June 2010
Featured Website
At Northwest Communications, we specialize in custom built websites that showcase a business' style in its own unique way.
Our web designers take great pride in their work and we would like to showcase one of the many projects they have been working on over the past months. Federal Hybrids, based in West Bend, IA, began working with Northwest Communications in 2009 in order to redeisgn their website. They realized the impact their website's image could have on their company, and were looking for improvements. Federal Hybrids uses their website to keep their current customers informed and extend their business' reach for new customers. Their website holds information about their company values, products, technology, local weather and vital company contact information. Federal Hybrids keeps this information up to date using self-edit technology provided by Northwest Communications.
Featured Business
Northwest Communications works with many businesses to help them achieve their business goals. We would like to feature one of our clients and tell their story of success.
PCC
This month, Northwest Communications would like to feature PCC.
PCC is an ambulance billing service which serves customers across the Midwest. They strive to keep costs low for partners and ensure accurancy and excellence in their services. PCC has locations in West Bend, Woolstock, and Castlewood, SD. All locations benefit from our managed services, including: multiple managed servers, managed firewalls, Backup Disaster Recovery, and managed anti-virus. Northwest Communications' networking technicians work to prevent network issues and downtime before they occur, keeping PCC employees productive and working for their customers.
PCC has been a Northwest customer for many years. We appreciate their dedication, support, and always enjoy working with strong local businesses.
Office 2010 is Coming to a Location Near You!
Northwest Communications will be holding Office 2010 Preview events all over Northwest Iowa. If you are interested in attending, please visit www.ncn.net/Windows10event to see event dates, times, locations, and to reserve your place! We look forward to seeing you!
Don't forget about ACH!
ACH is available for all of our customers to pay their monthly or one time bills. Don't waste time signing and mailing checks - use ACH!
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Plan to Protect
93% of companies who lost their data for 10 days or more filed for bankruptcy within 1 year, 50% filed for bankruptcy immediately.
(Source: National Archives & Records Administration in Washington)
20% of small to medium businesses will suffer a major disaster causing loss of critical data every 5 years.
(Source: Richmond House Group)
Don't let a disaster decide the fate of your business. The following are 6 easy steps to create your business' disaster plan.
Step One: List events that cause lost data or technology.
Companies need to plan for all different types of
events that are of risk to them. The plan for a
flood will be different from a plan for theft.
Companies in Iowa need to plan for fire, floods,
and tornados, but can probably feel safe without a
plan for hurricanes or earthquakes.
Step Two: Safeguard the company data.
Backups of vital company data are essential and
offsite backups in multiple locations are best.
Step Three: Safeguard the network.
You've backed up your data, but don't forget a
backup power source and list of your current
network equipment.
Step Four: Safeguard staffing.
Cross train staff members with essential company
functions. The disaster affected your business, but
it could also affect your staff. Also make sure staff
have a reliable way to access your system remotely,
if needed.
Step Five: Test the plan.
All plans look good on paper, but test your plan at
least once a year. Make needed changes and ensure
all staff are familiar with the plan.
Step Six: Have a recovery plan.
You've backed up your data offsite, now make sure
you have a plan to return it to your system after a
disaster. ____________________________
Who, When, and From Where
Did you know every website hosted with Northwest Communications includes a statistics page? This page shows, in detail, how many users visit your site, what pages they are looking at, how they found your site, and more! Imagine, all this valuable data just waiting to be used. You have the data, now what?
Utilize these stats to better manage your webpage. Start with how many visitors and unique visitors come to your page. Are you getting the traffic you intended? If not, think about how you are promoting your website. Do you have it listed on your business cards, letterhead, advertisements and any marketing materials you hand out? If not, add it. If it is already in these places, ask yourself why someone would go to your website. Are things up to date, is there new information that keeps them coming back? The more people see your web address and look for your company's information, the more visitors you will get to your website.
Next, find out what pages your visitors are looking at. What information do they come to your site for? Make sure your most popular pages are always kept up to date. If there is a page you think is important, but it is not getting much attention, think about moving the link to a different area on your website to increase traffic.
Another useful statistic is how visitors found your site. Did they type in the address, or find it through a search engine? This can tell you whether visitors knew your web address and were intentionally going to your site, or whether they were led there by a search engine. If few or no visitors came from search engines, try optimizing your website so potential visitors can find your information.
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Fun Facts - Meet Larry Graves
1. What is your position at Northwest?
Network Specialist
2. How long have you been with the company?
3 1/2 years
3. What do you like most about your job?
Working with great co-workers and helping customers.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
Fishing, camping, scuba diving, ham radio
5. What is one thing Northwest clients should know
about you?
Northwest and I will do whatever it takes to keep
their network operating at peak efficiency and make
even the worst issues less stressful for them.
6. What is your dream vacation?
I think it would be fun to go to Sweden and see my
relatives there and learn about my ancestors.
7. What famous person, dead or alive, would you
most like to meet?
King Solomon "The wisest man that ever lived" |
