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When your company designs products or services, the aim is to solve a problem for its target audience. But most of the time your audience isn’t aware of the problem and the solution your products/services offer. 

This is why you need to generate demand for your offerings. 

In today’s highly competitive market, businesses are constantly faced with the challenge of generating demand for the products and/or services they offer. Implementing demand generation strategies can go a long way in helping your company to attract quality leads that can be nurtured to become loyal customers. 

In this article, we explain demand generation and show you how you can use it for generating leads. 

What is Demand Generation?

As a marketing approach, demand generation involves creating awareness and demand for a company’s products or services. This strategy focuses on generating your audience’s interest in your offerings.  A good demand generation strategy should:

• Create brand awareness
• Drive traffic to your online pages
• Generate buzz around your product offerings
• Grow your customer base

Demand generation covers every interaction potential buyers have with your business. This ranges from discovering your company and developing affinity for your brand, to learning about your offerings, and entering your sales process as qualified leads.

The purpose of demand generation is to make your company’s offerings the obvious solution for addressing your target customers’ problems. By educating your target audience about your offerings, you help them see how those offerings address their pain points. This information should excite your audience, causing them to sign up to receive updates from your company willingly. 

The focus of demand generation should always be attracting high-quality leads. Though high lead volumes may sound good, they are not useful if their likelihood to convert into paying customers is low. To generate revenue, you need to focus on attracting leads that have a high likelihood of converting.   

5 Tactics for Generating Leads with Demand Generation 

You can use demand generation to attract valuable leads by applying the following tactics:

1.  Utilize Intent Data 

Intent data has become an integral part of demand generation. With 99% of big companies now applying data-driven demand generation, you cannot afford to leave intent data out of your strategy. Intent data refers to data that relate to your audience’s online activities. You can use this data to reach prospects and identify in-market customers. 

A great way to use intent data in your marketing activities is to understand your audience’s search intent. Knowledge of search intent enables you to customize your marketing messages to suit your prospect’s intent, which creates demand. Utilizing intent data in demand creation enables your company to: 

• Identify new prospects 
• Personalize marketing content 
• Attract valuable leads 
• Reduce the sales cycle 
• Retain existing customers 

2. Embrace Account-Based Marketing 

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a marketing approach that involves focusing on individual accounts or a few prospects. If your company is looking to grow its revenues or scale its business development function, this strategy will work well.  ABM involves developing customized solutions to the problems that specific accounts face. The highly personalized approach enables you to drive engagement with those accounts.

 A great way to use ABM for demand generation is to identify high-value accounts and the people who make purchase decisions in those accounts. You can use data to come up with a list of qualified accounts. Once your list is ready, get your sales and marketing teams to target the accounts with customized marketing messages and personalized content. This provides them with more value, creating interest and demand for your offerings. 

3. Invest in Content Marketing

Demand generation trends show that publishing valuable content on your website regularly attracts valuable leads. Content marketing increases brand awareness while educating your audience about their problems and the solutions you offer. 

Craft a content strategy so you can develop and distribute content based on the interests and behavior of your target audience. Doing this enables you to attract quality leads that have a higher chance of converting. 

Here are some tips to help you create a sound content strategy: 

1. Target your ideal clients with your content 
2. Address the pain points your prospects have 
3. Clarify the purpose of each content piece you produce 
4. Determine the reaction you wish to trigger
5. Prepare a content publishing schedule 
6. Identify content promotion strategies

4. Improve Email Marketing Campaigns

When it comes to optimizing demand generation efforts, email marketing campaigns come in handy. If you’re already using email marketing, evaluating its performance can help you to achieve better results. A simple way to do this is to pay attention to data like unsubscribe rates, open rates and spam complaints. Once you understand this data, take the necessary steps to improve your campaign performance. 

Here are some practical actions that you can take to generate more demand with email marketing campaigns:

1. Provide valuable information in emails to avoid unsubscriptions
2. Evaluate email frequency to minimize spam 
3. Embrace email personalization
4. Test different email delivery times
5. Segment your mailing list
6. Adopt responsive email templates 
7. Create relatable content

5. Automate Marketing Processes 

Marketing automation allows you to delegate rigorous tasks through an accurate system. This allows you to gather intelligent prospect data, including monitoring activity on your website. Insights from this data enable you to target them with tailored emails and marketing messages to trigger interest and create demand. 

Automation also allows you to track prospect behavior and sales. This way, you can target newly acquired customers with onboarding emails and notifications. You can also retain current customers by sending them timely offers and promotions. 

