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Tag: web development

Mobile-first indexing: Should you worry about your current ranking?

 

From 2015 to 2016, Google has gradually rolled out the Mobilegeddon – a series of updates aimed to index and rank websites that are mobile-friendly. This update prompts most website owners to make sure their websites are responsive to the screen sizes of mobile devices.

With a few things going around the Google SERPs in the past weeks like FRED and other ranking changes, SEO experts have buried again in their desk figuring out what could be done to adapt to these algorithmic changes in the SERP. Until recently, Google confirmed that it is starting to roll out the mobile-first indexing in July.

Mobile-centric Culture

In the past years when the primary device to browse websites are the desktops and laptops, Google crawlers crawl and index websites based on their performance on the desktop. But as the lifestyle of being on-the-go become the new norm, people started to be mobile. The usage of mobile gadgets has increased drastically, especially in terms of personal searches. A year ago, Google announced that 60% of global searches were from mobile devices.

Other vital contributing factors are smartphone cost and internet connectivity. These two supports oxygen to heat up the usage of smartphones. With the continuous evolution of specifications, and rationalization of smartphone and data cost, people are more and more pushed towards mobile.

Mobile-first indexing

To support the increasing activity using mobile, Google has started to be a devout evangelist of better mobile experience. And other evidence of their commitment to this crusade is the release of mobile-first indexing on top of the mobilegeddon in 2015.

Mobile-first indexing is a little different and less disruptive than the mobilegeddon. It aims to prioritized indexing and ranking of websites based on their collective mobile presence. If mobilegeddon prioritized ranking based on mobile-responsiveness, mobile-first focuses on compliance and equivalence.

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Should I get worried about my current ranking?

If you are worried about your current SEO, you might be asking yourself whether that worry is qualified or not, and here’s the answer:

 YES and NO

YES – if you have a mobile version, but don’t deliver as a good as the desktop version

NO – If you are mobile-responsive and delivers valuable content, or with a mobile version that is equally the same with the desktop version.

Another issue that would cross your mind is, will affect my ranking and traffic?

Answer: There might be no great impact on the rankings, but there is in traffic. Remember the premise of having a mobile version which disconnects the user experience when one jumps from desktop to mobile? Well, that one can have a greater impact on traffic.

The bottom-line of mobile-first indexing is to make mobile searches better for all users, and that includes consistent user experience across devices.

Website Credibility Signals You Need to Have

A website is considered the most important online asset for businesses and organizations. But with more than 1.2 billion published websites, how can you tell your target audiences that your website (which represents your business) is credible?

In marketing, despite having a remarkable product or service, if your website doesn’t convey the superiority of your business, then there will be a disconnection between your brand and your market.

To clearly understand the credibility signals online audience look on a website below are the critical factors that you should look out for:

  • Image of the business owner

One of the ultimate trust signals that will give credibility to your website is an image of the owner in about us section of the website. No matter how awkward and uncomfortable for business owners like you, putting your image will boost your website’s credibility.

  • Thorough contact information

One thing is common among online users nowadays – and that is getting the information they need in just a few steps and few clicks. To be able to increase your website’s credibility you should include all contact information that your audience or your market needs to know to reach you. And that is not just putting them on the website, but also making easy for your audience to see it.

related:  Usual Mistakes SMEs Do with Their Website

  • Testimonies

Nothing is more convincing than good words from people who have tried your products or services. People love a recommendation from people that are not part of a business organization. Their recommendations are highly valued as they had a first-hand experience with your brand. Now, putting the most compelling and believable testimonials from your current and past clients will surely help in building your website’s credibility.

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  • Social Links

Another means of validation of the credibility and also the legitimacy of your website is through social links. As the online community gravitates towards socials, they are expecting a consistency in your brand from the web to socials.

  • Web design, Branding and Information Architecture

This one is a big chunk to swallow for beginners as this includes three dimensions that work as one. All three are part of the improving user experience. A good branding yields a comprehensive guideline that can be used to create a remarkable web design.

