Working your way through the digital world can be a tedious task, especially for a business owner who already has a lot on his plate. As a company, it is important to look for a trustworthy and efficient team that can help you manage your digital needs.

Over the years, more and more digital marketing agencies are trying to make it in the industry, which makes it difficult for companies to find the perfect agency for their brand as most have limited experiences under their belt.

Choosing the right digital partner can make or break your bottom line. Choose the wrong one and it’s money down the drain or worse, it can even hurt your brand. But choosing the right one can bring your brand to great lengths. So, before you choose your digital marketing agency, here are some things you need to ask yourself.

What are my objectives?

Understanding your business needs and setting your objectives will be the driving factor of your digital campaign’s success. Identify the platforms that you need and where your customers would be most engaged in.  Whether it’s a website, SEM campaign or social media marketing, identifying these beforehand can help you find and communicate better with your prospective agency.

How much am I willing to spend?

It’s important to know how much you are willing to spend for your digital marketing campaigns. However, there is no “fixed” budget as digital marketing is not a product that you buy off stores. Rather, your prospective agency should be able to provide you with a reasonable budget that will meet your expectations accordingly. They should also be able to recommend appropriate digital marketing strategies for your business. For example, a plumbing business may focus more on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) compared to social media, while a travel agency might invest more on social media than SEM.

Is the agency credible?

Before contacting a prospective agency, do your research. How active and transparent are they online? Do they have good reviews from previous clients? Is their basic information like their address, contact numbers, and portfolio available? If an agency is not transparent enough, then that should set a red flag for you. Many smaller agencies offer big promises with cheaper rates and often, they can’t deliver their promises.

Another way to check on the credibility of an agency is through their website. Is it decent? Does it appear in high search results, indicating SEM and SEO activities? Are their social media accounts properly maintained and are their posts of good quality?

Do they have a well-rounded view of digital marketing?

When it comes to working with an agency, most marketers tend to only see the client-side or the agency-side. But another side that is overlooked is the technical-side. Your agency must be able to explain to you the process and the terms of the service you are availing in such a way that you are able to understand it. It’s also a bonus if your account manager is experienced on digital marketing, as his/her experience will allow him/her to develop better strategies that is best for your brand.

Are they easy to get along with?

You don’t just want an agency who will work for you, but you want an agency who you can work WITH. Meet with the people who are supposed to handle your account. You want someone who understands your products and is aligned with your brand. This is a more personal step, but it is an aspect that is very important as this allows for a smoother communication between client and agency.

At the end of the day, you want an agency who understands your vision and who can help you achieve your goals. Keep these things in mind and you’re off to working with the perfect agency for your brand.

If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency who can help you navigate your way through the digital world, then you might want to consider working with us. iManila houses digital marketing experts who are trained to produce the most effective digital campaigns for your brand. Let us help you achieve your digital marketing goals. For inquiries you may reach us at info@imanila.ph or call (02) 490-0000.

A new year means, new business plans and strategies for companies. Chances are, your company is in the works of new marketing strategies that will surpass your numbers the past year. As for digital marketing, there are a lot of factors that will play into the success of your marketing strategies, but your website will definitely play a huge role in your success. Revamping your website need not require you to give an arm and a limb- a little tweak in the design and content makes a lot of difference to give your website that extra push in the digital space. The main objective? More leads and conversions, and of course revenue for your business! What exactly are some points to consider when you want to revamp your website? Here’s 7:

Mobile-Responsiveness

Technology evolves so quickly that sometimes you can’t help but be left behind. The challenge now is that your brand has to be able to adapt to these changes immediately. People are also looking for information in many kinds of devices, so you have to make sure that your website is able to adapt to the specs of these devices, so your information is available to anyone anywhere. Aside from your website’s responsiveness, it also has to be friendly. Once your user finds your website intimidating to browse through they’re sure to click out of your site immediately.

