OMA Comp IT Support Is Available March 25, 2020 By Editor OMA Comp IT support is considered an essential business and we will remain open during the Michigan Executive Order 2020-21 (COVID-19). We will be working as much as possible remotely. Our crew is permitted to make on-site visits ONLY if absolutely necessary to first line support and government approved companies. Beginning Friday, March 27th, 2020, we will need an approved document that you are part of the essential critical infrastructure workforce for OMA Comp to perform on-site visits. If we are needed on site, we require that businesses adhere to the CDC guidelines to implement infection prevention measures, including: Social distancing of a minimum of 6 feet from our technician and others Frequent and thorough hand washing or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing at least 60% alcohol Appropriately cleaning your equipment upon our arrival; we will be wearing gloves for safety measures Follow respiratory etiquette including covering coughs and sneezes with tissue or elbow We are equipped with a laser thermometer which can measure temperature up to 20 feet away If you or an employee at your business or home are sick or have known contact with a COVID-19 patient, please adhere to and understand that we will need to reschedule our technician’s on-site visit after the two week quarantine is over for every member in the facility to secure the health and well-being of our team. If at all possible, we will complete work remotely. Thank you for your cooperation and Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives Executive Order. We will get through this faster together. Stay well. Orest Melnyk, CEO OMA Comp Contact Us
Extended Hours March 20, 2020 By OMA Comp OMA Comp has extended our hours to help you navigate the trials of changing how you do business. Our IT technicians are here to set-up systems so that you and your team are able to access your server files off-site to more easily work from home. We can provide online tools for you to communicate with your staff and customers. We also build online shopping carts and virtual classrooms. There is a lot of stress due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic; COVID-19, working from home should not be one of them. OMA Comp can relieve some of that pressure while you are changing your short-term business model. Contact us at our office at 248-616-3057 or 248-867-0711.
Stay in Business During COVID-19 Outbreak March 14, 2020 By Editor Is Your Business Ready to Work Off-site? The looming threat of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us all, even shaping how business will be conducted. Knowledge and preparation is key to sustain your organization’s operations. Do you have a telecommuting plan to maintain business continuity? How Do I Maintain Business Operations? You may need to change your business practices and operations during the pandemic. Mobilizing your workforce to flex how they work by working from home or off-site, permits your business to continue to function, and to continue to collaborate with clients and your team. Why Work from Home or Off-site? Reduces risk of being infected with COVID-19; social distancing Decreases the number of employee absenteeism due to illness Shrinks the chance of all employees being infected with COVID-19 at the same time Preparedness if your employees are quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure Allow employees the ability to work if they are caring for other family members or children who are ill, quarantined due to exposure, or are at home due to school closures How to Prepare Your Employees to Work from Home? Your employees need tools to perform their jobs from home, so they can access business software, emails, and meet with clients. OMA Comp has virtual IT solutions to ensure your employees have what they need for remote productivity. Remote access software so you can access your computers anytime from anywhere Screen Sharing, File Sharing, Video Conferencing, Voice, Chat & Productivity Tools Network Printing; to print documents to home Technology can help with productivity and allow you to work from home. Innovations in technology make working from home easier than ever. Contact us or call directly at 248-616-3057 if you need help in setting up remote access systems. We are also available for consultation to create a plan for your organization to ensure that you are not left vulnerable, unable to undertake a remote production work shift. CONTACT OMA COMP / SCHEDULE A TECHNICIAN At OMA Comp, we feel that it is all of our responsibility to contribute to the well-being of our employees, customers, and vendors to reduce risk of contracting COVID-19 while still maintaining productivity. For more information, read CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers
It’s Leap Year! February 29, 2020 By OMA Comp 2020 has a lot of firsts including hosting a Leap Year. Do something different to celebrate and shake things up! Keeping on your toes and never getting too comfortable, helps maintain creativity in your life and propel your business forward. Need some creative web design or marketing strategies, contact OMA Comp.
SEO Friendly Websites February 19, 2020 By OMA Comp If you hope to achieve free organic traffic from search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing, then you must have a website that is SEO friendly. Paying for web traffic is great when it converts into dollars but getting free traffic that earns you money is truly a beautiful thing. When it comes to making your website SEO friendly, below are a few things you cannot overlook. Page Load Speed The slower your website loads the worse it will rank. Google and other search engines have been implementing this requirement for quite some time now so if you want your site ranked high, then you must increase your site speed. See what your website’s speed is at Google Page Insights. Valuable Relevant Content Ever heard the saying “content is king”? Well, that’s because it is. If you are looking to get your site ranked on the first page of search engines, then make sure you have quality content for your readers. This is a massive variable when it comes to rankings. Optimize Your Website for Mobile More than 60% of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, this should be fixed immediately. If more than half of your viewers leave your website because it’s not optimized, this will directly impact your earning potential, and it will also hurt your SEO score. Create Backlinks and Crosslinks Backlinks are any link that comes into your website from an external site and crosslinks are any link that goes from one site you own to another site you own. The more quality links that are used, the more it will help your SEO rankings. Crosslinking should only be used if you own two sites that complement each other. SEO can be complicated and frustrating so contact OMA Comp if you need any assistance. Once these key items are handled, you will be well on your way to improving your SEO.
