Dell Technologies has outdone itself yet again with another virtual Dell Technologies Forum. The theme this year – Your Digital Future is Here – was vividly reflected throughout the event. And I am glad to have been a part of some truly inspiring and thought-provoking sessions.
Let me begin with the Keynote Sessions by Dell Technologies leaders – Alok Ohrie – President and Managing Director, Jeff Boudreau – President and General Manager, Infrastructure Solutions Group, and Amit Midha – President, Asia Pacific & Japan and Global Digital Cities.
Realizing the pace of digital transformation that the world is undergoing, and the India perspective shared by Alok Ohrie was very inspiring. It’s amazing how the year 2020 compelled 52% of Indian firms to accelerate the adoption of digital ways of working practices, and how 138,000 new hires were brought into the IT industry during FY22. The country is surely pacing up towards the digital future.
It’s also remarkable how Dell Technologies has been at the forefront – powering up businesses to move forward in their digital journey.
I was also inspired to know how Dell Technologies has been partnering with NGOs and the government to initiate various programs to upskill the youth of the nation. Initiatives like Atal Tinkering Labs and partnership programs with NGOs like Shikshana Foundation, Hope, etc. are not just upskilling the youth but are also empowering the next generation to drive the country’s digital economy. By fostering the youth with tech readiness, we can create a better and much stronger digital future for the country. I really applaud the initiatives taken by Dell and its partners.
Coming back to the business world, leaders – Jeff Boudreau and Amit Midha had some interesting views, highlighting the role that data plays today and will play in the future. In this world where everything is connected, data has a critical role to play. For businesses, data can help in driving intelligent insights and can also enable businesses to innovate better – from analytics to prediction. It was also interesting to know about the current-day data paradoxes from Amit Midha and how Dell Technologies has the right set of technologies and solutions to help businesses overcome these paradoxes.
Some of the other sessions that kept the audience hooked were:
The fireside chat with Aongus Hegarty, President, International Markets, Dell Technologies along with a customer that elaborated the need for an effective cyber resiliency strategy
The session on Diversity and Inclusion, which highlighted the alliance between Dell Technologies and Intel in establishing an inclusive culture
The insightful breakout sessions on the future of Work, IT and Data – that had multiple sessions deep-diving into how businesses can reinvent themselves in the digital future and the role that technology plays in enabling the same
An inspiring celebrity session with the tennis champion Leander Paes and host Mini Mathur
The live session on Empowering women in technology underlined the unique struggles of women employees in the technology sector, the key reasons behind women’s leadership gap, the path of advancement and much more
And the exclusive session on Startups had shed light on the key tech drivers that will make India ‘the’ Digital Economy; how well startups are equipped to integrate tech to scale; the challenges and opportunities; and the way to accelerate the startup growth through technology – a lot to take back from this session!
All in all, Dell Tech Forum 2021 was truly a very insightful, interesting, and inspiring event. And the rock and roll conclusion was a cherry on the top.
I am definitely looking forward to the next year and I am sure Dell Technologies will stop at nothing to amaze us all. If you missed out on the event, you could check the on-demand sessions and set the path to the digital future for your business.
Term insurance is a financial backup covering premature death. The reason why a term plan is one of the essential inclusions in your financial portfolio is that aside from ensuring monetary freedom for your family, it also promises to fulfil other financial aspirations. Aside from a Life Cover, an online term plan also makes you eligible for several advantages.
Usually, people buy term life insurance cover until the age of 60. Here are the reasons why paying for term insurance till the age of 60 is a wise financial decision.
Advantages of paying for term insurance till 60 years of age
Premium Payment During Salaried Years
Making term insurance premium payments is easier when you have a fixed income in the working years of your life. While the age of retirement is being pushed and individuals are extending their work-life, generally, 60 is when most working professionals choose to retire.
Post-retirement, the monthly spending budget is revised, and you tend to cut down on extra expenses. However, when you are earning, you can easily set a certain amount aside for paying the term insurance premium.
When the premium payments are completed at the right age, they don’t burden your pocket.
Worry-Free Retirement
The second innings of your life should be free from financial liabilities or all elements that bring you down. You make investments in the initial phase of your career to reap its fruit during retirement years, when you don’t have an income source supplemented by a work-life.