Boast your Statistics

Been around for 10 or more years? Partnered with 100+ clients? Rendered 1 Million Work Hours? If your numbers are great, then you have every reason to put them front and center on your website. In this case, numbers speak louder than words- lengthy paragraphs are frowned upon but straight to the point facts are celebrated.

Revise your Written Content

It’s a cliché at this point, but the key is to really keep it short and sweet. Especially now that users’ attention span is so short, you have to make sure that your written consent gets the messages across in the first 2-3 sentences. Sift through your ‘About Us’ page, revise it and make it powerful. Make sure your website’s pages convey the right messages with the right call to actions (CTAs). Lastly, make sure all pages are optimized- SEO is key!

Lead Generation-Centered Design

Your website needs to be your driving tool for lead generation. Old websites tend to lack the design and functionalities that will get your customers to stay longer on your website. Get in with the times. Update your website’s design according to what is trendy so as to attract your customers. Create simpler and more effective flows that will lead your customers to the right pages that they can engage with.

Make it More Personal

In the past, companies would use stock photos on their website. But ever since the internet turned stock photos into memes, it seems like using stock photos has been attached with being less credible and less serious. If you’re still using stock photos on your website, then you definitely have a lot to think about. Why not consider doing a photo shoot with your employees that you can include in your website to make it more personal? Before engaging, netizens love to research on a brand first and if they are able to immediately see your brand’s authenticity online, then they are more likely to engage.

SEO-friendly

If you want your website to be seen by many, then optimizing your pages is a must! Your website must have a site-map that leads to search engines, efficient navigation, unique and optimized images and graphics, and use the right keywords.

Are these some of the things you want your website to have? If your answer is yes, then you’re off to a great start! Revamping your website is definitely one of the best ways to start the year right.

The one you can trust for all your website revamp needs

A successful website revamp wouldn’t be complete without a trusted web development agency. iManila has been in the industry for 22 years and we can assure you that all of your website revamp needs can be taken care of. Our web development team consists of people that are adept in various coding platforms such as WordPress, Java, and many more. We are also continuously learning of new website trending platforms that we can incorporate in our future projects. Let us help you further establish your brand in today’s digital space. Contact us at +632 490 0000 or visit our website at https://imanila.ph/

Some relationships reach a point wherein things start to slow down. Maybe one person becomes less responsive, and the other ends up not feeling safe or secure in the relationship anymore. When it reaches that point, sadly, sometimes it’s better to accept the situation and move on to better things.

This same situation can happen with your website hosting provider. If you feel like things aren’t where they’re supposed to be, maybe it’s time to get up and get moving. But what exactly are the signs you should look out for in order to say, “Yup, it’s time to move on”? Here are 5 simple reasons for you to consider:

At a Snail’s Pace

Slow speed means lost revenues. Think of all the visitors and potential customers you could have converted, but have bounced away because of your site’s slow speed. Ideally, your website should load within 2-3 seconds. Anything more than that could drive your users to leave your site. If that’s the case, then it’s time to change your hosting plan or provider. Google hates slow speed too! The company has been known to devalue slow loading sites.

Can’t Keep Up with Traffic Spikes

As your business grows, you want your hosting provider to grow with you as well. When there is a spike in traffic on your website, is your hosting provider able to expand your capacity automatically? A good hosting provider should be able to anticipate your site activities and recommend a plan that best suits your requirements to avoid unforeseen issues that could cost you additional expenses.

Frequent Downtime

No website should experience unexpected and repetitive downtime. While there are no hosting providers that can guarantee a 100% uptime, you should expect at least a 99.9% uptime. If you’re getting less than that, then it’s definitely time for a change.

Inadequate Security

The #1 question to ask is: What can your hosting provider do to keep your website safe? No website owner wants their site to get hacked – files missing, corrupted, and moved around – especially for companies that handle sensitive information. A great hosting provider should be able to offer you and your customers strict security measures and strategies.

