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Tag: web development

Online Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Internet Visibility

Online marketing moves at the speed of light. To keep up, you need a strong foundation to think critically, and be more creative. There are plenty of guides to marketing from textbooks to online video tutorials, and even guides you can find through Google. But the news is, online marketing is an ever-changing industry, and it can be tough to keep up with the latest trends and techniques. With so many different platforms and options available to try your digital marketing strategy, at the end of the day, marketers need to decide which strategies are best for their online businesses.

In this online marketing blog, we’ll look at some of the most important tips to consider for your digital marketing strategy.

Be Focused on Your Customers

Your customers, prospects, and partners are like the oxygen of your business. You need to build your social media marketing strategy with them always in mind.  Before conducting  your online marketing strategy, have a conversation with your existing customers or audiences.

How did they find out about your product or service? What do your customers value or care about? How are their feedback and suggestions?

Build A Marketing Framework

Marketing should command the same amount of attention and respect in order to properly function. You just need to structure your programs around your goals, which are always centered around profits and revenue. 

With this, build a strategy that positions your business marketing initiatives.

Here’s what you need to do to prove your marketing program’s return on investment or ROI:

  1. Examine your campaign costs
  2. List down the revenues that resulted directly from your campaign
  3. State the number of leads and sales generated and come up with a detailed way on how you track the incoming leads from your campaign
  4. State the maximum profitable cost-per-lead (maxCPL) or cost per acquisition (maxCPA)
  5. Establish a group to benchmark the success of your campaigns and ads

Showcase Your Business

Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that your company or business can do in order to build customer connections and relationships. Write about the benefits of purchasing from or working with your business. Tell a story about how you got to where you are today, your successes and failures, the challenges and the journey. Include photos of all your products and services and even photos of your team at work.

Similarly, allow your customers to write feedback and submit reviews to gain more trust from other users. 

Build Customer Connections

It is important to connect with your audience in the digital world. Build a digital marketing strategy circling around the objective to build more relationships with your audience. 

Communicate with your customers through follow-ups or through personal emails. Collaborating with influencers may also help reach new audiences. 

Get Found with SEO

Search engines are a powerful channel for connecting with new audiences or targeted customers. SEO is really important because it makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. 

The success of your digital marketing campaign depends heavily on your ability to develop great quality content.

With so many mediums and platforms to choose from, you can certainly build a digital marketing strategy that will most effectively meet the needs of your target audience. Focus on your customers, build a marketing framework, showcase your business, build customer connections, and get found with SEO.  Set some goals and plans, decide where you’ll put your content such as through your website or social media platforms, and begin integrating your plans.

With 26 years of experience in the industry and an IT company at its core, iManila – a digital marketing agency, having been one of the first Internet Service Providers in the Philippines, is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines that can help convert your website visitors into quality leads or potential customers. 

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, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing service’s needs. Work together with top advertising companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality. Talk to us!

Why Good Web Hosting Is Important In 2022

It is important to have a good business website so that your brand can offer the best and quality service to your audience. Hosting can be used for many applications. Samples are systems, virtual stores, blogs, and websites, with advantages ranging from better performance to greater security.

Better Security

Whenever a website page reads, “Your connection to this site is not secure.” It then recommends that you don’t type in any sensitive information. This page means that the website is not secure and isn’t using HTTPS. It is necessary to enable HTTPS on your website. It is by choosing a good web hosting company and getting a secure IP. HTTPS, which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It ensures that all information going through the website gets encrypted. Aside from it will secure your business website. This hides any sensitive or personal information from the world, which includes hackers.

Better support

You cannot just rely on good website design and technology when it comes to support. There are still certain things you do not have complete control over. It is up to the web host to resolve the issue if there is something going wrong with the server. It starts affecting your website. A good web hosting service will respond fast, accurately and effectively, giving you tools. And answers to your server’s uptime and availability issues. 

​​Data storage

Limited storage can lead to site shutdown when traffic is high on your webpage. A premium web host will provide you with a variety of options, depending on your data limit and fulfill your hosting needs. This is why the amount of data that needs to be stored on your website’s server. It plays a huge role in deciding what kind of web hosting partner you’re looking for. How much online traffic your website can handle, including concurrent users. And needs to be well established before you sign with a hosting provider.  

Reliable customer service

High quality customer service is a main characteristic of a good web hosting solutions provider. A good web host is always there when you need any kind of technical assistance or support. They offer many ways for you to contact them whenever the need arises for you to do so.

