent track record in SEO. We help business owners take the guesswork out of your SEO strategy with a data-driven, comprehensive, and personalized strategy that is tailored to your business needs. 8X guarantees business owners leads and traffic through proprietary "easy win" methods and video marketing."

The newly formed team will also be developing free business education content for business owners on a new site 8cademy.com. The short-form content will contain tips for business owners by industry leaders and subject matter experts. It will be made available as a website and progressive web app accessible on any device. Each being less than 5 minutes long, available in text and video.

FirsSite and Core Web Vitals by Google

ming@8connect.com (FirstSite Editor) — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 09:53:24 GMT

Starting mid-June, Google will implement Core Web Vitals , their new metrics for measuring website performance. Sites that score well on Core Web Vitals will have an edge over other sites, enjoying improved SEO while giving visitors an outstanding experience.

8 Connect Consulting has been preparing FirstSite for Core Web Vitals for months, working behind the scenes so that your sites are ready. We want to share with you some of the improvements we’ve made, and how they affect your sites, so you’re confident knowing that your sites are in top shape.

What is Core Web Vitals?

Announced in May 2020, Core Web Vitals is Google’s latest evolution of experience and performance metrics, raising the bar of how websites should perform. These metrics are based on live site activities, rather than Google bots.

Web vitals are divided into the following 3 metrics:

CLS: Cumulative Layout Shift ( CLS ) is a metric that quantifies how often users experience unexpected shifts in site layout. These shifts are annoying and can harm the user experience. For example, if a user goes to click on a button and the position of that button moves because the layout moves, visitors will end up clicking on nothing.
LCP: Largest Contentful Paint ( LCP ) is a metric for how long it takes for the largest image or text block visible within the viewport to display, relative to when the page first started loading.
FID: First Input Delay ( FID ) is a metric that helps measure a visitor’s first impression of a site's interactivity and responsiveness. For example, it measures the time from when a user first interacts with a page (i.e., clicks on a link or taps on a button) to the time when the browser begins responding to that interaction.

FirstSite is Core Web Vitals ready

We’ve been preparing, so your sites are ready to perform with Google’s new metrics, and to make sure your customers continue to have a great experience, 8 Connect Consulting has set up a dedicated team to constantly improve the infrastructure that will improve your Core Web Value metrics.

Here are the highlights for FirstSite Core Web Vitals ready:

Previously: Photo gallery layout shifting Photo galleries can vary in height due to the wide range of the number of images that can be added, and the possible sizes of each image. Also, Photo Gallery widgets load dynamically, based on their settings.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: Set min-height FirstSite sets the min-height CSS property of the Photo Gallery, to reserve space on the page for loading the Photo Gallery. This prevents content below the gallery from being pushed down as the images load, something which would cause the layout to shift.

Previously: Image layout shifting Image loading is the biggest cause of layout shifting on the web, because browsers have no way of knowing the dimensions/size of an image before it's fully downloaded. So, once an image is actually downloaded, browsers load and shift all content around it.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: Add image width & height FirstSite automatically identifies the width and height of an image, and sets these attributes on the image HTML tag, allowing browsers to reserve the right amount of space while the image downloads. Note: Setting height and width does not make an image non-responsive. Instead, browsers use the image’s width/height attributes for calculating its aspect ratio so images automatically take up the correct space.

Previously: Loading above-the-fold fonts Nearly every website today includes some form of custom fonts, usually from Google’s huge Font Library. Fonts are often big and heavy, and browsers usually first load a system font, such Arial, Georgia, Sans, etc. Once the custom font is done loading, the browser adds the custom font, something which causes the font to jump on the website, and has a negative impact on the visitor’s experience.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: Embed fonts FirstSite automatically detects which custom fonts are used in above-the-fold content on each page, downloads that font, and embeds it directly into the HTML of the page (up to a max size of 50kb). This means browsers don’t need to go and fetch the custom font, and can display it immediately.

Previously: Background slider image loading Background image sliders can be big and heavy to load, especially when there are multiple images that take up the same space on a web page. Previously, FirstSite loaded all background images of a background image slider at the same time.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: Optimize background image slider loading FirstSite prioritizes loading the first image in the Image Slider, and then lazy loads the other images, improving how quickly the first image loads.

Previously: CSS loading priorities Browsers have to make many decisions about what type of content and resources to load and when. FirstSite automatically generates all of the required styles needed to load above-the-fold content, so we already know which resources do not need to load first.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: CSS loading priorities hints FirstSite gives browsers hints about which resources they should prioritize when downloading page content. This helps browsers focus on the required content and resources, for faster page loading.

Previously: Widget image Many widgets, especially those built using the Widget Builder, feature images. Previously, these images were not sized to the correct screen size and did not automatically have width/height dimensions added to them.

Core Web Vitals ready FirstSite: Optimize widget images widgets The image width/height improvements described above are now implemented for images within widgets, too.

Future proof your digital presence

8 Connect Consulting has always placed a huge importance on site performance, and we continue to do so today, so your sites meet the highest industry standards and provide a great user experience. We’ll keep you updated on further platform improvements as we make them, we’re taking care of behind-the-scenes considerations so you can focus on what you do best: creating great-looking, high-converting sites for your clients.

Snowing End to 2020

ming@8connect.com (FirstSite Editor) — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 10:18:16 GMT

Enjoy the snow, free latest iPad Air, hackathon in Madagascar and more......

It has started snowing on 8connect.com. If you are a FirstSite user, y our website can start snowing too by using the personalize feature.

2020 has seen more than 50 winners join us on FirstSite.

What did they win by joining us on FirstSite?

They beat their competitors

on search ranking .

on reach . Selling on Amazon, Instagram, eBay, Google.

on speed to market .

on cost . They paid less than even those who waited for grant approvals.

We didn't have to wait for grant approvals nor did we have to wait for development work. We launched new websites with omni-channel ecommerce in a heart beat (4 hours).

Free iPad Giveaway

Token Gift = The latest model of the Apple iPad Air Wifi with 256Gb memory.

*A helped business refers to a successful referral that is a new signup and have fully paid for at least a year on FirstSite. We will give this for as long as the iPad Air is available otherwise a gift of equivalent value will be sent.

#WinningWithInnovation in 2020

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” - Steve Jobs

2020 may be a slower year for most companies. Several of our clients and partners have proudly taken the opportunity to try new things. We at 8 Connect are proud to be on this journey with them.

If you did not already know that besides FirstSite, 8 Connect Consulting specialises in building digital products that build businesses. #WinningWithInnovation is our way of helping business owners overcome various challenges in building their digital product. This may funding, product design, business case, IP protection, user acquisition. Basically anything to make your product a success.

We don't just build to spec. We build to win.

While most of our client projects are built with utmost confidentiality. Here's one that we are particularly proud of this year that we can tell you about.

QROnly

One Last Thing......

If you would like to work on one last thing before the Christmas break. Do get in touch. In Dec 2020 many businesses have just started reopening for 2021. It's not an end, it's an early start to prepare for the recovering economy.

Free apps to make your online event more engaging

ming@8connect.com (FirstSite Editor) — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 19:32:58 GMT

3 free apps that you can use to make your virtual event more interactive

Online events is here to stay. One good thing that has turned out from COVID-19 is the creative ways which people have put together online live events. If you are preparing for your next virtual event, here are a few apps that are free or have free versions that can make your next event a little more fun and interactive. If you've missed our earlier posts on Better Audience Engagement for Your Event Online and Differentiate your live streaming events with interactive features in one click you should check them out too.

Discussions on Disqus

The great thing about online events is that the conversation can continue even after the event has ended. Leave the stream on for audiences who may have missed the live session or for attendees to share your event to increase the reach of your event for the future.

With Disqus, your website gains a feature-rich comment system complete with social network integration, advanced administration and moderation options, and other extensive community functions. Most importantly, by utilizing Disqus, you are instantly plugging into their community network, connecting millions of global users to your event site. Not only do you not have to pay for using Disqus, with the native ads you can even monetise your live event instantly.

Find out more about Disqus on their official site.

Live Q&A and Polling on Slido

Slido is an easy-to-use Q&A and polling platform for live or remote meetings, events, classes, and webinars. Event planners can set up a Slido event in less than a minute while all the participants need to join the conversation is a simple event code or link. What we really like about Slido is that the participants do not need to download any apps etc and they can participate by just going to a URL or scanning a code that you can flash on your live stream.

Participants send their questions or vote in polls instantly. Event organizers can moderate incoming questions so they have full control over what is being displayed on the presentation screen, as well as activate polls and ideas topics.

It takes literally minutes to get setup. The best way to find out it to create and account and try it out. https://www.sli.do / Sildo has a free version for up to 100 participants.

Virtual Gifting with SmaHug

If you are a artiste or performer and would like to accept gifts instead of donations during your performances, SmaHug might just be the app for you.