Unresponsive Tech Support

As much as we try to avoid it, things can still go wrong at any time. And when it does, your hosting provider’s support team should be on top of everything. A support team is crucial for site owners who have limited experience in solving technical issues. Your web hosting’s support team should be able to help you solve any issue, be responsive to all your queries, and be able to properly monitor all activities related to your hosting plan, 24/7.

There are a lot of hosting providers whose services you can get for cheap. But sometimes, lowered prices means the quality of the service is compromised. Rather than opt for the cheapest service, consider partnering with a hosting provider that will address all your needs and protect your online assets.

iManila’s Hosting services guarantee a 99.98% uptime, and access to a highly-skilled and responsive technical support team to assist you with your web hosting concerns. If you need help choosing a hosting package, check out https://imanila.ph/hosting/ or send us an email at info@imanila.ph.

Google has been the #1 go-to search engine of most Internet users that in 2006, the Oxford Dictionary officially included it as a word that refers to any kind of researching done on the Internet, regardless of the search engine you use.

There is no denying that google has the answer to almost all of our questions. With an average search of 3.5 billion per day, and roughly around 1.17 Billion users worldwide, it’s no surprise that many digital marketers see Google as an opportunity to reach more people and drive them towards their brands.

Today, tons of businesses – big and small alike fight for ad space on Google. Why? Because there is a big chance that your click may eventually lead to a sale. And if not, you’ll be able to measure the data to make adjustments to your marketing strategy.

So what makes Google Ads a good investment? Here are 8 reasons!

No business is too big or too small

One of the good things about advertising on Google is that any kind of business can do it. You can be a start-up business or a traditional corporation – you have the freedom to set your ad budgets daily. As long as your content is valuable and relevant to your customers, your ads will be effective.

No minimum investment

With Google Ads, there is less risk compared to other traditional ways of advertising, as it does not ask for a large or fixed amount to spend. It is also much easier to play around with your ad budget, goals, and target market, so you can really maximize the cost per result.

Easier to control and maintain campaigns

With traditional media, there are a lot of processes and hurdles that you have to go through before you can run a campaign. Google Ads on the other hand, can easily be set-up in just a few clicks. Easily access your dashboard, which contains your target market, ad budget, and the actual ad collaterals. Unlike traditional media, you can also make adjustments to your campaigns at any time, if there are metrics that you want to update.

Easy to scale and measure

When it comes to budget-result ratio, as long as an ad is performing at its best, then there is absolutely no reason for you to cap your budget. With Google ads, the more you increase your budget, the better your results will be. This makes Google Ads highly effective for businesses that need a lot of leads but are pressed for time and manpower.

Faster results compared to SEO

Your Google Search Engine Ranking Placement (SERP) is one factor that will make your  website credible. Doing SEO alone can get the job done, but it can take months for you to see valuable results. Thousands of new websites are being published on the World Wide Web, so your SERP has tendencies to change depending on how aggressive your competitors are with their online marketing strategies. By partnering your SEO efforts with Google Search Ads, you can immediately get impressions and clicks to your site.

Stay Connected to Your Target Audience with Remarketing

If you’re a digital marketer, then you know that remarketing is your best friend. When you do remarketing strategies, you target the customers who have previously shown interest in your brand. Google Remarketing Ads can easily track past visitors of your website, and allow you to ‘follow’ them by serving them other ads to encourage them to return.

Better Conversions Compared to Organic Traffic

We love organic traffic any time of the day, but paid ads are almost always better. Conversion rates are said to be 2x higher than organic traffic due to its nature of being more targeted and qualified. However, conversion rates vary from industry to industry. Paid ads may not work for certain businesses but hey, it doesn’t hurt to try

Your competitors are doing it

What are you waiting for? You surely don’t want to be left behind. Competition within certain industries is getting tougher as more businesses are investing in Google Ads. The more competitors there are fighting for certain keywords, the higher the cost per result may be. Try searching about your industry on Google. If you can’t find your business in the top of the page, then it’s time to put your money where it matters.

iManila is a full service digital agency based in Manila. Get a free consultation by sending your digital marketing queries to info@imanila.ph.

