Course Content
Solid Free(mium) Tools For Designing, Developing, and Deploying Websites
You see ads for basic website builders everywhere, but real web development is more than drag and drop. From start to finish, you might end up using dozens of tools to get the job done.
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Introduction
Visual Editors
Text Editors
Prototyping / Wireframing
Typography
Visual elements
Testing (platform, browser, device)
Collaboration
Optimization
Conclusion
The Rise of The Unicorns AKA “Full-Stack Developers”
These days, there’s increasing pressure for developers and coders to be able to define themselves as “full-stack”. This basically means they need to have a “very particular set of skills”, though the skills are a little less cool than in Taken.
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Introduction
Coders don’t work alone
What does it mean to be a full-stack developer?
Full-stack developer: A mythical creature?
So, what now?
How Long Will PCs, Tablets & Smartphones Reign?
A recent Gartner report revealed that worldwide shipments of PCs, smartphones, and tablets will increase by 2 percent in 2018 — reaching the highest level of year-on-year growth since 2015
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Introduction
The future is bigger than ‘The big three’
What is GraphQL? (And is it Really Better than REST)
As new technological innovations continue to emerge, buoyed by an explosion of digital devices and changing consumer habits, businesses continue to search for the fastest and most effective means of keeping up with the changing digital ecosystem.
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Introduction
What is GraphQL?
How does GraphQL querying work?
What is REST (and is it old news)?
GraphQL vs REST
Benefits of REST: When to use REST instead of GraphQL?
Why marketers should care about GraphQL
GraphQL in action: How Netflix used GraphQL for its marketing tech team
GDPR Compliance: 25% Of Brands “Unprepared”
While the GDPR go-live date (May 25, 2018) is still a fair few months away, it’s something that a lot of our customers and partners are asking about — which is why we were so surprised to read that 25 percent of brands are unprepared for GDPR according to a report from the British software and services company Advanced.
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What is GDPR, and why care about GDPR compliance?
Quiz
00:05:00
GDPR Fines: Everything You Need To Know
Protection laws called General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These laws are enforced on any company that handles data coming from EU citizens, regardless of where that firm is based. Companies that fail to comply with GDPR standards for privacy protection will face some of the stiffest fines in the history of online commerce.
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Introduction
What is GDPR?
The need for GDPR compliance
GDPR fines: How much are we talking here?
How GDPR fines are calculated
The true impact of GDPR fines
Preparing for GDPR compliance
GDPR: Prevention is better (and cheaper) than cure
Here’s How AI and Machine Learning Will Affect the Future of eCommerce
eCommerce is a $2 trillion market, and we expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) to push this number even bigger. Here’s why: AI can help merchants make better future predictions about sales, provide better customer support, and retarget customers who got away. When you first launched your online store, the last thing you probably thought is that one day you’d have to work alongside robots! Well, that day has now arrived in the form of AI and machine learning.
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Introduction
Improved customer service by offering it 24/7
Facilitate smarter searches
Get hyper-personalized with product recommendations
Take a load off with better inventory management
Understand your customers better
AI is for today, not just tomorrow
3 Web Development and Programming Ideas Every Marketer Needs to Know
It happened again. You’ve gotten yourself through another complex technical marketing project, for now, but you can’t help but acknowledge the sinking feeling that you can only “wing it” for so long.
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Introduction
Development and Programming Idea #1: Developer vs Engineer
Development and Programming Idea #2: Agile/Scrum vs Waterfall Methodology
Development and Programming Idea #3: Conditional Logic
10 Web Design Mistakes Even Professionals Are Guilty Of
Web design is an art, and it’s surprisingly easy to mess it up. A small mistake is more than enough to make a great looking, award-worthy site into an urgh-I’m-never-visiting-this-site-ever-again moment
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Web Design Mistake #1: Disabling Zoom on Mobile Sites
Web Design Mistake #2: Pop-Overs/Pop-Ups
Web Design Mistake #3: Auto playing Videos With Sound
Web Design Mistake #4: Light Grey Text on White Backgrounds
Web Design Mistake #5: Tiny Text
Web Design Mistake #6: Scroll-jacking
Web Design Mistake #7: Presenting Too Many Advertisements 
Web Design Mistake #8: Drop Down Menus That Aren’t Touch-Friendly
Web Design Mistake #9: Too Many Big Images
Web Design Mistake #10: Missing the Small Details
SAP Commerce Cloud: 10 Things You Should Know
Today’s online shoppers expect ease, speed, personalization, and reliability wherever they shop - online or in-store.
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Introduction
What is SAP Commerce Cloud?
What does SAP Commerce Cloud do?
How does SAP Commerce Cloud integrate with other software?
How much does SAP Hybris cost?
SAP Commerce Cloud pros
SAP Commerce Cloud cons
5 Dos and Don’ts of Hiring a Developer
Developers are the unicorns of the modern labor economy. Their ethereal talents often bewilder the most seasoned of marketing professionals. As they navigate multiple screens of what appear to be a sea of foreign numbers and strange hieroglyphs, many of us may develop feelings of awe as our technical colleagues concoct complex digital systems and design beautiful user experiences, all through the magic of their keyboard.
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Introduction
DO: Consult somebody on your actual position requirements
DO: Understand the scope of the job/task before you promote the position
DON’T: Pretend you know what you’re talking about.
DO: Mitigate your risk
DON’T: Cheap out
What is Git and Git Hub: A Summary of Terms and Definitions
“We can Fork it before we make any changes to the code.” Huh? The obscure sentence was one of several the two developers exchanged as we were going through a development proposal for a new client.
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Introduction
So, What is Git and GitHub?
What The Heck is Version Control?
So where does ‘GitHub’ come into it? 
Git and GitHub Glossary [Infographic]
8 Powerful Ways Chatbots Can Transform Your Customer Experience (Insights From David Cancel, CEO of Drift)
Chatbots are changing the way brands interact with their customers, and when the chatbot is of high quality, those changes are usually positive.
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Introduction
What is a chatbot?
How a chatbot enhances customer experiences
Helpful, not human
Chatbot Customer Experience Failures (And How To Avoid Them)
Chatbots are taking over. But there’s no need to panic because you can rest assured that chatbots aren’t bloodthirsty androids (yet) — they just want to help answer FAQs, speed up sales processes and lighten the load of customer support representatives. A report from Forrester Research showed that more than half of the companies surveyed stated that they either had a chatbot system in place, or were planning on developing such a system within the next twelve months.
