Hy-vee Launches Updated Site
Hy-Vee has had great success with their online presence over the last four years. The site has succesfully built a large amount of traffic and loyal online customers. We worked with Hy-Vee staff that provided designs. We then implemented an updated content management system and a new shopping cart.
Having several years of great statistics we were able to work together to ensure the various high traffic users needs were properly being met. The new site also features integrated video that will serve as a great new medium for many future needs.
The updated shopping cart will allow for many new product types and categories. Based on past success, the new shopping/product capabilities will allow for continued growth in online sales for the site.
Raymon Donco Launches New Site
Raymon Donco manufactures air distribution equipment for the heating, ventilating and air conditioning industry. Raymon Donco needed a new design and a better way to manage their sites content.
With a product catalog, find a representative map and many other areas that require easy updates Spinternet was the perfect fit. Spinternet, our custom content management system, helps Raymon Donco change photos, descriptions, contact information and many other key areas in a minutes notice.
The site also features nice video integration using a Flash player that has compressed the file. By using Flash we have made the videos much more accessible. The new design is a much better representation of who Raymon Donco really is as a company and will serve their needs very well.
Tags: Content Management System, spinternet
Accurate Gear Featured “How it’s Made”
We recently launched a new site for Accurate Gear. Accurate Gear creates standard or custom gears and they were recently featured on Discovery channels “How It’s Made”.
The new site features fresh photography of some of their past work. The site is intended to be a resource for potential customers. Search Engine Optimization was one of the main objectives for this project and many tactics were deployed to work towards this objective.
Spinutech is Hiring
TECHNICAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT AGENT
Job Summary
This position consists of fielding many types of inquiries and requests from our large customer base. Some requests will require this position to act as a liaison between internal staff & the Customer. The incumbent will track and monitor the problem/request to insure a timely resolution or fulfillment. The ideal candidate will become an expert on our product offerings and mostly handle active customer inquries but may also: make minor updates to websites, assist in the development of documentation, conduct training and conduct application testing.
Qualifications
To be qualified for this position, you will need:
- Good interpersonal and relationship building skills for a wide variety of customers
- Exceptional listening skills and the ability to ask appropriate questions to determine customers’ needs
- Previous experience with HTML and FTP
- Proficiency with Windows, Windows Server 2003, various web browsers (IE, Firefox, Safari)
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Good follow through and reliability
- The ability to work independently and be self-motivated
Requirements
- Coverletter
- Resume
- References from two previous employers
- Candidate will work out of Cedar Falls based office
Applications only accepted via email (jobs@spinutech.com). No phone calls or paper resumes please.
A superior candidate, when ready, could be considered for minor programming tasks. This component of the position would require an understanding of ASP classic, ASP.NET and SQL.
Tags: Job Postings
The 2009 Annual Spinutech Egg Toss
Spinutech gives Friday half-days a second try
Published in the Sunday edition of the Waterloo Courier on 5/17/2009.
Written by Jim Offner- he is the Courier business editor.
Let’s take some time out from the recession, the swine flu, Wall Street and the general economic malaise that seems to be gripping everybody. This break comes courtesy of Spinutech Inc., which itself has opted to break from the calamity that has become the modern business world.
The Cedar Falls-based web site development company, located at 201 Washington St. in Cedar Falls, has “chosen not to participate” in the economic downturn. In a day when many employees are afraid for their jobs on a daily basis, Spinutech is working to boost its employee morale. For other businesses hoping to spark some life in their employees, it might be worth a look.
This summer, Spinutech, for the second straight year, is giving all of its 15 Cedar Falls and two Des Moines employees half a day off each Friday. No strings attached. The half-day is the worker’s, to use as they wish. The program worked so well last year that managing partners Marc Reifenrath, Adam Lewis and Cory Schmidt jumped right into it again this summer, with no hesitation. The first half-day off was Friday.
“Last year, we kind of focused on some stuff to do as many quality-of-life benefits as we could,” Reifenrath said. “One of the things was half-day Fridays- for a full day’s pay – for the summer.”
Over a nine-week period, that’s basically 4 ½ days’ extra paid vacation per employee. “The first thought is that you’re giving away that time,” Reifenrath said. But, he added, Spinutech looks at it more as an investment in its work force.