Also, while doing the design, the information architecture (or the correct arrangement and careful selection of content to be included) of the website is also a crucial factor in giving a better user experience. It is a must that you need to make highly sought information easily accessible to your visitors, and that is part of a good information architecture.

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Bottom-line is, your website is the face of your business online. Making sure that it represents your brand well, and that it looks completely credible is essential in making your online marketing a success.

For inquiries about website revamp, develop and design, you can contact iManila at (02) 490-000. You can also send an email via [email protected] or via [email protected].

Things To Know Before Running an AdWords Text Ad

There will come a day when all businesses in the Philippines will shift online. And as of today, there’s a big chance that a sales executive will knock on your door and tell you, “Ma’am/Sir you need to advertise your business online, it’s the best way for you to get noticed without a big budget.”

What comes after are the feelings of amazement and confusion. Questions like, “Does it really work? Will it really work for my business? Do I need to allot more budget? How will I know if I am getting more from it?”

I am pretty sure that these are the things that you have in mind and you’re probably seeking for someone to guide you in making a decision whether to go or not.

At iManila, we encourage you to go for it. However, we first make sure that our prospective clients know the following things before we actually proceed to do the Google Search Ads for them.

  • First Mandatory: Website

One of the primary goals of a Google Ad is to bring web traffic through web clicks. The ads serve as a portal to bring them to a website of the client. If the client doesn’t have a website, we advise them to consider having one before we proceed with the ads.

A website serves as a primary online contact point of any online searchers to a prospective firm or business. The website must contain all vital information about the business including all contact numbers, email addresses, and physical address. We also highly recommend that the website contains all the offerings be it products or services.

Having a Website is NOT Enough

The website is mandatory but that doesn’t mean that having one is the end of it all. A website should be regularly updated. It should be well-designed and easy to navigate; otherwise, visitors will just bounce off.

The experience visitors have with a website is what matters to Google. If visitors are having a hard finding what they need to see on your website, then that means that the website is not well-made or it lacks content and substance. In return, Google will remove you from ranking high in the Google Search Engine Results Page, and it can also affect your ad rank in Google ads.

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  •  Second Mandatory: Research

We ask our clients if they have an accurate knowledge and sharp business intelligence about their competitors and their industry. This is for them to brief us about their positioning, prices and same with their competitors. If they don’t have one, we do some research to better understand their business and the competition within the industry.

What do we mean by competition?

We do not limit our research to offline must-knows such as location, prices, and their offerings. We also try running some keywords about the business and see if they are doing Google Ads as well. This will help us determine how tight it will get for our prospective clients should they push through with the service. And that’s how we adjust in terms of budget suggestion, keywords and even the landing pages of their ads.

  • Third Mandatory: Landing Page

A landing page is a specific page in the website that serves as a catch basin of incoming traffic from the Google Ads. It is the first page that they will see, hence the importance of having a well-designed and well-written one.

A landing page should be well-made and simple to understand. Moreover, it needs to have one explicit and achievable goal. Goals could be sign-ups, purchases or downloads. These landing pages offer valuable materials that are needed to be a downloaded from a portal going to an e-commerce page to convert them into a client.

What we always tell our clients is: Landing pages should contain a relevant and easy to understand core message. It either instructs to download, persuades to buy or begs for sign-ups.

  • Fourth Mandatory: Budget

Launching an ad means you are willing to pay a certain amount to post the ad. The same goes with Google Ad. It is universal for all ad platforms (both online and traditional) that an ad budget is required.

The difference between Google and other online platforms is that you have the power to dictate what budget works for you, unlike the traditional ones.

Fifth Mandatory: Understanding the Idea of the Bidding Scheme and PPC

Google Ads are created to operate on a specific model which is the pay-per-click type. Pay-per-click or PPC means that the advertiser gets charged for every click. If there are fewer clicks, there will be fewer charges as well. However, if there are a greater number of clicks, the higher is the possibility of spending your maximum allocated budget.

