WordPress is a popular platform widely used to create websites for different purposes. Some use it for personal blogs while others use it for company websites and even e-commerce stores to sell products and services.
Regardless of what we use WordPress for, we all want it to have top-notch performance. And this is where WordPress plugins play a vital role in optimising your WordPress site.
So have you wondered what are the must-have plugins for WP sites?
We’re pleased to have organized a WordPress Plugins Series webinar to introduce to you some amazing WP plugins!
In this series of webinars, WP experts will be invited to share with you the useful plugins that are available for WordPress sites and how you can make full use of them to make your WP website more powerful!
What can you learn?
In this webinar, the speakers will share different plugins that optimise different facets of your WordPress site. By joining this event, you will walk away with the knowledge and skills on how to use those plugins effectively to build a better website with improved functionality.
Agenda:
13 October 2021 | 2.00 PM- 3.00 PM
By Liew CheonFong, WordPress
How do we protect our WordPress site using WordPress Security?
Join this workshop now! In this workshop, Mr Liew will share simple security tips and free WordPress plugins to protect your websites from hackers.
27 October 2021 | 2.00 PM- 3.00 PM
by Shaan Nicol, Director, ChillyBin Web Design
Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is the process of convincing people on your website to take action. In this talk, Shaan will walk you through how to track customer behaviour, changes you can make to improve your homepage, best practices for site search, checkout optimisation and tips and tricks to increase your conversions.
Join this webinar to learn how to improve Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)!
In the midst of the pandemic, many manufacturers and exporters are looking for new strategies to get in touch with overseas buyers to export their products. As physical activities and crowds are discouraged, physical exhibitions too, are prohibited.
In this challenging time, Alibaba.com, the world’ biggest B2B online platform with 26 million active global buyers, has become the best platform for Malaysia exporters to continue their trading activities online. However, shifting from offline export to online export is not easy for most manufacturers as they are used to working manually.
Alibaba.com understands the need of a training program that helps equip Malaysian SMEs with hands-on-eCommerce business operation skills on Alibaba.com. As such, Alibaba.com has partnered with MDEC and MATRADE to organize a Pandemic Recovery Support Program.
To equip Malaysian SMEs with hands-on eCommerce business operation skills and make their onboarding process faster and easier.
What is Alibaba.com Seller Training E-Course (ASTE)?
The ASTE is an intensive online training program composed of 4 modules. The training e-course, which consists of 10 hours of online sessions, helps Alibaba.com sellers improve their eCommerce platform operations skills with hands-on guidance from experts and experienced sellers around the world.
4 Modules in Alibaba Seller Training E-Course (ASTE)
Module 1: Ways to Drive Traffic to the eCommerce Platform
Module 2: Post High-Quality Products & Minisite
Module 3: Gain More enquiries from Star Ratings
Module 4 Find Hot Ranking Keywords & Use RFQ to Get More Business
*Registration starts on 29th September 2021 and ends on 1st December 2021.
Unlock the Benefits of This Program
Anyone is welcome to join ASTE and enjoy amazing benefits. While ASTE is usually only open to existing GGS members, it is now FREE (Worth USD 2,000). In addition, participants will get a free VAS Voucher to enjoy free Minisite Design and 60 Product Posting.
Pandemic Recovery Support Program Information Day
You might still have a lot of questions regarding ASTE. Don’t worry, attend the Information Day to understand more about the program. There will be two Open Days for the Pandemic Recovery Support Program:
7th October 2021
13th October 2021
*You may choose to attend the Open Day on your desired date.
Information Day Session 1: 7th Oct 2021, 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Contact Us Now to register for Information Day Session 1
Information Day Session 1: 7th Oct 2021, 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Contact Us Now to register for Information Day Session 2
Who Should Join This Program?
Any individual or company, especially manufacturers and trading companies, are encouraged to join this program to learn how to list and export their products on Alibaba.com and expand their business using the power of online export.
Google Site Kit is available on Exabytes WordPress Hosting now!
Exabytes Network, Southeast Asia’s leading web hosting provider has kicked off a collaboration with Google to encourage all its WordPress users to utilise Site Kit as one of the tools to help on their website SEO, Speed Test and Data Insight.
We have included Google Site Kit plugin with our V12 WordPress Hosting plans, where Google Site Kit is automatically installed after the chosen plan has been set up.
Through this, we have seen more than 800 clients using Google Site Kit on their WordPress websites since July 2021.
Based on our experience through dealing with clients, we have found that there is still a big opportunity to educate website owners on an easy way to track website visitors, conversions as well as Google organic ranking and website speed check.
Hence, during this collaboration between Exabytes and Google, we conducted our first workshop to clients and the public about how Google Site Kit works, as well as Core Web Vitals.
We have been sharing about Google Site Kit’s benefits on multiple of our workshops catered to clients and the public, namely; during the WordPress workshop and Website Maintenance workshops that were targeted to start-ups and beginners.
Voice control is gradually ceasing to be a gimmick. Today, a voice interface is present in smartphones, tablets, home appliances, etc. The pace of life is accelerating, and people worldwide are often using voice commands to do something on the go or find some information they need right now.
Large companies follow these user needs and develop their own voice assistants that recognize and fulfill user requests.
Voice search is definitely a hot trend as 43% of users aged 16 to 64 already use their voice to search for something on the Internet. That is almost half of all Internet users! This information is impossible to ignore.
If your goal is to stay on top of the search results and get more traffic, optimizing your site to voice search peculiarities is a must. So, let’s take a closer look at voice search and local SEO in this article.
Why is voice search becoming more popular?
We often do something on the go, from shopping online to chatting with friends. Voice dialing and short voice messages are becoming more and more popular. Many household appliances also often have voice control. Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more people prefer to search for information on the Internet using voice search as well.
Voice search has several clear benefits:
Giving a voice command is faster than typing on a keyboard.
You do not need to hold a phone or other gadget in your hand to submit a voice request.
You can find the information you need while driving, doing household chores, sitting with friends in a cafe, etc.
The request can be formed in natural language (just like you communicate in everyday life) without choosing the exact wording.
Voice search has already become a trend, and this definitely affects search engine optimization. If you want to get more traffic to your site, you should start optimizing your site for voice search now without waiting for your competitors to do it.
How do people generally send voice requests?
First, let’s see which gadgets have voice assistants and how you can give voice commands to them.
Voice assistants
Voice assistants are AI-based programs that perform specific actions at the request of users. For example, they can add an event to your calendar, play your favorite song, send another person a notification about your meeting today.
Supported languages and general functionality vary by manufacturer. Many voice assistants cannot only follow instructions but also maintain a full-fledged dialogue with the owner.
Thanks to machine learning, voice assistants can recognize the language and essence of the request and find the appropriate answer. The system turns a voice request into text by going through several stages:
Filtration of extraneous noise;
Digitizing sound waves and converting them into code;
Dividing the request into speech constructions, analysis;
Comparison of words and phrases in the query with templates in the database.
Modern voice assistants can recognize commands in natural language (in a conversational style) and take the context into account – analyze the history of previous requests, current location, time, and so on.
If the program does not understand the request, it asks the user to reformulate the command. However, today’s most popular voice assistants recognize queries with an accuracy of close to 100%.
Here’s a list of the most popular voice assistance right now:
Siri by Apple;
Google Assistant;
Amazon’s Alexa;
Samsung Bixby;
Cortana by Microsoft;
AliGenie by Alibaba.
If a user asks to find some information on the Internet, voice assistants use search engines’ data. Google Assistant obviously uses Google, and Siri also uses this search engine. Cortana and Alexa search Bing for information.
Samsung has its own Kngine search engine. AliGenie does not yet know how to search for information on the Internet but can order goods in the T-mall online store.
Smart speakers with voice assistants
Smart speakers are small multifunctional gadgets that recognize and execute various voice commands, including searching for information on the Internet.
The most popular smart speakers today are:
Apple HomePod;
Google Home;
Amazon Echo;
Samsung Galaxy Home.
It is expected that in the near future, the market will actually be split between Google Home and Amazon Echo with a small share of Apple HomePod.
It is noteworthy that when using smart speakers to search for information, you get only one, the most relevant result, which the gadget reads out loud.
Voice search in the search bar
The Google search engine also provides voice search, regardless of which device you use. All you need to do is click on the microphone:
Google has special algorithms that recognize the meaning and purpose of the entire query, not just particular words. The Hummingbird algorithm and the RankBrain artificial intelligence system are responsible for this. In a very simplistic way, it works like this:
The user says, “where to buy milk near me”;
The algorithm focuses on the phrase “near me” and looks for grocery stores near the user’s location (if geolocation is enabled).
It is worth noting that the search is carried out according to many factors that Google does not fully disclose. Therefore, the voice search results from the desktop browser and smartphone may differ.
Does your business really need to adapt to voice search?
Optimization of an existing marketing and SEO strategy is needed first of all if:
You represent a bar, shop, restaurant, etc. As a rule, users that want to attend such a venue use words such as “near me,” “now,” “near,” etc., in their search.
You provide services such as car repair, dry cleaning, beauty salon, and so on.
You run a taxi company. Users often search for a taxi service by sending a voice request from their phone.
You have a theater, cinema, gallery, or other similar establishments. In this case, users will be interested in the schedule, opening hours, dress code, and other details.
You are developing an online store. In this case, the request that should lead the client to you usually sounds like this: “where to buy a yellow dress now?”.
Regardless of whether your business is on the list above, you should still think about optimizing your site for voice search, as this trend is only gaining momentum and will not disappear in the coming years. If you’re ready to get started, the guide below is for you.
How to optimize your site for voice search?
Brian Dean from Backlinko analyzed how 10,000 Google Home smart speakers process user requests and what information they provide.
According to the expert, pages with the following characteristics are selected as a relevant response to a user request:
Fast page loading (about 4.6 seconds).
Reliable and authoritative domain, connection over HTTPS.
The text is written in simple language, understandable even for a child.
Dean also found that the voice search results are often excerpts from a long read (the average number of words per page selected as a search result is 2312). Also, the answers are often found in the featured snippet. It also matters how viral the content on the page is (social media shares).
The presence of Schema.org markup and the exact keyword in the title have little effect on the choice of a particular page for a voice search result.
Now let’s take a look at what work your SEO specialist can do to tailor your site to voice search.
Semantic core
Keywords not only do not lose their relevance but also become even more important. Look for long-tail keywords to optimize your site for voice search. Users literally ask their questions out loud the way they are used to, which is why 5-7 word keywords are replacing short queries.
What else can you do:
Expand semantics with medium- and low-frequency queries. High-frequency keywords often sound unnatural and are not used in voice searches. Compare: “buy cakes in New York” and “where can I buy delicious cakes at night?”
Use natural language, slang, and LSI words.
Choose keywords that are specific to your niche and for which you have lots to tell in detail.
Remember that people often start their voice searches with words like “how,” “where,” “when,” and “why.” Pay special attention to such keywords.
To get to the featured snippet section in voice search results, the answer to the question must be at the very beginning of the text, ideally in the first 29 words.
Use professional services for collecting semantics, such as SE Ranking – they will allow you to get more ideas for keywords in a few clicks and see real user queries.
Expand semantics with various services on which users search for answers to their questions: Quora, AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest, and others.
Technical issues
Page loading speed is at the forefront. The faster the page loads, the better. You can check the current indicator using the Google PageSpeed Insights service. To speed up loading, compress images and scripts, set caching, implement lazy load. You can also implement AMP and Turbo Pages technologies.
Move to reliable hosting and use an SSL certificate.