Speed 

Slow loading times of your website’s landing page is one of the main reasons for bad user experience. A poor web host will see a lot of site crashes due to too much load on the shared server. Bad user experience on your business’ website can lose potential customers. 

A trustworthy web host solutions provider is a must for your business’ website. It will ensure that your website runs smoothly and does not buckle under pressures of high bandwidth. Keep the above points in mind while you search for a suitable web hosting provider.

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. It is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines. iManila is a full-service business web development company and digital marketing agency in the Philippines.  Ready to help you with your web design and development, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs. Talk to us!

Google Ads Vs. Facebook Ads: Which One Should You Be Using?

Google Ads and Facebook Ads are two of the leading pay-per-click platforms and are often pitted against each other. But what some businesses don’t know is that In fact, these two platforms are complementary to each other and offer unique benefits to marketers and users. You can target prospects by location, gender, and age across both platforms. Many businesses are utilizing the strengths of each to achieve maximum visibility, increase leads in sales, and gather a wider reach of audiences, all for a remarkable return of investments. 

These two advertising platforms serve different business objectives making it way harder for brand owners to identify which one is best for them. In this blog, we have summarized the things that should be considered to help you determine whether you should be utilizing Google Ads or Facebook Ads. 

When To Use

Facebook ads are best for businesses that are looking for an increased awareness of the products and services it sells, especially among new audiences. Facebook allows brands to reach out to their target audience by means of text, image, and video ads. In addition to its large audience base, the platform offers granular targeting capabilities, allowing marketers to reach users based on demographics, behaviors, life events and interests.

On the other hand, Google ads are best for businesses with products or services that people are actively searching for. In order for your ads to succeed, and since your target users are looking for something, your content should be clear, concise, and easy to access. With Google Ads, it’s much more detailed in who you’re able to target for your ads.

Functionality

With billions of users worldwide, Facebook provides businesses the capability to advertise using pay-per-click ads. These ads were created using the Facebook Ads manager platform and are being shown to a targeted audience according to demographics, interests, behavior and engagement patterns. Ad creation process includes selecting an ad budget, ad placement, and run time. However, conversions in Facebook usually take more time since customers are not actually seeking your product or services. 

Google, on the other hand, gives businesses the ability to advertise with just keywords. The intention of the audience is what sets Google apart from Facebook Ads. With Google, users are actually searching for a particular product or service, or an answer for their specific question in mind. Providing them the information they need could boost their engagement with your brand. 

Pricing and Performance Data

Facebook Ads cost lower than Google Ads. However, the conversion rate in Facebook has a lower average compared to Google. When considering cost-efficiency, price needs to be considered in relation to click-through and conversion rates. Google Ads have a higher average cost-per-click and a higher click-through rate giving you a higher return of investment than Facebook Ads. 

Campaign Features

Campaigns in Facebook Ads and Google ads only vary on how audiences are targeted. Facebook Ads offer more all-inclusive targeting options, but offer little to no search or buying intent. Facebook Ads have a broader offering of campaign features and options from ad platforms such as Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram, with ad placement such as feeds, stories, and chat. While google ads give fewer options on audience targeting, its users are actively looking for a particular product or service. In addition, Google Ads give advertisers the choice to make their own content that appears in the same format as organic search results with just keyword searches and basic targeting options.

Ease of Use

Both Facebook Ads and Google ads can be frustrating to use and setup at first glance. While Facebook Ads are easier to navigate especially for beginners, Google Ads offers a more data-focused interface. Facebook has a lot more ad types, ad placements, and advanced audience targeting options than Google Ad Manager. The Google Ads interface may seem more complex to use at first as it is a text and data-heavy platform, but once users become familiar with Google Ads, it becomes easier to use than Facebook Ads.

It may sound easy to begin with a simple ad with these platforms but it also involves in-depth expertise to build effective ads that drive clicks and conversions. Get the most out of your ad investment by leaving it to the experts at iManila. iManila is a certified Google Partner and Facebook Managed Agency. 

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, is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines that can help convert your website visitors into quality leads or potential customers. 

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, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs. Work together with top digital marketing companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality.

Work together with top advertising companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality. Talk to us!

Shared Hosting Benefits: Is It Right for You?

A website hosting service that divides server resources between multiple domains is called Shared Hosting.  With this, your website lives alongside others, which are neighboring users utilizing the same server.  Shared Hosting is best recommended for small websites, brands, and other digital platforms that do not require high bandwidth. It provides minimum features and support, making it the perfect hosting for budget-conscious website owners. 

