Martin Farooq

Related program: B.S. in Computer Science

Websites are more innovative, responsive, and offer a host of features and functions all while being immaculately designed using one or a combination of some of today’s most popular programming languages. These programming languages include: C, C++, JAVA, JAVASCRIPT, PHP, RUBY, Objective C, and Python. C is used as the foundational programming language that many of these newer languages are based on. The other languages are used for building improving how websites work, allowing for dynamic pages, features and overall design. Popular websites and apps currently using these programming languages in one form or another include Google and Bloomberg (C++), GoToMeeting app and The Wall Street Journal (Java), Facebook and Twitter (JavaScript), Yahoo and Wikipedia (PHP), Groupon and Amazon (Ruby), iPhone apps (Objective-C), and YouTube and NASA (Python).

Of course, there are domains outside of websites where programming languages are also featured heavily. These domains include the frameworks of computer science departments and laboratories. The top 20 U.S. Universities Computer Science departments use Python (13), Java (11), Matlab (6), C (4) and C++ (2) programming languages to power their operations. On the other hand, 20 of the world’s most popular technologies use JavaScript (54.4%), SQL (48%), Java (37.4%), C# (31.6%), PHP (29.7%), Python (23.8%), C++ (20.6%), C (16.4%), and NODE.JS (13.3%) to power their devices.

Computer programmers often work as developers in a number of different areas and capacities. These range from the area with by far the most programmers --- full-stack web developers (32.4%) --- to the area with the least --- database administrators (0.2%). Other areas include (in descending order): students (13.4%), back-end web developers (10.1%), mobile developers (9.1%), desktop developers (8.3%), front-end web developers (6%), embedded app developers (2.9%), enterprise level developers (2.9%), executives (1.8%), and system administrators (1.6%).

The projected period of growth marked as the future of computer programming software, is the 7-year period between 2015 and 2022. It is expected that during this period, growth for computer occupations --- namely software development and computer programmers --- will take place at a total rate of about 18%. Software developers are expected to move from approximately 1,018,000 developers in 2015 to 1,240,600 in 2022. Similarly, computer programmers are expected to increase in numbers from approximately 343,700 in 2015 to 372,100 in 2022.

Open source is one of the most used platforms in programming and developmental technology today and this trajectory is likely to continue upward. Since 2010, there has been a 24-percentage point shift between 2010 and 2015 in companies creating software for clients using open source --- moving from 42% of companies to 66%. It is not surprising therefore that an expected 88% of companies and 78% of developers are expected to increase their contributions to open source projects within the next 2 to 3 years.

With over 152 million shoppers worldwide and 19 million sellers on eBay, there are plenty of opportunities to sell your products but also a lot of competition. As of 2022, there are a jaw-dropping 1.5 billion seller listings on eBay, and each day the marketplace becomes more and more saturated.

With more merchants selling the same items, eBay sellers have to strategically create their listings to stand out and attract buyers. Visibility, pricing, and photos are a few of the vital components that influence your shoppers and whether or not they will ultimately make a purchase.

To help boost your sales, we cover 10 tips to craft a top-selling eBay listing that builds buyers’ trust in your products and encourages them to make a purchase.

The key to securing your online sales, eBay or otherwise, is building buyers’ trust in your business. When trust is high, shoppers focus less on the potential risks of online shopping and feel ready to make a purchase.

How do you build that buyer relationship? Appeal to shoppers’ intuitive reasoning.

According to Harvard Business Review, people rely on their associative reasoning system—based on personal experience and intuition — when making risky decisions, such as an online purchase. This finding means that the intuitive factors of your eBay listings — aesthetics, professionalism, visibility — often have the biggest impact on whether shoppers purchase your eBay products.

Considering this research, we’ve outlined 10 tips that speak to shoppers’ associative reasoning. By improving the intuitive factors of your listings with these strategies, you’ll build buyers’ trust in your eBay business and give a boost to your sales.

Because online eBay shoppers can’t see your products in person, your item photos matter a great deal. Through color, image quality, and more, product photos help buyers assess whether they want to purchase the item.

To make the right first impression, here are a few tips for curating your eBay product photos:

With a curated selection of product photos, your listings will give shoppers a clear idea of what to expect from your products. Shoppers then have the knowledge they need to feel confident in making a purchase.

Online shoppers don’t want to browse through pages of products. To save time, they’d rather opt for one of the first results they see. With this reasoning, a listing that ranks high in eBay’s search results will likely attract greater sales than one with a lower ranking.

These search rankings are determined by eBay’s search engine, Cassini. In deciding which listings will rank highest, it considers which would be most relevant to the shopper.

A key factor in determining this “relevance” is keyword usage. When the keywords in your listing match your buyers’ search terms, Cassini considers your product to be more relevant for that shopper.

There are a few key ways to find out which keywords your buyers are frequently searching.

Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords, you can narrow down your list to the most popular words and phrases. Then, incorporate those keywords throughout your listing.

While you want to distribute these keywords throughout your listing, avoid keyword stuffing. If you aimlessly add keywords that are frequently searched, Cassini will detect that your listing isn’t relevant to your buyers. Add keywords where meaningfully appropriate to keep your listings’ rankings high.

With a relevant distribution of keywords, your listing will be ranked high in target buyers’ search results and will, through greater exposure, achieve greater sales.

Beyond SEO, you can improve your listings’ visibility with eBay Promoted Listings. Available to Top-Rated Sellers and eBay Store subscribers, this paid advertising program allows you to place your listings where they’ll get more exposure, such as the top of a search rankings page.

Shoppers can easily find Promoted Listings with their advantageous placements, so they’re more likely to buy those items. But because Promoted Listings isn’t a free service, you want to ensure that you’re getting the highest value possible from the investment. Here are a few strategies for effectively placing promoted listings.

Since it offers greater visibility for your products, eBay Promoted Listings allows you to attract more buyers to your items and generate more sales.

Beyond SEO and promotions, visibility can also be impacted by your eBay seller rating. If you have negative feedback, the Cassini search engine will lower your listing’s ranking.

To ensure that your listing is visible (and that you’re keeping customers happy), you should always aim to meet eBay’s Top Rated seller benchmarks:

Meeting these benchmarks consistently requires planning and diligence. Clearly understand what areas of your performance need improvement with these tips:

Implement these strategies, and you’ll be able to maintain a positive seller rating that keeps your listings’ rankings high.

When online shoppers are hesitant to purchase, they can often be convinced to buy when offered free shipping and fair return policies. If they end up not liking the item, they will appreciate that it won’t be costly or time-consuming to have it shipped back.

eBay buyers are no exception. The marketplace found that more than 60 percent of shoppers check return policies before completing an order.

If you don’t currently offer free shipping and free returns, consider how and why you might be able to switch to these policies and attract more shoppers.

Switching to free shipping and return policies may seem risky and costly at first, but the investment is worthwhile. With the protections of these policies, reluctant buyers will have more confidence in your business and make a purchase.

Shoppers are attracted to listings with a professional look. A high-quality design builds buyers’ trust in your business as they associate a polished look with credibility.

Achieving this style, however, can be hard if you’re not a designer. Rather than hire an expensive freelancer, you can save money and still create a professional listing with software. Online programs, such as CrazyLister, provide templates to easily craft an eBay listing at an affordable price.

To take advantage of this listing software, choose your templates carefully.

Use custom listing software templates along with these suggestions, and your listing will have a professional look that builds shoppers’ trust and encourages sales.

As an alternative to using custom listing software, you can achieve a professional look by listing items through the eBay catalog. Rather than creating your own unique listing, the eBay Catalog lets you share one with other merchants who are selling the same product.

For each catalog listing, eBay selects the product photos from sellers’ submissions, and the product info is presented in a standardized format. With this uniform look, eBay catalog listings look professional in the eyes of shoppers.

To list with the eBay catalog, your item needs to be brand new and match an identical item in the catalog. If your product isn’t already included, you can request that eBay add it in.

Offering a professional and refined look, the eBay catalog can help you impress and delight buyers, so they’re ready to make a purchase.

To maximize your products’ visibility, you’ll want to include relevant item specifics when creating listings. Item specifics are unique identifiers — color, brand, size — that help you distinguish your listing from similar products.

Item specifics will make it easier for buyers to find your item in a few ways:

With more item specifics, buyers are more likely to find your listings through search engines — whether it’s eBay’s Cassini or Google — and move toward placing an order.

As shoppers scroll through eBay listings, they’re comparing pricing, among other factors. To attract buyers while staying mindful of your finances, you want to find a price point that’s both competitive and fits your budget.

Finding that effective price point boils down to a few steps:

After you’ve found a competitive price, you’ll want to consistently reevaluate your competitors and budget to make sure your price still works for your business and buyers. With a competitive price, your listing will attract shoppers and bring them one step closer to purchasing.

At the very least, your listing can’t attract shoppers if it’s not legally compliant. Failure to meet these standards can result in your listing being removed by eBay and disrupting your business.

eBay doesn’t pre-approve listings, so it’s your responsibility to make sure your listings are legally compliant. Examples of these legal requirements include:

Review the full list of guidelines here for legally compliant listings. By being aware of these standards, you’ll be able to ensure that your listings are all compliant and won’t be removed, and your customers can keep shopping.

• Step 1: Get the server certificate. First, make a request to get the server certificate.
• Step 2: Get the intermediate certificate. Normally, a CA does not sign a certificate directly.
• Step 3: Get the OCSP responder for server certificate.
• Step 4: Make the OCSP request.

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