Provide a responsive design if you haven’t already.
Remove obsolete technologies and plugins such as Flash.
Although the research above does not confirm the importance of microdata markup, we still believe that it will not be superfluous.
In particular, Schema.org will definitely come in handy for you because there you can specify contact information and opening hours – this is exactly what search robots will look for to find the answer to the user request.
Content optimization
First, add FAQ blocks to important pages. This format is most suitable for voice search because it contains conversational questions and answers in simple language.
Talk to your support and sales teams to find out what users are really asking them. Collect all frequently asked questions in one document and give the fullest possible answers to them.
The structure of the content is also of great importance. You should tell the robots in which section of your article they should look for the answer to the user’s question. Use the following types of markup:
subheadings H2-H6;
numbered and bullet lists;
quotes;
highlighted paragraphs with particularly important thoughts.
In subheadings, also use interrogative keywords more often.
Create expert and detailed articles that cover a specific topic as fully as possible. Don’t write an article for every request, and don’t mix topics with each other.
Do not use complex terms; write in simple language, short and clear. You need to convey information to the widest possible audience, and then Google robots will most likely choose your page to display in voice search results.
In addition, remember about user intents and the fact that all requests are divided into informational and commercial ones.
Local SEO
A large proportion of voice queries are about local issues. People are looking for the nearest restaurant, the opening hours of the bank, and so on. Voice search works great exactly for local businesses.
To succeed, fill out all the fields in your Google My Business card – often, Google often displays search results from this same source as it seems the most reliable. Also, take a look at the Q&A tab in Google My Business. Do not leave it blank, but answer users’ questions instead.
About half of Internet users use voice search today, which will grow from year to year. For SEO specialists, this means that sites need to be optimized for more conversational and longer user queries.
To get it right, put yourself in the shoes of your users and think about what questions you could answer. Make a list of these questions – in fact, these are the keywords that you should use in your content.
In addition, you can always get more ideas for keywords using special programs that collect and cluster real user queries.
Also, do not forget about the importance of having a mobile version of the site, page load speed, and other technical nuances that we’ve talked about in this article.
Craving some fried chicken? Enjoy some locally infused flavour Korean fried chicken from the cloud!
Founded by Tony Teh and Brian Chin, BokBok Korean Fried Chicken is a cloud kitchen that serves crispy and boneless fried chicken.
What is a cloud kitchen? A cloud kitchen is also known as a ghost kitchen. The concept of the cloud kitchen is basically a delivery-only restaurant. There is no physical space for patrons to dine in.
Join us to find out more as Tony shares how the business was able to ride with the tide during the pandemic, making the best out of it.
Nothing like a satisfying crunch of flavours in the comforts of home!
Could you start with a quick introduction? Share with us about your entrepreneurship journey.
BokBok offers crispy, delicious and yet affordable Korean fried chicken that is uniquely fused with local favourites. Our cloud kitchen is located in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya.
Founded by Brian Chin and myself, we launched back in December 2019 exclusively on GrabFood as a full fledged cloud kitchen with no dine-in at all. Orders can only be made online via Grab at that time before we made ourselves available on FoodPanda as well. We are also open to onboard any other viable food delivery partners in the near future.
Please share with us the memorable challenges you have faced so far (source/ communicate with suppliers, market your products, employment etc), and how do you overcome them?
The toughest challenge in recent memory was definitely the rider shortage which started from early March until the end of May. Our delivery partners did not have a sufficient supply of riders to deliver orders and so our customers could not place their orders. The frequent rain made things even worse than it was as riders do not usually deliver in rain.
This caused a major drop in revenue which resulted in extremely tight cash flow for those 3 months. It almost killed the business off.
At the same time, two of my most senior employees of the operation team resigned and I had to find proper replacements quickly.
I had to pretty much beg our suppliers, landlord, delivery partners, etc. to allow us to delay our payments. Most of them did not allow it but thankfully, those that did were enough to help us keep the business alive as it loosened up our cash flow a little.
As for the staff replacement, I managed to train one of the remaining staff to be the next leader and also found good replacements via Facebook Jobs within the one-month notice period of those who resigned. This allowed time for the new hires to be trained by them before their last working day.
What does your typical workday look like? How do you keep yourself productive?
It was very hectic in the past as I had to do almost everything hands-on.
In the morning, I had to help my staff with the orders until after lunch time as there were fewer staff for the first shift. Then after that, I have to order stock, do the accounting, make payments, respond to customers online and sometimes offline, liaise with delivery partners, managing our menu on the platforms, quality checking our food, deal with unforeseen kitchen issues, plan and execute marketing (mostly social media), calculate the cost of our food and upcoming promos, manage my staff, salary and many more stuff.
Thankfully, in recent months, I managed to build a team to help me with more than half of all that.
What is/are the marketing strategies you are using right now? What do you look for in an online business?
We pretty much join every campaign that our delivery partners are doing to keep our brand competitive in that space and we use social media to extend our brand presence and to create awareness about our food and what we are offering. Of course, we hope the revenue of our cloud kitchen will grow and continue to grow even further when this pandemic is over.
Compared to promoting your foods on Facebook & Instagram, how do you think online delivery platforms can help your F&B business?
As mentioned above, we join every campaign that our delivery partners are doing and this keeps our brand competitive by giving us extra visibility in their platforms. It is almost like an ad because it costs us to be a part of these campaigns but we see it as a marketing cost.
Restaurants that do not participate would definitely find it difficult to compete or even to be seen on those platforms.
Check out BokBok Korean Fried Chicken Instagram here
What is/are the challenges you will think of hearing about the eCommerce website? Will you be creating your own eCommerce website someday?
I have had experience in creating my own eCommerce site in the past and the biggest challenge for me at that time was learning the basics of HTML, PHP and designing the art for the layout.
