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Archive for the ‘Web Design’ Category

We’re launching our Monthly Packages for Small Business!

Posted on by Brenda Cadman

In honour of Small Business Month, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new Monthly Packages for Small Businesses! Whether you’re in need of a new website or social media consulting (or both!), we have a package that fits your needs.

Get a semi-custom web design, WordPress content management and monthly updates for as little as $149/month.* Or, get started in social media with a custom Facebook tab and Hootsuite for as little as $59/month.*

Connect with our office if you’d like an information sheet with further details or if you’d like to get started!

*Package requires a 36 month commitment.

25% Off Website Maintenance Services in September

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

If you’re a homeowner, then you know the importance of maintaining your house. As long as you keep your home from deteriorating, you’ll be taking care of that long term investment. There’s always something you need to add, subtract or repair around your house.

A good business website can be the same. You don’t just put up all your information on your website and sit back and relax. Like a home, there’s always one, two or twelve things you may need to do. Maintaining your website is a good practice for any business.

Aside from having a better page ranking on search engines, a dynamic website also attracts visitors and keeps them coming back for more. If you’re interested in updating your current website and want to take advantage of this limited time offer, call us for a quote on any of your website maintenance needs or see below for promotion details.

Toyota Canada uses social media to build-up their reputation

Posted on by Michelle Garrigo

Many organizations and companies work tirelessly to be recognized as a trusted brand. In this year’s “Canada’s Most Trusted Brands” report, Toyota’s rank is the biggest riser on the 2011 list. After falling 86 spots with a reputation score of 38 to number 95 in 2010, Toyota has climbed to rank 41 with a reputation score of 60.2.

How did Toyota accomplish this difficult task? They turned to their online presence and more importantly to social media! In a recent interview done by Marketing magazine, Toyota Canada’s managing director, Stephen Beatty gave the inside scoop on how social media, blogs and the company’s website played a crucial role to build Toyota’s reputation up again. Toyota knew their website was the central point of communication, where they provided details about their vehicles and videos on their systems, but what Toyota also quickly realized was their weak social media presence. Toyota noticed how their customers were talking about their experiences and defending the brand, but the company itself was missing from this interaction.

To encourage even more stories about what Toyota has meant in the lives of people and to be a part of their online community, Toyota re-launched their Facebook and Twitter with their “No. 1 Fan” contest. With 23,126 people currently liking their Facebook page and their success of building their online presence and brand through social media, Toyota definitely does not plan on stopping to communicate to its customer and others through this medium.

Social media activities can have a big impact on your company’s reputation and brand, Toyota Canada’s story proves it! If you need help establishing your social media presence, give us a call or send us an email! We are here to help!

Facebook Brings New Life into Fan Pages with iFrames

Posted on by Katie Turvill

Along with the recent changes to Facebook Pages come some new and exciting opportunities! We are happy to say that Facebook pages now support iframes. This will give developers a lot more freedom while creating custom tabs for Pages by allowing the use of more popular, simple and standards-based web programming models such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS. All Pages that have been upgraded are no longer able to use FBML and will have to start using iframes, however, for now all current FBML tabs will still function.

With all of these new tools at your disposal, we are excited to see some of the new unique Pages that will start popping up! Below are a few new benefits to using iframes when creating your Facebook Page.


Benefits to using iframes when creating your Facebook Page.

  1. Fully functional JavaScript based maps, such as Google Maps can be placed withing your Facebook Page. This is a great and easy way to show your business location to users.
  2. Ability to embed YouTube Videos and other multimedia. This gives more functionality, access to related videos and also includes the ability to view a video in full screen.
  3. Ability to embed external documents in your fan page. This includes things such as slides, PDFs and other documents using Slideshare or related applications.
  4. Get more interactive with your landing pages using any JavaScript library of your choice: jQuery, ExtJS, mootools, etc. You can also use flash or HTML5 on your landing page to make it more interesting!
  5. Include a “Like” button within the page. No longer do you need an arrow pointing to the “Like” button; instead, it can be placed directly on your page for the user to find and click. Pssst… this one is our fave!
  6. Create your own navigation and drop down menu. Now that the tabs have been moved to the left hand side on upgraded Pages, there is added space at the top. With iframes, you are able to build your own navigation menu along the top and even include a dropdown menu within it.
  7. The downside of this new iframes approach is that you need to be familiar with those technologies to make custom tabs function properly and you will need a Web-accessible server where you upload the files for your application page. But that’s what we are here for! Want to put a skateboarding dog video(who wouldn’t?) or Google Map on your page? Give us a call to have a customized Facebook tab made.

A more innovative website for the very innovative Civic Mirror program

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

The October 17 team recently completed a web redesign of CivicMirror.com for Action-Ed Learning Resources. Civic Mirror is a uniquely interactive simulation-based learning program that educators actively engage their students in learning about government, law, economics, or citizenship. However, the feel of the website didn’t speak to the program’s fun and progressive concept.

We were tasked with creating a cleaner, fresher and more professional site design, as well as integrating WordPress as a content management system. Our team reorganized the sitemap for more intuitive navigation and improved usability. Along the way, we also found opportunities to implement more obvious calls to action and to include social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The result is a more modern and relevant (not to mention attractive!) site that makes it easy for the users to find the information they need.

Below are ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots so you can see exactly what we did!

Civic Mirror Before

'Before' screenshot

Civic Mirror After Screenshot

'After' Screenshot

What do you think? Judging by the testimonial we got from the folks at Action-Ed, I’d say they were pretty happy with the results:

“The October 17 team is the best! Their professionalism; attention to detail; utilization of top standards and best practices; and their friendly personalities are second to none. I would highly recommend them to anyone.” ~ Regan Ross, Creator of the Civic Mirror, Action-Ed CEO

If you like what you see and are interested in finding out how we could do the same for your business, or you just want to chat, please give us a shout. We’d love to hear from you!

October 17 Media specializes in website development, paid search advertising, social media and viral marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing.