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The Crucial Role of Technical Support in Business Growth

A trait that many businesses need to have in order to succeed is adaptability. The market and environment are regularly changing, sprouting up new things to consider and new trends. With the challenges of running a business and dealing with clients, it can be difficult to do system maintenance on top of it. This is where the role of Technical Support comes in. They can ensure that the business functions smoothly through immediate system repairs and maintenance, and identifying issues before they arise.

Having the right IT support team can help give your business that competitive edge and streamline the rest of your operations and workflows. As a result, you can boost your business’s overall productivity. How? Let’s take a closer look!

Gain technical expertise

Technology is a great thing to have in any business, but they are not immune to glitches, bugs, and errors. Even a well-updated software can run into these issues, which can hinder your daily business operations. IT support teams have the technical know-how to do troubleshooting and solutions for each problem. It can save you the time of having to search online for solutions. 

Manage your data more effectively

Most businesses make use of data, so data management is a necessity. This encompasses things from customer data, order data, and product inventories — all of these should be stored and managed safely. This can be time-consuming if done yourself. It would be more efficient for everyone to have an IT support team who can ensure your data is regularly backed up and safe. 

Hands on monitoring and analysis 

IT support teams can help improve the overall internal auditing and quality control of your systems and websites. Things like website or email downtime can be lessened and fixed as fast as possible. This can prevent further loss of profits for companies. It’s important that a business is able to keep track of all operations which an IT team can help provide. 

Dedicated customer support

The experience of a customer impacts how they view your brand and whether they’d be a return customer. It is important to ensure that they have a smooth experience and that any query can be handled in a prompt and professional manner. The IT support team can set up multiple channels like social media bots, emails, calls, and automated website replies to customer satisfaction. 

Proactive security 

There can be worse things than profit loss when things like customer data can get compromised through cyberattacks. Thus, an IT support team can help protect your company’s online presence and systems from viruses and such threats. Things like encrypting your data and setting up the right antivirus systems are some of the common security measures that IT support can do. 

Get help from an experienced partner that specializes in offering businesses tech support like iManila! 

With 27 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, from cloud hosting to dedicated server hosting, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!

Ways to Catch Your Customers’ Hearts Through Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is a common term if you’ve been around the marketing space for some time. But, what does it exactly mean, and why are companies obsessing over the next brand awareness campaigns? 

In simple terms, brand awareness is how well people are able to recognize your brand. This cannot be measured by just one metric alone as it encompasses things from reach, traffic, engagements, and the like. 

The more aware your target market is of your brand, the more synonymous your products or services are when people consider the category they belong to. This is a requirement for any brand, especially new ones before they can properly build brand loyalty. Contrary to belief, brands do not have to be the most recognizable to everyone. It just has to be recognizable to your target audience. 

Here are some ways your company can use brand awareness:

Show the human behind the brand

People gravitate to brands that have unique personalities. However, this doesn’t mean that all brands can benefit from the witty social media personalities of other brands. It doesn’t mean though that you shouldn’t put a personality behind your brand voice and image. 

Customers can tell when a brand is more “human” than others. This shows not just in the posts but in how your brand engages with its audience. Remember that when it comes to social media marketing, communication is often a two-way street. 

You can interact with your audience by asking questions, polls, or simply by replying to their comments. By doing so, you’re letting them know there’s a person behind your company account. This goes the same way when it comes to posting things that may not entirely be related to the product or service, such as posting about current trending topics. Show your audience that you are updated with what’s happening around you, just like them!  

Make sure your brand tells a narrative 

Storytelling is one powerful tool as it gives the audience something to hold onto. Even if not properly articulated, every brand has to have a story whether it’s the story of the founder, how the product came about, or how the business was able to break through. The important part is to communicate this to your audience. The narrative can be about anything as long as it is authentic. 

Recognize the value beyond your product 

One way to deepen your brand awareness strategy is to go beyond the product and see what value you can offer. The point of this is not directly for sales. But, it can lead to relationship building that creates opportunities for your audiences to get to know your brand in a different way. 

This can come in many ways from educating, informing, or even entertaining through blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and social media posts. If the team or company has a pool of expertise, then it might be the best way to share it with others. 

Create shareable content 

Word-of-mouth marketing should not be underestimated as it is a surefire way to develop familiarity and build trust with customers. This is about seeing what impact you can create in your content to make it shareable to audiences. 

This may be a way of indirect marketing as you’re not directly selling the product. But, it can offer big returns on your overall awareness and impact in the long run if paired with a good strategy. 