We may create an eCommerce website for BokBok in the future to offer catering services for events, gatherings, parties and corporate functions. The website would definitely provide convenience for people to place their large orders. It will also serve as the main place online for people to read about our story and products.
What did you learn from this pandemic? Does this affect your F&B business?
The pandemic actually helped boost our brand and business.
When the pandemic started, BokBok was only like 3 months old. During the first MCO lockdown, our daily orders were more than doubled as it really got people to start ordering on delivery platforms more and they probably did not want to order from the same few available restaurants over and over again. Thus, many of them within the area had given our new brand a try. But also, at that time, there were not as many competitors yet.
It is not as easy anymore in the recent lockdowns.
What are the materials/ support you feel traditional F&B business owners need in order to help them to go online? Knowledge and education? Or Money?
I personally feel that they need support from someone who is tech-savvy. Even the agreements I sign with Grab and FoodPanda now are all digital. I cannot imagine a non-tech savvy F&B owner to be able to do it themselves with ease. If I had zero knowledge with no one to go to, I would not even know where to start.
So if the account managers of the delivery platforms could guide them and at least point them in the right direction, I think it would help a lot.
What has been the most exciting part of the entrepreneurship journey so far?
It is really awesome to know that we have built a business and team from absolutely nothing that is strong enough to survive tough challenges and to provide jobs during this pandemic. It is also great to have received so much positive and supportive feedback from customers and to know that we have loyal customers that would order from us frequently. I find that particularly amazing as we have been serving food to people without actually ever seeing them face to face.
What are your plans for your F&B business? How do you plan to grow it?
We are hoping to expand with more branches after the pandemic and perhaps a dine-in flagship. That would allow us to serve our customers food, hot right out of the kitchen.
Summary
Trying to tide through the pandemic posts is a challenge for businesses, especially for new businesses. But BokBok Korean Fried Chicken showed us how we can ride the tide and make the most out of what we have.
Thank you BokBok Korean Fried Chicken for sharing such a motivating story with Exabytes. We wish BokBok Korean Fried Chicken all the best for their future endeavours. Looking forward to possibly enjoying some crispy satisfaction at a flagship store in the future!
The global pandemic has activated digitalisation in the business world. Most companies have realised that digital transformation is the only way to secure and grow their businesses.
We are in an era of rapid technological development, making digitalisation an ongoing journey. To accelerate digitalisation for your business, always make good use of the technology available.
A plethora of technologies and platforms are available for companies to digitalise their business. Which ones can really help to improve the efficiency of your online business?
Let’s find out from the experts!
What You Will Learn
Technology is developing rapidly. Business owners such as SME owners, e-commerce merchants, and start-up founders should leverage digital tools and cloud-based technology. This webinar will show you the cloud technologies and platforms that can accelerate your business digitalisation. The industry experts will share their insights into how cloud technology can bring your business digitalisation to new heights.
The Speakers
We are pleased to have Nachi Leong, Small Business Specialist, Xero and Alia Alsagoff, Director of Business Development, Dropee.com to share their valuable insights on these topics. You can expect to walk away with knowledge on the importance of cloud technology in business digitalisation and how to leverage the technology to grow your business online.
Event Details:
Date: 6 October 2021 (Wednesday)
Time: 2.00 PM to 4.00 PM
Venue: Zoom Webinar
Agenda
2.00PM to 3.00PM: [Discovering Cloud Tools To Propel Your Business]
by Nachi Leong, Small Business Specialist, Xero
Join Small Business Specialist, Nachi Leong as she debunks common misconceptions about the cloud and shares actionable insights on how business owners can leverage digital tools to innovate your business.
3.00PM to 4.00PM: [I’m an SME with a million and one problems. Why should I care about going digital using cloud technology?]
by Alia Alsagoff, Director of Business Development, Dropee.com
As an SME business owner, we face all kinds of challenges in operating and growing our business. We all know that it’s important to go digital and COVID-19 has made it even harder for us to postpone further. But there are so many ways, methods, and options to “go digital”. How do we make the right choice when it comes to adopting a cloud-based digital solution?
The future of our society is our children, the youths. They hold the key to the development and growth of our future society. Our opinions matter and so does theirs.
Digitalisation has accelerated around the globe, especially during the pandemic. Our consumer patterns and behaviour has changed to adapt to the situation. Classes have gone online and so have businesses. We have started to shop online more frequently to purchase our daily essentials to clothes and even furniture. The internet has also become our go-to for the latest news update. We even source online for vendors providing services like plumping and housekeeping.
The accelerated growth of digitalisation has made a positive impact on our life. The convenience of everything being accessible and available with just the touch of a button. Technology has become an irreplaceable part of our daily lives.
With digitalisation, it is inevitable that digital skills and talents are in demand. We all start discovering and honing our skills and talents from a tender age and it all starts from our home and school. Exabytes sees the importance of our education system as it is a huge contributing factor to the development of our youths. What can be done to improve the gap between school education and the working world? How can we contribute?
Exabytes has partnered with Sunway Student Ambassadors in the event #Bangkit to dive deeper into the topic of developing future digital talents.
Let Your Voices Be Heard
Sunway Student Ambassadors is a student-run representative body of Sunway university.
They aim to cultivate a conducive and inclusive environment for students to develop essential soft skills and important values.
Through their platforms, students are able to develop the skills needed to build a stronger foundation.
The skills and foundation would be essential for the students when they move forward into the working society.
Rethinking Our Education Landscape
#Bangkit is an initiative by Sunway Student Ambassadors. The theme this year, 2021 is education.
The goal of #Bangkit is to encourage youths to voice out their concerns about underlying issues or overlooked affairs of topics in Malaysia.
This will also cultivate a heightened awareness of social issues revolving around the theme, education.
The event was broken down into two main sections, the conference and the challenge.
Enriching Minds Through Sharing
Conferences were held throughout the event with notable speakers from the education sector.