Groove is a great example of a company that utilizes marketing automation effectively. The customer service company uses automation to send emails to prospects based on their behavior. The automation software tracks customer activities online and sends trigger emails based on those activities. For instance, if a prospect takes too long to perform a given action on the company website, the system sends an email with information on how to complete the activity. 

Image of an Automated Email that Groove uses for Demand Generation 

You could expand automation to live chats using chatbots. This form of automation allows you to highlight your brand and image as chatbots represent your company when communicating with clients. With chatbots, you can provide prospects and customers with straightforward, round-the-clock services to effectively address their concerns in a timely manner. 

6. Leverage Social Media 

You need to capture your audience’s interest to generate demand. Social media platforms make it easier to understand your audience and capture their attention. Use these platforms to interact and connect your prospects for insights on how relatable content would look like. To create demand, focus on sharing valuable and authentic content with your followers. 

7. Host Live Events  

You can create demand for your offerings by hosting or participating in live events. Conferences, exhibitions, seminars, and webinars are great for increasing brand awareness. Statistics show that 70% of marketers consider events crucial to their marketing success. 

Through live events, you get a chance to interact with your target audience face-to-face and offer them solutions. Consider attending all events – big and small. Smaller events work best because they give you an opportunity to stand out. They also offer more intimacy, which enables you to build trust and brand loyalty. 

Start Generating Demand 

Your company must create demand for its offerings on a continuous basis to remain competitive. Without doing so, the company will not generate the leads it needs to expand its customer base and grow revenue. If you’re looking to create demand, identify the most relevant demand generation strategies and start implementing them today.

Featured image by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

The post What Is Demand Generation & How To Use It For Generating Leads? appeared first on noupe.

Regression testing that maintains an online or software application’s aesthetic appeal is a crucial part of software testing.

In the ever-evolving landscape of software development, ensuring the visual integrity of your applications across various devices and browsers is important. 

Visual Regression Testing (VRT) emerges as a rigid practice to catch visual inconsistencies early and maintain a polished user experience.

Today, we’re diving into the realm of Visual Regression Testing and exploring strategies that can guide you towards seamless implementation while upholding the user-friendliness and professionalism of your applications.

It entails comparing before-and-after pictures or photographs of a website or application to spot any visual differences.

Visual regression testing assists in maintaining a high-quality user experience by identifying visual flaws that might arise during development or deployment. 

In this post, we will discuss some practical methods for implementing visual regression testing.

Let’s find out.

1. Establish distinct Baselines: 

Before beginning a visual regression test, it is essential to define distinct baselines. 

The baselines serve as the standards by which all subsequent screenshots will be measured. 

Take considerable screenshots of your application in different states and resolutions. 

This baseline will serve as your trusted benchmark for detecting any future discrepancies.

These benchmarks show how a website or application should look visually. You can provide a trustworthy reference for subsequent visual regression testing by taking screenshots from the app in its ideal condition. 

Baselines must be carefully chosen for all critical programme components and user interactions.

2. Utilise Automated Tools: 

Taking screenshots and comparing them for visual regression analysis can be laborious and prone to mistakes. 

Automated visual regression testing using automation tools can speed up the process and deliver reliable findings. 

Screenshots can be taken, compared to baselines, and discrepancies can be highlighted using tools like TestSigma, BackstopJS, Percy’s and Cypress.io. 

Utilizing these tools speeds up the testing process and ensures consistency.

3. Integrate Visual Testing into Continuous Integration: 

An efficient method to identify visual flaws early on is incorporating visual regression analysis in the continuous integration process. 

You can find any visual inconsistencies brought on by recent code changes by performing visual regression tests concurrently with other software tests during each CI build. 

This ensures that problems are found and corrected immediately, preventing them from becoming more significant. 

It is possible to set up CI technologies like CircleCI, Travis CI, and Jenkins to execute visual regression tests automatically.

4. Implementing Version Management for Baselines: 

The application’s visual look changes as it becomes better. Updating the starting points for visual regression analysis to accommodate these changes is crucial. Version control for starting points is implemented. 

You can monitor alterations that have been made to them as time passes. 

This enables you to manage various baseline versions for applications or branches. 

Additionally, version control makes it simpler to work collaboratively with other team members and to go back to earlier baselines when necessary.

5. Exclude Unstable or Dynamic Elements: 

Some application components, such as advertisements or dynamic content, can change from session to session. 

These components might cause incorrect results and make the evaluation process less efficient when used in visual regression tests. 

To concentrate on the essential visual components of the programme, it is essential to recognize and remove such dynamic or unstable features from visual regression testing. 