SmaHug is a completely free to use virtual gifting app to directly send and receive hugs, coffees and beers without any platform fees. Similarly to Slido it takes minutes to setup any account on SmaHug and you can embed the gifting app to your event site.

Not all gifts have a dollar value attached. Hugs are free. Check out the profile page from the guys who made this app. https://www.smahug.com/hug

Google Optimized and No coding required

That's right. You don't have to spend days or weeks putting together an event site. With FirstSite , you can spend more time planning your event experience and leave all the technical details to a Google Optimized no code platform. With everything on drag and drop, you can put together an event page like this sample in the next couple of hours.

Know of another app? Tell us in the comments below.

Better Audience Engagement for Your Event Online

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 23:50:35 GMT

Using FirstSite for event and community organizers

Webinars and live events are becoming a growing trend globally. As an event organizer, here are some tips to create a better audience experience and engagement during your event. Many of our event partners have mentioned how difficult it is to keep people engaged when they’re participating at their desks. It’s probably even harder with all the distractions working from home.

Creating an event community can help you create a differentiated sense of connection to make your event a more engaging one. Better community engagement will also help you accomplish long term goals for your audience.

Also see: Differentiate your live streaming events with interactive features in one click

Here are some ways you can use FirstSite for better community engagement in your virtual event.

1. Consistent experience and designs

Using FirstSite, you can save site design templates/duplicate designs/create sections for one click deployment so that you can create a consistent look and feel across related events and even side events from the main show. This will allow your audience to feel like they are within the same event and do not have to repeatedly navigate new experiences.

Media assets like images, (sponsor) logos etc can also be managed as in folders across teams and sites so that everyone can contribute in the experience building process while ensuring the use of the right media assets.

2. Create smaller sub (community) sessions

With the ability to create a consistent experience across various digital assets (pages), you can now replicate many intimate experiences that happen in physical events. Some ways that these smaller sessions could take the form of ask me anything (AMA) sessions, personal meetups etc...

Smaller online meetups allow people to connect virtually. Keep the groups small so people can interact more closely. Record these meetups and share with your community or create write-ups of tips and tricks learned from them using the blog feature on FirstSite.

Ask informal ice breaker questions to get the conversation going and make the interaction more personal, Ask open questions like "Where do you see the future of green technologies?" and give everyone a chance to voice their opinion.

3. Create an active discussion

Use a good discussion platform like Disqus, YouTube Live, or Facebook comments. This will allow your audience to participate in sessions in real time and also carry forward the discussion post session.

Make sure the presenters get involved in the online discussions before and after their sessions. This extra contact with experts is a huge value-add for the attendees. Consider making it part of their speaker agreement. Both you and your presenter should be monitoring the post event thread even after the session to ensure that all post event questions are answered. This keeps your event content relevant and gives the members a sense of direct communication with the presenter.

4. Sell relevant Merch

5. Get creative

The possibilities on FirstSite are endless. If you are familiar with basic html, you can embed custom widgets/applications from any web application to make your event site more interesting. You can find a range of these widget extensions on Powr.io . If you do not wish to code, with FirstSite Personalize you can create unique experiences with by device, location, time, visits, url. Get creative, there are many interactive engagement tools out there that you can use to engage your audience. Embed a game, a lottery, membership signups, invites to slack/telegram, hide exclusive content in private links. There's lots that you can do as an event/community organizer on FirstSite.

Regardless if your event is streaming on Facebook Live, Youtube Live, Vimeo or any other player. You can use FirstSite to instantly create a more engaging experience for your audience.

Also see: Differentiate your live streaming events with interactive features in one click

Digital Resilience Bonus for All Singapore Businesses

Sat, 13 Jun 2020 14:56:05 GMT

SMEs go digital with up to 100% subsidy with grants or otherwise

8 Connect Consulting is not a pre-approved vendor for the SME Go-Digital programme. If you wish to apply for this grant, it will not be applicable for our Award Winning Google Optimised Sitebuilder FirstSite and the Omni-Channel eCommerce that comes with.

We have written to IMDA to explain that our eCommerce solution comes complete with delivery and pick up timing options perfect for use for our SME owners today. In addition, our solution cost just a tenth of what some of the pre-approved providers are charging the SMEs. However, due to time constrains they will not be able to include new providers like us to their list of pre-approved vendors.

So... We have decided to work on our own 100% subsidy

However if you are considering going digital, you can do this today and with 100% subsidy (not 90% not 80%) with 8 Connect Consulting.

If you are a locally owned (30% local shareholding) company with less than $1million in revenue. We will be providing FirstSite for free to you for the first year. Just start building your website here today with our Award Winning Site builder that comes complete with Omni-Channel eCommerce which allows you to sell on Facebook, Instagram, Google. Don't just sell on your website. Sell EVERYWHERE! And the best part, do it now with 100% cost subsidy! No grant application required. We trust you. Just get start building your website today for free.

The site should be for the business own use and not for client sites if you are charging clients for multiple projects we will need you to pay a fair price for those sites so that others can benefit from this as well. Each business will only apply for 1 main corporate site to be subsidised for the year. Sites will cost just SGD$500/site/yr (SGD$25/mth).

Why and how are you doing this?

Because we believe in #WinningWith You. 8 Connect Consulting has been in the business of helping businesses do better with the use of technology since 2005. While our Singaporean clients have been recipients of previous IMDA, ESG, IRAS grant/subsidy programmes past and present like Capability Development Grant (CDG), Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), PIC etc. However, IMDA has replied to us in an email stating that due to time constraints they will not be able to evaluate our solutions in time for consideration as a pre-approved provider for the current grants.

The platform is an easy to use drag and drop site builder complete with eCommerce capabilities. You can DIY everything once you are on the platform. In the rare instance where you require design/copywriting services we will be happy to direct you to some of our partners who can do this for you. However, you will need to pay them for their services. If you would like to become a partner to help others design their websites on our platfrom, please contact us .

However, in our previous posts , we have mentioned that we have been beneficiaries of support from some of our partners (in this case Amazon) who are contributing to international efforts of helping SMEs through the COVID-19 period. To stand along side our clients and partners during this difficult period, we have made a commitment of to make FirstSite a zero-profit product line in 2020. To this end we are able to support up to about 100 sites at 100% subsidy or 200 sites at 50% subsidy. If you can afford your own site, please do not apply for this subsidy and we can make this available to others.

Since we are already helping some of our international clients (50% subsidy) with this effort, why not make this available to Singaporeans (100% subsidy).

What will this cost next year?

Next year renewals will cost just SGD$500/year and eCommerce add-on will cost an additional SGD$500/year. As our partners are global multinational companies, we are also signed up to their efforts to subsidize digital solutions for small business owners. We may be able to extend furthur subsidy to this renewal if we are beneficiaries of these subsidies. Unlike the IMDA/ESG grant programme, you will be eligible for all subsidy/support that 8 Connect Consulting subsequently secures, this includes possibly becoming a ESG/IMDA pre-approved provider.

But I only want to take up government grants...

The Digital Resilience Bonus provides additional support to enterprises seeking to uplift their digital capabilities to adapt to safe management practices after the circuit breaker period. For a start, DRB will be targeted at the Food Services and Retail sectors which are more affected by safe distancing requirements in the reopening of the economy. For Retail enterprises, apply by 30 September 2020 to receive up to 90% funding support to set up your business online so that you can start selling your products on e-commerce platforms to local and overseas markets.

If you are a F&B business owner and require assistance in the following areas:

e-Payment (PayNow Corporate) and e-invoicing
Accounting and HR/payroll solutions
Digital Ordering for dining in and takeaways
Inventory Management
e-Commerce, e-Procurement and Food Delivery Platforms
Data Mining and Analytics

You can visit https://www.imda.gov.sg/programme-listing/smes-go-digital/Digital-Resilience-Bonus for more information.

What if I'm not from the Retail/F&B industry?

FirstSite is not only for the Retail/F&B industry. With 120+ professional designs and thousands of free stock images, almost every small business can benefit from using FirstSite. We have even posted specific features/designs for online Live Event organisers and Educators/Instructors in these 2 posts.

It looks like we'll be in it for a longer period than we thought. It won't hurt to be #COVIDREADY.

Differentiate your live streaming events with interactive features in one click (Updated 2021)

Mon, 11 May 2020 05:43:19 GMT

Create an interactive live streaming site in a single click on FirstSite

Live events are becoming a hit with everyone staying/working from home. Everyone is h osting live event on Facebook/Youtube/Twitch. It is really easy and you can even do this with just the webcam from your laptop. Want to differentiate your event and make your event more interactive? You don't have to spend thousands of dollars hiring a developer.

The pre-designed section on FirstSite allows you to do this in a single click. Here's a run down of these features that will make your next live event better than all others.