Growing a business through digital means is not a sprint in which you go all-in for you to reach your goal as fast as possible. You will just end up exhausting yourself and may quickly lose the build-up that you have attained for your business. It is rather a marathon wherein you need to experience the many bumps in the road in order for you to fully reach your business’s potential.

Though digital marketing has a lot of advantages from other type of marketing strategies, it still requires a thorough testing in order for a campaign to be successful. The right images, audience targeting, schedule optimization are just some of the factors that need to be considered in a digital marketing campaign. Same as with marathon, you will probably have an excellent start to your campaign but at some point you will experience what runners call “hitting the wall”. Problems such as the increasing of your CPC (cost-per-click) and decreasing of result acquisitions are just one of those walls that you will face. But worry not! This guide is for every businessman or digital marketer who wants to break through those walls and push themselves towards their goal.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is probably every business’s bread and butter towards their connections and potential partnerships. LinkedIn is crucial for businesses looking to make connections, generate leads, and ultimately, build their brand. It is a platform that can be utilized by business to business (B2B) companies to spread awareness and attain potential partnerships.

• Utilizing native videos in promoting content write-ups such as blog articles
• Acknowledge those people who like your posts or commented. The more people with large networks you tag, the bigger your posts will blow up on LinkedIn.
• Utilize automation tools such as LinkedHelper to ask and collaborate with other professionals about the content you are planning to post.
• Make your sales team 4X more effective by integrating automation tools in order to increase their connections and create awesome content of the product or service they are offering.
• Dominate B2B retargeting with LinkedIn dynamic ads

Facebook

• “Pattern interruption” to get your ads get noticed. This pertains of utilizing new form of ads such as 3D images, canvas type of images, carousel that will make your audience stop from scrolling and potentially engage with it.
• Using video content/ads that lets you garner 2x engagement more than still ads or text only content.
• Integrating the 3S (short, succinct, special) on your video content.
• Utilize a suitable type of content for every ad objective. It was found out that video-type ads cost more than the still images when they are use for lead generation ads.
• Messenger apps will soon replace email for communication. Start utilizing messenger ads to increase inquiries on Facebook.
• Provide promos or giveaways to increase message subscribers
• Use Facebook live during special events and announcements as a way to broadcast your company’s activities and offers.

Google

Google is the world’s leading source of information in today’s digitally adept society. Thus, it is more reasonable for every marketer to invest and know the benefits that Google ads can bring to their business. Here are some tips and hacks that can help you fully utilize Google marketing tool for your business.

• Utilizing Google Analytics to learn the different digital touch points that a person undergo before acquiring a product or service.
• Avoid losing ad traffic with the use of remarketing tool (Facebook pixel, Google tracking codes)
• Avoid losing 40% of your visitors by prioritizing the page load speed of your website that will be use on your online ads.
• Use WhatRunsWhere as competitive analysis tool to track what display ads your competitors are running.
• Create conversational videos on YouTube and remarket those audience that you have garnered from your LinkedIn InMailing list.
• Use long-tail keywords on your SEO campaign.

Digital marketing offers a whole new opportunity for businesses. However, it needs a thorough learning process and experimentation to fully take advantage of its facets. These tips are just the tip of the ice berg of what digital marketing can do. Hence, you need a trusted partner that can assist you in fully developing your digital marketing campaigns. Here at iManila, we provide digital marketing services that aims to reach every businesses’ KPIs. Our team consists of digital natives who are adept with different digital marketing tools and are continuously discovering potential digital marketing strategies.  For inquiries, visit our Contact Us page or get in touch with our team at (02) 490 0000 or (+63) 917 845 6005.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of inquiries that we get on a daily basis from clients inquiring about recovering a hacked email or receiving a lot of spam mails. As an agency thriving in the digital age, we fully understand how important emailing is as most companies use this as a way of communication. Needless to say, sensitive and private information is being passed through this form of channel. Thus, it is our mission to educate and inform our clients of the various ways they can increase the security of their account.