This can be accomplished by setting the testing tool to disregard particular components or employing masking techniques.

6. Establishing Test Environment Uniformity: 

Maintaining uniformity in the test environment is critical to guarantee precise and trustworthy visual regression analysis. 

The test environment must closely mirror the production environment to accurately simulate the circumstances in which the software will be utilized. 

Screen resolutions, web browsers, operating systems and device kinds are all facets of consistency. 

You can find aesthetic flaws that may only affect a particular subset of users by matching the test environment to the devices and preferences of the target audience.

7. Establish a Testing Scope: 

Testing every visual component of an application might take time and effort. As a result, it is crucial to establish a testing scope which concentrates on high-impact modifications and vital regions. 

You can focus your visual regression analysis efforts by determining the most critical user flows, crucial functionality, and frequently visited pages. 

This guarantees efficient resource allocation and makes quicker feedback on critical visual elements of the programme possible.

8. Establishing A Culture Of Accountability

Seamless software experiences require a shared commitment to detail. 

Embedding Visual Regression Testing (VRT) into your workflow is paramount. 

Educate your team on its significance, offer tool training, and inspire active reporting of visual discrepancies. 

Fostering a culture of collaboration and vigilance ensures that every member contributes to visual integrity. 

From designers to developers, each pixel plays a role. 

By making VRT an integral aspect of your development journey, you make a system of accountability that enhances user satisfaction and underscores your dedication to design.

9. Implement Continuous Monitoring: 

Visual regression testing shouldn’t be restricted to scenarios before releases or deployments. Continuous monitoring lets you spot visual flaws as end users interact with the programme in real-time. 

You can spot any visual disparities brought on by environmental changes or increasing degeneration by taking screenshots at regular times and contrasting them to baselines. 

Continuous monitoring is a proactive strategy to guarantee the application’s visual quality.

10. Managing Responsive Design: 

In light of the growing use of mobile devices and the wide range of screen sizes, verifying the application’s visual consistency across various devices and resolutions is essential. 

Visual regression testing aids in finding any responsive design-related problems, such as items that overlap or are misaligned on smaller monitors. 

You can guarantee a consistent user experience across numerous devices by adding various configurations to the testing process.

11. Visual Regression Testing:

This is easily integrated into pipelines and automated testing frameworks already in place. With the addition of a visual verification layer to the total test suite, it enhances functional and unit testing. 

Cohesively mix function and visual testing by using tools like Selenium or Cypress.io. This integration enables thorough test coverage and offers a detailed assessment of the app’s quality.

Conclusion 

Hence, visual regression testing is essential for preserving the visual quality of software and web applications. 

You can ensure precise and trustworthy results by implementing successful tactics like creating distinct baselines, utilizing automated tools, incorporating inspection in continuous integration, and setting up version control. 

Visual regression testing is more effective when dynamic features are excluded, test environments are consistent, a testing scope is established, and continuous monitoring is used. 

In conclusion, Visual Regression Testing is your guardian angel against visual inconsistencies in your applications. By implementing these strategies, you not only maintain a polished user experience but also elevate the professionalism and usability of your software.

Featured image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The post Effective Strategies for Implementing Visual Regression Testing appeared first on noupe.

In today’s dynamic business digital landscape, which technology captures the attention of prospects?

You must have heard about CLOUD HOSTING!

Cloud hosting is a web hosting service that uses a network of remote servers, typically hosted by third-party providers, to store and manage data and applications. Instead of hosting a website or application on a single physical server, cloud hosting allows users to access the same resources and services over the internet through a network of servers. 

It can provide several benefits, including increased scalability, flexibility, reliability, and reduced costs. Some popular cloud hosting providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

Cloud hosting is a highly scalable and flexible hosting option that allows users to access and manage their data and applications over the Internet using a network of remote servers. It will enable users to quickly scale their resources up or down as their needs change without investing in and maintaining their physical servers.

One of the main benefits of cloud hosting is the ability to pay for only the needed resources. With traditional hosting, users may have to purchase and maintain servers larger than required to handle the current traffic, which can be costly. In contrast, cloud hosting allows users to scale resources up or down as needed, which can help to reduce costs.

Another benefit of cloud hosting is increased reliability. If a server goes down with traditional hosting, the website or application hosted on that server will also go down. On the other hand, cloud hosting uses a network of servers, so if one server goes down, the traffic can be redirected to another server, keeping the website or application online.

Cloud server hosting also offers increased flexibility, allowing users to access their data and applications anywhere with an internet connection. This can be especially useful for businesses with remote workers or employees who need to access data and applications from different locations.

