Posted 7/14/09 by Nicole Anonsen

If you are experiencing problems with drop down menus in iPhone, then read this threaded forum discussion by various web designers and developers from Apple.com. And view this YouTube.com video to see an example of how to get around it. Hopefully, this is temporary.

All in all, CSS menus are the way to go when developing a website. They are better in the fact that search engines prefer to crawl that code versus Javascript menus using sliced images with ALT Tags.

July 13, 2009 | Posted by Nicole Anonsen

It’s interesting how business owners show their true character when conflict arises. That makes me ask the question, should an owner be transparent from the beginning of a business relationship? I believe the answer is “yes”. From the moment of an initial contact, it is greatly encouraged that you know the true expectations of the business relationship and fully understand all the details pertaining to it before you finalize any deal. Too often business relationships hide from their intentions and therefore, overlook potential problems in the details by convincing themselves that “everything will be fine… we trust each other”. And so, the two parties rush into a contract relationship to get things moving. This is not a good start because the relationship has been immediately built on a shaky foundation.

The first thing to do is communicate and understand both parties expectations and executing details. Make sure they are in writing rather than from a phone call or a meeting. Granted, where phone conversations and meetings are the best way to communicate, it’s also the best way to accidentally overlook critical details. People generally get tired of details and so, they speed up that part of the process to get to the warm and fuzzy parts. It’s all about feeling good in the relationship. The real question you should ask yourself is, “Have I been transparent enough for this relationship to be built on a solid foundation?”

The second thing to do is to follow-through on any commitment. Trust is a huge factor when venturing into a business relationship. And too often, businesses get taken advantage of by concealing internal problems. It is our immediate reaction to not communicate any negative statuses. We highly value other people’s opinions about our business and from the moment we are asked “How’s business?”,  we immediately communicate that “all is well” even if everything is upside down. If commitments have been made, then stick to them. Do what is honorable and beyond that, go beyond yourself by providing the “Wow” factor. Communication is key here because if you don’t inform, you’ll eventually fail and lose all trust.

Remember that transparency is the best form of humility. When we are humble, we are not necessarily vulnerable, but confident in who we are and what we stand for in our business practices. It’s confidence that strengthens our character and it’s our character that shapes our reputation. If you have not mulled over every detail in a business relationship before it’s been finalized, then now is the time to start.

“Tweeting” can be challenging when trying to stick to a specific 140 character topic. Making a continual effort is well worth it as Twitter can produce high search engine rankings. Within Twitter’s search engine, entering specific keyword phrases can many times lead to popular Twitter profile account pages. These popular profile pages created by individuals or businesses can not only contain specific information about your keyword phrase, but also links to specific sites and articles they are either promoting or referencing. So, if trends and market research is important to you, then Twitter is one place to reference.

The reason why everyone is joining Twitter is because of continual interaction of real-time information. You may think that Twitter may not be as beneficial as it is to others. Or you may think that it’s a time waster. We recommend to not letting that stop you from setting up an account and adding your link to your website. Twitter still helps land your site on the search engines regardless. In this economy, it’s best to boost your site traffic as much as possible. And this is just one quick and easy way to achieve that!

Follow IMACOMM on Twitter! »

Receive one page of search engine optimization FREE when you sign up for service.

(expires June 15th and only applies to pages other than the homepage/landing page.)

Use code: SEOPAGE

Our clients periodically ask us how to make their website easier for clients and customers to find. We’re going to offer up a bit of education and advice that will help you understand a little bit more about how SEO works, what it can do for you, and how Imacomm can make a difference.

What Does Search Engine Optimization Mean?

Clearly put, Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a strategic list of efforts applied to your website to make the best exposure in the search engines. The top search engines in the market are Google (which holds 72.92% of market share), Yahoo (16.14%), MSN (5.68%) and Ask (3.95%).

Why Can’t People Find Your Site?

Most likely, it’s because your site is not optimized. Just a few obvious reasons for you to know why:
1. Your site has a flash intro.
2. There’s hardly any copy on your homepage.
3. The page title at the top of the browser window just has your Company Name.
4. You have a lot of copy, but there are not any keywords scattered throughout linking to other pages.

How do you get your website ranked to the top of the search engines?

The strategic efforts include keyword research and analysis, interlinking those keywords throughout the site code and content, identifying design elements such as logo, photos, etc., creating a sitemap and building effective inbound page links. Once your site is optimized and the web address submitted to the search engines, they then visit the web server periodically each day to determine what’s important to them and rank your site where they see relevant.

Should you hire someone to help you and if so, will it cost you lots of money?

We advise that you do hire someone to initially optimize your site and then periodically monitor where it is ranked on the engines. Here are benefits why you should hire Imacomm:
1. We don’t charge a monthly fee. We charge per page.
2. We are experts in building websites.
3. We train clients on how they can help improve and monitor the website rankings on their own.

So, How Does Imacomm Improve Your Website Ranking?

Well, we thought about taking our own advice and not throwing a bunch of web lingo at you, but as you research SEO and try to consider what’s best for your company, maybe understanding the questions above will give you a better idea of what specifically goes into optimizing your site. The benefits to your site can be significant, and, best of all, there’s no direct fee to you for that incoming traffic.

» SIGN ME UP!

Imacomm Welcomes New Client - Four Seasons Nail & Day Spa
Located in Greenville, SC, Four Seasons Nail & Day Spa has hired Imacomm to creatively design and build a website with shopping cart. Using our custom shopping cart program, ImaCart, Four Seasons will be able to offer gift certificates and more for their customers who want to buy online anytime. We look forward to delivering a quality website to improve their marketing efforts.

