datachie, Author at Datachieve Digital

DatAchieve Digital has Moved!

February 11, 2020

If you visit our old offices, you won’t find us there—we’ve moved! But only a short distance. DatAchieve Digital now occupies the ground-floor level of 30 West Washington Street directly adjacent to the University of Maryland in downtown Hagerstown. We’re excited not only about the significant expansion of our physical footprint, but also this new phase of growth for our company and for the services that’ll we’ll be able to provide our clients. Our new, larger office space will accommodate additional staff, larger breakroom areas, and an updated video and photography studio.

We’ve enjoyed being in Hagerstown for fifteen years and are happy that we’ve found a space that keeps us in the downtown. With the newly renovated Maryland Theater, the expanded Barbara Ingram School for the Arts, development of the new Cultural Trail connecting us to the City Park, and the many restaurants and entertainment destinations, we believe that it’s a great time to be a part of Hagerstown’s City Center and the Arts and Entertainment District.

There’s still much to be done at our new location, but we’ll keep you informed along the way—and if you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop in and visit us at 30 West Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD.

We’re just beginning to get things set up, and the delivery trucks seem to be arriving every day. We’re adding workstations for additional staff and tables and chairs will be arriving for the break room soon.

Maybe You Should Hire a Website Management Company

December 21, 2019

Managing a website used to mean hiring someone who understood HTML and knew how to use web design tools like Dreamweaver and Photoshop. With the arrival of WordPress, it became possible for business owners or in-house teams to manage content and even functionality without relying on expert help. Now many large organizations have adopted the WordPress, and the platform currently powers over 30% of websites across the Internet.

Along with that growth has come an increase in sophistication. What was once a blogging and simple content management system is now a robust platform often supporting e-commerce, sensitive data, and important business functions. Ever-changing security concerns and government regulations have also added new layers to the task of website management. Companies that once relied on an internal webmaster or outside freelancer are having to consider other options.

Outsourcing

Hiring a web management company means that you instantly have access to expert help from people who have a wide range of experience. An agency can often provide you with web developers, content writers, graphic designers, and marketing specialists for less than the cost of an employee. They’ve seen what works and what hasn’t worked and can bring that experience to the task of keeping your website safe, effective, and visible.

Things to Consider When Hiring a Website Management Company

Experience – Because it’s an open-source platform with a low-cost entry point there are almost as many WordPress developers as there are sites. WordPress has been in use for over a decade. Make sure your provider has experience not only with the content management system, but with the functions used on your site, and your industry.
Range of Capabilities – Managing a website today means more than coding. It means video, content writing, graphic design, marketing, and more. Are they proficient in Google Analytics reporting? Social and search advertising platforms? Make sure your provider can provide all of the services you’ll require, in-house.
Reputation—If your web management company has the experience you need, they will also have a reputation. Don’t just ask for references. A quick online search will tell you what their clients think.
Hosting — WordPress sites perform best on servers that are optimized for the database-driven platform. Does your provider offer hosting? Security? Plugin and version updates? Backups?
Ease of Communication – Your website is a central part of your organization’s daily business. Will your provider be available for meetings with your staff? Do they have tools in place that will enable you and your staff to easily share information, monitor tasks, and track progress?
Are they a Good Fit? – Your web management provider will be helping present your business to the world. Just like any other employee, they need to understand your organization and fit well with your staff and corporate culture.

We hope that you enjoyed the article If you would like to know about the web management services we offer feel free to call us at 301-791-2622 or 1-800-706-1191 toll-free. You can also click here to drop us a note.

Restaurant Nutrition Labeling Guidelines

June 8, 2018

New restaurant nutrition labeling guidelines went into effect on May 7, 2018.

We’re used to seeing calorie information on menus and menu boards in many restaurants, yet until May 7, 2018, there were no standard national guidelines that applied to restaurants across the United States. According to Scott Gottlieb, MD, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Congress gave the FDA the responsibility to develop a uniform, national standard to ensure consistent access across the country to science-based calorie and nutrition information on restaurant menus and takeout foods in more than 200,000 restaurants.

Why is having calorie and nutrition information in restaurants important?

We currently consume about one-third of our calories away from home, which means that foods eaten away from home play a large role in our overall nutrition and health. A typical day might include stopping for coffee and breakfast on our way to work, eating lunch at a chain restaurant, picking up a snack at a convenience store on our way to our kids’ sporting event, or ending a busy day with take-out pizza from a favorite national brand.

A study by the RAND corporation found that people tend to choose foods with lower calories when they have access to calorie information. Routinely choosing foods with fewer calories can help reduce body weight, which is an important factor in health. FDA Commissioner Gottlieb notes that improving diet and nutrition is one of our most important opportunities to reduce chronic disease such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

The FDA rule applies only to restaurants and retail food establishments that meet four criteria. They must…

Have 20 or more locations
Be doing business under the same name, regardless of the type of ownership (such as individual franchises)
Sell substantially the same menu items
Sell restaurant-type foods (defined, in part, as food that is usually eaten on the premises, while walking away, or soon after arriving at another location)

What nutrition information must be available?