With FirstSite not only is your event more interactive and engaging, your event becomes Google-optimised for better discovery and future SEO. Find out why more than 250 business owners choose FirstSite .

If you are more into doing than reading

Create an interactive live event website in a single click

All these features can be setup on FirstSite in a single click. Add a section to your site and select "Live Events"

Sections is a convenient way to implement pre-designed layouts to your website. This can save you loads of time. With the many requests for interactive events pages, we have created a full page section template for live streaming events. If you are hosting a live streaming events or are working with clients on one, simply add the preset template and you're ready to go.

Click here for more information on sections on FirstSite

Businesses you can start from home while you drive for Grab or Deliveroo

Mon, 11 May 2020 04:36:22 GMT

You will probably make about $30-50k in your first year

You've decided that becoming a Grab drivers or Deliveroo delivery man is a quick alternative to a job which provides flexbility during an economic downturn. However, when times were good, incentives were withdrawn and earnings were reduced. In bad times, news about hundreds of people show up at their centres , and with the influx of additional drivers and delivery men, also result in reduced earnings. If you are currently already driving for Grab, or working deliveries and don't already make about $100k in annual earnings, we have listed here some businesses that you can start from home with minimal/no investment that could help supplement your Grab/Deliveroo earnings.

You will probably make you more money in the long run and can work full time on your own business. Most of which you can get started within a day if you'd just put in 8 hours today and you will probably need to put in about 20 hours a week on the business.

Here's a list of business you can start while you drive for Grab or send deliveries for Deliveroo.

Private Delivery Services

Yups that is right. This will probably be the easiest of the businesses that you can start as you'll probably already be in possession of a vehicle. There are more deliveries than just food to be done. Everyday, thousands of people require private deliveries to be made to the laundromat, work place, furniture etc. I'm not talking just about major house moving, on occasions we might need a bed, chair or table sent somewhere. Our kid to be dropped off at school during regular hours. If you are already a Grab or delivery driver why not put your vehicle to your own private niche delivery service.

Creating Study Guides

This will probably be more relevant if you are a student or completed your education at least at a Secondary school level. With home based learning and probably an increased reliance of online learning in future, online study guides will almost certainly see an increased uptake. Complement this with video / email / chat or face to face tutoring and you could see good earnings from this business.

This will probably have nothing to do with your Grab/Deliveroo service but why not put your education at work instead of just running errands. You'll be doing others a favor and probably also become better at your own school work.

Helping others sell on online

Not everyone wants or has the time to create a good listing online or want to deal with the hassle of doing so. You might have a friend/family or even a mate at school who has that extra coffee machine, blender, phone lying around and they have been too busy to get it on Carousell. How about doing selling it off for them and taking a small cut for it. Once you get familiar with it, you can do this in minutes. Eventually you might even be able to become an eCommerce advisor to small business owners.

Help local businesses go online

You'll be surprised to know that almost 50% of small business owners are still not online. With FirstSite , you do not even need to be a tech expert to help them. Just a little drag and drop and research on relevant keywords, you can help any business get online.

Need eCommerce? Using FirstCommerce you can help business owners sell across all channels website, Facebook, Instagram, Google from a single platform. Charge a fixed fee for the service or a commission on every sale. Variations of this business model includes drop shipping or partnership models where you aggregate or represent some of your local stores online.

BUT BEWARE of scams online where some expert/guru would like to teach you their magic formula. If they've found the magic formula, you can be sure they will NOT be teaching it to you and keeping it for themselves. The only money these failed gurus make these days are selling that magic formula. Once you type dropshipping into your google search bar, you will be bombarded with these days on your browser from now on.

Financial/Property Broker

Make Grab/Deliveroo part of your business

Common mistakes

Once you embark on your entrepreneurship journey, it can become addictive. You will find your browser bombarded with all kinds of guru and get rich quick or work from home schemes. Please be very careful. If you see videos/content relating to clicking surveys/trading etc. DO NOT click nor pay to join these programs no matter who may seem to be endorsing them. Many of these are failed property agents/traders/business men who now make a business out of preying on others in need of business opportunities. Think about this.

If you are not paying for the product, you are the product. No amount of survey clicking is going to make you enough money. They are selling away your private data.
Those who know do, Those who don't Teach. It's a wise saying especially in business. If they make a lot of money trading/selling stuff online/ trading property, why would they have time to teach it to you.

Having a partner on your journey

With experience working with hundreds of small business owners, we are almost certain many will make some of the mistakes above. There is a learning process to building your own business. If you'd like a partner on this journey just leave us a message below.

5 features on FirstCommerce for Retailers during COVID-19

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:38:45 GMT

COVID-19 or not more than 200 small business owners choose FirstSite to beat the competition online

On 7th April 2020 non-essential business owners in Singapore have to cease operations for a month. By offering free training, we've managed to save more than 20 retail businesses in the last week alone. If you are still staying at home wondering how your retail business can make it through the current crisis, in this post, we’ll look specifically at how retail owners can build and launch an online store to offer online ordering that protects their revenue, grows brand awareness, and opens new doors for connecting with customers during one of the most significant challenges we’re likely to face in our lifetime.

Here's 5 ways Retailers can protect their customers and business during the current closures.

1) Offer Delivery

Over the last several years, we’ve seen more food delivery startups like GrabFood and Deliveroo popping up. Even before we were under siege from a pandemic, customers have been turning to the convenience of ordering online. In recent years, online food ordering alone has increased about 300% faster than dine-in traffic. As a result, restaurants have been actively putting online stores to work for their businesses in greater numbers than ever before. This has exponentially increased during this current COVID-19 closures.

Cafe Moxo, for example, uses their online store to help customers order food online for delivery. This speeds up efficiency for customers needing to-go orders, as the cafe can prepare these delivery requests ahead of time. Their complete menu is available and clickable, and customized orders can be submitted and paid for right within the online store (or upon delivery.)

The takeaway is this: Adding an online store empowers your customers to place orders online for delivery or curbside pickup, making it easier to connect with your your business at a time when getting to a store isn’t always the easiest (or most enticing) prospect. The easier it is for customers to get to your offerings, the more likely they’ll be to order with you now and in the future.

2) Sell Gift Cards

Gift cards are a beautiful thing. Each year, customers spend more than $100 billion on gift cards. And what’s more, an average of 72% of shoppers will actually spend more than the value on those cards. Plus, gift cards are up-front revenue — when gift cards sell but don’t get used, your restaurant makes money with no strings attached.

Online stores allow you to sell gift cards to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week to customers around the world. For example: Maybe an out-of-state aunt wants to send her niece a gift card to her favorite lunch spot. She buys a gift card online, emails it to her, and is able to say, “Hey, go get lunch on me today!” with just a few clicks.

Learn more about selling gift cards for your restaurant with FirstCommerce .

3) Order Pickup

Especially now with new movement limitations regulations, allowing customers to pick up orders in store is an essential feature for stores, restaurants, bars......

Here’s how this looks using the FirstSite pickup feature, which allows you to set multiple store locations and pickup date and time:

4) Order Scheduling

Customers want to plan their schedules — even if it’s just when they’re eating next. By adding scheduled pickup or delivery, customers can schedule to get food/products right when they want to it.

With scheduled delivery or curbside pickup, you can avoid having queues and crowding. Customers standing in or around your restaurant/store spread germs while they wait to pick up their order. Social distancing for the win. One more awesome reason to order with you over someone else.

Learn more about FirstSite 's scheduled pickup feature to help you organize large and small orders just in time for your customers to pick them up from your physical location.

5) Sell everywhere (online) All the time

Your store keeps regular business hours, but wouldn’t it be nice if you could make money even when the lights are off? With an online store that’s open 24/7/365, you create an opportunity to make sales to customers around the globe whenever and from wherever they are. When you sell products online with FirstCommerce , you have the chance to collect email addresses, run promotions, add your products directly to your Instagram feed, Facebook, and advertise with flexible targeting options on Google/Facebook.

FirstCommerce allows you to be everywhere all the time.

Get started today!

So here’s a quick recap of how your retail shop could use FirstCommerce to protect your business and your customers during COVID-19.

Offer Delivery
Gift cards
Order Pickup
Order scheduling
Sell everywhere all the time.

We've been given free credits by Amazon Web Services recently to help us during the COVID-19 downturn. We've decided to give it all to you. FirstSite with FirstCommerce is just SGD$250 first year if you sign up before End April 2020. We will also provide free training to you. With our Award Winning drag and drop interface, you will have your professional looking store site in less than half a day.

And these are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much you can do with just a few clicks. If you’re interested in making the move online, you can get started with FirstCommerce. Get Started for Free!

What trainers, teachers, tutors are doing to continue with lessons

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 08:30:04 GMT

The Lessons Must Go On......