The bidding scheme, on the other hand, pertains to who gets the top spot in the allocated areas on the first page of Google based on the willingness to spend greater amount. However, Google rationalizes their bidding rules by incorporation of a quality score. Those advertisers whose ads obtain a high-quality score gets the spots.

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How to Achieve Better Quality Score?

Quality scores of Google ads are computed using the following elements:

  • Bid – refers to the amount the advertiser is willing to spend
  • Ad Relevance – The resonance of the ad message to the online researchers. It is sometimes evaluated by Click-through rate. Click-through rate is the number of clicks your ad gets over the number of times it was shown by Google.
  • Landing Page experience – The behavior of the visitors as they land on your page. The higher the bounce (quick and unexpected movement of visitors out of the website) rate is considered as bad landing page experience.

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As mentioned from the items above, clients need to make sure that they have everything in their arsenal before actually going for a Google ad – and one of those is having a well-made website with compelling landing pages.

Taking into considerations the ‘mandatories’ above will result in a higher success rate when doing the Google ad.

For further questions and inquiries about the Google Ad or with Website Development and revamp. Contact us at (02) 490-0000 or send us an email at [email protected].

 

 

Don’t be a Scope Creep: Defining website project scope well

 

Having a physical store or an office is not enough these days as businesses move online at a faster rate. This prevailing business diaspora has made the website an in-demand business tool for most businesses who can afford to have one. But the usual pitfall of businesses wanting to have a website is that most business owners think that having one is just like setting up a social media page. Little do they know that a website is entirely a different story.

Like any other projects, doing a website isn’t just about telling your business objectives and showing your peg design, then that’s it. Many project owners, who are usually also the business owners, think that a little chit-chat with the provider is enough to keep the ball rolling. This is the most common misconception that brings a lot of confusion and finger-pointing between providers and project owners.

Now, the truth about having a website is, starting one needs a lot of preparations on the project owner’s side. And preparation usually includes extensive consolidation and finalization of the content that you need. The content should be aligned with your business objectives. Now, to give you an idea on what to do, what follows are things you should consolidate and finalize before sending out a project brief (or Terms of Reference)

  • Relax

Do not overwhelm yourselves with the ‘what ifs’. Focus on the important things that you think the website should address. Is your website merely informative and will serve as a bulletin about your company’s progress and new offerings? Or do you envisioned it to be more than that? Think clear about that kind of things – BUT, do not overthink.

Overthinking is like a last-minute packing of your suitcase. Believe me, you’ll end up having excess baggage which you won’t like.

  • Clearly define your objectives

All projects begin with series of objectives; otherwise, what’s the point of doing so, right? On a website context, the business objectives always serve as the cornerstone of your website. The design, the content choices, the content architecture, and functionalities are all anchored to your objectives.

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  • Keep the non-negotiables and weed out the wish lists.

Drafting the scope and the brief for your website project is like making a list of the things you need to buy for your new house. Certainly, not all of things you want can be bought all at the same time. You can proceed with the essentials first, then buy the other stuff when the time is right.

The same thing goes for the website. You should always begin with the aspects that matter most to your websites like products and services page, and the compelling story about your company.

Fancying some cool transitions and functionalities? Or maybe drooling over the e-commerce module? Stop right there! Think again. Is this something that you really need to up on your website? If YES, then write it down and explain briefly the rationale of this element in your website.

When you’re done, go through it again. Does including it make any sense to your business and urgency? If it doesn’t, then weed it out.

  • Coordinate with other stakeholders or business unit people

The scope of your project should include all-encompassing business objectives from various business units. It shouldn’t just include yours as the project proponent, but also the other project owners. Get their feedback and seek what they intend to include or remove from the initial scope. Set up a meeting or a brainstorming session if you need to. That will be helpful in trimming down the scope to the most important ones and to keep the objectivity in the brief.