The FDA rule requires that the number of calories per serving of food must be displayed on menus and menu boards.

Businesses also must be able to provide written information for total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, sugar, fiber and protein on request.

In addition, businesses must display two statements:

Written nutrition information is available upon request.
2,000 calories per day is used for general nutrition advice, but individual calorie needs may vary.

Daily specials and temporary or seasonal foods are exempt from the new regulations.

Where will I find nutrition labeling for restaurant foods?

The federal rule applies only to chains with at least 20 locations, such as quick service restaurants like Dairy Queen and Popeye’s, fast casual restaurants like Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches or Panda Express, casual dining like Red Lobster and Texas Roadhouse, and family dining like Cracker Barrel and Waffle House. Your favorite chef-owned local restaurant may choose to provide nutrition labeling but is not required under this rule.

Convenience stores and grocery stores that are part of chains with over 20 locations and meet the other three requirements also must comply with the regulations. This means that my local Fry’s and Safeway grocery stores will display calorie information for foods such as packaged salads, foods from the deli, premade sandwiches, and self-serve donuts and pastries.

According to Restaurant Business Online, the top 20 chain restaurants based on total sales in 2016 in the United States include:

McDonald’s
Starbucks
Subway
Burger King
Taco Bell
Wendy’s
Dunkin’ Donuts
Chick-fil-A
Pizza Hut
Domino’s

Panera Bread
Sonic Drive In
KFC
Applebee’s
Olive Garden
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Little Caesars
Buffalo Wild Wings
Arby’s
Chili’s Grill and Bar

What does this new menu labeling rule mean for consumers?

As we eat out more often and use more prepared foods instead of cooking from scratch at home, these food choices have a larger impact on our nutrition and health status.

It’s difficult to estimate the amount of calories in restaurant meals, and next to impossible to know the amount of important nutrients such as fiber, sodium, calcium and various vitamins important to health. We now have the opportunity to use the calorie and nutrition information in restaurants to help us make thoughtful choices about our food.

By Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDE, CPT, CHWC

References:

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on the public health benefits from enactment of menu labeling.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Menu Labeling: Supplemental Guidance for Industry. https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/UCM583492.pdf Posted May 2018; accessed 5-10-18.
Sturm, Roland, Haijing Crystal Huang, Flavia Tsang, Liisa Hiatt, Rosanna Smart, Cameron Wright, and Helen Wu, Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2018. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1957.html.
Restaurant Business Online. Top 250: The Ranking. http://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/top-500-chains Accessed 5-10-18.

Google to Mark Forms as “Not Secure”

September 20, 2017

In October 2017, Google will begin marking all forms on websites not using an SSL certificate and the HTTPS protocol at the start of its URL as being “Not Secure” when viewed through its Chrome browser. If your website is currently secure, you will see a closed “lock” icon in the address bar. If not, a warning will soon be placed at the beginning of each form field and will include contact forms, mailing list forms, search boxes, and any other fields that collect information on your website.

Image from Google Security Blog

Google will eventually be marking all pages not secured with HTTPS in red with “Not Secure,” both onsite, and within search results. Firefox and other browsers are beginning to include similar warnings on payment forms and login pages.

Google already gives preference in its search results to websites using the secure HTTPS protocol. If you haven’t done so already, we recommend asking your web developer about installing an SSL certificate, securing your website assets, and converting to the HTTPS protocol. It’s the right thing to do for your business and your visitors.

How to Create and Remember a Strong Password

July 31, 2017

By now you’re probably aware of the dangers of hacking and identity theft, and you know that strong passwords are important. But you still end up using easy to remember passwords. Maybe you think, “Hey–nobody’s going to guess my cat’s name and my birthday.” Well, you’re probably right—nobody will. But the automated scripts that knock on the door of every website and generate hundreds of thousands of passwords a minute just might.

If you want to avoid trouble here are a few suggestions along with three easy ways to create and remember strong passwords.

Use at least twelve characters with letters, numbers, and symbols
Don’t use words that you would find in a dictionary
Don’t use obvious substitutions (“zero” for “o”: f0rever)
Don’t use obvious combinations (names, birthdays, consecutive numbers)
Don’t use personal information (your SS number)
Don’t use the same login credentials on multiple accounts

3 Ways to Create and Remember a Strong Password

1. First Letter Method

Choose the first letter of each word in a sentence, lyric, book title, or other memorable item combined with symbols and numbers:

“The name of my first dog was Max! We lived at 115 Main Street.” becomes: “TnomfdwM!Wla115MS.”