Schools, gyms, tuition centers, language class. No matter what lessons you teach. With Zoom and FirstTouch , you can keep up with lessons as usual.

What is Zoom?

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, collaboration, chat, and webinars across mobile devices, desktops, telephones, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, conference, huddle, and training rooms, as well as executive offices and classrooms.

Zoom is Free

For 1 to 1 meetings. If you are conducting private lessons you don't have to pay.

For group meetings up to 100 persons it is free for 40 mins.

Otherwise please refer to their paid plans .

Lesson bookings on any device

FirstTouch is perfect for teachers, trainers, tutors. You need to get lessons booked/arranged whether it's face to face or online like in the current COVID climate. You and your students can get it done on any device.

Is FirstTouch also free?

In support of tutors and educators during COVID-19, FirstTouch is charged at only SGD$25/mth (50% off the regular price) for the first year.

In conjunction with

Setting up eCommerce and online services for COVID-19 closures

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 11:27:30 GMT

Restaurants, Cafes, Retail can survive COVID-19 closures

If you have been recently informed to have your business closed for the month. Do not fret, we can get you up and running online within half a day or less. Our Award Winning Website ( FirstSite ) with eCommerce ( FirstCommerce ) are made easy to DIY so you can keep business going even with the current closures.

With hundreds of clients across tens of industries, FirstSite and FirstCommerce is built to accomodate for any business scenarios, that is why our clients are always prepared for any situation and are able to operate through the current closures. More importantly if you are a FirstSite user, FirstCommerce is now free for you. If you do not already know the benefits/features of FirstCommerce, here's a summary.

If you are already a FirstSite user, we are providing FirstCommerce to you for free till end Dec 2020 (Promotion ends in April 2020). Please get in touch with us if you need to enable your eCommerce capabilities.

If you are a tutor/trainer please check out this post to see how you can be COVID ready.

Features on FirstCommerce that will make your business COVID ready

Get started today. Ready to sell tomorrow. #WinningWith You #COVID ready

Public Service Update and Free use of FirstSite - COVID19

Sun, 22 Mar 2020 16:51:15 GMT

Doing our part for COVID-19

A public service announcement. The Singapore government has released a contact tracing app, TraceTogether . Just to help everyone stay a little safer together, please download the app if you not already done so. https://www.tracetogether.gov.sg/

Please share the link to this app after you have downloaded it.

Free Use of FirstSite for COVID-19 Information Sites and Christian Organisations

Businesses, government agencies, NGOs and other organizations now find themselves with an immediate need to communicate COVID-19 updates to their intended audiences. We want to make sure there are as few roadblocks as possible to opening these critical lines of communication and have decided to offer free use of FirstSite sites for all partners and their clients who are building an informational site related to COVID-19.

This is also extended to Christian organisations that are affected by limitations in face to face gatherings. We will be providing FirstSite for free so that you can continue with sermons, bible education and collection of tithe and offerings during this time. This does not limit the free use to COVID-19 related information.

FirstSite is Google Optimised. Your information can be found.

Easy to update. Anyone on the team can be called on to help update the latest information on COVID-19.

Device Friendly. Your team can not only access the information on any device but they can also make changes and update the content on the move .

Please contact us with what you'll require and your site can be up and running within a day.

*The service will be free for up to 1 year or when the COVID-19 information site is not longer required. We may decide to extend the free service for more than a year. In the event that we are unable to do so, we seek your understanding that while we would like to provide this service for free, we'll be required to pay Amazon for the use of the servers. You will be informed at least a month before we terminate the free service.

Free business tools that saved startups '000s of dollars

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 07:21:22 GMT

Free tools that every business need

In a recent report by CB Insights Why Do Startups Fail , in list is "running out of cash". Having worked with thousands of small business owners all over the world, we've found that many, in an effort to save on cash, end up spend thousands of dollars on digital services that are bad, essentially repackaged free tools. Today we're going to help you save that cash, so that you can hire a good professional when your business has taken off. The free tools here are good if you are just starting out or your small business just needs that little help in a new direction.

1. Free Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

A SEO consultant can cost between $200 to thousands of dollars a month. You must be wondering how someone can charge $200 if another is charging thousands. Well... free tools if you are hiring someone for minimal SEO services you might as well do it yourself and save that $200. Just go to IMBAudit to find out if your website is doing well. This is the perfect complementary tool to FirstSite . Even with all the Google Optimised functions, it's sometimes human nature to miss out of some things. Just do a quick audit and hop on to your FirstSite dashboard to get it fixed.

2. Free Influencer Marketing

Can't figure out which Influencer will be best for your campaign? Get on IGCheck . It's a 100% free to use Social Media Analytics platform with data on millions of Influencers on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Twitch and Mixer. Don't get fooled by fake influencers who make screenshots and promises of engagement. Check them out, look at the performance of their content before you even send out free samples to them.

3. Free Logo Design

Wondering how logo designs can be offered super low rates? Well, you can do this at an even lower rate of $0 in 5 mins. Get on MadeSimpleDesign and put together a logo using Google Fonts and Awesome Icon. It needs no technical skills and you don't have to pay for it. Currently the developers of the site are accepting social media shares as payment if you like their service. The best part is that you can even do this on your mobile phone.

4. Free QR Code Generator

Need a QR code to share your paypal payment link? We got you covered. This is provided by us just because we needed a free QR Generator . Since we have it why not make it available to you as well.

5. Free Mobile Payments Processor

If you are an existing client/partner of 8 Connect Consulting, we will provide FirstTouch to you free for a year. FirstTouch is a complete business solution with CRM, Bookings, Quotation/Invoicing system all in one. The coolest part of FirstSite is that it allows you to accept Credit Card payments in person. Just scan and collect the payment into your Stripe/PayPal account.

*Processing Fees by Stripe/PayPal apply

Need more free tools? Found some other free tools? Tell us in the comments below.

WEBP Images On FirstSite For Faster Loading

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 10:37:33 GMT

FirstSite is now serving Webp images for all site images, which means your site images load more quickly. This change automatically boosts site performance and requires no additional effort at your end. We take care of everything, automatically and behind the scenes.

To check whether the images were served as WebP visit the Network tab and check the image type - see below.

Why WebP Images is great for your website

WebP is an image format developed by Google that provides lossless and lossy compression for images on the web. Using this format, images are smaller and richer than in other formats, which enables them to load more quickly. For example, WebP lossless images are 26% smaller than PNGs and 25-34% smaller than JPEG images. See this article on Google's developer site for more details.

One more way FirstSite is optimizing your images

In addition to converting JPEG and PNG files to WebP, we’re also adjusting the size of images so that they automatically fit their containers. It’s another effort we’re making, behind the scenes, so your sites load quickly and rank well on Lighthouse.

Available on all FirstSite sites

Winning on SEO

It's no secret that sites done on that FirstSite perform better on SEO and cost a lot less to build and maintain. If you are still wondering why some websites just perfom better than yours. Get in touch with 8 Connect Consulting.

Note:

The change doesn't affect the image name
SVGs and Gifs are not converted to WebP
Safari doesn’t support WebP, so when your sites are delivered on this browser, images will be displayed in their original format.

Credit Card Payments Processing for Small Business

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 16:54:19 GMT

Accept credit card payments 24/7 from anywhere, any time on any device

Payments by FirstTouch is a simple & safe way to collect credit card payments for small business owners

Payments by FirstTouch is a simple turnkey payment solution that does not have terminal fees, integration costs, additional fees that allows small business owners to collect Credit Card payments any time, anywhere on any device.

FirstTouch comes with a complete billing solution that incorporates recurring billing, quotations and invoicing capabilities. It also comes with CRM and SMS Marketing at no additional charge. Find out more

No existing merchant account required.
Get paid faster with a 100% secure online payments processing solution.

Are you James?

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 17:11:38 GMT

Do you have a solution that solves the "now missing thing"?

Ex-teacher James Holmes invented ‘Mark Mate’ that uses voice recognition technology to help teachers speed up their marking. Knowing how long teachers can spend on marking work, this seemed like a good solution to help free up some time. James has a solution that solves a problem. Like James you have the expertise and commitment to make that solution.

You commit time and energy
You are know your stuff
Your solution is simple
Your solution solves an important problem
Your solution puts a smile on everyone

but they won't invest or buy your product

They say it can be easily copied
They say it's not ready and needs a little more features
They say you'll need a team
They say your solution needs to work with existing leading solution
They say you'll need a partner

Let us be that "dragon" who will partner and invest in you. We have the technical expertise that can complement your domain expertise.

8 Connect Consulting is an Award Winning Team that has partnered a travel expert to build a leading travel metasearch business , and a mortgage expert to build an AI driven one click solution to find the best approved mortgage rate .