However, if your term insurance continues beyond the age of 60, this mandatory premium payment might affect your retirement funds rather than be a beneficial investment. Experts recommend early investments in plans that will provide you with passive income to support your lifestyle during retirement.
No Dependents
One of the most important reasons to buy term life insurance is to secure the life of your dependents if something unfortunate were to happen to you as the sole breadwinner of the family. In the initial stages of your career, these financial dependents might include your children, spouse, or aged parents.
However, this equation changes after the age of 60, especially concerning your children. Generally, when you are 60, your young children are old enough to earn for themselves, and you need not have a term insurance plan to secure their futures.
Moreover, because you have retired, the term insurance premium will most probably have to be paid by your children on your behalf. This is why extending your term plan beyond the age of 60 is not a wise financial decision in the long run.
Important Considerations Before Buying Term Insurance
Every individual has different financial requirements, which consequently also changes their term insurance needs. Amongst others, flexibility is one of the greatest term insurance benefits, enabling insurance seekers to choose a plan that addresses their concerns.
As a term plan secures the financial well-being of your family, it is important to do adequate research before investing in a policy. When you buy an online term plan, you can compare different policies to find the one that suits your needs. Here are the things you must ensure before buying an online term plan:
Reliable Insurance Provider
Choosing the right insurer is just as important as choosing the right insurance cover. You must undertake an analysis to check whether the insurance provider has the financial health to validate your claims. You must also check the claim settlement ratio of the insurance provider to check their credibility.
Determine Your Coverage Requirements
Every insurance seeker must take a look at their lifestyle to determine how much financial cover do they need. In addition to this, it is also important to observe your liabilities, such as any loans you may have taken, and add that to the coverage amount. Finally, also consider inflation in your coverage amount to ensure wholesome financial protection of your loved ones.
Suitable Riders to Enhance Your Plan Benefits
Amongst the best term plan benefits is that it enables you to enhance your cover with a choice of add-ons to your basic policy. If the policyholder dies due to any of the conditions specified in the rider policy, the nominee receives an additional amount over and above the death benefit.
With increasing health risks and soaring hospital bills, a critical illness rider is recommended to every policyholder. For individuals who travel a lot, an accidental death benefit rider can be highly beneficial.
Buy Online Term Insurance
Term insurance benefits are better when insurance is purchased online. Not only does it enable easier comparison of the policies available online, but it helps you save more on the policy. The term plan premium is cheaper when you purchase it online instead of in person, which makes your policy cost-effective. The digital payment options further ease online insurance purchases.
The Edelweiss Tokio term plan comes with a host of attractive features that ensure comprehensive financial protection. After selecting the suitable term insurance cover, the policyholder can either choose to pay the premiums to the age of 60 or until the conclusion of the policy term based on their preference. And, what’s more? You get the trusted and reliable after-sale service and seamless claim settlement of Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance.
Conclusion
A term plan is an important investment for the financial health of your loved ones. However, to avail yourself of the various term plan benefits, ensure that you choose the right cover and the right duration of your term insurance policy.
Are you new to the world of investing? Do you plan on investing in mutual funds via the SIP mode of investment? Look no further. This article acts as an investment guide on how to invest in mutual funds via SIP. Read on to know more.
Systematic Investment Plan, commonly known as SIP is a way to invest your money in the desired investment vehicle. Under SIP investment, systematic and regular installments are made towards your desired mutual fund scheme regularly.
The periodicity of the intervals can be daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annually, or annually. An investor can save as low as Rs 100 in mutual funds via SIP. There are different types of SIP an investor can choose from – regular or vanilla SIP, top-up SIP, perpetual SIP, etc.
How to invest in SIP
Investing in mutual funds via SIP is a seamless process. Just follow these simple steps to invest in SIP:
1. Analyze your investment goals and your risk profile
Understanding your risk profile is very important before you begin your investment journey. After careful analysis of your risk profile, it is equally important to understand your financial objective or what do you aim to achieve from your investments.