2. Random Word Method

Instead of remembering a long string of letters and numbers you could memorize four random words and toss in an ice cream cone emoticon for fun:

“IceCreamLawnmowerMan~oO>”

Just imagine the Good Humor man mowing the lawn. A mnemonic device like this will ensure that it’s stuck in your head forever!

3. Set It and Forget It Method

Many sites today, including those on the WordPress platform, allow users to automatically generate a strong password. While these may be difficult (or impossible) to remember, tools like Google Password Manager will securely store all of your logins. There are a number of other online password managers that can also help. Password managers generate strong login credentials for your websites and services and store them, encrypted, at the device level. In other words, you can’t log in from a computer or phone other than your own. Here are The Best Free Password Managers of 2017 from PC Magazine.

Are You a DatAchieve Client?

In order to maintain the security of your website, we will soon be asking you to set a new password. When you log into your site you will be prompted to enter a new, strong password. We hope that the ideas we’ve shared in this post will be helpful.

SEO Is a Balloon

May 11, 2017

We often work with small businesses who ask us to provide “a little SEO” for their new website. We’ll optimize page titles and links, include relevant key phrases within the content, add search-friendly sitemaps, and register the site with the search engines and appropriate directories. This, along with some training, provides the basic framework for a client to start sharing their products, services, and expertise with the world. But then, after a few months of enthusiastic writing and posts to social media, they stop. The site that had been rising up the SERP listings begins to fall.

There’s a hole in your search engine optimization.

It used to be enough to add optimized titles and links, sprinkle content with the right balance of keywords and phrases, throw in a little business jargon, and maybe trade inbound links with other websites. Now making sure that you’re found online means writing content that is useful and informative to your audience, and writing often. SEO is a balloon with a hole. Keep filling it with information that is useful to your client and it will rise. Stop, and all of that SEO juice will disappear. Fortunately, there are some great tools available (and we can even help). For a few ideas, take a look at our post Content Marketing and Why We’re All Writers Now.

Digital Pour at Roasthouse

April 12, 2017

Draft Inventory Management & Digital Menu

Roasthouse Pub in Frederick, Maryland recently introduced Digital Pour, a point-of-sale and inventory control system for bars and restaurants that enables patrons to view its current beer list in real-time from prominent display boards in the restaurant. Customers can see keg levels, order a favorite beer before it runs out, and be alerted to newly-tapped kegs. The digital displays in the restaurant and on its website show the brewery logo, ABV, and other information important to beer lovers. Digital Pour also provides Roasthouse with reports that monitor inventory, losses, and trends—all within the restaurant’s existing POS platform.

DatAchieve provided web design and development services to Roasthouse Pub, integrated the Digital Pour system into their website, and styled the interface to compliment the restaurant’s brand. We would welcome an opportunity to talk with you about your restaurant, brew pub, or bar design and marketing requirements. Give us a call at 301-791-2622, toll-free at 1-800-706-1191, or drop us a note.

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What’s the Difference Between a Facebook Ad and a Boosted Post?

March 31, 2017

Facebook Ad vs. Boosted Post

Facebook has quickly become a popular and productive advertising medium for many businesses. While its do-it-yourself publishing tools enable a small business to easily boost a post from their Facebook page and reach an audience beyond those who have simply “liked” their page, a Facebook ad can offer more options for targeting your audience and generating results.

Boosted Posts

A boosted post is a quick way to increase the reach of a post on your Facebook business page by paying to boost its position in Facebook user’s news feed. You can set a fixed budget and target those who have liked your page, their friends, and even define an audience by geographic location, interests, age, and gender. Once your budget runs out, your boosted post ends.

Facebook Ads

Facebook ads, particularly when managed using the Facebook Business Manager, offer more advanced targeting and budgeting options, as well as the ability to closely track results. Some of the options available when running a Facebook ad include:

Optimized Formats
Facebook provides specific ad formats optimized to meet your particular goal, such as Page Likes, Website Clicks, Website Conversions, Video Views, and more. Some formats event include the ability to embed download or contact forms directly within your ad.
Calls-to-Action
Unlike a boosted post, a Facebook Ad can include call-to-action buttons that prompt viewers to Learn More, Contact, Apply, Download, and many other options. Clear calls-to-action can significantly increase your responses
Placement
Ads can be targeted to appear within a viewers news feed, in the sidebar, only on desktop devices or on mobile devices, in the Facebook audience network, or Instagram. Tools within the Facebook Business Manager enable you to preview your ad in each location.
Schedule
You can schedule ads to appear on specific days of the week, time of the day, or both.
Reporting
The Facebook Business Manager provides detailed reporting about your ad’s performance, enabling you to fine-tune content and placement.

We would welcome an opportunity to talk with you about the many ways you use Facebook and other social media advertising to meet your business goals and invite you to call us at 301-791-2622, toll-free at 1-800-706-1191, or drop us a note.

WordPress Can Do That?

March 23, 2017