Students were able to gain insights as the speakers share their expertise and education-related topics.
The conference is also established as safe learning and sharing platform for students to link with professionals through open conversations.
Take Lead, Be the Change
The #Bangkit challenge consisted of the two main stages, the preliminary round and the final presentation.
The challenge covered five sectors: Business, Non-Government Organisation, Information Technology, Science and Education in the Future.
Students came together as teams to pitch in their ideas and solutions for their chosen sector’s problem statement.
Exabytes is the supporting and partnering organisation for the information technology sector.
Exabytes is one of the panellists of judges for the final event too!
Find out why and how Exabytes contributes to the cause:
Digital Talent Development
The topic for the information technology sector is Digital Talent Development.
The teams pitched in their initial ideas through an infographic and go through the preliminary elimination round.
The emerging teams are shortlisted and qualify for the final presentation.
Teams who qualify for the final presentation would then continue to dive deeper into the topic as they finetune their pitches for the final presentation.
During the brainstorming process, tools and resources are provided to them.
Q&A session during the Exabytes workshop with the information technology sector teams.
Workshops are conducted for the finalist teams. In the workshops, the teams will be furnished with knowledge and information on topics relevant to the topic.
The information parted to the teams will help and supplement their final pitches.
Mentorship sessions were conducted as well to provide guidance to the finalist teams.
Watch the sneak peek of the IT sector winner’s pitch here:
As the event has come to an end, we would like to congratulate the winning team, EduTEA!
We would also like to recognise the efforts of all participating teams in the event.
Moving forward, Exabytes will be working with EduTEA to materialise their proposal, bringing it to life!
Access to Digital Resources
In addition to the main event, Exabytes wish to help the students in their digital journey!
To express our support to the cause, a giveaway was held and five lucky winners walked away with a free domain and hosting by Exabytes.
Vouchers were also distributed so that students are able to better manage costs and gain access to digital resources at the same time.
Interested to build your online presence too? Gain access to more digital resources here!
Together we are stronger, together we can make things better. A continuous partnership defines a series of great hard work done together and a fruitful outcome that calls for more.
Exabytes and UOB JomX
This 2021, Exabytes joins UOB Malaysia and The Finlab as a solutions provider partner in their JomX campaign!
JomX is an initiative to help UOB Malaysia’s small and medium enterprise (SME) customers access a host of digital solutions to accelerate their digitalisation efforts amid COVID-19 challenges.
“The pandemic has highlighted the advantages of digital business models and that many SMEs need support on their digitalisation journey to ensure their business viability.
SMEs that are equipped with the right digital strategy and tools will be better able to demonstrate their resilience and competitiveness” says UOB Malaysia executive director and country head of channels and digitalisation Yap Kok Tee.
Exabytes’ Solutions Offer
Exabytes is delighted to again be a part of the JomX programme. We are happy to be able to provide our digital solutions to SMEs for wider possibilities in taking their businesses forward.
This year, through detailed research and observations, we have carefully selected two of our services which we are confident will be the best-suited for UOB Malaysia’s corporate clients.
It is a known fact that many businesses in Malaysia have been put to a halt since the hit of the pandemic early last year.
We have seen many businesses embarked on the journey to digitalise their businesses, but there is still a large number that has yet to take this step forward.
Hence our solutions offered in this campaign and our participation in UOB Malaysia’s JomX.
Exabytes and UOB Malaysia Growing SMEs Digitally
JomX has been built based on top digital pain points and priorities highlighted by SMEs from the first cohort of the Jom Transform Programme (JTP) 2021.
Moving forward from here, Exabytes hope to be able to support and assist more SMEs in Malaysia in growing their businesses online.
Going digital may seem like a huge step to take on with a long journey ahead, but let us assure you that it is not as terrifying as it seems, and this is the best time!
Let Exabytes and UOB Malaysia take you on this digitalisation journey to witness the rapid growth of your online business with simpler steps as you’d imagined.
A domain name is the address of your website. Simply put, your website is home and your domain name is your home address.
Every domain name is unique and cannot be shared by more than one owner at the same time.
Domains are the unique identifiers for the web servers that represent your website. They are what separates one website from another on the internet.
Every website is identified by an IP address. Your computer will connect to the server where the website data is located through the IP address.
Why are domain names created? It is because the IP address is too complicated to remember. So domain names are created so that users can remember them easily.
How’s the Structure of a Domain Name?
A simple explanation for you to know about how a domain name looks like: www.exabytes.my
www: this refers to the third-level domain (World Wide Web)
exabytes: this refers to the second-level domain, usually it represents the name of the website.
.my: this is the ccTLD (Country-code top-level domain), also known as a domain name extension.
Differences between gTLD, ccTLD, and new TLD domain names
a. gTLD Generic Top-Level Domain
Generic Top-Level Domain, a domain with three or more characters. For example:
There are two types of Country Code Top-Level Domains – open ccTLD and closed ccTLD.
Open ccTLD is the domain used by the country it belongs to, but it is open for anyone to register, such as .TV (country code for Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu). On the other hand, closed ccTLD is the domain used by the country it belongs to, but it is restricted as to who can use it.
Examples of closed ccTLD are .MY domain (only for Malaysians or companies registered in Malaysia), .AU (only for Australian residents), and more.
c. New Generic TLD Domain
New generic top-level domains were introduced by ICANN to help niche businesses secure their brand identity.
Over 1500 new generic TLD domains have been introduced including .XYZ, .APP, .VIP and more.
How Do I Find a Great Domain Name?
There are a number of ways to find a great website name. One way is by typing in the words that you think are good domain names and check if they are available.
Another way is by looking at your competitors’ domain names and trying to find something better for yourself.
In the end, there is no perfect formula for finding a perfect domain name, but it’s always best to be creative and think outside of the box!
Why is This So Important?
A good domain name can make a good first impression. When you create a relevant domain, it will be perceived more positively. Otherwise, your website may be viewed negatively.
This will also affect the SEO results and organic search ranking for your pages. Although exact match domains (EMDs) are no longer necessary, your domain name keywords still have the ability to improve your SEO ranking.
Are you looking for a domain name to define your brand? A good domain name can increase your business recognition.
Tips for Choosing the Right Domain Name
If you are still thinking and considering what kind of domain name you want, here are some ideas for you to help you make the right decision when choosing a domain name.
1. Easy To Remember
Every day, more and more new registered domain names are appearing online, so having a domain that is catchy and memorable is essential.
Once you’ve come up with a name, share it with close friends to make sure it sounds appealing and makes sense to others.
2. Easy To Type
To ensure your domain name stands out from others, don’t pick a domain name that requires spellcheck to get it right. This is usually caused by complex words, uncommon words, or unusual spellings.
A good domain name will give users a greater impression and appeal to a wider audience.
3. Keep It Short & Simple
While there is never an ideal length for a domain name, it is best to keep your domain name length as short as possible.
By maximizing the readability and appearance of your domain name online, the short domain name can become a strong marketing tool.
4. Use Keywords
Include the target keywords that you want to focus on SEO marketing when creating your domain name.
5. Research
Don’t just simply follow the trend or advice from any particular party.
Do your own research; find the best domain name that is suitable for your website. Ideally, your domain name must have a strong linkage with your main objective for your website.
A different domain name might bring higher traffic to your website.
6. Domain Name Extensions
Choose the best domain extensions that suit your business industry, for example: .BIZ is for business or commercial use; e-commerce sites / .INFO is for informational sites / .ORG is for non-commercial or non-profits organizations.
7. Geographic Area
A domain name ending with a geographic extension will get a higher reputation in the respective country and gain more trust. Examples of a few country domain name extensions: 1. .SG: Singapore 2. .MY: Malaysia 3. .ID: Indonesia 4. .UK: United Kingdom
8. Branding
Be innovative and unleash your creativity when choosing your domain name. Currently, you can register using one of the many new domain name extensions to create an interesting domain name, such as: 1. listen.la 2. i.am 3. hello.me
9. Checking the domain name availability
To purchase / register a domain name, you need to find one that is available (i.e. one that no one else owns) when you carry out your search.
You can use a search engine such as Google, and enter the domain name you wish to get and find out if it is already registered. Exabytes also provides a domain lookup tool to search for domain availability before you purchase the ideal domain.
To buy a domain name, simply sign up with an online domain name registrar and then pay for a subscription.
Malaysia Top Trusted Domain Registrar and Hosting Provider, Exabytes provides domain registration services and allows you to sign up for a domain and hosting plan at the same time. To know more, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Owning a domain name that represents your BRAND is a great investment to your business. You might not have enough resources to build your website/ eCommerce store Today, but taking charge of your brand aka domain name is a must! It’s essential to all businesses. Businesses often register a domain name to prevent cyber-squatting or unauthorized use. Use your domain name in your business email. It builds your BRAND Identity and shows professionalism.
What Are the Requirements to Register a Domain Name?
A domain name can only contain characters from A to Z, 0 – 9;
A domain name may contain “hyphen/-” but may not begin or end with a hyphen;
Spaces and special characters, such as question marks (?), exclamation points (!), and underscores (_) are never permitted;
A domain name cannot have hyphens as the 3rd and 4th characters (reserved for multilingual domain registration eg: xn--example.com).
The information provided in the domain name registration must be true, correct, up to date and complete;
Domain name owners must ensure their domain Whois information is always up to date.
What is the Domain Grace Period & Redemption Grace Period?
Domain Grace Period (0-30 days)
Domain grace period allows you to renew the domain within 30 days after expiration in case you change your mind and want the domain back. We recommend you to renew your domain name before it expires to reduce the risk of losing domain ownership.
Redemption Grace Period (30 days)
In this stage, you still have the last chance to renew or transfer domain, but it costs an additional renewal fee. Different fees are chargeable for different registrars or web host providers.
Pending Delete Period (5 days)
In this stage, your domain name is pending delete and you’ll never be able to get back the domain name after this. The process takes 5 days and the domain name will be fully removed.
Domain Auction
Your domain name will be released to public auction if no one places a backorder on your domain name.
ID Protection ensures the confidentiality of your private contact information. It will not be exposed to the public and is protected by the Domain Privacy Protection Service.
Your contact information will not be displayed but will be replaced with the Domain Privacy Protection Service’s contact information. With your private contact information hidden from the public record, your privacy is assured.
With Whois ID Protect, the visible email address to the public is constantly changing, so while it is being harvested and redistributed, it will change and the previous address will no longer work for spammers.
What is the Difference Between Add-on Domains, Subdomains and Parked Domains?
a. Add-on Domain
You can register another domain and park it under the same hosting after signing up for a domain and web hosting account.
For example, now you have a hosting account and a domain (www.domain1.com). A few weeks later, you buy another domain (www.domain2.com) to create an additional website.
All you need to do is just host the domain on the same web hosting account without paying for hosting again.
b. Subdomains
A Subdomain is extremely useful as it allows you to have a stand-alone website with unique content without having to register for another new domain. For example, you own the domain (www.exabytes.my). To create a blog for your company, you just need to create another subdomain (blog.exabytes.my). In this case, blog.exabytes.my is the subdomain.
c. Parked Domains
Domain owners use a parked domain to point to their main website. For example, if (www.domain1.com) is your main site, you can register another domain (www.domain2.com) and assign it as a parked domain.
When a website visitor visits (www.domain2.com), they will see the exact same content as on (www.domain1.com). In this case, www.domain2.com is the parked domain.