Popular cloud hosting providers include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform; all of them offer a wide range of services and tools for hosting, cloud storage, databases, analytics, and more, allowing you to choose the best option for your needs and budget.

10 Solutions that are perfect for your cloud hosting needs:

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)
2. Microsoft Azure
3. Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
4. DigitalOcean
5. Vultr
6. Linode
7. Alibaba Cloud
8. IBM Cloud
9. Rackspace
10. Heroku

Here we are explaining how these solutions can help you:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers various services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is considered one of the most reliable and scalable cloud hosting providers.
• Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and infrastructure created by Microsoft for building, deploying, and managing applications and services through a global network of Microsoft-managed data centers.
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers various services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is known for its powerful data analytics and machine learning capabilities.
• DigitalOcean is a simple and affordable cloud hosting provider popular among developers and small businesses.
• Vultr is a cloud hosting provider that offers a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is known for its flexibility and ability to scale.
• Linode is a cloud hosting provider that offers a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is known for its simplicity and ease of use.
• Alibaba Cloud is a cloud computing platform created by Alibaba Group, and It offers a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is popular in Asia and expanding its presence globally.
• IBM Cloud is a set of cloud computing services for businesses offered by the information technology company IBM. It provides various services, including computing power, storage, and databases.
• Rackspace is a cloud hosting provider that offers a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, and databases. It is known for its managed hosting services and support.
• Heroku is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and scale web applications. It is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it a popular choice for small to medium-sized businesses and developers.

Pros and Cons of Cloud Hosting: Navigating the Skyward Journey

Having familiarized yourself with cloud hosting providers from around the globe. Let’s now delve into the pros and cons associated with cloud hosting. 

This exploration will empower you to make well-informed decisions for your business’s digital voyage.

Pros: The Bright Side of Cloud Hosting

1. Flexibility Beyond Limits: Cloud hosting showers businesses with the gift of flexibility. Need to scale up? Scaling down? With a few clicks, your resources expand or contract, accommodating your immediate needs with cosmic ease.

2. Cost-Effective Constellation: Embracing cloud hosting often means fewer upfront costs. No need to invest in physical hardware, as cloud providers offer a pay-as-you-go model, giving you the liberty to channel resources wisely.

3. Universal Accessibility: A magical carpet for your data, cloud hosting allows access from any corner of the world, turning geographical boundaries into mere stardust. Collaboration reaches new galaxies as teams work together in real time, regardless of their earthly locations.

4. Stellar Security Measures: Cloud providers invest celestial effort in fortifying their platforms, offering advanced security features that are a fortress against digital threats. Backups, data encryption, and multi-factor authentication create a constellation of protection.

5. Meteor Shower of Innovation: Cloud hosting is a realm where innovation cascades like meteors across the sky. Regular updates, new features, and the ability to harness emerging technologies ensure you’re always riding the wave of progress.

Cons: Navigating Through Nebulas

1. Potential Downtime Eclipse: Just as stars fade during an eclipse, cloud hosting might experience downtime. Relying on a third-party provider means factors beyond your control could temporarily dim your online presence.

2. Data Security Gravity: While cloud providers wield strong security swords, data breaches are like rogue asteroids, a potential threat. Entrusting sensitive data to the cosmic abyss demands robust encryption and vigilant oversight.

3. Dependency on Connectivity: Cloud hosting’s magic vanishes without an internet connection. In a world that often feels connected but can sometimes be spotty, this dependency could cause constellations of frustration.

4. Cost Variability Quasar: As you surf the cloud waves, costs can occasionally behave like quasars – suddenly skyrocketing. Scaling may lead to unforeseen expenses, and some providers might not be as transparent about pricing as you’d hope.

5. Customization Conundrum: While cloud hosting platforms offer vast possibilities, they might not cater to your exact needs. Tailoring your experience could feel like navigating a cosmic maze.

Putting it Plainly: Here’s the Gist

As you consider cloud hosting, think of it like a journey with bright and dark spots. The good things can help your business grow, like a sunrise on the horizon, while the challenges offer helpful warnings. With a roadmap to guide you, explore the world of cloud hosting and choose what fits your goals. Just like a dance of stars and planets, blend technology and business wisely. Your journey is lit up – here’s to success and smart choices!

Featured image by Batu Gezer on Unsplash

The post 10 Solutions for Your Cloud Hosting Needs appeared first on noupe.

When we talk about product design, we mean designing an entire product. Although product design techniques can certainly be applied to smaller elements of projects, typically, this term refers to a holistic design approach that looks at all aspects of an app or service.