  • Make it official

Brainstorming is not the end of the line for the brief. Make sure all key people involved in the planning – even those who will benefit from it – are acknowledged with all indicated items.

This will also help the project proponent avoid blaming and finger-pointing internally.

  • Oops, make sure you are ready with the materials.

This is what most project owners and proponents tend to overlook – securing materials to be uploaded such as service/product specs sheets, images, and articles. They think that all of these should be under the website developer and provider. In most cases, it isn’t.  Clients provide content and other materials necessary for the success of the website.

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As a matter of fact, 75% of website project delay is attributed to insufficient materials for uploading or the lack thereof.

If you do not have these materials, web development companies like iManila provide content writing service for an additional cost. In some cases, even photo shoots can be provided too. However, like content writing, it comes with a premium cost.

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Nothing beats a well-written website brief. It is helpful for both the developer and the project owner to track the progress of the development. Also, it will serve as a binding document to check if everything in the website is well-delivered. After all, a happy developer has an equally fulfilled client (project owner).

Thinking of putting up a website? Or perhaps a revamp? Leave it to us! We’ll make sure you’ll get the website that you want. Just shoot us an email containing your project scope at [email protected] or call us at (02) 565-4064 to schedule a face-to-face meeting.

 

WordPress as an ideal website platform

 

A content management system for all – that’s what WordPress is all about. For the longest time, it has been the universal, not to mention the largest content management platform in the world. So, if you are new to the industry and thinking of venturing a solid web presence for your brand, you might want to give WordPress a try. What’s the deal with this platform, you ask? Well, here are some reasons why it should be your top pick.

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  • Easy setup and navigation
    One great reason why WordPress remains to be the top-choice platform of both individuals and businesses is because of its easy setup and navigation. Because of its straightforward Content Management System (CMS), people find it to be the most reliable CMS web tool. The world won’t be shocked if a fifth-grader manage to modify a WordPress website.

 

  • Fully-customizable
    WordPress is flexible in terms of customization. You can modify pages depending on your specifications, 360 degrees. With its wide variety of interactive designs, special features, and advanced plugins, surely you can make your website standout from the million websites present on the web.

 

  • Manageable content
    One of the best things about WordPress is the trouble-free ways you can manage and update website content. You can create, modify, and edit a certain page without learning how to code or asking for support from a professional web developer. All the changes that you are going to make can be previewed before you actually publish it.

 

  • Backup and security
    In just a few clicks, you can have your website backed up in WordPress and get the best secure tools out of it. Along with its easy backup feature are the security tools and plugins that can help you safeguard your website from loopholes and attacks.

 

  • SEO-friendly
    Brands compete to be on the first page of search engine results page. That is why optimization of websites are in highest demand today more than ever. And WordPress offers the simplest possible coding to its users so that Google can crawl and index your website on SERP at ease.

 

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Websites are a good avenue for your business to reach a wider audience in this digital era. And it’s good to know that there is a platform like WordPress, the one-stop website platform for everyone who desires to increase online brand awareness, generate leads, and increase profitability. No doubt the Fortune 5000 companies opt to choose WordPress above all.

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Planning to build up your own WordPress website? Let iManila handle it for you. Having more than 5,000 websites published online, we assure that iManila can design a website that is suited for your brand and help you develop a solid online presence. Send us your requirements at [email protected] and we will take care of the rest.

 

Reference: Branding Personality

Usual Mistakes SMEs Do with Their Websites

 

Doing business this 21st century means having a website – even for the small businesses. However, in the Philippines, there are only a handful of small businesses who realized the use of the website in their operations. However, despite this realization, small businesses and even medium scale ones are prone to crucial mistakes with their websites.

Below are the usually mistakes that SMEs do with their websites that they need to address before its too late:

Top 6: Bad Mobile Experience.

  • In the Philippines, 66% of the population uses a smartphone in doing their searches or in doing inquiries in websites. Having a non-mobile responsive website ruins search experience that may lead to bounce rate.