As a thank you to our subscribers, we’re offering a discount of $25.00 on your initial blog set up.  Why do we do this you ask?  Well, we really believe in the value of blogging and want you all to be able to utilize such a useful tool . . . and well, we’re cool like that.

Our basic set up fee is $500, so unless you want bells and whistles, that’s pretty much what it will cost, but we can also do more elaborate customization, so let’s meet up to discuss your specific needs and any additional costs related to them.

Call the number below to speak with Beth or Pam about getting started - and don’t forget to mention the blog to get your $25 discount*!

Call 864.335.8167

*Discount does not apply to other web services . . . seriously guys.

One of the new services Imacomm is now offering is blog development.  Blogs, or online journals, are a way for internet users to express themselves creatively or to document their experiences. About one in ten internet users contribute to a blog; one in three internet users read blogs. Here’s a little bit of what a blog project at Imacomm looks like.

•    Affordable Pricing – Creative setup starting at $500!

•    Consistent Branding – We’ll design the blog to perfectly compliment any other marketing you already have established, be it website or print materials.

•    Professional Quality – Don’t settle for that “DIY” look – we’ll make sure every area of your blog is polished and professional, from design to development.

•    Training – We’ll teach you how to maintain and grow your site all on your own.

1. Interactive Communication:

Today’s online users are creating virtual communities where they spend their time gathering information, connecting with friends and purchasing products and/or services. Believe us in the fact that you’ll need more than an online “brochure” to engage them. Blogs are a great way to allow people to interact with you and your company, giving them a sense of loyalty and camaraderie. They will make employees stay on top of their expertise and keep the business owners sharp on their company’s happenings, brand message and philosophy. NOW PAY ATTENTION…THIS IS HUGE…IT COULD BE SOMETHING YOU MAY NOT KNOW! Do you want an image gallery on your site? If so, you could automatically post images from Facebook or Flickr to your blog. Do you have a twitter account? If so, you could post your status on your site automatically. And you can use RSS feeds to allow people to subscribe to your site like a virtual newsletter.

2. Economical Marketing:

Smart decisions are made because of smart marketing practices. Who isn’t looking for more affordable ways to market their business, but face it, you can’t stop marketing your business just because times are hard.  And you don’t have to stress about not being able to afford a web marketing firm to maintain your relevance online. Blogs come with a load of marketing benefits, which include a user-friendly content management program for you to manage and grow your blog, search engine optimization tools for you to improve your rankings, social bookmarking for endorsing your blog posts and RSS Feeds for users to subscribe to your blog and be notified anytime you post. Also blogs posts are treated like a news press release, which means you are making true Public Relations efforts in building credibility!

3. Revenue Stream:

Make some money with your blog by adding a revenue stream such as Internet Advertisements. Having an advertisement system can provide additional revenue from other affiliates/vendors or from your own products and/or services to purchase. If you are promoting your own products and/or services on your blog to link to your website it is important to know that management and growth is vital in your continued marketing efforts. Imacomm can create your initial advertisements by providing the designs with templates. Using the proper tools required, you can then manage them all yourself to grow and expand your revenue stream.

4. Expandable Content Management System:

Blogs are naturally a great content management tool. You can add posts, links and even additional pages all on your own. Why pay to have your blog updated when you can do it yourself? What’s even better is that if you want your blog to be your website, this is an affordable way to start a website. It is highly recommended that if you are a start-up company, creating a blog site is best when working on an official company website. You have ability to create drafts, preview your work before you publish/post, control your search engine optimization, create categories, insert media such as images and/or video…you can do whatever you want.

5. Unlimited Creativity:

Most people don’t realize that blogs have unlimited possibilities in their creativity. Because Imacomm is a creative agency focused on branding, websites and web marketing, we value great design. And a great design consistent with your brand promotes a great product for you to market your business. You’d be surprised to know some of your favorite sites are most likely blogs or the website has the blog feeding into their pages…like ours! We can customize a blog design that fits your needs and communicates your business efficiently and cost-effectively. Here’s an example…

Imacomm would love to design and build your blog to deliver you a high-quality product on promoting your business online. You know we are capable!

Imacomm’s got a fresh face for spring.  With the ever-changing design trends and development practices of the web industry, we’re once more stepping up our game and stepping out into some new areas that we’re excited to share with you. We hope you enjoy these new features!

• Visit our PORTFOLIO to see a showcase of our latest work- now built in our very own ImaCart software!

• Plug in to Imacomm socially via links to all our social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.  If you’re into social networking, this is a great way for us to connect with you.

• Check out our BLOG for news and updates from the Imacomm team regarding new software development, promotions, new clients and other random tidbits of interesting information

So, visit our site and let us know what you think!! We’d love to hear your comments!

www.imacomm.com

Main Street Broadband is a start-up high-speed internet service that needed a website to communicate their capability on servicing Anytown, USA that needs a fast connection. They provided us a finished logo and we carried that logo throughout their site and print marketing materials to consistently communicate their brand and message.

Main Street Broadband provides dependable, cost efficient high speed internet service for home, work, and on the go. Whether you currently have dial-up, DSL, or no internet service at all, you can experience broadband speeds for a fraction of the cost.

Services Delivered:
Custom Website Design
Custom Flash Work
Search Engine Optimization
Print – Brochure, Product Flyer

www.MainStreetBB.com