For starters, choosing between different web hosting services could be a very tough job. Different hosting offers different features and services. One could offer something that the others could not. It is indeed frustrating to determine whether a shared hosting is the right one for you. To simplify things, we have gathered the benefits of shared hosting to give you insights on how these fit you and your business website. 

Cost-Effective

A huge factor why first-time website owners go for shared hosting is its low cost. A single server’s maintenance costs can be distributed amongst its many users. Since it is shared across multiple website owners, individual costing may be driven down to a smaller cost, making it more cost-effective. In addition, shared hosting gives you the option to eventually upgrade to hosting services that allows you to get more traffic, and greater online presence – of course bigger resources come with higher costs. 

Flexibility

Many business websites first launch their digital platforms with shared hosting because it doesn’t require too much complexity in skills and knowledge to operate. Shared hosting offers plans that provide control panels that are easy to navigate for website management and other pre-installed programs. Server uptime, availability and settings are handled by the hosting provider making it easier for the owner to manage and easily install updates and patches. 

Professionally Managed

Utilizing shared hosting services gives you insurance that your server is well taken care of by the hosting provider, thus ensuring that administrative tasks are functioning accordingly. Aside from being low maintenance, shared hosting provides you professional technical support for network outages, server malfunctions and maintenance, if needed.

Easy Email Hosting

Providing an email associated with your domain is very significant in the web development process. With shared hosting and its built-in cPanel, adding and setting up your email are now easier. You can now run a secure, spam-filtered mail server for your personal or small-business use. This way, you can set up your own disk drive and fully control how your emails are accessed, managed and stored. Aside from emails, you now have control over databases, add-on domains, and more.

Choosing the right web hosting plan can save you lots of time and money. If you don’t need immense bandwidth, memory, computing power, or control, then save your money by going with a shared hosting service.

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, is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines that can help convert your website visitors into quality leads or potential customers. 

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, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs. Work together with top digital marketing companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality.

Work together with top advertising companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality. Talk to us!

Email Marketing Tips To Look Out For in 2022

When the world was crippled by the coronavirus in 2020, most businesses had no choice but to switch to online sales and marketing efforts. One of the digital marketing strategies that really boomed since then is email marketing.

According to HubSpot’s latest research statistics, email marketing had a constant growth in terms of popularity and relevance every year since the pandemic. And now, in 2022, it is expected to grow even more. Meaning, the competition to your target market’s inbox is really high.

Given this, you may like to go back to your previous email marketing efforts to ensure that your emails will stand out. Read more below for the best email marketing tips to look out for in 2022.

Make it personal

People’s inboxes are bombarded with irrelevant, spam emails everyday. That is why most users do not bother to open emails that are generic. 

What you can do to get your recipient’s attention is by making the email personal. This includes the name and the content of the email. Take time to research and know what your customers’ needs and pain points are. Then, personalize your email by emphasizing how your offerings can help them.

Use Artificial Intelligence

Consider hopping into the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bandwagon of email marketers. AI tools are used to maximize the potential of acquired data about the market. It helps with processing a large chunk of data, building better and efficient analytics, observing customer trends, and foreseeing user actions.

AI can also help in segmentation, the process of creating smaller groups of email recipients who share the same background and characteristics. In this way, you can better craft your message. Take note though that since AI is still a relatively new kind of technology, using AI in your email marketing may not just be tedious, but costly. 

Incorporate user-generated content

Applying user-generated content (UGC) on your emails this 2022 encourages people to trust your brand. How? When prospective customers see a large, diverse group of people enjoying your brand, it will spark curiosity to them until they fall to the decision of wanting to experience your offerings themselves. This is just like the philosophy behind testimonials and reviews in websites but, this time it is on the email body.

Start newsletter campaigns

Don’t sleep on this! Newsletters found success during 2021 and will shine brighter this 2022. It helps in promoting new leads, enlivening cold customers, and builds a unique brand image without sounding like a salesperson. Sending out newsletters can be done weekly or monthly.

Apply minimalistic approach

People nowadays have shorter attention spans and are tired of loud details. That is why minimalism became the trend aesthetic. Apply this approach to make your email more appealing to your audience. It is as easy as putting in a lot of white spaces, writing short sentences, and selecting a calming color palette.

Make sure it’s mobile friendly

More than half of the global internet traffic comes from smartphones. People are mostly dependent on their mobile devices for product research as well. So, it is best to create mobile-responsive emails that do not force recipients to open a browser window. 

Aside from the fact that it is easier to scan on a handheld device, having an email copy that is mobile accessible makes it easy to read on the go, which is a plus especially that we are in a fast-paced world.

 

If you want to strengthen your email marketing game this 2022, iManila can definitely 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, is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines that can help convert your website visitors into quality leads or potential customers.

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, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs. Work together with top digital marketing companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality.

Work together with top advertising companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality. Talk to us!

Reasons Why Your Website Visitors Aren’t Converting

By this time, maybe you have mastered most if not all of the traffic generation strategies published online and have somehow managed to become successful in getting website visitors. However, traffic generation is not the end goal of digital marketing. Being able to convert your website visitors into actual customers is. 

 

Everyone who visits your page is a potential customer. Online users visit your website primarily because they are interested in a product or service that you are offering.  But, why are they not converting despite the big website traffic? 

 

Read more below on the possible reasons why your website visitors aren’t converting. 

 

Hidden or No Call-to-Action Buttons

 

Call-to-Actions (CTA) are a crucial part of digital marketing. This is how you encourage your website visitors to take a favorable action after seeing your offerings. But what if your CTA is hidden or not existing at all? Chances are users will just leave your page. 

 

It is important that you have an obvious CTA. You can do this by creating an animation that directs to the CTA button. In this way, you can catch your visitor’s attention and at the same time point them to take an action. 

 

Another thing, put your contact number in the header of your page. Doing so allows your visitors to see what you need them to see immediately. Make sure that your CTA is also clickable to make it easy for the users to contact you.

 

Confusing headlines

 

One of the possible reasons why your website visitors are not converting at all is because maybe you have a confusing headline. 

 

The headline is the first thing that your visitors see when they land on your site. With that, by just looking at it, you must assure your customers that you have everything they are looking for. Anticipate the kinds of information they need to know immediately like your service, location, ease of service, and why your company is the best for the job.

 

Refrain from having vague headlines. Be direct to the point. Creative language is nice but if it’s too vague, it can drive your visitors away.

 

Too long contact forms

 

Let’s say your website is doing good. You have optimized your site well and ranked in Google. Your CTA is also functioning. Your visitors are now ready to convert. Unfortunately, they saw a long, complicated contact form that annoyed and scared them. So, they decided to just navigate away from your site.

 

Too long contact forms are intimidating, overwhelming, and feel like a big chore to your potential clients. As much as you want to know in detail your visitor’s needs, you would want to just trim down your contact form as this is more efficient in converting leads. Stick to the basics like name, email address, and phone number. Then, ask your staff members to reach out to the client afterwards to know their needs in-depth.

 

Lack of a “Hook”

 

A hook is an irresistible statement or offer that you give to your potential customers. It can range from small ones like telling them that you are award-winning or rated #1 in the field. Just make sure that it is true to your company. Hooks can also be as big as giving promotional codes, free shipping, holiday deals, etc. 

 

In short, hooks help in convincing your potential customers to take a favorable action right now. It is frequently located near the call-to-action button.

 

All your efforts in boosting your SEO are for nothing if there are no sales conversions. Good thing, iManila can help you in turning your website visitors into actual customers with the different digital marketing services it provides.

 

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, is committed to providing our clients with innovative online marketing services in the Philippines that can help convert your website visitors into quality leads or potential customers. 

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, web hosting provider, email hosting, technical support, and digital marketing services needs. Work together with top digital marketing companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality.

Work together with top advertising companies in the Philippines like iManila and make your brand goals become reality. Talk to us!

How to keep your CMS safe and secure

Website security is one of the pillars of running a business online. Website hacks are not an uncommon phenomenon with 30,000 new small business website hacks a day together with corporation breaches. Rather than waiting for the inevitable, being prepared for such attacks is always a good preventive measure that can save you time from constant web debugging or worse – loss of income from your website and loss of company credibility. 

Hackers have targeted the top three open-source Content Management Services (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal due to their popularity. As technology evolved, these three CMSs have evolved to be more secure through patching its loopholes. 

Common Security Threats to CMSs

  • Data manipulation: Changing parameters and SQL injections are common hacks used. Malicious SQL statements are being inserted in entry fields for execution. 
  • Accessing data: This means using SQL injections or Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks as a way to jeopardize user data. A web application is used to send the malicious code using a browser side script. 
  • Code Injection: Causing lost or corrupted data, lack of accountability, or revoking access, this is the kind of attack that can affect the whole server that runs the website. 

With the common threats illustrated above, here’s what you can do to ensure your CMS stays safe at all times. 

Update your CMS Admin Password 

If you are the type to just use a common password for the majority of your sites or don’t update your administrator password in the past months, then take this as a sign that you need to start doing so. 

The chances of a hacker knowing one or two of your logins is not a slim one. Using a strong password together with a password storage vault can be handy in helping you keep track, organize, update, and manage passwords in one place. Taking an idea from password generators can come in really handy if you do not want the hassle of coming up with one from scratch. 

SSL Certificates 

With the encryption that an SSL Certificate can offer, users are protected from hackers and those attempting identity theft. It has become the PCI standard especially for e-commerce websites that accept sensitive information such as credit cards and personal data. Since 2018, Google has started ranking websites without SSL Certificates lower and most hosting providers provide free SSL or SSL at a low-cost option. 

Website Monitoring 

Constantly monitoring your website is one of the best solutions that can also help you understand common issues and threats. There is an abundance of online services that can offer a way for you to monitor your website 24/7 and help with security measures such as Google Search Console with their alerts and cPanel with their server error logs. 

Security Plugins 

Despite security updates and patches of CMSs, sometimes additional security measures are still important. While server configurations are one way to get security, not everyone can access or have the ability to secure a server properly. A plugin or extension proves to be the easiest way to ensure the server is configured correctly with the right security. Examples of the ways you can protect your site are through Firewall Protection which can help block brute force and DDoS attacks, restricting IP addresses, and more. Some of the available plugins are as follows Sucuri and WordFence (WordPress), Akeeba Admin Tools and RS FireWall (Joomla), and Security Kit (Drupal). 

While plugins can be helpful, it is worth noting that it is important to keep all plugins updated and to keep an eye out for security risks. It is important to download plugins from the official website and developers to face less security threats, malware, and other compromised data. 

Security should always be the utmost priority and thankfully there are a lot of helpful resources available that can help secure your CMS website. If you are new to CMS then don’t let that unfamiliarity get in the way of securing your website. Let a partner agency like iManila assist you with your website. We have a variety of website maintenance and server management services for your different business needs. Drop us a message and see how we can work together! 

Mobile App vs Mobile Website: Which is Better?

Reports show that 58% of website visits come from mobile alone in 2018. As for online shopping, 40% of users do online transactions on mobile. One can’t deny the importance of mobile in this time of business. The question then isn’t about whether your business needs a mobile strategy or not — but whether your business needs a mobile app or a mobile responsive website. 

There are many factors to consider whether a mobile app or mobile website is better suited for your business needs. We’ve made the choice easier by weighing out the options for you. 

 

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are the ones that can be accessed natively whether Android or iOS. This offers a much faster and responsive experience compared to a website. Here are some of its key features: 

An Interactive Experience 

Apps are generally more interactive and let users interact and experience more value through this new engagement channel. Instead of just displaying words or text the users can interact with its specific components. An example is with Instagram and how users can post their photos on the app while they are limited only to viewing through the website. 

Customization

This allows the user to get the most out of their app experience. From the get-go users are given the freedom to customize and tailor the app to their tastes. Apps can also track user engagement and allow it to offer recommendations to the user which helps better their experience. Businesses can experience being able to send out tailored notifications to its users based on their location, interests, and behavior. 

Intuitive Interface

Apps have their own interface which allow users to have a more immersive experience. Users of certain operating systems also get to experience the same tailored functionality with the app that meets the same characteristics and functionality that they expect. This is a limitation of responsive websites as it offers the same functionality and experience across different devices. 

Offline Accessibility

While a great majority of apps cannot function without internet use, information already loaded can still be accessible for its users. Some apps still offer some type of functionality while offline. This allows the users to still be able to make use of the app with or without connection to the internet. 

Device Capabilities

This allows the app to make use of capabilities users have in their smartphones such as GPS or a camera. Using these capabilities makes for a better experience for its users. For example the app would need to access the location of the user in order to better tailor the restaurant coupons that it offers the users. 

 

Mobile Responsive Website 

This is essentially your website that is customized so that it can be viewed and accessed the same across different devices with different screen sizes. 