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Top 5: Fonts that are hard to read.

  • Simple and readable texts deliver more results than fancy and hard-to-read ones. Why? It is obvious for one good reason: readability. No one wants to go through a website word per word just because the fonts are outrageously exasperating to the eye. If you want your audience to digest the essence of your content or to grasp the exact message of your branding in your website, you should make every character easier to read for all – regardless of the ages.

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Top 4: Unprofessional design or color scheme.

  • Design and colors are as equally important as the website’s content. The overall look and feel of your website are what greets your audience. And if they don’t like what they see, the greater the chances of moving out of your website (hence the higher bounce rate). Just like having fonts that are hard to read, a very strong and striking colors on the website – that don’t match – can hurt the eyes even more. Color schemes should be pleasing to eyes. Choosing the right Pantone for your website is the first step in correcting this mistake.
  • Tacky and obsolete designs can ruin a website surfing experience. Filipinos are natural suckers for beauty. It is always the things that are pleasing to the eye which always get more attention.

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Top 3: No Product or Services information.

  • This is one of the most unforgivable mistakes in some of SMEs websites. One of the key search intent of users is informational (know). And usually, most of the key phrases searched in Google or in other search engines have products and service search strings.
  • In the Philippines, 60% of the population with access to the internet still uses search engines as their portal for searching products and services. If your website doesn’t have any substantial information about your products and/or services, then the higher the likelihood that you’ll lose business online.

Top 2: No address, directions or business hours.

  • Number two in the list is not including the business address, map, and business/operation hours. These details are some of the crucial information that should be reflected on your website especially if your business is gearing towards the retail side. This information should be present not just in your contact us page, but also in every footer of the pages in your website.

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Top 1: Outdated Contact information.

  • Of all, this is the most unforgivable mistake businesses do. You are putting up a website online as a tool to help or boost your online operations. And one of the most important information in your website is your contact information. Outdated contact information only assures you a failing online business.
  • It is a rule of thumb that as you change contact numbers, it is immediately updated on your web page to refrain from confusions.

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Keeping a website surely takes some resources. But keeping it well and updating it always pay you back. If you are having a hard time making your website look fresh and updated, iManila is the best digital service provider that you are looking for.

For more information about our web design and development service, email us at [email protected] or at [email protected]. You can also give us a call at (02) 490-0000 or at (02) 565-4064.

 

Three Tips on Keeping our Website Fresh

 

To most businesses, websites could be considered as part of gaining competitive advantages. It is mainly used for widening your market reach not just nationwide but worldwide, in increasing the accessibility of your potential customers to your products and services, and showcasing what your brand is fully capable of. It is like having your own identity in the virtual world. Although the idea itself is not really a “Eureka!” moment, for anyone now can actually have their own website given the advent of technology and that everyone could be tech-savvy with just a few clicks away. In addition, in this era of social media, people tend to use it more often which could also be very effective for businesses in their promotion and exposure. But that is exactly why there is a greater need now more than ever to keep such websites fresh, relevant and most importantly, worth visiting. So, here are some tips on keeping your websites stick to its A game:

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Tip # 1: Aim High, Rank High.
Unlike a good bottle of wine which gets better as it ages sitting in the cellar, websites cannot be just left alone and let it stagnate with its contents. With its fast pacing trends, lots of businesses couldn’t really manage to cope up, which is never a good thing. This is why you should make sure you continuously update your contents and maintain its relevance. Here at iManila, one of the country’s premier companies in fields of web design and development, we are more than willing to provide you quality contents for your websites up to five main pages for free. This will give you a better shot at being top-of-mind brand in your industry. How’s that for starters?

 

Tip # 2: Let your website do the talking.
Anyone might agree if we say that everything now could be very aesthetical. People can easily give their attention to things that are visually appealing. We can somehow bid our goodbyes to Traditional Marketing strategies which rely on simple and conservative styles. The trend nowadays is inclining more on contents with good graphics or what we call infographics where you are not just discussing your contents with mere words, you are showing what would your products or services would actually look like. Informative yet entertaining thus could pull more traffic on your website.