2. Choose the right type of investment
Selecting the right investment option must be dependent on your risk profile, financial objectives, and investment duration. Do not forget to check the past performance of the investment avenue. After finalizing the right type of mutual fund for your profile, follow these simple steps:
Properly fill the KYC [Know Your Customer] form
Deliver mandatory identity proofs such as Aadhar card, bank details, address proof, utility bills, etc.
You need to provide a cancelled cheque of the SIP investment amount if you decide to go forward with the offline mode of investment. However, if you choose the online mode, you would need to fill the ECS [Electronic Clearing Service] mandate form.
3. Choose the investment date
As an investor, you have the liberty to choose a date that suits your needs. Usually, it’s advised to choose the date that you get your salary or a regular income on.
4. Decide the investment horizon
Investing in SIP is a good way to achieve your financial goals. Determine the investment horizon needed to reach your goals. You can also use an SIP calculator to understand the future value of your investments.
5. Choose between online or offline mode of investment
As an investor, you have the choice to invest in mutual funds online or offline via SIP. Irrespective of the fact that you choose online mode of offline mode, the investment amount automatically gets debited from your bank account and is used to buy mutual fund units of your desired scheme.
6. Stay invested until your financial goals are met or end of your investment horizon
SIPs are a good way to create wealth to fulfill your long-term investment horizons. Unlike lumpsum investment, you do not have to worry about timing the markets. Instead, SIP investment believes in the concept of time in the market. So, ignore the volatility associated with your mutual fund investments and stay invested until you have achieved your financial goals, or your investment horizon ends.
SIP investments are a godsend investment avenue to those retail investors who cannot afford to invest their entire investment horizon in one go. Use them properly to achieve your financial goals. Happy investing!
NetApp, a global cloud-led, data-centric software company, announced the graduation of its eighth cohort of the flagship startup accelerator program, NetApp Excellerator. The eight business-to-business [B2B] tech startups, which all share a focus on deep tech, including Artificial Intelligence [AI], Machine Learning [ML], cloud, and data, graduated via a virtual demo.
Data Sutram, FireCompass, Metabob, Maxbyte, Nife, Snapblocs, State of Mind, and Tongadivedelivered pitches relating technologies such as security, location intelligence, smart manufacturing, and employee experience, to a live digital audience of venture capitalists, investors, and NetApp leaders.
Speaking about the graduation, Ravi Chhabria, Managing Director, NetApp India said
Events from 2020 have emphasized the importance of developing equitable, sustainable, and scalable businesses, with a people-centric approach. One of our participating startups, State of Mind, an AI-driven conversational intelligence platform, is working with our HR team to improve employee experience and well-being. This is yet another example of data providing business value, in this case improving employee experience and increasing engagement and retention of talent.
Paid proofs of concept have been an integral part of the program in fine-tuning the startup offerings and technology. Emphasizing this aspect in delivering customer-centricity, Chhabria further said
Another topically relevant startup, FireCompass, is working with our Information Security team to test the resilience of their threat-detection tool. Today, digital transformation is driving the future of work, and having worked with 50 startups, we are able to amplify our ability to innovate.
As proof of the growing global reach of the program, five of the eight startups- Metabob, Snapblocs, Nife, FireCompass, and Tongadive, are spread across three countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. All of these startups are being mentored by tech leaders from NetApp India, further establishing the center as a hotbed of innovation and technology growth for globally relevant solutions.
Madhurima Agarwal, Director of Engineering Programs and leader of NetApp Excellerator, said
Solving real-world challenges with data is built into our DNA. The need for business resilience and digital transformation has brought out the best in this cohort of startups to tackle the most pressing problems. We couldn’t be more proud of the founders, who are unrestrained in their ability to transform and modernize across industries, despite the obvious constraints brought in by the pandemic.
Alluding to the broad reach of the accelerator program beyond the participating startups, Agarwal added
We are associating with prestigious industry bodies to invest in the rapid transformation of the startup ecosystem. As an exciting opportunity to harness our cloud expertise, we have partnered with NASSCOM Deep Tech Club 2.0 to elevate India-based pioneering startups in this space.
Through this association, NetApp will lend its cloud-and data-related technology leadership to the startups that NASSCOM and other industry partners are seeking to mentor.