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Introduction
What is a chatbot?
[Chatbot fail #1] Misaligned messaging
[Chatbot fail #2] Conversational dead ends
[Chatbot fail #3] Lack of personality
[Chatbot fail #4] Going in strategy-less
Make your chatbot count
Website Security Best Practices: And How You Can Do The Same
The biggest threat facing the modern internet is the number of websites running outdated code - millions of websites have been left wide open to hackers, as a result.
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Introduction
Why hackers LOVE open source CMS
How to tell if a site is NOT safe: 10 signs to look for
How we secure our clients’ websites (and how you can do the same)
So, in summary: Security is not static
Your eCommerce Site Has a Conversion Problem (And It’s Because of Your UX Design)
Don’t be mistaken into thinking that the UX of your website is just what it looks like (this is the User interface or UI design), yes that might be a part of what’s holding back your eCommerce site from fulfilling its potential, but more likely there is a wealth of untapped opportunity by exploring the UX design.
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Introduction
The importance of user experience in eCommerce
Understanding your users: Assumptions won’t cut it
3 user research methods to get into the minds of your website visitors
What are user personas (and what’s their role in UX design)?
How user journeys affect conversion
Designing the user journey for mobile
How to improve eCommerce UX to boost mobile conversions
Focus on eCommerce UX, and the conversions will come
How SSL Certificates Work & Why The Internet Was Broken on May 30
In case you didn’t notice, the Internet was broken on the 30th of May in 2021.
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Introduction
First of all, why do we need SSL certificates?
So, why after all these precautions and good planning, expiration of the root certificate causes such a big problem?
Enterprise IT: From Differentiator to Obstacle?
Technology is a commodity. We’ve all heard people say this. In fact, some readers may recall Nicholas Carr’s 2003 article in HBR titled “IT Doesn’t Matter”, which posited exactly that. At the time, it was a controversial opinion.
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Introduction
Back in my day…
We’ve come a long way
No man is an island
Focus on value creation
Lose the ballast – gain the speed
What is a Progressive Web App? (And Do You Need One)
Mobile consumers have been growing steadily, and it's expected that more eCommerce sales will be on mobile than through traditional web browsing.
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Introduction
What is a Progressive Web App (PWA)?
Progressive Web App attributes: What makes a PWA?
PWAs vs. responsive websites
Should you use a PWA or a responsive website?
PWAs vs. native apps
Should you use a PWA or a native app?
How does a Progressive Web App (PWA) work?
The benefits of a Progressive Web App
Two drawbacks of Progressive Web Apps
Five ways a PWA can improve your eCommerce shopping experience
Progressive Web Apps (PWA) eCommerce case studies
Making the transition
Digital Transformation Roadmap: 10 Steps To a Successful Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is the process of improving business operations, customer experiences, and employee experiences through the adoption of technology—and the benefits are well documented.
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Introduction
How to build a digital transformation roadmap
Open Source Software: Here’s What They’re Not Telling You
The subject of “open source vs closed source” incites a passion in even the most introverted of technologists - both sides are un-wielding in their opinions, however, such debates are insignificant without a context for comparison.
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Introduction
All cards on the table
What are we talking about
The 3 ways to obtain technology software
The 4 context selection factors
The selection matrix
The match making?
The caveats & assumptions
The 4 types of software deployment
SaaS – A different way of thinking?
The perpetuation of false myths
The things everyone’s talking about
Why many agencies defer to open source?
So, why do agencies no longer make their own systems?
Why agencies want YOU to use WordPress….
Here’s what your agency is telling you that may not be true
So what’s the solution?
5 Reasons to Shift Your Site to the Cloud
Your website is the heart of your operation. It is how your customers and clients learn about what you have to offer. Thus, it makes sense to have your site on a reliable network that is going to provide you with the strength and dependable service that you need.
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Introduction
The 5 Reasons
Replatforming Your Website CMS: The Ultimate Guide
Replatforming a website is the process of moving your current from its existing CMS (content management system) to a new CMS.
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Introduction
3 warning signs that tell you it’s time to replatform your CMS
8 things to consider before you replatform your website CMS
Decided to replatform your CMS? Here are your options
Website CMS migration best practices
Replatforming a website isn’t easy — But it might just be time
Let’s End This Gated vs Ungated Content Battle Once And For All
You’re using some form of content to attract leads to your business, right? You stress over creating exceptional content that your audience will devour in a heartbeat and hopefully, share with their friends.
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Introduction
Why people “gate” their content (Hint: Because popular content isn’t enough)
But doesn’t gated content restrict potential leads from your content?
The undeniable benefits of gating your content
How gated content can be dangerous (when to avoid gated content)
Here’s when you should gate your content
Want to gate your content? Use this “Content pillar” principle to skyrocket ROI
Conclusion
22 Web Development Trends Every CTO Should Expect
Technology continues to evolve as humans find new ways to innovate, doing things faster and with more flair than they did before. Not many areas feature as much of this innovation as the area of web development.
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Introduction
No-code and low-code will drive application development
Artificial intelligence and machine learning adoption to accelerate
Voice search will explode thanks to IoT
Progressive web applications (PWAs) will replace native mobile apps
Smaller companies will favor SPAs for app development
Cybersecurity will grow in importance
Motion UI design will boost page interactivity
Advancements in cloud computing will continue
The next step in process customization will begin
Companies will favor API-first development
Increased caching for speed and performance
Emergence of server side templating for time to market and flexibility
Plug-ins, 3rd party tools continue to cause issues
14. Platforms focus on the marketers needs – Even through headless
AI powered engagement – from chatbots to content creation and personalization
Serverless architecture/use static and headless
Increased internet of things (IoT)
API-First development
Using one-pagers or SPA
Improved native cybersecurity
More JavaScript frameworks
Security top priority
Where do we go from here?
Comparing Open Source Software vs Closed Source Software
You’re no technical guru and have been charged with finding a web content management system (CMS) for your business.
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Introduction
What is Open Source Software?
Right Then. So What is Closed Source Software?
So What Are Some of The Key Differences Between Open & Closed Source Software?
eCommerce Website Development Specialist Course