“Our thought was people can be just as productive in 36 hours as they can in 40, especially with a nice incentive like that, ” he said.
“We are extremely busy and will continue to be throughout the summer, but this is a huge morale boost, and we know it is a great thing for everyone.”
Not a bad contrast to the usual stories of employees asked to give more and more back to their employers while worrying full-time about keeping their jobs. Fear, it is said not without some justification, is a great motivator. But so is a show of faith. And, especially today, it probably wouldn’t hurt employers to take a good, hard look at what Spinutech is doing to build bridges with their employees.
“We didn’t notice any difference in productivity, “Reifenrath said. “And the side effects, through morale, are noticeable.”
Too often, the term “team” is thrown around by employers. Programs like this give the word some real meaning. Oh, and incidentally, the half-day program doesn’t apply to everybody at Spinutech. The owners still work full Fridays.
Tags: Benefits, Spinutech Benefits
Beam/Electrolux Dealer Website Wins Award
The Home Builders Association of South Carolina announced the Seventh Annual Pinnacle Awards for the best web site. Through our partnership with Beam/Electrolux, Central Vac Center, Inc. of Williamston won the award for the following site. www.centralvaccenter.com
Spinutech has developed a program that allows Beam dealers to deploy a site that matches branding standards. Certain sections of these sites like the prodcuts section are synced with the main Beam.com site. This helps ensure that all information is accurate and up to date.
Tags: Dealer Programs
University of Northern Iowa - CHFA Website Launch
We recently launched a new website for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Northern Iowa. This was a fun project for our team given that so many of us attended UNI.
The core objective of the project was to improve the representation of the college while speaking directly to the different audience members:
- Use of video to engage and inform prospective students, the parents of prospective students and prospective faculty.
- Provide timely and up-to-date information for current students and faculty.
- Personalize the college by highlighting certain individuals - the new website has sections for “Spotlights” on current students, current faculty and alumni.
Tags: College of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Northern Iowa
Blue Bunny Cooking Show Shoot for 2009
A few weeks ago we were in Sioux City, IA for our annual Blue Bunny online cooking show shoot. This was done in conjuction with our production company River Run Productions. This online exclusive has continued to be a success on their website. This is our third year doing the show and it takes a week to get all of the footage in the “can”.
This online content is a great source for creating repeat traffic. There are twelve shows produced each year. One show is launched every month in conjunction with the monthly enewsletter. A promotion of some sort is typically attached with the email and corresponding video. All of the recipes involve icecream or a noveltie.
Here are a few behind the scenes photos.
Tags: video to web
Never Use The Words “Home Page” On Your Home Page
Have you ever gone to a website and seen the words “Home Page” or “Home” in the page title? Probably quite a bit.
Many factors contribute to the ranking of your site in search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo), but the page title is one of the most important things to consider when doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That is why you should never use vague and non-descript words like “Home Page”. Page titles are best when kept to 10-12 words. The goal is to use as many keywords as possible while still maintaining a complete sentence. Sometimes this is difficult, but it can be done.
When constructing a page title, we always start with a list of words that we think people would use to search. From here, you can actually find out how often these words have been searched in Google with their keyword tool. Not only is this interesting, it will help you know which words to focus on.
As an example, this is the list we made for the website www.do-itmolds.com. Do-it Molds is a company that manufacturers lead molds that allow fishing hobbyists to make their own tackle.
- Do-it Molds
- jig molds
- sinker molds
- lure molds
- fishing tackle
- lead molds
- pouring lead molds
After this, you just have to keep playing with word combinations until you come up with a sentence that contains most of your keywords. The name “Do-it Molds” has good name recognition in their industry so we decided to start the page title with this. Some people say you should end the page title with the company name - we think every situation is unique and you just have to make a judgement call. Here is what we ended up with:
Do-it Molds: Jig, sinker, & lure molds for pouring your own lead fishing tackle.
As of today, Do-it Molds ranks very high for most of these keywords, getting the top one or two positions in the Google organic listing. The page title definitely plays a role in this.
Tags: Keywords, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