Berkemahuan untuk membawa bisnes ke alam maya dan membesarkannya secara digital, Exabytes meliputi semua kemungkinan dalam memberikan sokongan kepada PKS (SME) untuk memajukan bisnes mereka secara online dengan harga yang mampu milik.
Sejak wabak Covid-19 melanda, bisnes online telah dibuktikan sebagai cara untuk memperluaskan bisnes dan meningkatkan pendapatan jualan.
Sehubungan itu, pelbagai bahagian dan organisasi kerajaan telah bermula memberikan grant kepada bisnes kecil dan sederhana untuk mengoperasikan bisnes mereka secara online, atau membesarkan bisnes mereka secara digital.
Dalam artikel ini, kami telah menyusun dan merangkumi senarai grant yang boleh anda pertimbangkan dan cara untuk memohon bagi bisnes anda.
1. Geran Pendigitalan PKS Exabytes – Sehingga RM5000 untuk semua PKS di Malaysia.
Kerajaan melalui Kementerian Kewangan (MOF) telah bekerjasama dengan Bank Simpanan Nasional dan Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) untuk menawarkan geran pendigitalan kepada PKS yang layak untuk mengamalkan digitalisasi dalam operasi harian mereka.
Exabytes dengan sukacitanya mengumumkan bahawa kami adalah salah satu MDEC TSP (Penyedia Perkhidmatan Teknologi) yang layak untuk program ini.
Apa yang anda dapat?
Tuntut Geran PKS sehingga RM5,000 dengan perkhidmatan Exabytes
Siapkan laman web anda dalam 3 hari (dilengkapi dengan nama domain, hosting & reka bentuk laman web)
Kembangkan perniagaan anda dengan alat pemasaran digital yang hebat, kedudukan nombor 1 di Google dan bawa perniagaan anda ke pasaran global.
Jangkau pelanggan dengan kadar buka sehingga 98% – hantar mesej berkesan untuk menjangkau bakal / pelanggan sedia ada dengan serta-merta dan berkesan
Kelayakan:
Tersedia untuk PKS dan Koperasi (“Koperasi”) yang didaftarkan di bawah undang-undang Malaysia yang berkaitan;
PKS sekurang-kurangnya 60% dimiliki oleh rakyat Malaysia;
SME / Coop telah beroperasi sekurang-kurangnya enam (6) bulan; dan
SME / Coop mempunyai perolehan jualan tahunan minimum minimum RM50,000
Salinan Kad Pengenalan atau Pasport dari Pengarah / Rakan Kongsi / Pemilik dari PKS / pemohon yang dilantik oleh Coop, mana yang berkenaan.
Salinan lesen pendaftaran perniagaan PKS (CCM atau borang yang serupa di bawah Akta Syarikat 2016). Untuk Coop, salinan sijil pendaftaran SKM.
Penyata kewangan teraudit terkini atau penyata akaun pengurusan kewangan terkini atau penyata bank untuk dua (2) bulan terakhir;
Sebutharga / invois untuk perkhidmatan digitalisasi terpilih dari Penyedia Perkhidmatan yang disenaraikan oleh MDEC; dan
Sebarang maklumat dan dokumen lain apabila diperlukan oleh bank.
Proses Permohonan:
PKS menghubungi dan melantik Exabytes sebagai Penyedia Penyelesaian Teknologi (TSP) yang diperakui MDEC.
SME melengkapkan dan menyerahkan borang permohonan beserta dokumen yang diperlukan dengan mengirimkannya ke cawangan Utama BSN negeri atau pos set lengkap dokumen ke Cawangan Utama BSN di setiap Negeri.
SME perlu memberitahu pihak Exabytes ([email protected]) setelah permohonan ke BSN diserahkan agar pihak Exabytes dapat membantu membuat susulan mengenai proses permohonan.
Setelah permohonan diluluskan, pemohon bertanggungjawab untuk membayar 50% atau lebih daripada jumlah invois yang mana Bank hanya akan membayar 50% atau sehingga RM5,000.00 kepada Exabytes.
Kerajaan memberikan 50% Geran Padanan berdasarkan jumlah invois anda yang dikeluarkan oleh Exabytes atau maksimum hingga RM5,000 bagi setiap syarikat yang berkelayakan.
Dapatkan maklumat terperinci mengenai Geran Pendigitalan PKS Exabytes di sini.
Permohonan telah ditutup pada Ogos 2022
2. Sama-Sama Digital – Sehingga RM10,000 untuk PKS Bumiputera
Sejajar dengan inisiatif PENJANA, Exabytes dan Ekuinas akan memberikan subsidi sehingga RM5,000 (Iltizam oleh Ekuinas) kepada PKS Bumiputera untuk lebih membantu PKS mendorong penggunaan digital dan mengurangkan kos digitalisasi mereka.
Ditambah dengan geran Pendigitalan PKS Exabytes (RM5000), Sama-Sama Digital memberikan geran RM 10,000 bagi setiap syarikat untuk digunakan pada penyelesaian digital Exabytes yang terpilih.
Apa yang boleh anda lakukan untuk mengembangkan perniagaan dalam talian?
Jangkau pelanggan dalam talian dan jana lebih banyak bakal pelanggan dan penjualan baru melalui pemasaran digital.
Tingkatkan operasi perniagaan dan kecekapan perkhidmatan pelanggan menggunakan penyelesaian produktiviti.
Kelayakan:
Perniagaan Bumiputera (atau 51% dimiliki oleh Bumiputera)
Syarikat sekurang-kurangnya 60% dimiliki oleh rakyat Malaysia.
Syarikat telah beroperasi sekurang-kurangnya enam (6) bulan.
Bagi syarikat yang beroperasi sekurang-kurangnya enam (6) bulan perlu mempunyai perolehan jualan tahunan minimum RM50,000.
Bagi syarikat yang telah beroperasi selama lebih dari dua (2) tahun perlu mempunyai perolehan jualan tahunan minimum sebanyak RM 50,000 dalam dua (2) tahun berturut-turut.