Happy Valentine’s Day to You February 14, 2020 By OMA Comp Today is an ideal day to let you know that we appreciate and love doing business with you!
Is Your E-commerce Shopping Cart Causing You to Lose Sales? February 6, 2020 By OMA Comp There is one thing that many online shoppers consider more important than cost. That essential component is convenience. The more a user struggles to check out, the more likely they are to change their mind. The Baymard Institute released an E-commerce checkout usability study that covered seven years of testing and research. They found that 35% of consumers left because they had to take the time to create an account to buy and 27% felt that the checkout process took too long or was too complicated. And 22% experienced an error or crash when they tried to order. All of these responses indicate a significant number of sales lost because of a poorly designed or malfunctioning online shopping cart. Tips for Building Your Shopping Cart There are important items to consider when you build a shopping cart. The following tips will help you get started. Look Through the Eyes of Your Customers – Make sure you view the experience through the eyes of your customers (UX design). This will help you identify problems and create a streamlined finished product. Don’t Overload the User with Unnecessary Content – Content is critical on your website but don’t add any unnecessary content to your shopping cart page. Keep it straightforward without distractions or obstacles. Minimalist Design Works Best with Todays Shoppers – Internet users consistently prefer a minimalist web design for their shopping cart. Keep it simple, and they will be more likely to follow through with their purchases. Make Sure You Include a View Cart Button – Have a view cart button on your website. These are usually displayed in the upper, right-hand corner of every page. Make it easy for the user to jump right to the shopping cart anytime they want. If you need to develop a new shopping cart or have questions about shopping cart design, we can help. Contact OMA Comp today to find out how you can convert more visitors into paying customers.
UX and UI in Your Web and App Design January 29, 2020 By OMA Comp Good web or app design should be focused on the needs and abilities of the user. If your user base struggles to understand and navigate it, then it will fail. The first step is understanding what UX and UI components are and why they are so important. What Is UX? UX stands for “user experience.” This term is used to describe the behaviors and feelings of the user when they access your app or website. It looks at the user’s perspective in terms of both design and function. What Makes a Good UX? Every second your app or site takes to load increases the chances of the user bouncing or navigating away. The site should be optimized for fast response times. Think like your users when developing the UX. What is it that you want them to do when entering your app or site. This should be your Call to Action. Consider what emotions you would like them to experience. Focus on evoking those feelings or responses through color, shape, content, sounds, and navigation elements. What Is UI? UI refers to the “user interface.” This includes the controls and displays found on a website or app. They are traditionally viewed as buttons or links. Newer technology also incorporates gestures. What Makes a Good UI? A good UI should feel natural to the user. It should be intuitive. Most won’t bother reading a manual or help document. The interface should form a human connection and be easy to understand and navigate. A good UI and UX requires specific skills and an understanding of your audience. If you have questions or would like to learn more, let us know. We will discuss your needs and help find solutions that work for you and your audience, so we can develop the best website or app for your business goals, brand and consumer.
Is Your Online Reputation Hurting Your Sales? January 22, 2020 By OMA Comp Your online reputation is more important now than it ever was before. A 2018 Local Consumer Survey conducted by BrightLocal found that 86% of customers read online reviews for local businesses. That includes 95% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34. Most read an average of 10 reviews before trusting a company in their area. If you have no online presence or if you have one that’s negative, it could hurt your sales. What If I Don’t Operate On the Web? It doesn’t matter if your business doesn’t work on the internet. People will still look for you and read what’s written about you. That’s why you need to take control of your online reputation. The survey also found that 57% of consumers want to see ratings of four or more stars before they will consider giving you their business. That translates to a lot of missed sales if you haven’t built up your profiles. What If I Have Good Reviews That Are Old? Old reviews are not bad, but they may not help you as much as you think. The older the feedback is, the less weight it carries. Consumers know that businesses can change. They want to see that you consistently impress your current clientele. Your online reputation is important. Even if you don’t use the internet in your daily operation, you still need people to be able to find you on the web. Contact OMA Comp to learn more about building a reputation that will earn more sales.
What Is a SSL? January 10, 2020 By OMA Comp SSL is a website security certificate. It is a validation and encryption tool used as one of the steps to protect your website and your websites visitors. SSL provides an authentication for a secure, encrypted, verified connection between a client and the server. It is a third party source, certificate authority (CA), that validates that the website is using an encrypted connection and is secured. SSL is also known as TLS certificate, an HTTPS certificate, and an SSL server certificate. SSL provides your website an identity, so that people who come to your website know that they reached the right place; it shows that they are on the legitimate official site and not a fake website. It also is a validation that the user’s data will not be intercepted and hijacked. It authenticates clients as well as establishes a secure connection known as a TLS handshake. Contact OMA Comp if you are in need of a SSL, responsive website design, or build. We are more than happy to assist you to create a user friendly, branded, beautiful design which automatically includes a security certificate (SSL) and can also assist with search engine optimization.