NetApp ExcellerateHER, a core diversity-driven initiative, engaged the second collective of women-led startups, FireCompass, Tongadive, and Nife. NetApp ExcellerateHER taps the power of the accelerator network to further women entrepreneurs in this digital-first world.
Details of the eighth cohort of the NetApp Excellerator program:
Since its inception in 2017, the award-winning NetApp Excellerator program has received over 1,700 applications. Applications are now open for the ninth cohort, with focus areas including cloud, Internet of Things, big data and analytics, ML, virtualization, data security, data management, and storage.
Core Web Vitals are essential factors that Google takes into consideration when it evaluates your website’s user experience. There are three separate page speed and user interaction measurements that go into Core Web Vitals.
Core Web Vitals are part of Google’s overall evaluation of ‘page experience’. In essence, they are how Google’s algorithm comes to terms with your UX.
If you’re wondering about the performance of your Core Web Vitals, then you can check them out in the ‘enhancements’ part of your Google Search Console profile. There you can see what Google thinks of your Core Web Vitals.
What Makes Core Web Vitals Important?
Machine learning is being utilized to streamline business processes more and more each day. The mother of all machine learning services is Google – which as of June 2021 uses page experience as an official ranking factor. This factor is a combination of your site’s Core Web Vitals with a few more factors added on top.
Page experience includes a variety of factors Google regards as crucial to your users’ experience, like:
Your site’s Https
How mobile-friendly your site is
If your site is safe to browse and doesn’t contain malware
Naturally, Core Web Vitals make up a solid chunk of this score. In fact, it’s quite likely that they are the biggest factor considered in Google’s page experience evaluation.
Simply scoring well in terms of page experience isn’t a magical way to get to the top of Google’s rankings. Page experience is just one of around 200 factors Google uses to rank your site.
If you’re looking to get ahead of the pack and enhance your customer value management, then improving your Core Web Vitals now is a good idea.
In this article, we’ll go over all of the Core Web Vitals, as well as consider what you can do to improve them.
Largest Contentful Paint [LCP]
The largest contentful paint describes the amount of time it takes for your page to load from a user’s point of view.
Put simply, it’s the time that passes between a user clicking a link and seeing the content on-screen.
Now it’s important to consider that LCP is quite different from most other measurements of page speed. Most of them, like first contentful paint, aren’t accurate representations of a user opening your page. Plus, factors that are out of your control may affect your visitors’ internet speed, like if it’s faster due to their using a VPN or slower due to viruses or spyware.
Barring any interference by those factors, LCP is essentially a measure of the time it takes for your user to be able to see and interact with your page’s content.
You can use Google PageSpeed Insights to see your LCP. This is the simplest way to do it, and it edges out tools like WebPageTest by giving you factual performance data.
With that being said, the best way to see LCP is through the Google Search Console. The data in the GSC is the same as the data provided by PageSpeed Insights; however, the GSC gives you a breakdown of your LCP on the entirety of your website, rather than each page individually. It’ll give you a list of URLs on your site that are good, bad, or middling.
This is because Google categorizes LCP into three different boxes:
A ‘Good’ rating requires that you hit LCP at around 2.5 seconds
If LCP take up to four seconds, it ‘Needs Improvement’
Anything longer than four seconds is categorized as ‘Poor’ LCP
Now, this factor can be quite difficult to change, especially for those pages with an abundance of features, or simply those that are very large in magnitude.
The first steps you should take when improving LCP is to clean up the webpage’s code, as well as take a look at the media presented. If you have a page with several high-res images, you should consider removing a couple to get a faster LCP. Simply setting up a content delivery network [CDN] or similar is generally not enough to improve LCP.
So, what else can you do to get your website’s LCP as low as possible? Here are a few tips:
Minimize running third-party scripts – Studies have shown that every third-party script running on a page slows it down by around 34ms.
Get better web hosting – The better your hosting, the quicker your load times [including LCP] will be.
Take advantage of lazy loading – Lazy loading, or asynchronous loading, is when your images load only as users scroll down your page. This means you can ensure a much faster LCP.
Get rid of some elements – You can use Google PageSpeed Insights or GSC data to determine if a single element is having a significant effect on your LCP.
Minimize CSS – Having a lot of bulky CSS on your webpage can lead to a large LCP increase.