With our competent website developers and their freshest ideas in UI and UX design, we can assure you of an interest-tickling website which could result to more visits and may lead to more sales for your company. Now who wouldn’t want that?

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Tip # 3: Being mobile-friendly.
Here in the Philippines, you could actually name quite a handful of smartphone brands. From the cheapest to the ones with the most prestige. Nevertheless, it only shows how Filipinos prefer their information, transactions and communications be all compacted in one gadget which fits in their pockets. Its ease of use and it being handy are really vital factors. As a result, the emergence of digital marketing; promotion of your products and services online and actually conducting the entire business virtually. The strong WordPress development and E-commerce background of our company which is at par with the industry standards would give you assurance that your websites will defy its limitations and be mobile-friendly so that anywhere, anytime, and anyone could easily connect with your business. Just one touch away eh?

 

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Change is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot do something about it. Remember that it is innate to every human being to adapt to change. For some, the process might be a challenge, but this challenge adds meaning on every success we accomplish. With its excellent track record in maintaining websites with our own hosting servers, iManila would be honored to help you on weaving your success. Give us a call and let’s see what we can achieve together. Oh, it’s in the middle of the night? No worries, our 24/7 phone and email support team are very much willing to be of help. Hear from you soon!

Digital Ecosystem: A stable approach for all organizations

 

An innovative digital  and stable approach towards a shared goal, that’s what the Digital Ecosystem is about. Unlike aardvarks, the Digital Ecosystem works best in collaboration with its components. A collaboration which allows it to interact and interconnect within its networks. Similar to the natural ecosystem we have learned in grade school, the concept of the Digital Ecosystem relates to the online applications, digital marketing services, and all things web – instead of plants, animals, and other biological entities. It’s an interactive environment ideal for all businesses.

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Understanding this model’s holistic approach is of great essence in achieving collective goals. Ergo, iManila curated a Digital Ecosystem that caters one’s online needs congregating to its innovative, strategic, and technology-driven web and digital services. This Digital Ecosystem provides sustainability, scalability, and stability to all organizations, and here’s what these three words signify:

Stability

Capacity for a strong connection and a stable approach. The ability of the Digital Ecosystem to have a strong hold, a strong connection to people forges stability. Aside from amplifying leads, the Digital Ecosystem is also an effective channel for creating value; offering experience and satisfaction to its people. Thus, building a strong connection which then shifts into a valuable possession when service-dependency surfaces – driving people towards brand loyalty and client retention forthwith.

Scalability

Capacity for growth. The Digital Ecosystem has the competency to easily upgrade on demand, thus, establishes scalability. Because of the teamwork within its domain, its diverse networks maintain hold of the productivity in the midst of increasing demands —  demands of the ever-changing technology-based model and demands from the people it aims to reach. Moreover, the scalability offers growth within the network, allowing each component to expand without compromising each of its goals.

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Sustainability

Capacity for endurance. Indefinite changes in this digital milieu build sustainability in all organizations. The strength to endure abrupt online revolutions defines the Digital Ecosystem’s ability to uphold its linkages toward a common goal. Utilizing advanced tools, right methodologies, and a proficient workforce affirms a resilient business model that can transcend and adapt to future innovations.

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The success of a brand’s adherence to the Digital Ecosystem depends on the steadfastness of its web and digital provider. With over 5,000 valued clients, iManila is certain to be the most reliable partner in building a successful online presence. From hosting server, down to social media requirements, iManila is here to be of service. Offering nothing but relief and peace of mind, considering that all the web and digital marketing needs will be catered under one roof, in one universe, towards one direction. Trust the best web and digital service provider in the Philippines, trust iManila.

Our digital ecosystem breakthrough ensures a stable approach that is also scalable and sustainable for all organizations.