Kempen Sama-Sama Digital akan berakhir pada 31 Disember 2021. Untuk maklumat terperinci mengenai Sama-Sama Digital sila klik sini.
3. Geran Padanan Digitalisasi PKS Selangor – Hingga RM5,000 untuk PKS Selangor
Geran Padanan Digital PKS bertujuan untuk membantu PKS di negeri Selangor mendigitalkan perniagaan mereka dalam menghadapi pandemik Covid-19. Pemberian ini terbuka untuk memberi manfaat kepada 1,000 PKS Selangor yang ingin mendigitalkan perniagaan mereka.
Kerajaan negeri Selangor memberikan geran padanan 50% atau maksimum RM5,000 untuk PKS negeri Selangor apabila anda mendaftar untuk mendapatkan penyelesaian perkhidmatan digital pilihan anda.
E-PoS dan Gerbang Pembayaran (E-PoS and payment gateway)
Kelayakan:
Berdaftar di bawah undang-undang Malaysia yang berkaitan
Sekurang-kurangnya 51% dimiliki oleh rakyat Malaysia
Alamat perniagaan atau alamat operasi yang didaftarkan di Selangor sahaja
Dikehendaki mempunyai perolehan jualan tahunan minimum RM300,000 dan tidak melebihi RM3 juta
Beroperasi sekurang-kurangnya 1 tahun
Terhad kepada satu (1) permohonan bagi setiap syarikat sahaja. Namun, PKS diizinkan untuk menerapkan hingga tiga (3) layanan digital dengan satu (1) atau lebih penyedia perkhidmatan yang disokong oleh Sidec.
Dapatkan maklumat terperinci mengenai Geran Padanan Digitalisasi PKS Selangor di sini.
4. Program eTrade 2.0 – Hibah sehingga RM25,000 yang boleh dituntut untuk Perniagaan B2B
Penambahbaikan Program eTrade di bawah RMK-11 bermatlamat untuk memperkasakan eksport melalui penyertaan berterusan syarikat dalam platform eCommerce merentasi sempadan. Program ini akan terus membantu syarikat baru untuk memasuki platform eCommerce rentas sempadan untuk eksport dengan insentif sehingga RM5,000 untuk mana-mana platform eCommerce rentas sempadan, untuk langganan selama satu tahun.
Dalam masa yang sama, insentif baru akan diberikan kepada syarikat yang sudah menjalankan eCommerce dengan jumlah maksimum hingga RM20,000 per syarikat untuk melaksanakan sebarang kegiatan yang dapat mempertahankan penyertaan mereka dalam platform eCommerce rentas sempadan. Insentif tersebut akan digunakan dalam tempoh waktu satu (1) tahun.
Insentif kewangan:
Geran RM5,000 untuk menaiki platform eCommerce rentas sempadan atau pelbagai platform, bagi setiap syarikat, untuk satu (1) tahun langganan / satu (1) tahun aktiviti
Geran RM20,000 untuk menjalankan sebarang aktiviti pemasaran digital, per syarikat, untuk satu (1) tahun langganan / satu (1) tahun aktiviti
Kelayakan:
Berdaftar dengan SSM – terbuka kepada ROC / ROB / LLP / Koperasi yang berdaftar dengan SKM
Buatan Malaysia – menjual produk buatan Malaysia atau jenama Malaysia yang berdaftar dengan MyIPO
Milik Malaysia – sekurang-kurangnya 60% pemilikan Malaysia
Jalankan iklan untuk membawa lebih banyak lalu lintas
Mengoptimumkan dan meningkatkan conversion rate
Langkahnya mudah, dan kami juga menjadikan perniagaan dalam talian berpatutan untuk anda.
Lihat hasil perniagaan anda melalui peningkatan jualan dan juga peningkatan brand awareness anda.
Exabytes dapat bantu perniagaan anda untuk berkembang secara digital.
5. Insentif Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang – Dapatkan sokongan geran RM1,000 segera untuk Perniagaan Pulau Pinang
Adakah anda berminat atau sudah menggunakan platform B2B untuk menjual secara dalam talian? Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang baru-baru ini melancarkan inisiatif untuk menyokong PKS untuk bertransaksi dan terlibat secara digital melalui platform B2B.
Geran RM1,000 dari Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang merupakan insentif untuk mendorong PKS menjual secara dalam talian. Kriteria permohonan minimum. Tajaan ini terhad kepada 1,000 pemohon pertama yang diluluskan. Permohonan geran ini akan ditutup pada 11 November 2021 pada pukul 6 petang.
Kriteria Permohonan
Pemohon mestilah syarikat yang berpusat di Pulau Pinang (alamat perniagaan berdaftar di Pulau Pinang)
Mesti PKS seperti yang ditakrifkan oleh SME Corp. Definisi SME
Berdaftar dengan platform Digital tempatan dengan rekod prestasi sekurang-kurangnya 1 tahun
Exabytes adalah salah satu Penyedia Platform Digital.
Borang permohonan geran boleh didapati di sini.
Syarat untuk Pembayaran
Tunjukkan bukti penerimaan atau pengesahan bertulis bahawa anda telah mendaftar dengan platform Digital.
Kami akan mengesahkan dengan platform Digital.
Digital Penang akan memeriksa permohonan yang diluluskan.
Kelulusan akan dibuat berdasarkan “siapa cepat dia yang dapat”. Setelah 1,000 permohonan telah diluluskan dan dana dikeluarkan, projek akan berakhir.
Sila lampirkan bahagian Penyata / Pengesahan Bank anda dari Bank untuk mengesahkan nama dan nombor Akaun Bank anda.
Geran yang diluluskan akan dipindahkan terus ke Akaun Bank pemohon oleh BPEN.
Craving some fried chicken? Enjoy some locally infused flavour Korean fried chicken from the cloud!