First Input Delay [FID]
The second Core Web Vital is FID or first input delay. Once your page has hit LCP, Google will look at how well your users can interact with your page.
Much like LCP, FID is a rather simple measurement. It is simply the time it takes for a user to interact with the page.
Now, these interactions can be almost anything. They range from picking options from a menu or putting in their email into your registration field, to initiating cloud calling with customer support or a sales rep. Although it is such a wide metric, FID is still extremely important to your Core Web Vital performance.
The reason Google values FID so much is that it’s an excellent metric to see how actual users will interact with your site.
Much like LCP, Google has a variety of different criteria for determining whether your FID is up to par:
0-100ms is a ‘Good’ FID
100-300ms is a ‘Needs Improvement’ FID
Over 300ms is a ‘Poor’ FID
Although FID is a measure of how long it takes for something to happen on the page, making it technically a page speed score, it also measures how long it takes your users to interact with your page in a meaningful way.
Now, pages that have basically no room for interaction, like blog posts or something similar, won’t need to pay much attention to FID. After all, the only interaction available is scrolling up and down, and zooming in or out.
For some websites that are heavily rooted in content, you might find that the Google Search Console might not even give you a measure of your FID.
On the other hand, for pages that are almost completely made of interactable elements like login, sign up, or similar pages where you want your users to click on something quickly, FID is one of their most important Core Web Vitals.
For example, a login page doesn’t really care about how long it takes for all its content to load [LCP], but it cares a lot about when the user can start typing in their details [FID].
So, what can you do to ensure a good FID score? You can try implementing the following changes:
Minimize JavaScript – While JavaScript is loading, it’s nigh-impossible for a user to properly interact with your page. Hence, by minimizing the JS on your page, you can get a better FID.
Minimize third-party scripts – Much like LCP, third-party scripts harm FID as well.
Take advantage of a browser cache – Having a browser cache will help all of the content on your page to load quickly, helping you get through loading JS much quicker.
Cumulative Layout Shift [CLS]
The CLS is essentially a measure of your page’s visual stability while it’s loading. If page elements are moving around a lot while loading, that means you have a high CLS.
Low CLS lets your users remember where links, images, and fields are before your page has fully loaded, and it minimizes the chances of them clicking something like an ad for vape juice by accident.
A CLS of 0.1 or less is ‘Good’
Up to 0.25 ‘Needs Improvement’
Anything past that is ‘Poor’
In order to minimize your CLS score, you can:
Use set size attribute dimensions – Doing this will let your user’s browser be aware of how much space a given element will take on-page. This will prevent it from changing this on the fly while the page is loading.
Reserve ad space – If you don’t have allocated space for ads, ads might pop up on the page, pushing the actual content to a different location on-screen.
Add elements under the fold – By inserting UI elements under the fold, content that the user expects to stick in place won’t go down.
The Bottom Line
Core Web Vitals is now very important for your Google ranking. Given that the top three Google searches get 75.1% of traffic, enhancing your Core Web Vitals is an important part of a good sales methodology. It’s a great idea to take action now to improve your Core Web Vitals. Reports are already available, so you can take measures to ensure an excellent user experience.
Online marketing is one of the most dynamic fields today. Google and the other search engines are always changing their algorithms in their ongoing campaign to provide the best possible service to their users. Platforms and techniques are also always changing as software creators and marketers battle it out in an evolutionary battle against the competition.
This means that in order to remain competitive you will need to keep up with the latest trends. Here, we take a look at what trends are important to watch in Search Engine Optimization [SEO] in 2021.
A Greater Focus on Semantic Search
Keywords have been a mainstay of SEO for as long as SEO has existed, and it looks set to stay that way for some time. To get ahead in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), however, it is becoming increasingly important to look at other, more sophisticated strategies as well. One such strategy is to take search intent into account.
Google’s users won’t always know which search terms will bring up your products – many won’t even be looking for your products specifically in the first place. This means that using keywords is not always effective at bringing people to your site, even if you are ranking in first place for those keywords.