Creating an effective brand awareness strategy could be a daunting task as it requires a lot of work from strategy to execution. But, don’t be discouraged, iManila can help! 

With 27 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, and technical, desktop and remote support. Talk to us!

Here’s Why You Should Build Your Website in WordPress

Choosing which Content Management System (CMS) you’ll build your site in is the first and most crucial part of the website development process. This is because everything depends on it, from your website’s appearance and functionality to performance and security. There are a lot of CMS available today but the majority of website owners and developers vouch for one – WordPress. 

WordPress is by far the most popular CMS today. According to W3Techs, it accounts to 810 million websites which is 43% of all websites on the internet in 2022. It is so versatile that you can create any type of website. May it be a blog site, business site, or ecommerce store, WordPress is reliable. Aside from this, people are so fond of it for the following reasons:

WordPress is simple and easy to use

Creating a WordPress website is easy. It doesn’t require much of a learning curve even if you’re a beginner with this CMS in general. All it takes is a theme and one or two plugins to start making pages. It is so straightforward that you can set up your site, create, edit, and publish your content with just a few clicks.

WordPress is an open-source software

Open-Source Software means:

  • It is free. You can create any type of project with WordPress for free, be it for personal or commercial use.
  • It is customizable. WordPress gives you every ounce of freedom to customize the platform the way you want it.

WordPress gives you full control

WordPress is greatly known for its vast options of plugins and themes. To give you a background, themes are templates that will serve as a blueprint of your site. On the other hand, plugins are responsible for your site’s features and functionality. Unlike other CMS, you can find a lot of excellent options for free with WordPress.

WordPress is simple to maintain

You might not be aware, but using WordPress is simple and easy to maintain. It only requires a little bit of work. To break it down for you, here are the things you should pay attention to:

  • Updating the CMS when new versions come out
  • Updating plugins and themes 
  • Managing your site’s comments (if you enable them)
  • Ensuring that your website is fully optimized and secure
  • Backing up your site 

If this sounds a lot to you, you can always opt to hire a web host provider and website development company like iManila. Have the time to focus more on growing your business than worrying about building your website. 

WordPress is here to stay

As mentioned a while ago, WordPress powers a massive number of websites. This number grows wildly everyday, globally. With a lot of people using the platform, there’s an assurance that developers aren’t going to stop developing it any time soon. You can have the confidence that you’ll always have access to updates that can improve the security and functionality of your website.

WordPress has a lot to offer. If you’re ready to give it a go, talk to the experts at iManila!

With 27 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions.
As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!

Guaranteed Techniques to Boost SEO This Year

As we have witnessed, Google has rolled out a staggering number of updates over the course of the years. This ties into their pursuit to defeat black hat search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and improve the search engine results pages (SERPs). By this, they are in the effort to emphasize quality content, optimal page speed, and mobile SEO. So, what does this imply in terms of your 2023 SEO strategy? 

Keep up or be left in 2022. Follow these best practices that we have put together to get your site sailing through the SERPs this year.

Produce video content

Video is one of the most effective forms of content to engage your audience. In fact, it has made its way to dominate almost all social media platforms, giving the highest ROI among other media formats.

If you want to increase your visibility in SERPs, focus on creating video content that people actually want to see. Invest heavily in it to stand out among the sea of video content on the internet today.

Optimize content for voice search

The emergence and growing popularity of voice assistants globally has forced brands to adopt and capitalize from this innovative practice. With over 4 billion devices worldwide using voice search, not optimizing your content for this is a huge missed opportunity.

While there are a number of important aspects to voice search optimization, featured snippets are the most crucial SEO component. A featured snippet is a search result that Google specifically selects as the best response to a user’s query. It’s the one that appears at the top of the search results page. Optimize your content’s featured snippet for voice search to increase its chances to appear in Search Engine Results’ Pages (at the top even!)

Recycle and repurpose content for different platforms

Repurposing content entails recycling it for use across a variety of channels. For instance, shortening a lengthy Youtube video into a 15-second Tiktok clip as a teaser is one idea. It’s a creative way for brands to come up with new content and help reach a wide range of people who prefer different media formats.

Other ways of recycling content includes turning a blog post or article into a video, and transcribing a podcast into a blog post. It is up to your creativity, really. Just make sure that the style of your content is appropriate for the channel you want to use. 

Optimize your site and improve user experience

Let’s not forget that a successful SEO content strategy is built on the fundamentals of SEO. Therefore, optimizing your business website is crucial. Conduct a website maintenance and check your metadata, update canonicals, optimize page speed and load times, design mobile-friendly page layouts, and implement structured data. These are all important in SEO and constitute a positive user experience.

