Featured Project > BlackHillsWinery.com: Ecommerce Pays Off
This has been a special and exciting season at Black Hills Estate Winery. It was the season that the winery unveiled it's new ecommerce feature on it's website. The online wine ordering system, custom built by DotCom Media, was put to the test during the Spring release of Black Hills' Nota Bene wine. The wine, full-bodied with layers of dark fruit and spices with a rich finish, was in abundance with 1,200 cases to be sold solely online through the ecommerce solution. Apart from the uniqueness of the wine itself, what made this release so unique was that the response from online customers was overwhelmingly positive as every last case sold in just forty seven minutes! Black Hills' Alibi wine was sold out online during its release several weeks later.
When asked just how important the website is to the business, Glenn Fawcett, President of Black Hills Estate Winery responded with a resounding “Extremely important! 80% of our revenue is now coming through BlackHillsWinery.com.”
Business > Websites Need Professionals Too
On one occasion, I was asked about the value of a professional website design and development service over hiring a family member to design and manage a website – because anyone can design a website right?
On another occasion, I was asked about the value of a professional website design, development and hosting service over simply buying a dedicated server and hiring a full-time employee to run the server, and design and manage a website.
Welcome to my first article in a 2-part series I like to call “Websites Need Professionals Too.”
Before going any further, I have to say that I'm never comfortable talking in generalities or painting with a broad brush. I've been around long enough to know that some brother-in-law's nephew or niece may in fact be a total genius web designer and online software developer, but in most scenarios I find that this is not the case...
SEP > 5 Things to Look for in an SEO Firm
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a necessity for almost every website. Without proper meta tags, copy, and submissions, it could take years (at best) to show up in the search engines.
Can a company do this themselves? Sure. But without the proper knowledge, research and experience, it could end up costing you more than just hiring an SEO firm in the first place.
Here are 5 tips to finding an SEO firm that can help your business:
- Proven Results: Can the firm show you a wide range of clients and industries that they have helped in the search engines? Are these results across a variety of search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, etc?
- How it's Done: If the SEO company refuses to tell you any part of their process because it's super top-secret... RUN! SEO does not require magic powers or sending large amounts of unmarked bills to Google. It requires a lot of research, experience, and patience. Anyone that tells you differently is probably doing something that will work for a while but then cause your website to drop off the face of the engine.
- Guarantees: The only certainties in life are death and taxes. If you are told by an SEO firm that they can “guarantee” results in 2 weeks, it's best to thank them for their time and go on to the next company. Most search engines take 6 weeks to 2 months to properly index a website. SEO is a process that takes time, patience and a lot of good website content.
DCM > July in Review
July. Simply put, there are a few months out of the year where we wish things would just slow down a bit. It’s a bittersweet curse being located in the beautiful Okanagan. It is hard sitting in our offices all day looking out the windows at blue skies, dreaming about being out in the sun.
First off, we would like to congratulate Sprio and Verena Vouladakis on thier beautiful new-born baby girl. Spiro is enjoying some much needed off-time over the summer to enjoy all luxuries of being a new father.
A few interesting developments have happened over the month of July. We are happy to announce a new relationship with Vista Radio. Vista is a group that specializes in small-market radio stations in western Canada, and has been growing aggressively through acquisitions, investing heavily in new technologies, and filing applications for new stations. Working with DotCom Media, it plans to have all of its radio stations taking an online presence over the course of the next few months. Look forward to hearing more exciting announcements about DotCom and Vista Radio.
We would like to thank the Thompson Okanagan Business Examiner for recently announcing us the “largest marketing firm in the Okanagan”. Along with thanking them, we want to thank all our clients that worked with us through out these last 9 years, helping us get where we are today – we couldn’t have done it without each and everyone of you.
On a sadder note, we are going to wish Andy Karogiannis a farewell. Andy has been with us for the last 6 months and is moving to the Vancouver to pursue a career in dance. Best of luck to you Andy, you will be missed!
For up to date press releases, you can always visit our website - dotcommediainc.com
Promotion > $50 Off of New Hosting Accounts
To celebrate the launch of our new newsletter, we are offering $50 off of all hosting accounts for new clients. All our hosting accounts have a guaranteed uptime of 99.9% and are constantly monitored to ensure peak performance and stability. Give us a call to find out how we can help you bring your business online!