Instead, it’s becoming increasingly important to try and understand what people are looking for regardless of how specific their search queries are. With this in mind, it helps to remember the four intents people have when using Google:
Getting information
Buying something
Shopping around and comparing products/prices
Finding a specific website
Define what your likely prospect’s intentions are, and create content that helps to deliver what they are looking for. If you’re selling CNC machined parts, for example, your prospects are likely to be looking at specifications, price, and performance. If you’re selling a conference calling solution, they’re likely going to be looking at speed, quality of sound and video, features, and monthly rates. Create content with these intents in mind and your content is more likely to match with the search terms people are using.
Also, try and make the most of any tools that are available that will help you understand better what peoples’ intentions are. Machine learning solutions can help you get into the psyche of your prospects, helping you to create a website that is better suited to meet their requirements.
Greater Focus on Mobile-Friendliness
It should be obvious by now that SEOs need to pay attention to the fact that mobiles are the most common source of traffic on the internet. The search engines are certainly well aware of this, and your site is more likely to rank well if it has been designed with mobile-friendliness in mind.
Regardless, mobile-friendliness is more of a focus in 2021 than ever before. Mobile-friendliness in SEO means several things, including:
Mobile Responsiveness
Your website will not only be shown on desktop computers with large, 20+ inch monitors but also small smartphones, and the shape of the mobile screen will also vary. Mobile responsiveness takes this into account and helps ensure your website appears correctly regardless of the size and proportions of the screen it is shown on. Google will know whether or not your website is mobile optimized, so make sure it’s something you do.
Accelerated mobile pages (AMP) means that the website is optimized to load up quickly when it’s shown on a mobile device. AMP basically means that a “lite” version of the website will be shown instead of the full version. Readers still get access to everything on the site but without the bells and whistles and everything else that might slow it down. AMP is another thing that Google will be able to identify if your website uses.
Reduced File Size
Large files, including images, can take a long time to load on mobiles. Google will know if your site is taking a long time to load, and this will result in your site falling down in the SERPS. To help keep the loading times down, it’s a good idea to reduce file sizes as much as possible.
Large Buttons
A high click-through rate (CTR) is a factor when it comes to the SERPs. However, the small screens of mobile devices can make it difficult to click on a button in just the right place, potentially causing users to struggle to open a page, or open pages they did not mean to open. One way to overcome this is to make sure any buttons are large enough and easy enough to find that they can be located and clicked on easily, even on small screens.
Constantly Improving User Experience
Google is placing more and more focus on user experience, and this includes their experience beyond the SERPS. They also want your website to provide a good experience for their users.
A lot of the common user experience issues have been covered in the mobile-friendly section above, but a good user experience should apply to all websites regardless of the device being used to access it. This includes fast loading times – people searching on a desktop computer will also not want to be left waiting while your website loads up.
Make sure your website is easy to navigate and people can find their way around without having to go on a treasure hunt for what they want. Use videos where possible. People often prefer them over having to read text, and it helps people absorb and understand what you are saying.
Try and take the opportunity to ensure your website adds value to your product/services. For example, an investment firm could offer a free-to-use calculator that helps their users work out the returns on their mutual fund investments. Such tools will be shared and result in a higher CTR, helping to give your rankings a boost. Value selling in this manner can also help to compel prospects to choose your company over a competitor.
Perhaps the key challenge is having to adjust to how people use voice search, particularly how they perform searches. When people perform a search using a keyboard, they tend to do so concisely and use the exact words they are looking for. When a search is made by voice, however, it tends to be done more casually, using complete sentences rather than just a few select keywords.
For example, a keyboard search for CBD products might be something like: “CBD flower near me” but a voice search is more likely to be “I want to find CBD flower close to where I live.“
These differences mean SEOs need to rethink their keyword strategy to account for voice searches as well as keyboard searches.
More Advanced Zero-Click Search Results
Google likes zero-click results because it helps to deliver what their users are looking for, and quickly. Many questions are answered right there on the SERP itself, saving their users from having to click through and wait for web pages to load up.
There is some controversy over zero-click search results because of the claim that they take traffic away from websites, and website owners are the ones providing the content for Google to use. Google and others, on the other hand, claim that they are actually increasing traffic to websites.
Regardless of where you stand on the debate, it looks as though zero-click searches will be around for some time. Indeed, it looks as though Google is going to double down and place even more focus on them in 2021 and beyond.