With the world becoming more digitized, online branding has become an evergreen pillar in each business’s growth strategy. Although branding online might seem perfect, reaching the right audience and building a robust brand presence in the vast internet space can be challenging. 

That is when influencer marketing comes into play. Influencer marketing in online branding can transform the way you, as a brand, connect with your audience. 

Image by Rosy from Pixabay

As the saying goes, “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” So, to make your customers your brand voice, we will walk you through how you can harness the power of influencer marketing and how it may impact your brand’s growth.

Overview of Online Branding

In today’s internet world, 64.6% of people spend most of their time online. So, having an online brand presence has become essential for businesses of all sizes to build a community of potential prospects. 

So, before going into influencer marketing, let’s understand what online branding is. 

Creating and promoting a unique identity for your brand on social platforms is online branding, including framing an engaging brand image, voice, and personality that resonate with your target audience. 

Additionally, online branding involves using all your digital resources, like websites, social media, emails, content, and more, to give customers a better and more consistent brand experience.

Any successful brand builds trust, loyalty, and understanding with prospects, making them more likely to choose your brand over competitors through online branding. You can make an ever-lasting impact when you do it right, and the same business collapses when you get it wrong. 

Building Brand Awareness through Influencer Marketing

As one of the marketing means, influencer marketing helps you build brand awareness in today’s vast digital landscape.

You can use the power of influencer marketing to tap into your targeted audience by collaborating with influencers with a significant and engaged following on social media.

In 2021, Gymshark launched a campaign, “66 Days: Change Your Life,” to encourage people to focus on their healthy lifestyle by working out for 66 consecutive days. 

Source

Most of the influencers’ tasks included sharing their daily workouts on their social handles, which highly resonated with their followers and created a positive brand association for Gymshark. It is one of the most successful influencer marketing campaigns, known for its massive impact on people.

Likewise, studies have shown that 51% of digital marketers believe influencer marketing is effective when building brand awareness and acquiring new customers. One of the best things is that influencers can turn their followers into your business advocates. 

When an influencer shares their experiences or recommends the products or services of your brand, people believe it to be authentic and try out your offerings. However, you must identify influencers whose values align with your brand and who can effectively communicate your brand’s essence to their audience.

Influencer Marketing Strategy for Brand Growth

Influencer marketing strategies for brand growth go beyond building a successful relationship with an influencer. To utilize the full potential of your influencer marketing campaigns, you must build a promising strategy. 

Here are a few steps on how you can do it. 

1. Define your Objectives

First things first. Starting a marketing plan with unclear objectives or without goals can lead to nowhere except losing a chunk of your funds. Whether it is scaling your revenue or building a community, you must have clear goals to guide you through the process. 

2. Find the Right Influencer 

You should select the ideal influencer to help you achieve your campaign goals once you have identified your target audience and marketing goals. It is not always about their followers’ base that matters, but also their engagement rate and creativity. Out of all, micro-influencers tend to work out well due to their focus on niche-specific content. However, selecting an influencer depends on your objectives. 

Image by Joseph Mucira from Pixabay

3. Encourage Authenticity

Authenticity is the key to success. Involve your influencers in every aspect of your campaign and encourage them to develop creative ideas. Discuss the pros and cons of each idea that comes to mind and finalize one that both of you think might work. When executing, let the influencer go easy on their ways of executing because it feels genuine and resonates with their audience. 

4. Distribute Your Marketing Efforts

Diversifying your marketing campaigns with several influencers on other social channels, such as Instagram or TikTok, can help you understand your audience better. For instance, beauty campaigns perform well on Instagram, while educational content does well on LinkedIn. If you cannot precisely predict where your audience is, experiment with multiple platforms until you find the best. 

5. Measure and Analyze

Image by Shari Jo from Pixabay

To check if everything went as per strategy, you must track your KPIs and monitor your campaign regularly, as it helps to readjust your strategy and try new things to improve results in the following launch. Metrics like reach, engagement, and conversions are essential to refining future strategies. 

Knowing what to do is good, but knowing what not to do is way better. So, here’s an example of a business that followed the wrong influencer marketing strategy. 

In 2021, Amazon faced a scandal regarding fake product reviews on its platform after finding that some of its sellers provided free products or payments to influencers in exchange for positive reviews. 

So, the customers on the platform accused the influencers involved and the products they were promoting. It has led to increased scrutiny of influencer marketing practices on Amazon.