Gamer eSports Influencers - 8 Facts about Twitch that will change your influencer marketing strategy

Wed, 04 Dec 2019 19:34:15 GMT

Influencer marketing for men?

Competitive video gaming will debut at this week’s Southeast Asian Games for the first time. The esports tournament, set from Dec. 5 to 10, will gather some of the region’s toughest and most accomplished gamers, who’re wildly popular among their online followers. As of May 2018, Twitch, the leading streaming platform, had 2.2 million broadcasters monthly and 15 million daily active users, with around a million average concurrent users. This may seem like a small number compared to Instagram and Youtube, the first 2 platforms on leading free to use Influencer Analytics plaftform IGCheck . However here are 8 facts that might change your mind as a brand/marketer.

More than 80% of Twitch Users are males. New studies have shown that males rely on gaming influencers on decision making .
More than 50% of Twitch users are between the ages 18-34. A huge bracket admittedly but this is generally not a young audience but a more matured and probably prime earning years audience.
More than USD$30million have been raised for Charity on Twitch.
A million people watched a single event with more than 250,000 spontaneously watching a single channel.
Almost half a million people watched a game premiere
The average daily viewing time is 95 mins compared to about 30 mins for Instagram and the same for Youtube.
With no surprise that the US is still the main viewers of Twitch (~20%) with the English language being the main broadcast language (~60%)
The most popular Twitch streamer Ninja , was watched for more than 150 million minutes last year.

Want to check out Twitch influencers? Check them out on IGCheck the leading free to use Influencer Analytics platform .

If you are a Twitch influencer, we are looking for you. Just enter your Twitch username into IGCheck to be included into our influencer shortlisting platform.

2 Simple steps to identify fake influencers

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 15:03:27 GMT

2 simple steps to identify fake followers/engagement

The influencer marketing industry is projected to be worth $5 to $10 billion by 2020, but research shows up to 24 percent of influencers have falsely manipulated their engagement numbers.

A problem easily overcomed with data on IGCheck . Here are 2 basic graph patterns from IGCheck that can help you identify fake followers and fake engagement.

The Spike

When content/influencers have a spike in their graphs, it could be because of a higly viral content piece or a highly relevant content being posted or something going viral (scandalous/promotional like a freebie). However, it this returns immediately to levels lower than their previous engagement that becomes suspicious. If the content that your influencer posts happen to have irregular engagement performance it’s generally not because your marketer created a darn good message, it’s likely someone paid for that fake engagement.

Spikes can happen on both followers/average engagement charts and are easy to spot. Look for spikes and go the the posts of those dates to figure out why that is the case. If an influencer has spikes that are real it may also mean that their audience only connect with very specific content. If you are doing a campaign with them, it will be useful to align with those content nature.

The Parallel Growth with Dipping Engagement (Follow for Follow groups/Follow Pods/Follow Threads)

This graph pattern will require brands to combine content from multiple sources to figure out if your influencer is using automated/pseudo growth hacking methods to grow followers.

First when followers and following graphs trend in parallel, it is likely that they are followers are acquired using follow groups or follow for follow threads or pods on Facebook or Telegram etc. It is usually quite easy to tell and while this may not be a sign of “fake” followers they may not be genuinely interested in the influencer’s content.

Often times the Follower numbers dip after the action as some followers are not genuinely interested in the content of the other party and were only doing it as part of the thread or pod they were in. This is often considered not an honorable action but still the problem exists.

The parallel follower/following growth is often accompanied by a dip in average engagement as followers are not interested and hence do not engage in the content of the influencer.

However over time the influencer will regain better engagement rates when uninterested followers drop out.

Ratings do not tell the whole story

There are many sites that rate and give percentage scores to influencers, however these are automated rule based methods of scoring influencers are don't tell the whole story. At IGCheck, we believe that by providing brands with a complete data story, they can tell that story themselves and find out if the influencer is a right fit for your campaign. If you don't have time to go through that data, a local media agency will be glad to do this for you while also creating the right campaign story.

If you are an agency interested in helping your clients identify the right influencers and avoiding fake influencers, IGCheck is free to use for up to 50 account reports, please contact us on Facebook for enterprise/agency use .

IGCheck vs Hypeauditor

Mon, 24 Jun 2019 16:29:47 GMT

How does Hypeauditor compare against IGCheck? Is IGCheck a free alternative to Hypeauditor?

Price

For starters. IGCheck is a free service paid for by ads ($1 per additional report beyond the initial free 50 reports) while Hypeauditor is more for a premium service ($7-30 per report).

Whether Hypeauditor is worth the premium find out below.

Follower/Following Data

If you'd like a general understanding of follower growth and engagement trending, both IGCheck and Hypeauditor provide an equivalent statistics of the influencer account.

IGCheck has the equivalent data with a little more details on trending. See Sample Report

Just using this data alone on both IGCheck and Hypeauditor , you can easily to identify spikes and dives that indicate that the influencer either bought followers or used follow for follow (F4F) groups etc.

Engagement Data

Hypeauditor takes a more black box approach to this with just numbers and indicators to say good or bad.

This is where IGCheck takes a more statistical approach with a trending graph to help identify engagement spikes either because the campaign was super engaging or if the influencer has paid for engagement or used an engagement pod to get the numbers up.

IGCheck uses trending and post breakdown to make more meaningful sense of which and what content worked rather than a pre-processed analysis.

API

For the more advanced users both IGCheck and Hypeauditor comes with APIs. For IGCheck this comes free with the service while for Hypeauditor this is an add-on that you will have to pay for.

Demographic Data (The Hypeauditor Bonus)

This is where we feel Hypeauditor excels beyond IGCheck and other competitors. It is able to figure out the demographic breakdown of the influencer just by scanning their public information. This is usually only available with authentication to the Instagram account but they have combined other 3rd party sources to determine this. Kudos and for this, we feel is definitely worth the $7-30 per report. Afterall you won't want to be marketing to the wrong demographic.

In Summary

IGCheck and Hypeauditor has pretty much the same amount of data on the Influencer on Follower/Following and Engagement monitoring. The demographic data could be the premium that one could pay for.

Still find it hard to decide?

Use coupon code CLAIRE57 at Hypeauditor to get 3 FREE Reports.

IGCheck is completely free to use once you've signed up.

Why would you promote a competitor?

In full disclosure, IGCheck does not intend to compete with Hypeauditor as they clearly have the more advanced reporting data that appeals to a different audience of users. We operate in the free/open data space while they provide proprietary data sources. You can say that IGCheck is the free or open source alternative to Hypeauditor or Hypeauditor is the premium version of IGCheck. In the spirit of what's best for our users, we've decided to make it fully transparent that they have the premium service and that you should use their service if you require the indepth analysis. Also if you use our affiliate link it will help keep our lights on. https://hypeauditor.com/?source=8connect

Data Discrepancies

We've noticed some discrepancies between the data at IGCheck and that found on Hypeauditor . Considering IGCheck adopts a raw data approach (aka we take directly from Instagram and don't process the data), we can assume that IGCheck has a more accurate data from source.

Getting followers on Instagram using data

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 18:32:12 GMT

How to use data to improve use of follow/engagement trains and content

You wished you had 7.9mil followers (at time of post) like @daviddobrik but follower rates have been up and down. Follow/engagement trains have been giving you the much need boosts every once in a while but sometimes the efforts are not paying off enough. Here's how to use data to maximise your use of trains and better content to become the 1% of influencers who make millions.

Better content leads more engaged long lasting followers

This comes as no surprise that followers follow you beyond the train and engage with your content way more often if they find your content interesting and relevant. However, not all content that you find interesting also appeals to your audience. An actor is only as good as the audience says he is. Using data you can get better at this.

The data driven approach

IGCheck can not only help you showcase your engagement rates to advertisers, it can also be a useful tool for you to monitor the effectiveness of your efforts over time.

Followers vs Following

If part of your strategy involves using follow trains, you might want to check the following vs follower growth trends. Is your corresponding efforts yielding better investments or declining investments?

The rate of growth of followers should be increasing as you follow more accounts in your train. This tells you that you are following good trains. With a 1 to 1 ratio that only means that everyone you've followed has followed you back with no exponential returns on the efforts. Correspondingly if you gain less followers than people you have followed it only means that there are leeches on the train, get out immediately. A good train should yield >1 follower per account followed.

Engagement Rates

Correspondingly you can see how your engagement trains are performing by looking at their performance. See which posts have been responding to trains and which have had little or no effect.

Investing in better content

However there's no better way to grow your engagement and follower rates than by looking at what people are genuinely interested in. Some posts perform better than others. With a snapshot view on IGCheck , you can find out what works and what nobody really cares about. Though in David's case nobody is still about 1.4mil likes. Which also tells you, his audience care much about him and his content.

How much time does it take?

The data driven approach is a systematic approach to better engagement and follower growth. With a combination of better content and boosts from trains. You might be on your way to your first million followers sooner than you think.