Also, making your website mobile-responsive is now a must! As 2022 data shows, mobile traffic made up almost 60% of all traffic worldwide. And for the foreseeable future, mobile is expected to be more popular than desktop. This 2023, aim to provide your website visitors a seamless mobile experience.

Keep an eye on Google’s algorithm

Google is always changing its algorithms to give the best results for every user’s search. These updates can greatly affect your SEO and content strategies. It would be better to be attentive and vigilant so you could maneuver your strategies as quickly as possible.

Google algorithm update is inevitable like some sort of force of nature. We cannot do anything but keep up with it.

With everything that has been said, we wish everyone good luck in boosting your SEO this year. If you need further assistance or are looking for help with your content marketing (to start), let the experts in iManila help!

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!

The Best Way to Start the Year Right – by Updating Your Website

The year 2023 has arrived! This is the perfect time to give your business website a fresh new look. While there are a lot of ways and strategies to do this, website revamps don’t always have to be extravagant. Sometimes it could be as simple as updating your website and making sure everything is working properly. Doing these can keep your business website stay relevant and offer better customer experience than the previous year.

Having said that, what aspects of your website do you think needs some updating? Does your website need some maintenance? Well, think no more as we provide a list of things you need to update on your website.

Verify and update your contact information

One of the most common mistakes business owners make with their website is forgetting to update their contact numbers and email addresses whenever they change it. Bottomline is when your potential customers cannot reach you, you are losing out and failing to attend to their needs. Don’t fall for this. Check the contact information in your header, footer, and “contact us” pages to make sure it is up to date.

Bonus tip, don’t forget to update your Google My Business page and other directory listings in which your company appears as well. 

Examine WordPress plugins

If you are running a WordPress website, the start of the year is the best time to examine your plugins. Check for plugins that are not serving its purpose anymore or are no longer useful for your site. Look for substitute plugins that do the work of multiple plugins. Remove unnecessary plugins and those that don’t receive updates anymore. Do this to ensure that your website continues to function properly.

Just as well, examine the version of the WordPress CMS integrated into your website. Your entire WordPress version may just be outdated together with ALL of your website plugins. 

Review your privacy policy

Privacy and security has greatly changed in the past years. Spend the time and effort to hire an attorney who can assist you in protecting yourself if these changes are not addressed in your privacy policy, or worse, if you do not have one at all.

There are also online tools that can help you create your own privacy policy. While this may be a good start, we still recommend having it reviewed by an attorney to ensure that it adequately covers you and your business. 

Test your website’s accessibility

It is always a good idea to conduct tests to verify that your website is accessible or not, especially if it was designed to be so. If your website isn’t accessible, now is a good time to have it fixed. In recent years, accessibility has become a hot issue. By fixing it as early as now, you can cater to all possible website visitors while also protecting yourself.

Update your keywords

Having keywords on your business website is important. By targeting the right keywords, it can make your business website rank in the internet, increasing your visibility. Check and consider changing some keywords especially if they are not helping your website rank higher.

Publish relevant content

Nothing screams an updated website more than fresh and timely content. Invest some time in content writing. Create brand new high quality contents to get the attention of your customers. Updating your website content can provide a boost on your search rankings and help you reach more customers online.

We hope these tips will help on how to create a better business website this 2023. If you need further help with updating your website or if you’re looking for help with website repair and website maintenance, talk to the experts in iManila!

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!

5 Reasons to Hire a Digital Marketing Agency This New Year

Juggling between your day-to-day business operations and carrying out marketing efforts is not an easy task. For sure, you would agree based on your past experiences in the previous years. Regardless of your company scale, it is best to have different people handle these two distinct business aspects. After all, it can’t all be done at once. This is one of the main reasons to hire a digital marketing agency this new year. 

A digital marketing agency is composed of an experienced team that can manage all of your online marketing needs in one place. From Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Email Marketing to Social Media Management and Advertising (SMM and SMA), and many more, they are your team. 

Aside from having the focus to run and grow your business, there are a lot of other reasons why a digital marketing agency is worth your money. Read further as we share the benefits that come with hiring a digital marketing agency for your business!

Have an expert do your digital marketing efforts

Off the bat, hiring a digital marketing agency means having experts do your online marketing efforts. Marketing isn’t as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot of time and experience to fully understand online marketing and plan a strategy that actually works. Sure, you can create a marketing team out of your people but do they have the skills of a pro? The clock is ticking, and this 2023, don’t settle for trial-and-error marketing strategies. Invest in an agency that can bring you marketing success.