Conclusion

Influencer marketing is said to be a game-changer in the world of online branding. Utilizing the power of influencer marketing enables you to form a more personal connection with your target audience and succeed in winning their trust and loyalty, which you need to grow.

You can see significant growth in your online presence by carefully crafting an influencer marketing strategy that aligns with your brand’s objectives and values. So, understand the power of influencer marketing and watch as your brand grows online.

Image by Manfred Loell from Pixabay

The post The Role of Influencer Marketing in Online Branding appeared first on noupe.

This article is a sponsored by DebugBear

There is no shortage of ways to measure the speed of a webpage. The tooling to get a report with details from the time it takes to establish a server connection to the time it takes for the full page to render is out there. In fact, there’s great tooling right under the hood of most browsers in DevTools that can do many things that a tried-and-true service like WebPageTest offers, complete with recommendations for improving specific metrics.

I don’t know about you, but it often feels like I’m missing something when measuring page speed performance. Even with all of the available tools at my disposal, I still find myself reaching for several of them. Certain tools are designed for certain metrics with certain assumptions that produce certain results. So, what I have is a hodgepodge of reports that needs to be collected, combined, and crunched before I have clear picture of what’s going on.

The folks at DebugBear understand this situation all too well, and they were kind enough to give me an account to poke around their site speed and core web vitals reporting features. I’ve had time to work with DebugBear and thought I’d give you a peek at it with some notes on my experience using it to monitor performance. If you’re like me, it’s hard to invest in a tool — particularly a paid one — before seeing how it actually works and fits into my work.

Monitoring vs. Measuring

Before we actually log in and look at reports, I think it’s worth getting a little semantic. The key word here is “monitoring” performance. After using DebugBear, I began realizing that what I’ve been doing all along is “measuring” performance. And the difference between “monitoring” and “measuring” is big.

When I’m measuring performance, I’m only getting a snapshot at a particular time and place. There’s no context about page speed performance before or after that snapshot because it stands alone. Think of it like a single datapoint on a line chart — there are no surrounding points to compare my results to which keeps me asking, Is this a good result or a bad result? That’s the “thing” I’ve been missing in my performance efforts.

There are ways around that, of course. I could capture that data and feed it into a spreadsheet so that I have a record of performance results over time that can be used to spot where performance is improving and, conversely, where it is failing. That seems like a lot of work, even if it adds value. The other issue is that the data I’m getting back is based on lab simulations where I can add throttling, determine the device that’s used, and the network connection, among other simulated conditions.

On that note, it’s worth calling out that there are multiple flavors of network throttling. One is powered by Lighthouse, which observes data by testing on a fast connection and estimates the amount of time it takes to load on different connections. This is the type of network throttling you will find in PageSpeed Insights, and it is the default method in Lighthouse. DebugBear explains this nicely in its blog:

Simulated throttling provides low variability and makes test quick and cheap to run. However, it can also lead to inaccuracies as Lighthouse doesn’t fully replicate all browser features and network behaviors.

In contrast, tools like DebugBear and WebPageTest use more realistic throttling that accurately reflects network round trips on a higher-latency connection.

Real usage data would be better, of course. And we can get that with real-user monitoring (RUM) where a snippet of code on my site collects real data based on from real network conditions coming from real users is sent to a server and parsed for reporting.

That’s where a tool like DebugBear makes a lot of sense. It measures performance on an automated schedule (no more manual runs, but you can still do that with their free tool) and monitors the results by keeping an eye on the historical results (no more isolated data points). And in both cases, I know I’m working with high-quality, realistic data.

From there, DebugBear notifies me when it spots an outlier in the results so I am always in the know.

The DebugBear Dashboard

This is probably what you want to see first, right? All I had to do to set up performance monitoring for a page is provide DebugBear with a URL and data flowed in immediately with subsequent automated tests running on a four-hour basis, which is configurable.

Once that was in place, DebugBear produced a dashboard of results. And kept doing that over time.

You can probably look at that screenshot and see the immediate value of this high-level view of page performance. You get big score numbers, mini charts for a variety of web vital metrics, and a filmstrip of the page rendering with annotations identifying where those metrics sit in the process, among other great pieces of information.

But I’d like to call out a few especially nice affordances that have made my performance efforts easier and, more importantly, more insightful.

Working With Page Speed Data

I’ve learned along the way that there are actually multiple kinds of data used to inform testing assumptions.