IGCheck.com - Used by more than 500k influencers

PewDiePie and more than 500k influencers now on IGCheck

Fri, 14 Jun 2019 16:47:43 GMT

IGCheck is now integrated with Youtube and Facebook for a more complete view of influencers' engagement

More than 500k Instagram Influencers use IGCheck to show their engagement rates to brands and companies around the world. If you are wondering who and where they are from, here's the top 10 ranking.

USA
India
United Kingdom
Brazil
Canada
Indonesia
Germany
Malaysia
Nigeria
Singapore

While our influencers dominate on Instagram, most of them complement that with a Youtube or Facebook Page. And so to help them connect better with brands, we have integrated Youtube and Facebook stats on IGCheck.

So maybe the next time we'll have to rename this to YTFBIGCheck.

PewDiePie on IGCheck

Not surprisingly the first account to be checked from Youtube on IGCheck is PewDiePie. You can't be first here but you can be right up there with PewDiePie.

If you are an influencer with a Youtube account be sure to check this out. If you are a brand and your influencer claims to be omnipresent..... we can now help you check him/her out.

Alright while PewDiePie is the first account on IGCheck, you can still be the first FB page on IGCheck. That's right... Sadly no one has started showing off their engagement from Facebook so if you are an influencer, you are going to be FIRST.

Like and Share if you love us

IGCheck is a free service driven by ads. We don't sell our user's info but due to a recent abuse of use we've had to ask everyone to register so that we can manage this a little.

While we've had lots of love on the use of the service, we've had very little love on Facebook and Instagram .

If you can follow us just on Facebook it will be much appreciated.

We don't buy fake followers nor do we post incessantly advertising information on our page but sometimes it's nice to feel loved.

We know you love us from the over 1k shares as tracked by ShareThis. But if you want to love your friends. Please share this awesome free service with them on Facebook . For this we are eternally grateful.

For those of you who love us conditionally, we can offer you only free reports as payment. Please drop us a message on FB messenger after your have liked or shared.

IGCheck is the only truly completely free to use service for Influencers and Brands

Winning on SEO with FirstSite

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 12:23:19 GMT

What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of increasing "organic" or "natural" traffic to your website by improving visibility in un-paid search results. FirstSite is optimised for Google and we'll make sure that your website is a Google winner to make it easier for your customers to find you online.

Making sure that your website is SEO ready

To improve the visibility of your website in search engine results, you can apply SEO values in site title and meta description. You can change the site title and description in settings which is located in the left menu.

Write a Winning Site Title

Title tags are the most important tag for your site's SEO. Like the title of a chapter in a book, your title tag tells people and search engines what your page is about.

Your title will appear in the title bar of your web browser and also describes your Site in the search engine results.

Site title should contain important keywords to help search engines determine what your page is about. This is displayed in search engine as a preview of your site and important for SEO and social sharing.

Tip: Real people read the title tag before deciding whether or not to click on the results. You can help your potential visitors decide by making site title people-friendly.

Write a Winning Site Description

A winning site description can influence users' decision to click through your site. CTRs (click through rates) is a ranking factor in search results ranking. A website that has high organic CTRs will be pushed to a good position in search results; it tells the search engine bot that this site has what most people are interested in for the phrase that was used in search.

Also, higher CTRs means more people visit your site which also mean, it can increase the conversion rate.

Advanced SEO methods for the Pro

Write unique title and description for each page. When all pages can be discovered by search engines, it maximises the SEO benefit. You can edit page SEO values in page located at the left menu:

You should also consider choosing niche and related keywords that you repeatedly use on various pages on your website's content as well as in the blog posts that you write. Research keywords on Google Trends before you embark on writing your website's content.

If you have pages that are work in progress or you would like to keep as part of a discovery experience on your website, use the 'No Index' feature to prevent Google from indexing that page on their search results . Do remember to change this setting if you are duplicating pages that as the setting will carry forward and Google will NOT index your page.

Leaving it to the Professionals

Writing content that is SEO optimised and choosing to win on the right keywords etc can be a lot of work. If you would prefer to work with a professional SEO copywriter, contact us and we can arrange for one of our partner agencies to help you win on SEO.

Creating a new responsive website in 10 mins (2021 update)

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 17:28:33 GMT

This guide will help you build a website in the next 10 mins on FirstSite.

FirstSite is an Award Winning no code system that allows anyone to build a Google optimized website that is also a mobile app. It is powerful enough for marketing agencies and simple enough for entrepreneurs. FirstSite makes it easier for marketing agencies to create and optimize websites for their clients. It also enables entrepreneurs to quickly create, test, and launch new business ideas without having to spend time or money on a web designer.

You can create your responsive, SEO friendly website today by following these easy steps.

Getting started

Register for a domain on www.8c.sg . Your domain will be the address which users can find your website. For example: www.yourdomain.com. If you are undecided if you should get a .com or a .sg domain, you can read this first .

Next, sign up for an account on https://signup.firstsitebuilder.com/ .

Start with a template (Hundreds of free professional templates to choose from)

No code design

Consistent Branding

If your site accompanies your business or organization and you already have a branding package, make sure the site reflects the same. Use the same logos, fonts and colors on your site.

SEO Optimization

Publishing your website

Once you are done with laying out the content for your website. It's time to get it published. This is the easy part. Your domain will need to be linked to this website. To get this done, simply contact Sandra and she will have it arranged within one business day. FirstSite will cost just SGD$500/year. Your website will be hosted and secured on Amazon Web Services. It will be fully optimized for Google and future proof to browser and other technical updates. For more information on FirstSite visit www.firstsitebuilder.com .

First thing to do after publishing: Secure your website with SSL

Bonus: Make your website an app

A Progressive Web App (PWA) is a web application that enables you to deliver a native app-like experience to users on mobile so that they have a fast, smooth, and engaging experience with your site.

PWAs load instantly, respond quickly to user interactions, and feel like a natural app. They do not need an app store for installation and enable users to re-enter the site instantly, even when a device is offline.

To activate PWA feature:

In the left panel, click Settings, and then click Progressive Web App (PWA).
Click the Activate Progressive Web App toggle. Once PWA has been activated for a site, you can configure the following settings:

Name. This is the name displayed on the splash screen and the “Add to homescreen message.” It can be up to 60 characters long.
Short Name. This is the name used when there is not enough space to display the full name; for example, on the mobile homescreen. This name can be up to 60 characters, but we suggest that you make it as short as you can.
Icon. This is the icon that appears on the mobile homescreen and the splash screen when the app is loading. It must be at least 192 pixels width and in .png format.
Splash screen background color. This is the color that appears while the site is loading.

When a user accesses a site enabled with PWA from their mobile device, they will see an Add to Home screen button displayed below the site. Once added to the home screen, the icon will be displayed on their device for quick access to the site (similar to an app).

The user can now re-enter the site using this icon, even if the device is offline.

How to Build a Million-Dollar One Person in 1 Year without Funding

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 04:00:44 GMT

With references to our own real experience

Our journey began in 2010, when we, like most, believed that to run a successful startup it required lots of funding and an awesome business idea. Long story short, like 99% of startup founders, two years later, we found ourselves broke and exhausted from having to run the business at the same time juggling with the demands of fundraising.

In 2013, the company restarted with just one person and learning from a company with a product we use till today , we decided to do this without any funding. After much fumbling and working with clients and partners who have helped us along the way, we achieved our million dollar revenues in 2017.

Not every one wants to run a venture-funded startup and aim for a billion dollar revenue, and like us, not everyone wants to manage the pressures of being a CEO of a billion dollar unicorn. However, becoming a million dollar business is well within reach if you are looking to build a business that provides for you financially while allowing you to pursue your purpose and passion in life.

In this article, we'll share a few pointers from our journey that can help you get there.

What are you good at? Who needs someone like you?

No surprise. The first step to your million dollar one person business is to identify a business that best suits your experience, skills, and interest, which also solves a pain point for others . Our first learning in 2013 is that in the digital age, having the right tech solutions in place was a pain. Outsourcing companies and agencies were often failing to deliver. Hosting servers going down. Constant updates to open source codes. Most of these were technically complex and the information from different providers were conflicting and confusing.

We found that many were providing technical advisory and selling solutions but no one was providing the non-technical client with answers. As startup owners ourselves, we were good with finding answers. We built a business that provided the right answers to the non-technical guys.

Develop an business model that is high revenue

Business model is all math. If you sold a service/product that is low revenue, you would need a large quantity. If you sold one that is high revenue, you would only need a small quantity. For one person businesses, the need for a small quantity is essential. This is because it is unlikely that you will be able to manage the large quantity for quite obvious reasons.