SEOs need to bear in mind that zero-click search results are here to stay for the foreseeable future, and do their best to make the most of the situation. See it as an opportunity to answer a prospect’s question before they even click on your website, meaning you have already given them something of value, thus strengthening your relationship with them.
Zero-click search results can also be very effective at raising brand visibility regardless of whether or not they generate clicks.
More Focus on Local SEO
Recent years have seen an increased focus on SEO, and 2021 is continuing this trend. It makes a lot of sense, especially to smaller businesses, so it’s something SEOs should be focusing on regardless of trends.
Google My Business has emerged relatively recently as somewhat of a powerhouse where local SEO is concerned. Using Google My Business can help make your business a lot more visible on search engines, while also giving you an opportunity to improve your customers’ experience. It’s free to use, so make the most of it, because you can be sure your competitors will be even if you don’t.
We Will See More Video
Users of Google might have noticed that there are more and more videos shown on the SERPs. Google likes video; a website that has video tells Google that the website is trying to offer content that’s useful and/or entertaining – which is exactly what their users want.
As mentioned above, video will also help to improve the user experience, which helps to keep people on your site, reduces bounce rates, and increases your CTR.
Not only that, but videos also help to make your website more visible on other platforms, like YouTube. For example, a lot of people will turn to YouTube for videos on how to do things, like fixing a faucet. If those people can find your video showing them how to fix a faucet on YouTube, it can send a lot of traffic your way.
Even better, useful videos tend to be shared among people, potentially helping to generate more good quality backlinks for you.
Video also doesn’t have to be as expensive as it used to be. Nowadays, even amateurs can produce professional-looking videos on a limited budget. Professional quality cameras are more affordable than ever before, and sophisticated but easy-to-use software helps with editing.
Conclusion
Above are just a few of the trends we can expect to see in the second half of 2021. Much of SEO will focus on developing technologies and how people are using the internet. Technologies like voice search, for example, are likely to increase in usage, and it makes sense to adapt accordingly if you have not done so already.
The examples above are not the only current SEO trends you should watch, but some of those that are most likely to affect you. Keep your ear to the ground and adjust accordingly to help keep you ranking above the competition.
About The Author
Doug Walker is an Online Marketing Expert that has built successful eCommerce businesses from the ground up, worked with enterprise-level organizations such as Dell, Intuit, Coldwater Creek, and FindLaw/Thomson Reuters, and consulted for small law firms and businesses. Over the past 13 years, Doug has taken a customized, proprietary approach to digital marketing and has written several articles to help maximize revenue and dominate online niches.
Many individuals draw a handsome salary but are unable to convert the salary into tangible returns. One of the probable reasons is minimal understanding about putting the money in the right investment vehicles. It goes without saying that each one of us wants to make the most out of our investments but that is something that can be imagined only in the wildest dreams.
Source
The financial needs and wants of every individual are different. They largely depend on factors like risk profile, financial goals, and assets [& liabilities]. To see your savings grow, it is important to participate in the ‘India Growth’ story. Investing in the best-suited investments is an absolute necessity else your savings might not give you significant returns.
Before jumping into the investments game, you should take into account the following factors:
Status of existing portfolio
Current assets & liabilities
Rate of Inflation
Volatility on Investment Markets
Liquidity
Risk Profile [or risk tolerance]
Lastly, the goals set for your investments are dependent on your risk profile. As an investor, it is essential to understand that higher returns means higher risk. If you are a risk-averse investor, opt for a investment avenues where risk is aimed to be kept at minimal level and endeavour is to provide reasonable returns! The upside of this approach is that there are minimal chances of losing money. Should you go for risk-averse (low returns) investing or high-risk (high returns) investing? The investment option chosen by will squarely depend on the answers to the above questions and whether your goal is short-term or long-term.