One type is called lab data. It, in turn, has its own subset of data types. One is observed data where CPU and network throttling conditions are applied to the test environment before opening the page — “applied throttling” as it were. Another is simulated data which describes the Lighthouse method mentioned earlier where tests are done on a high-powered CPU with a highspeed network connection and then estimates how “fast” a page would load on lower-powered devices. Observed data is the high-quality type of lab data used by tools like DebugBear and WebPageTest. Simulated data, on the other hand, might be convenient and fast, but also can be innacurate.

A second type of data is called real-user data. This is high-quality data from actual website visitors, for example based on Google’s Chrome User Experience (CrUX) Report. The report, released in 2017, provides network data from sessions collected from real Chrome users. This is high-quality data, for sure, but it comes with its own set of limitations. For example, the data is limited to Chrome users who are logged into their Google account, so it’s not completely representative of all users. Plus, the data is aggregated over 28 days, which means it may not be not the freshest data.

Alongside the CrUX report, we also have the RUM approach to data that we discussed earlier. It’s another type of real-user monitoring takes real traffic from your site and sends the information over for extremely accurate results.

So, having both a “real user” score and a “lab” score in DebugBear is sort of like having my cake and eating it.

This way, I can establish a “baseline” set of conditions for DebugBear to use in my automated reports and view them alongside actual user data while keeping a historical record of the results.

Comparing Tests

Notice how I can dig into the data by opening up any test at a specific point in time and compare it to other tests at different points in time.

The fact that I can add any experiment on any page — and as many of them as I need — is just plain awesome. It’s especially great for our team here at Smashing Magazine because different articles use different assets that affect performance, and the ability to compare the same article at different points in time or compare it to other pages is incredibly helpful to see exactly what is weighing down a specific page.

DebugBear’s comparison feature goes beyond mini charts by providing larger charts that evaluate more things than I can possibly print for you here.

Running Page Test Experiments

Sometimes I have an idea to optimize page speed but find I need to deploy the changes to production first so that a reporting tool can re-evaluate the page for me to compare the results. It would be a lot cooler to know whether those changes are effective before hitting production.

That’s what you can do with DebugBear’s Experiments feature — tweak the code of the page being measured and run a test you can compare to other live results.

This is the kind of thing I would definitely expect from a paid service. It really differentiates DebugBear from something like a standard Lighthouse report, giving me more control as well as tools to help me gain deeper insights into my work.

Everything In One Place

Having all of my reports in a central one-stop shop is worth the price of admission alone. I can’t stand the clutter of having multiple windows open to get the information I need. With DebugBear, I have everything that a mish-mash of DevTools, WebPageTest, and other tools provides, but in one interface that is as clean as it gets. There’s no hunting around trying to remember which window has my TTFB score for one experiment or which has the filmstrip of another experiment I need.

But what you might not expect is a set of actionable recommendations to improve page speed performance right within reach.

Let me be clear that I am no performance expert. There are plenty of situations where I don’t know what I don’t know, and performance is one of them. Performance can easily be a profession and full-time job by itself, just as design, accessibility, and other specializations. So, having a list of things I can do to improve performance is incredibly helpful for me. It’s like having a performance consultant in the room giving me directions.

Wrapping Up

Again, this is merely a peek at some of the things that DebugBear can do and what I enjoy about it. The fact is that it does so many things that I’ve either glossed over or simply lack the space to show you.

The best thing you can do is create a free DebugBear account and play around with it yourself. Seriously, there’s no credit card required. You set up a username and password, then it’s off to the races.

And when (not if!) you get your account, I’d love to know what stands out to you. Performance means a lot of things to different people and we all have our ways of approaching it. I’m keen to know how you would use a suite of features like this in your own work.

In our fast-paced world filled with bulks of data and information, it’s easy to feel lost in the volume. But fear not because data parsing is here to save the day!

Data parsing can be your trusty guide that helps make sense of all that overwhelming data clutter. In this blog, we’re diving into the world of data parsing – what is data parsing, how it works, and why it’s like a genie for understanding the meanings hidden within raw data.

So, buckle up and scroll down to learn everything about data parsing!

Defining Data Parsing

Let’s start by understanding what data parsing truly entails. Data parsing definition calls it a process of breaking down complex and unstructured data into smaller, more manageable parts for analysis. 

In the digital setup, data parsing involves extracting relevant information from various sources, such as text documents, websites, or databases, and transforming it into a structured format that can be quickly processed and interpreted.

The Essence of Data Parsing

When you are working, you might be dealing with vast spreadsheets containing a mix of names, dates, and quantities, all jumbled together. Data parsing would involve systematically segregating each type of information into distinct columns, allowing you to organize, sort, and analyze the data more effectively.

By breaking down the information into its constituent parts, data parsing helps transform a bulk of undifferentiated data into a coherent and understandable format.