At 8 Connect Consulting, you will not find us doing template cutting and other similar low value component level jobs. There are companies that we relied on to do these parts of the work while we focused on finding the right solutions for our clients. Doing this also allowed us to align our interest with our clients where we were both seeking the most cost efficient method to delivering the end outcome.

Price = [resource taken (cost) + required earnings from you (margins)] . If the resource taken is high and your required earnings is also high, this will result in a high price that you would need to convince your client of.

In our earlier years, even with open source, our costs of delivering good solutions was relatively higher than today. Hence we needed to charge our clients more by convincing them of the quality and reliability of our developers.

As the landscape of the industry and our business evolved, we have come to observe that many businesses had common digital needs. We translated our quality and reliability to ready built solutions that were more robust and contained best practices that businesses could just adopt. By using and creating ready made solutions that were faster to deploy, reliable and performed better, we were able to get to our million dollar revenues in 2016 by delivering a faster better cheaper solution than traditional IT companies.

If you are unable to reduce cost and need to reduce on price, it would mean that you would eventually be working harder for less.

Work with Experts

Leverage. You'll hear this a lot but what does that mean? In short, work with/use others who are are good at what they are doing.

In our experience, while we are good with technology, we are not good with designs, content writing, and other creative work. As a business model, we partnered with creative and digital agencies who used to have to juggle unreliable technology outsourcing providers. As a partner, we did joint pitches and provided the technical edge to their business. They were good with creative and pitches, we were good with technology.

In another instance, our travel partner provided us inventory of airlines and hotels and we provided the right digital platforms and search for this inventory, forming JetnRoom, a meta-search for flights and hotels .

Another partner was an established mortgage agency who provided us knowledge of mortgage rates and application, jointly we developed BestRate.ai , a solution that finds the best approved mortgage rate from across all the major banks and mortgage financiers in Singapore for home owners.

There are many other parts of our business that we leverage on eventhough we have our own infrastructure. For example while we have our own hosting business, we leverage on Amazon Web Services for FirstSite, to ensure even better reliability for our client's websites.

One person business owners will need to rely on others to reduce cost, reduce risk, and most importantly reach more customers.

Automate

Besides leveraging the expert abilities of others, automation is a huge time saver and also allows your business to continue operating while you take time off. To operate a 24/7 helpdesk with 15 mins response time on EliteWebAgents, we built an automated ticketing system for our help agents to manage the ticketing 365 days 24/7. If we had to rely on our own response on a chat system, this would have been impossible.

With Award Winning Products FirstSite , FirstCommerce , FirstTouch , we automate things like beating the competitors on SEO, making sure that you are ready to sell Online Offline and on Social Media with one click, and appointment bookings and payments anytime anywhere on any device.

It is quite rhetorical to say that automation will save you time and at the same time creates a better customer experience .

Own your customers

This sounds kind of obvious but many business owners, especially if they are agent representatives of a larger corporation, such as financial advisers, property agents, consultants, lawyers, recruiters rely on tools provided by their principal provider. Not having ownership of your customer's data is not having ownership of your customer. When an insurer decides to stop their agency operations, agents could be left in a difficult predicament. In 2013, HSBC insurance shut down their agency distribution channel, agents found themselves in a tough situation with the new insurer taking over ( news ).

Besides efficiencies and contingencies, having your own customer data management platform will allow you full control over your business. If you are unable to move your customers whenever required, you could be missing out on million dollar opportunities.

What business can you start today?

You don't have to quit your job to start your business. If you are already spending time providing expert opinions about something you feel passionate about, you could start today. Here's how

Make a list of things you are passionate about and figure out which ones you can start selling as a service/product
Make a website and start selling the product/service
Share the website on your social media profile and find friends/relatives who might already be in need of your expertise
Find partners who can help you make this a million dollar business

For those of you a little more serious about building your own million dollar business. We help incubate business owners who are able to spend at least 20 hours on their business a week on our Million Dollar 1 Person, MD1P, business builder program .

A critical flaw uncovered In WordPress, please update now!

Sat, 23 Feb 2019 17:31:46 GMT

Just a few days ago, security researchers made public a critical flaw in all WordPress versions, which are older than 4.9.9.

The flaw allows anyone with “author” privileges to completely gain control over a WordPress website . All WordPress versions from the last 6 years are affected.

If you are using a WordPress version, which is older than 4.9.9 , you have to update to the latest version immediately so as to protect yourself from this vulnerability.

Even though the attack vector requires a profile with “author” privileges, access to such an account can be gained via multiple methods like phishing, password reuse, etc.

Once the attacker gains access to such an account, they can execute PHP code on the server, effectively taking over the whole WordPress website.

More information about this new vulnerability can be found in the original report from RIPS Technologies GmbH .

Tired of dealing with security issues and patching Wordpress? Find out what how we help clients overcome the need to constantly patch their website and beat their competitors on SEO using FirstSite .

#WinningWithYou in 2018

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 20:20:33 GMT

Our Wins for 2018 and Looking forward to 2019

Most of you will be familiar with our Award Winning Product, FirstSite , which continues to be our proudest win for the year. This win is not only for us but it's mostly for our clients, partners, and their clients.

If you are on FirstSite, your site continues to outperform competitors in page rankings averaging more than 90/100 on Google Pagespeed.

We are committed to keep your corporate site, campagin page, event pages etc ahead of competitors with winning standards adopted by technology partners Google and Amazon.

If you've recently visited our corporate website, you'd have noticed that it's started snowing/showing fireworks, using triggers you can create personalised experiences on your FirstSite too!

IGCheck - More than 100k Instagram Influencers

With more than 800 million users, Instagram has become one of the most featured Social Media Platforms for everyone.

IGCheck was beta launched in July 2018, this open project is now has detailed analytics on more than 100k Instagram Influencers. It is now a leading go to site for business owners and marketers to find and check Instagrammer's data as they plan their Instagram engagement for 2019.

In 2019, we will be looking for potential collaborators on this project. Please be in touch if you have ideas and would like to collaborate with us on it.

JetnRoom - Metasearch for more than 845 Travel Sites

JetnRoom does not sell tickets. We simply find the best prices from more than 845 different sources including popular sites like Cheapfaresmart, Expedia, Travelgenio, Hotels.com, and Agoda.

Using data from hundreds of thousands of searches on our site, we are able to help our users find out which is the cheapest month to travel in 2019 .

In 2019, we will be including a Universal Travel Program that works alongside your airline/hotel/credit card rewards so that our users will save even more when they travel.

RedHotBlock - Blockchain, Fintech and Cryptcurrency

RedHotBlock.com is a News aggregation portal to the latest in the Blockchain Technology, and Fintech. Our current info source includes more than 70 sources such as Cointelegraph, Coindesk CNBC, Fintech News, and Techcrunch.

Alongside, RedHotBlock Markets provides a wiki for more than 2000 blockchain cryptocurrencies with information, real-time quotes, trades, interactive historical charts and twitter timeline feeds.

Gramdeck

After the successful launch of IGCheck, our Instagram Influencers have told us that they've found the one URL limitation on Instagram bios such a pain. So we decided to create another free web service to help them with this. Enter Gramdeck, a simple one page bio that works seamlessly with Instagram. With their own unique URL, our users are able to create a complete bio of their social profile.

It's free and it takes literally 1 minute to setup. For Instagrammers the current subdomain is insta.gramdeck.com/username.

In 2019, we intend to extend this beyond Instagrammers to professionals and business owners who want a simple page of themselves that includes all their social profiles, ecommerce stores, portfolio etc. This will be especially useful for QR codes used on namecards, letterheads, banners etc.

Hope 2018 has been a great year for you too and we look forward to #WinningWithYou in 2019.

Why is your SEO not working

jean@8connect.com (FirstSite Administrator) — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 19:29:37 GMT

What's under the hood matters

Your SEO strategy is the perfect on the outside

You've hired an SEO expert to find the right keywords, ensured sufficient backlinks, integrated Google webmaster services, frequently updated your content, shared your content on social media as often as you could. You have literally done everything there is to be done, and yet the new kid on the block is still beating you at SEO. Why is that?

Over the years, Search Engine Optimization has dramatically evolved. Google’s updates to its indexing algorithm ( Penguin , Panda, Panda 2 ) and now with machine learning to automatically evolve , ensures that the site is mostly focused on rewarding websites that develop relevance through content rather than through using tricks to game the search results ranking system.

Even with all the right content your site just doesn't do as well as it could have. It's time to take a little peek under the hood. Google has created just the tool for your to understand how it views your website.

What is PageSpeed Insights?

Pagespeed Insights analyzes the content of a web page, then generates suggestions to make that page perform better. There may be several articles on the internet by SEO consultants who are technically not capable or are just too lazy to optimise your website to the standards of pagespeed and would tell you that it does not matter.