The infographic below shows how you can stay invested for a long-term [or should we say that it helps in being a smart investor]:
Now that you are aware of the primary benefits of investing, the next important question that comes to mind is ‘Which are the major avenues of investing‘?. Here are some of the major investment avenues that are preferred by investors spanning different investment goals:
Equity Mutual Funds
National Pension System [NPS]
Public Provident Fund [PPF]
Debt Mutual Funds
Bank Fixed Deposits [FD]
Lastly, if you are not a risk-averse investor, you should give a shot to the stock market! On the other hand, systematic investment route like Systematic Investment Plans [SIPs] are suited for investors that are looking for long-term returns with regular investments of as low as Rs. 500. The best thing about SIP is that staying invested for a long term helps in accumulating a sizable amount of potential wealth over time.
SIP calculator can be used for calculating the monthly SIP amount that has to be invested for aiming to achieve the said goals in a particular time period. Depending on the market conditions, you can switch between different types of mutual funds [e.g. debt, equity, etc.] to minimize the risk and maximize the returns.
However, keeping a tab on the performance of SIPs and choosing the ones that meet your end goals can be a daunting task! This is especially true when you do not have much time and energy to focus on the financial aspects.
This is where a Robo Advisor, a digital platform that provides AI-driven, automated, and algorithm-driven financial planning services can be of immense help. Since the platform is AI-driven, there is no human intervention and you can get the best investment advice in the least possible time.
Robo Advisor is a financial advisor minus human intervention
Robo Advisors offer the same benefits as financial advisors i.e. providing financial advice to the investors based on their expertise and requirements. You can plan your investments in a much better way by going through a financial advisor (or even a robo advisor).
Here are the major benefits of engaging with a financial advisor [or robo advisor]:
Chalking out SMART [Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound] goals
Laying out an investment plan that aligns with your financial goals
Regular monitoring of investment portfolio
Revising [or rebalancing] portfolio based on market conditions
There are a number of investment avenues to choose from and a financial advisor can be a boon to help you realize your financial goals. If you are inclined to invest in Mutual Funds; do check out the schemes offered by L&T Mutual Fund and Equity Linked Saving Schemes [ELSS] which offer Tax Saving. Always have the habit of reading the scheme related documents before investing to understand the scheme type, investment patterns and the risk factors associated with particular investments and consult your financial advisor to understand the implication of any investment. The provisions pertaining to tax applicability and exemption are as per the current tax laws and are subject to change
Start Investing Now So That Your Money Works For You
Disclaimer: This information is for general information only and does not have regard to the particular needs of any specific person who may receive this information. L&T Investment Management Limited, the asset management company of L&T Mutual Fund or any of its associates; does not guarantee/indicate any returns/and shall not be held liable for any loss, expenses, charges incurred by the recipient. The recipient should consult their legal, tax, and financial advisors before investing. The recipient of this information should understand that statements made herein regarding future prospects may not be realized or achieved.
Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.
Humans are hardwired to do whatever it takes to protect their families and loved ones. We can mountains for our families. But have you ever thought of what would happen if due to some unforeseen circumstances you aren’t with them anymore? The emotional void you leave behind will take some time to get over and you cannot do much about it, but you certainly can make sure that your family does not go through any financial hardship after you, by simply buying a term life insurance.
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Out of all the types of policies, term insurance is one of the simplest forms of life insurance, wherein the policyholder pays regular premiums to the insurance company, and in return, the insurance company pays the nominee a pre-decided amount of money in case of the policyholder’s demise. Here are a few reasons why term life insurance should be the first step to secure your future.
Financial security
A term insurance plan secures the future of your family. Be it your spouse, children, or elderly parents, it is like a monetary aid that ensures that they won’t face financial burden after your demise.
Affordability
Investing in your future shouldn’t mean you should live in a financial crisis in the present. A term life insurance plan is one of the most affordable life covers. The premium amounts are minimal which means you get to plan your finances without any trouble.
Tax benefits
Under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, the premiums paid for a term insurance plan are tax-deductible up to a limit of Rs. 1.5 lakh per annum. Also, the death benefits that the beneficiary receives are also tax free.
Additional coverage
By paying a little extra along with your premium, you can alter your term insurance plan to cover additional risks such as hereditary or critical illnesses and accidents. Some insurance coverages also allow to increase policy coverage after a certain time.
Pick a term life insurance plan that suits all your requirements. The ideal coverage to choose while buying one is somewhere in the range of 15 to 20 times your annual household expenses.