Applications of Data Parsing: A Multifaceted Tool

Data parsing finds its applications across various domains, each harnessing its power to achieve specific goals. Here are a few notable applications:

Text Analysis

Data parsing plays a pivotal role in extracting insights from textual data. It can identify and categorize specific keywords, phrases, or patterns within a large text corpus. This is particularly valuable for sentiment analysis, content categorization, and trend identification.

Web Scraping

Extracting data from websites is a prime example of data parsing in action. By parsing the HTML structure of a webpage, relevant information such as product details, prices, or news articles can be extracted and utilized for various purposes.

Log Analysis

In IT and cybersecurity, log files contain a wealth of information about system activities. Data parsing can help decipher these logs, identifying anomalies, patterns, and security breaches.

Financial Data Processing

Parsing financial data, such as stock prices, transaction records, and market trends, allows you to make informed decisions in finance and investment.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

NLP techniques often involve data parsing to break down sentences into grammatical components, enabling machines to understand and respond to human language more effectively.

The Mechanism of Data Parsing: How Does It Work?

Didn’t you love to do puzzles when you were a kid? You can take data parsing as a skillful puzzle solver that assembles scattered pieces into a coherent picture. 

Let’s delve deeper into the mechanics of data parsing, step by step, and shed light on how the introduction of Smart Proxy magnifies its significance by ensuring robust data security and safeguarding data privacy.

Step 1: Tokenization – Breaking It Down

At the beginning of data parsing lies the first step: tokenization. It’s like breaking down a complex problem into smaller, manageable parts. 

Similarly, tokenization involves dissecting raw data into smaller units called tokens. Depending on the data type, these tokens can be words, characters, or even symbols. Tokenization serves as the foundation for further analysis and understanding.

Step 2: Pattern Recognition 

With tokens in hand, the process moves to pattern recognition. Like identifying recurring themes in a story, pattern recognition algorithms detect consistent structures within the tokens. 

For instance, in textual data, patterns could be sentences or paragraphs. In web data, patterns might include HTML tags or attributes. This step is about recognizing the framework that gives the data its meaning.

Step 3: Extraction 

Once patterns are recognized, data extraction comes into play. This is like mining for valuable gems within a vast mine. Algorithms sift through the recognized patterns and extract specific information. 

For instance, extraction could involve identifying dates, names, or monetary figures from a text document. It’s all about retrieving the valuable nuggets hidden within the data.

Step 4: Transformation 

Following extraction, the transformation phase commences. You can take it as a process of refining rough diamonds into sparkling jewels. 

Similarly, data transformation involves refining the extracted data to ensure consistency and accuracy. This might involve converting data into a standardized format, eliminating redundancies, or applying necessary formatting. The goal is to prepare the data for meaningful analysis.

Step 5: Synthesis – Putting It All Together

The parsed data is synthesized and organized into a coherent structure in the synthesis phase. The parsed data is arranged logically, allowing for easy interpretation and analysis. This step involves categorizing data, grouping related elements, and arranging them systematically.

Step 6: Analysis and Insights – Discovering the Story

The culmination of data parsing lies in the analysis and gaining actionable insights. This phase provides the opportunity to conclude, make informed decisions, and gain a deeper understanding of the underlying story that the data tells.

Smart Proxy: Elevating Data Parsing with Security and Privacy

Now, let’s introduce the concept of Smart Proxy to this narrative. Smart Proxy goes beyond enhancing data security and privacy; it acts as a vigilant guardian throughout the data parsing journey.

Smart Proxy ensures secure data exchange, safeguards sensitive information, and adds an extra layer of assurance to the entire process. By prioritizing data security and privacy, Smart Proxy contributes to the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the parsed data, fostering trust and confidence in the insights derived from the information.

In Conclusion: The Art of Data Parsing Unveiled

As we conclude our exploration of data parsing, we’ve delved into the intricate steps that lead to transforming raw data into actionable insights. Each phase of data parsing plays a crucial role in deciphering the language of data and unveiling its underlying narrative. 

With Smart Proxy as a steadfast companion, the data parsing journey becomes even more robust, secure, and reliable. This powerful combination empowers you and your organization to confidently extract valuable insights while ensuring the utmost protection of sensitive information. 

So, as you embark on your own data parsing endeavors, remember that this process is not just about unraveling data; it’s about deciphering the stories that data holds, ultimately guiding you toward informed decisions and meaningful discoveries.

Featured image by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

The post What is Data Parsing, and How It Is Used? appeared first on noupe.

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