However, unless your Search Engine Optimisation strategy does not include Google, every variable matters. Google cares about your users' (also their users) experience on the internet. Pagespeed insights can help you understand clearly which technical aspects of your site's usability (hence SEO) is broken and how to fix it.

Using DIY editors

Drag and drop editors like Wxx, Wxxxxx, Pagexxxx usually perform exceedingly poorly on PageSpeed. The automatic code conversions are only made to cater to the visual aspects of building a website. If your web traffic does not rely on search optimisation. They make really good and cost efficient starter sites. However, if you were attempting a serious SEO campaign, you'll find your sports car running on only a motorcycle engine.

Using Wordpress/Joomla etc...

The open source world provides a number of good options with search engine optimisation. Wordpress and Joomla are all inherently designed with SEO technical functionalities in mind and while it's not as easy to use as DIY editors, they provide a good ability for customisation and not to mention a ton of free/paid extensions and widgets to make your site feature rich. Coupled with strong developer communities, if implemented correctly a Wordpress/Joomla site can provide a cost efficient, search engine optimised site that is feature rich.

The only challenge with Wordpress and Joomla is that being a opensource code base, you will need to be particularly careful about which other extensions and widgets you add to the codebase and to also optimise that code base as well. In addition, you should also need to upkeep the sites as browsers update and new devices become available. Most importantly you will need to secure the site from security hacks which happens a fair bit for the open source code deployments.

While it may seem like a lot of hassle, this is the common choice for most websites on the internet as many SEO consultants have found the technicalities manageable or are able to find complementary php developers who are able to maintain and manage their client's sites.

Search Engine Optimised Drag and Drop

FirstSite is a Search Engine Optimised Drag and Drop system by 8 Connect Consulting where we provide the both drag and drop capability and SEO perfection to match the Ferrari to the engine. Our sites consistently perform at >90/100 on pagespeed regardless of browser updates/devices. We do this by providing a centralised Google optimised website management system that is hosted by Amazon Web Services.

While the site may not have the customisability of Wordpress, the designs trade offs with SEO and Business features that are able to help drive traffic and improve conversion for Corporate Websites, Sales landing pages, Campaign Microsites, Wedding Websites, Event Promotion Sites and more.

Sites done on FirstSite outperform more than 90% of the websites found online. Don't take our word for it. Let Google PageSpeed tell you how we do.

For more information please visit the FirstSite information page

2 free must use tools to hire the right Instagram Influencer

jean@8connect.com (FirstSite Administrator) — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 16:24:50 GMT

Coinciding with the rumours and subsequent announcement of IGTV , we've received requests from our clients to figure a solution to identify the right instagram influencers. Apparently problem of fake instagram influencers was already quite extensive in an earlier post by Mediakix and the subsequent follow up post . Despite the number paid solutions the conflict of interest remains with hiring influencers where the influencer agencies/platforms are measured based on the numbers that are delivered by the influencers on their platforms. It's kind of like having a recruiter to assess the performance of a candidate that they have hired for you and using that as a measure of their own performance. The candidates will naturally be rated exceedingly well as it is a reflection of themselves.

During our quick research we've found that the data that they need is in fact public and readily available. We've listed 2 must use free tools that will help you find the right instagram influencers.

IGAudit.io

IGAudit.io enables you to find out the relative percentage that the users of any instagrammer account is real. Created by Authentíque, Inc to bring more transparency to Instagram. Originally built by a former NASA Scientist/Facebook/Snapchat engineer, it examines a random sample of followers for any public user, and in ~15 seconds, estimates their real follower ratio using an internal classification algorithm.

In short you can check an instagrammer for follower authenticity easily. The service is NOT BY 8 Connect Consulting but we've found it very useful.

However we've found that this information insufficient and decided to extend the amount of public information with some simple analytics to create a historical database of engagement levels by the instagrammers.

IGCheck.com

IGcheck.com adds on to the good work of igaudit.io, we’ve decided to extend a free service to check for engagement levels and to monitor the growth of followers and engagement over time. IG check.com measures the details missed by igaudit.io. Based on public data you can forecast the likely engagement level you will get for your influencer with every post. The database currently tracks more than 100k Instagram Influencers and we are currently developing a data model on Google data studio that will help brands and agencies identify the right instagram micro influencers.

At the time of writing both services are provided completely free and we believe that with free and open data we can improve the reputation and reliability of the influencer eco-system.

We are GDPR ready

jean@8connect.com (FirstSite Administrator) — Thu, 24 May 2018 08:24:15 GMT

Let's Get You Ready for the CDPR!

Online privacy is important to all of us, and it's particularly relevant today, with the implementation of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This new privacy regulation, applicable in the EU and to any business that has customers there, has a direct and immediate effect on how online businesses collect and store data.

THE CDPR & HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR BUSINESS

The CDPR is the new law regulating how personal data (everything that can help identify a person) of individuals in the EU can be collected, used and processed. It takes effect on May 25, 2018, and affects everyone in the EU.

According to the CDPR, websites need to protect site visitors' privacy. This means website owners need to:

Get consent to collect and store data
Explain how collected data will be used
Be able to delete all data collected from site visitors, upon request

How We Help You Comply & Bring Value to Your Business

FirstSite was inherently built with yours and your client's data privacy and safety in mind. By showing your clients you meet these new regulations, you provide a safer, trust-building user experience to your potential customers.

1) A Standard Privacy Policy to Boost Site Transparency

The CDPR requires all websites to inform users about the type of data the site collects and what this data is used for. We provide a standard privacy policy that can be customized with your website's specific details.

2) Customized Cookie Notification

A new cookie notification lets visitors know your site collects information in the form of cookies. We also recommend linking a site's cookie notification to its privacy policy.

3) Free SSL Certificate

We provide a free SSL certificate for HTTPS encryption. This ensures the connection to your website is secure and cannot be intercepted.

4) Consent Fields on Contact Forms

According to the CDPR, website owners must get consent from site visitors before collecting data. To comply with this requirement, we have added an opt-in consent field in every contact form on your site.

5) Personal Data Deletion

The CDPR requires that if a site visitor requests to have their personal data deleted, the website owner must do so without delay. We can enable you to manage and delete all of a visitor's personal data that was submitted through website contact forms.

Your CDPR Checklist

Activate a customized Privacy Policy
Enable opt-in consent on all Contact Forms
Activate a Cookie Notification
Set up your SSL Certificate

Winning on SEO

Sun, 25 Mar 2018 15:53:33 GMT

Google optimised powered by Amazon Web Services

The 8 Connect Ecosystem for Web Optimization

Step 1 : Setting the right SEO foundation

Building a website is like building a house. If the foundations and structures were not built right, no amount of renovation or decorating (SEO Optimization) is going to make it a beautiful house. A reasonably good SEO consultant would be able assemble the right wordpress installation with the right themes and a combination of right tools. However, this will probably cost a fair bit as it would require a substantial amount of effort on their end. To find out if your website has the right foundations and structures, just do a quick check on Google pagespeed insights .

Remember to check this yearly/half-yearly as upgrades to browsers and search algorithms can sometimes cause this to degrade.

FirstSite by 8 Connect Consulting is fully optimized for Google pagespeed and hosted on Amazon web services. With a lifetime of free upgrades, you'll never have to worry about your website's foundations and structures.

Step 2 : Planning that SEO

Google's Keyword Tool is a good starting point to compile that list of keywords. We suggesting finding a list of about 10 words relevant to your business and another 5 more extra words. Making a list of about 10-15 words. Write content relevant to the 10-15 words into your website from step 1. Next, create a link building plan to share your links and content to social media and even trade content with other bloggers.

Steamcreative has a comprehensive guide to getting this done. Also check out the free SEO tools that we provide.

For our clients and partners, we've developed a competitor search engine analysis tool (IMBA) that can help you get this done. While others are manually figuring which keywords works best, our clients get ahead with insights on their competitor's SEO strategies.

Step 3 : Maintaining that SEO

Just like maintaining a house, you will need to both maintain the decorative aspects (keyword effectiveness and other marketing effectiveness indexes) and the foundations (website codes and structure). Having a website is not a fire and forget process. It can be but it is usually not for most businesses.

Our clients and partners can spend all their efforts on the improving the effectiveness of their marketing (keywords). FirstSite is built and maintained to be optimised for Google and other search engines. While you will not need to manage the modify the technical foundations, you will want to create new content so that you are more discoverable over time.

Secret to beating the competition in SEO

Winning on SEO is not just about SEO. What you are really trying to get to is not only becoming listed first on Google, but to be discoverable whenever your target customer is looking for you/your service on search. The reality is that top professionals rely close to zero on SEO - Article by SEOBook . There are other strategies including referrals and social selling, that will help you find and convert clients. If you are still overly concerned with beating the competition on SEO, just ask yourself if you have ever engaged a doctor or financial adviser just using search alone.