2. Facilitate smarter searches

AI and machine learning in eCommerce: Smarter searches

(Tailored searches and suggestions | Source: eBay)

 

Ever tried to find something in an online store and gave up?

It happens to all of us — but it shouldn’t be happening now that AI is here.

In physical stores, human assistants are typically on hand to direct us to what we want. eCommerce stores can’t replace human assistants, but they can use AI and machine learning to boost their store’s searches so that they can understand both long search terms and a customer’s intent.

Not just this, but machine learning can accurately predict what a customer wants and then tailor its suggestions to fit their needs. As such, search shifts from merely decent to excellent.

Going further with this, voice search is something to keep an eye on. While it hasn’t disrupted the eCommerce sector just yet, research suggests that voice search might make up half of all searches by 2020. According to studies, American smart speaker usage is made up predominantly by just a few things: finding restaurants, playing games, controlling home smart devices … and adding things to our shopping list.

Shopping via voice search is a total game changer so different from anything that’s come before, and it’s important that you keep your eye on the ball with this one.

Actionable takeaway

Make sure that your search box is easy to find and add an autocomplete feature. This improves the search experience because it limits the number of things a user needs to do to find what they want. It also prevents misspellings and missed opportunities for both the customer and the merchant.

Let users search within a particular department too, and improve your product labeling and metadata to boost the accuracy of your search results.

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