Beware of Phishing Attempts

Phishing scam mails are those kinds of email that presents itself as a legitimate email from a brand or company that you may be subscribed to, but is really just trying to steal data and information from you. The recipient is tricked into clicking a malicious link where they are asked to log in or enter sensitive information. This may lead to an installation of a malware, or freezing of the system as a form of ransomware attack where they will use sensitive information about you, against you.

Example of a Phishing scam email and what to look out for

Check the email address of who sent it.

A legitimate business email should follow the user@businessname format without other random numbers or letters.

Trace back your actions

Most hackers will claim that the recipient did a generic action so it’s easier to fool the person. So before you panic after reading a spam email, make sure you trace back to your previous transactions and actions to double check the legitimacy of the email.

Do not click on any links

Towards the end of the email, you will be required to click on a link wherein you need to enter your credentials. DO NOT CLICK that link! Clicking the link allows the hackers access to your software.

If you ever receive an unsolicited email with a link asking you to enter your credentials, DO NOT OPEN IT. You can instead mark the email as spam, block the sender, and delete. Make sure that you only enter your credentials into official websites and apps.

Double-securing your email

If you want to make sure that your email is safe and secure from hackers, there are more advance ways to do this.

Enable two-step verification

Most email platforms have a two-step verification feature that allows the user to choose another verification step. Aside from the usual typing of your username and password, you have another option to receive a security code that you will receive via SMS, call, or a through another third party device. This feature may be an extra step but it is another way to keep your accounts secured.

Use unique password patterns

We often use passwords that are personal to us because it is easier to remember. But that is something that can easily be used against you because those are information that a hacker may have easy access to (especially on Social Media!). It is also not advisable to use one password for all your accounts because well, for obvious reasons. If you want a foolproof and unique password for your multiple accounts, you may opt to use a password generator. Software like LastPass has a password generator that can provide random letter and number combinations. It also serves as a vault for your passwords so you don’t have to worry about forgetting them. The app can easily be downloaded on your phone or installed as an extension to your Chrome browser.

Email scamming and hacking is very rampant nowadays that is why we strongly advise everyone to be careful and vigilant with whatever content and information you receive online. Always remember to double check so as not to fall victims to email phishing and hacking.

If you clicked on a malicious email and is now facing software issues, our Tech Support team can help you address any tech concerns. You may call us at (02) 490 0000 or email our team at support@imanila.ph

Smartphones have changed the way we use our mobile phones. Now our phones are not just for texting and calling, but it has also become essential in the way we interact and transact in our day to day lives. Mobile applications have allowed us to pay for goods through e-wallet apps, book transportations, and even shop through our apps.

While most of the apps we enjoy are foreign-made, Pinoy-made apps didn’t fall far behind. Pinoy-made apps were customized to make our lives easier. From an app that aims to make your commute life more convenient, to a gaming-app that wants to entertain you during lunch time, here are 5 Pinoy-made apps you need installed on your phone.

Sakay.ph

Sakay.ph app is probably every commuters best friend. Sakay.ph allows every commuter to navigate through the city via different public transportations. They show various modes of transportations trains, buses, jeepneys, P2P, UV express, shuttles, and even the Pasig River Ferry. Once you’ve downloaded the app, all you have to do is input your current location and your destination. Sakay.ph will then show you all the different modes of transportation and routes you can take, including the travel time, and cost of travel. It’s also available on both Apple app store and Google Playstore. Commuting has never been this easy with sakay.ph

Paydro Live

You better brush up on your general knowledge because this app will test you to your limits. Unlike other trivia game apps, Paydro is more involved as it has a livestream host who asks the question. The game goes live every day at 12:30 PM. All you have to do is answer the trivia question within a given time, and if you are one of the lucky winners who is able to answer all questions, you get to split the grand prize with other winners in the end. The average prize is around 20,000 – 35,000 per game but in the past, it has reached up to Php 200,000, and an even bigger prize of Php 1,000,000 if they are able to reach 100,000 players in one game.