Save money by cutting down marketing costs

Many businesses compare the cost of an in-house operation to the cost of an agency when deciding whether or not to hire a digital marketing agency. Hiring an agency is more cost efficient and will save you a lot of money in the long run.

One reason for this is that agencies are independent contractors. It doesn’t require payroll taxes. Plus, you reduce the ongoing expenses associated with full-time employees, such as salaries, health care costs, and benefits.

With an in-house operation, you will also be required to pay subscription fees to some digital marketing tools you need to run campaigns. On the other hand, you won’t have to spend a dime on tools when you hire an established firm. They already have all of it.

Acquire new and innovative ideas

Bored of repetitive and customary marketing ideas? Consider hiring a digital marketing agency. They offer fresh and out of the box ideas, incorporating a new perspective in your company’s online marketing plans. For instance, they can help you find ways to effectively reach your target audience. From platforms to use to media types to produce, they got you! 

See measurable results

Know and track the performance of your marketing campaigns with the help of a digital marketing agency. They can come up with an estimated Key Performance Indicator (KPIs) based on your budget. So it would be easier to determine your return on investment (ROI).

In addition, they will identify the crucial metrics that should be followed across the various channels in order to assess each campaign’s effectiveness. And you will be receiving a website audit and monthly or quarterly reports on your campaigns. Basically, a digital marketing agency assists you in making sound marketing decisions.

Enjoy free marketing tools

Digital marketing requires a lot of tools to optimize each campaign. Most of these tools are of premium services, with certain features or upgrades increasing the cost. To name a few, analytics, keyword research, competitive analysis, paid search management, and automation tools are some of the tools you will be needing.

For small and medium-sized businesses, the total cost of using these online marketing tools can be quite high. But with a digital marketing agency, you don’t have to worry about these tools as they already have it covered. 

With everything that has been said, if you’re planning to hire a digital marketing agency to help you with your online presence this year, let iManila help!

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!

New Year’s Resolutions for every E-Commerce Business

No matter how successful your business is today, there can always be room for improvement in the years to come. This is why we have made a few New Year’s resolutions to help improve your e-commerce business website. Take a look at some of the tips that your business might want to try to adapt for 2023:

Reply to customers within 24 hours

For this new year, commit to better customer service. By this, make it a habit to visit your inbox everyday and attend to your customers’ concerns. Remember, the buying process doesn’t just end at check out. Your team must understand the level of concern for each customer too. For instance, if one of them has a major concern or issue with your products, at least let them know when they can expect a reply.

Incorporate sustainability in your packaging materials

With climate change and global warming getting worse, consumers nowadays are doing their best to mitigate the causes that they can possibly contribute. Hence, they are patronizing businesses that incorporate sustainability in their operation. As an online business owner, you can incorporate sustainability through switching to eco-friendly packaging materials. There are a lot of available options right now in the market that are made from recyclable materials or are less harmful to the environment.

Give rewards to loyal customers

If you had a loyal customer for years, it would be nice to let them know that you are grateful for their support during this new year. You can offer them promos like free shipping, a freebie, or a discount. Remember, being thankful for your long-time clients won’t make you go bankrupt.

Make your customers’ lives easier

People opt to purchase online for convenience. Make sure to make every step of your customer’s buying process as easy and convenient as possible. Improve your company’s system this 2023. Accelerating your shipping process, implementing single-click payment, and simplifying your Terms of Service are some good points to start.

Use a new website layout

It’s always a good idea to create a new layout and web design for your site as the new year emerges. Whether you change the color of a sidebar or try a whole new look, it will definitely have an impact on the customers. Ensure that it looks equally good on all screen sizes by consulting a web development team.

Get serious with content

As cliche as it sounds, this 2023, content remains to be the king. Level up your content marketing. Produce more creative contents and commit to a posting schedule. It would be best too to identify the best medium to use for your brand – blogs, podcasts, videos, etc. Nothing beats great content in driving traffic and building relationships with your website visitors. It would also be best if you will invest in a digital marketing agency that can help you with your online marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

A new year calls for a new beginning. Consider making some changes in your business’ web system and website for the better. Consider a website maintenance service for your business today! For website concerns, let the experts in iManila help you!

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, a web development company and a top digital marketing company in the country, is committed to providing our clients with innovative information technology, web, and digital solutions. 

As one of the best web hosting providers in the Philippines, iManila is also a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines ready to help you with your web design and development, website update and maintenance, web hosting, email hosting, dedicated server, technical, desktop and remote support, and digital marketing services needs.  Talk to us!