One Size Fits All

Responsive websites can be accessed with devices of any operating system (Android, iOS) as long as there is internet connection. This means that they come completely free of charge unlike some apps. But while it is compatible, factors such as internet connection, quality, and speed are still factors that can affect the mobile web experience. 

No Updates 

Unlike apps that need to be constantly updated, websites do not interrupt the user’s experience as websites are easy to update, support, and fix bugs. The best part is that the users would not even notice when a website is being updated, and they can get right into the website experience without any hiccups. 

Cost Effective

This is more of a benefit to businesses but should you wish to establish your business in more than one platform, cost is an important consideration. However, it still depends on the complexity of the responsive mobile design as a complex one can cost just the same as a mobile application. 

With both options presented, the right choice still depends on the company and their business objectives. Should you wish to interact and engage with customers on a deeper level then mobile apps are your best bet but if you aim for mobile-friendly content for a wide range of people then mobile responsive websites should do the job. 

If done correctly, they can be an invaluable tool at helping get your brand out there. If this sounds like something you want but are not sure where to start, then let a partner agency help you achieve your business goals. iManila has been in the industry for more than two decades and has helped thousands of clients improve their work through technology. Let us help you take your business one step further with a mobile strategy, drop us a message to learn more.

iManila’s Favorite Online Collaboration Tools during ECQ

With most parts of the world on lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many companies have been forced to shut down their doors and establish a sudden shift to remote work to stay operational.  

This also includes us in iManila. With most of our services revolving around the digital landscape, we were lucky enough to have started using various online tools to keep up with the trends and requirements of our clients, even before the pandemic.  

However, since we have started fully working remotely for the past two months, we have also discovered new tools to ease out of our usual business processes and to enhance team collaboration.  

Here’s a couple of online tools that we have found helpful during the lockdown period. Maybe you can try them out too!  

As our company’s official central communications platform, we have used Microsoft Teams more than any other online tool in the past few months. Microsoft Teams’ various features enable us to chat, call, and collaborate whether individually or through its “teams” feature, which allows us to create separate channels within each department or team specifically dedicated to a particular concern, project or purpose. One feature of MS Teams that we really like is that it enables team members to edit MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents within the app – allowing for easier collaboration and real-time edits without having to jump from one application to another.  

 Another thing that makes MS Teams great is that it also allows us to set-up separate “team” channels that our external clients can also access, view and be a part of. This allows us to have a secure private channel with our clients, allowing everyone to have a unified communication thread that’s easy to access whether on mobile or on desktop.  

We’ve been using Trello for a few months now to monitor and track tasks for specific projects. So far, this has been an effective tool to manage deliverables and timelines, especially for our creative design and website development projects.  

 Trello’s user-friendly and fun interface allows all of its users to keep track of deadlines easier, and easily prioritize tasks on-the-go. It also allows multiple people involved in multiple projects to be notified when a deadline is coming up. To add, Trello also has a user-friendly mobile app which is also easy to view and update via mobile phone.   

While Microsoft Teams also has a video call feature, we prefer using Zoom for calls involving a bigger group. 

 Zoom has been extremely helpful for big team meetings of more than 10 attendees and for company-wide townhalls called by our CEO for monthly company announcements. What’s great is Zoom can also be accessed either through your browser, desktop, or mobile app, and on top of that allows screen-sharing – making it easier for us to present pitch decks or webinars to clients or to other members of the team.   

Google’s G Suite platform is another one of our clear favorites as it has greatly allowed us to collaborate across multiple solutions – Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Hangout, Meet, etc!  

 Our entire team has been using G Suite for a few years now, as it gives us better solutions to collaborate, store, and share files within one consolidated platform. It allows us to have real-time updates on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides while sharing this with everyone (including clients) for easier collaboration.  

 Google Drive, on the other hand, serves as a repository for many of our working files as it likewise allows us to share these files with our clients, while Google Meet is another platform often preferred by our foreign clients when it comes to kick-off and coordination meetings.  

 These are just some of our favorite and most used online tools during the enhanced community quarantine. Other systems we use include our self-made and highly customized iManila Sales Portal, our HR Payroll System and our Technical Support’s Online Ticketing System, as well as a subscriber-based type of software called Zoho for time keeping and invoicing.  

 As one of the leading full-service digital agencies in the Philippines, we offer various digital services – from web and apps development, hosting, digital marketing, and technical support. 

 Need help in setting up your business towards the shift to the digital space? Looking to learn more about G Suite or Office 365? Get in touch with us today and let us improve your life through technology. #iManila #WorkFromHome