LawJuan

With LawJuan, you’ve literally got the law in the palm of your hands. This app provides lawyers, legal researchers, legislators, and the law enthusiast in you, access to over 15,000 laws of the republic of the Philippines. You can even access the files even without any internet connection. Whether you need help studying for an exam or just want to familiarize yourself with our laws, LawJuan is a must-download app for everyJuan!

Project Noah

The weather can be crazy here in the Philippines; one time it’s crazy hot and the next it’s raining like there’s no tomorrow. Good thing there’s an app that can help you monitor weather disturbances so you can plan out your day ahead. Project Noah allows you to get updates on rain and weather outlooks for different local cities.

Looloo Philippines

Tired of eating at the same old place? No matter how much you love eating at your favorite restaurant, you have to admit that sometimes you’ll want to go at some place new. Looloo Philippines was made to help you explore new places that you’ll love. This app isn’t just for the food lovers- it’s for everyone. You can explore new restaurants, gimik-spots, bars, and all other top-rated places in the Metro. You can also review places so you can let other people know how awesome that place is. While recommending a place to your friend can earn you credits and points that you can use to further enjoy your time.

Got an awesome and crazy app idea? We can help you turn your ideas into reality. Simply shoot us a message at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/ or you may also call us at (02) 490-0000.

A good hosting provider should be able to provide you with a reliable, top-performing, and stable website. Essentially, web hosting is where you store all files that you upload on your website.  You need to find the right hosting package for your website because if not, there is a tendency that it will overload. And if your hosting server is down, so is your website. So how exactly do you know which type of hosting package you need for your website? Will you be needing a shared or dedicated hosting plan? Here are some things to consider:

Shared web hosting

With shared web hosting, a certain number of users or organizations share one physical server. Each of them has an assigned amount of disk space and bandwidth that they can utilize. This type of hosting plan is a popular choice for its cost-effectiveness as it is much cheaper than the dedicated web hosting. Even though everyone in a shared web hosting server shares the resources, they cannot access each other’s accounts or websites so it ensures data safety and security.

Imagine living in a condominium, shared hosting would be you renting a unit on the second floor with other tenants. And you’re all sharing one elevator access to go to your respective units. One con for this is since you have a shared elevator, other tenants might be using the elevator more than you do so you take more time to reach your unit or your data might take more time to load for your website. You should go to a hosting provider who knows how to properly manage their shared hosting servers so the bandwidth is equally distributed amongst “tenants”.

Ideal for who?

• Small to medium enterprises
• Personal bloggers
• Websites with less than 20,000 visitors per month.

What’s also important for these types of websites is that they are able to update the content frequently. This type of hosting plan should be enough for your website as it does not require any customized server configurations or complex technicalities on its features.

Dedicated server hosting

For this hosting plan, your website is the sole owner of a physical server. This means that all of the disk space and bandwidth of that particular server is all yours. The good thing about having a dedicated server is that you have a full control and flexibility on customizing your server and choosing your software so you can adjust your website based on its requirements.

Using the condominium analogy again, a dedicated server is like renting the whole floor of a condominium where you have access to a private elevator. You have the freedom to use that elevator however many times you want to use it in a day.

Ideal for who?

• Corporate websites with hi-res videos and images
• E-Commerce websites with a thousand plus expected web traffic
• News portal websites that upload multiple daily content

Although it is much more expensive compared to a shared hosting server, this type of hosting entitles you to your own unique IP address. Moreover, this type of plan is perfect for businesses that handle extremely sensitive transactions and requires enhanced security features or specifications.

Now that you have an idea about these two types of hosting plans, it’s time for you to decide based on your requirements. Now if you are looking for the best hosting provider who can provide you with the best reliable hosting services, turn to iManila! We can provide both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting services for your website! Our hosting plans are affordable yet guarantees 99.95% uptime and availability. Check out our plans here.

For more inquiries, contact our 24/7 Customer Support at +63 2 490 0000 and +63 917 847 6005 or email us at support@imanila.ph