Category Archives: Websites

3 Important Fundamentals of a Business Website

  By Ric Albano • January 24, 2020 ,

BIG World Wide Web 
Lately I’ve come across a lot of situations with new clients where they are having trouble getting access to their existing source files or getting their current providers to cooperate in many ways. So today I’m going to talk about three business fundamentals that should be established when starting a website.

1. Establish Ownership. The first and most important one of these principals is to own everything – your domain name and all of your content (words, pictures, logos, graphics, videos, etc.). There are many, many companies who will offer you great deals up front (such as a “free” website for a year) but then retain ownership of your site, so you are left with little options or flexibility. Although the initial cost may be higher, establishing ownership will pay dividends throughout the lifespan of your website by assuring that certain barriers to progress will not be imposed.

2. Have Complete Access to Your Content. In many (if not most) cases, there is one major exception to the “establish ownership” rule and that is in regards to hosting. Most small businesses just do not have the time, resources, or know-how to manage their own hosting servers so it makes sense find an established hosting company to handle these tasks. However, when you employ a hosting company, it is important that you have direct access to all your files via FTP. Many small business owners don’t understand the process or the importance of this ability, but by having full access a professional developer can instantly add, modify, or delete any website item on your behalf.

3. Adaptability and/or Agility. This is the only one of the three which actually deals with website design (my specialty). The basic point here is that the online universe is rapidly evolving and it is important that your website’s design has the ability to integrate newer features, technologies, and design features. Of course, this is much more of an art than a science because none of us know which innovations are on the horizon. But by keeping your site agile and not “painting yourself into a corner” with too many static features and dependencies, you and your developer will maximize the possibilities for the future.

 
~ Ric Albano
 

The Number 9

  By 33 Dimensions Web Design • March 1, 2018 , ,

The Number 9Saturday, March 3rd marks the 9th anniversary of the conception of 33 Dimensions. While some may be looking forward to the more celebrated 10th anniversary, the number 9 is something special to me.

I’m kind of a freak about numbers and tend to assign both good and bad vibes to certain values – but there’s one that tops them all, the number 9. In fact, the “33” in 33 Dimensions comes from square root of 9 as well as the date this company was founded (03/03/09) which also happens to be an equation (3×3=9).

The number ‘9’ was also present in other endeavors which I’ve undertaken through the years. My first professional music recording in 2005 was for an album which had 9 songs and was packaged with an album cover design that depicted 9 roads leading to 9 mountain peaks. Later on, my first international release was on 09/09/09 with Imaginary Lines 33 and current plans for an updated compilation of some of that material will be released on the 9th anniversary of that album, this coming September.  

The number 9 is also my mother’s favorite number. A former Catholic nun, she was #9 in her convent in North Carolina and she has always been fascinated by the nine choirs of angels. On Mother’s Day in 2014, we launched a marketing initiative (partially in her honor) called Top 9 Lists which by the way is 10% more exclusive than your garden variety Top 10 List.

In any case, I guess this is sort of a long-winded way of offering my sincere gratitude for helping us reach the 9 year mark in our business endeavor.

Thank you.
Ric Albano
Founder & Owner
33 Dimensions, LLC 

Cornerstone Coffeehouse Redesign

  By 33 Dimensions Web Design • July 8, 2014 ,

Cornerstone Responsive Design 2014

33 Dimensions has redesigned the website for Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA, making the site fully responsive and offering a better overall user experience.

The design starts with a simple landing page, which displays the three main services offered by Cornerstone – Coffeehouse, Culinary Kitchen, and Catering. The coffeehouse option leads to a WordPress site with a multi-level drop down to navigate to all the various store menus, blogs, music, art, and calendar of events at the popular establishment.

Visit Cornerstone Coffeehouse website

Memorial Day

  By 33 Dimensions Web Design • May 26, 2014 ,

Newsletter for May 26, 2014

Memorial Day gravesites

A Day of Reflection

As the unofficial start of the summer, Memorial Day is naturally a time of optimism and plan-making and is normally thought of as a day of family gatherings and cookouts. But the true intent of the day is one of solemn reflection and remembrance. On behalf of 33 Dimensions web design, have a happy, safe, and rewarding Memorial Day 2014, and let’s never forget the heroes of days and years passed.

Ric Albano
Owner and Chief Web Designer
33 Dimensions LLC

WordPress Presentation

Wordpress logoRic Albano will be giving a presentation on WordPress Basic Tips & Functions on Wednesday, June 11th in Camp Hill, PA. This will be presented to the Entrepreneur Development Group, which provides entrepreneurs and business owners the opportunity to share and implement ideas and strategies for success, and will give a good overview of various WordPress elements from a layman’s perspective.

The presentation is open to business owners.

Client Spotlight

Amore Artisan Gelato products

Amore Artisan Gelato & Yogurt

33 Dimensions is proud to be providing web design services for Harrisburg, PA’s first Euro-style gelato café. Amore Artisan Gelato & Yogurt will be opening this summer and offering a dozen varieties of gelato and sorbet each day, drawn from more than 100 rotating flavors, along with 18 combinations of frozen yogurt. All of the gelato, sorbet, and yogurt will be made fresh on the premises daily and catering and party trays will also be available.

The website (LoveAmoreGelato.com) is currently under construction, but you can now visit Amore’s social media channels for the latest news:
Facebook
Twitter (@LoveAmoreGelato)
Google+

Whether starting from scratch or adding features to an existing website, 33 Dimensions will provide you with a professional and effective design that is highly functional, informative, and accessible. We also offer many related services to help promote your website and your business and will customize an affordable solution for you.

Check out our Online Portfolio and you will see that there is no job too complex or too small for us to handle for you. Feel free to give me a call at (717) 829-4221 or email me ric@33dimensions.com and I will personally negotiate a great deal to fulfill your online needs.

33 Dimensions
P.O. Box 126
Highspire, PA 17034
info@33dimensions.com

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Springtime

  By Ric Albano • April 30, 2014 , , ,

Newsletter for April 30, 2014

Springtime sceneThese Are Great Days for Web Design

As sure as these crazy April showers will soon bring the May flowers, there is good reason to be optimistic about the near future in the web design business. This may be the best time ever to be a web designer. Just consider this fact, in just a little over a decade, we’ve gone from 216 “web safe” colors to the over 16 million in the hexadecimal spectrum.

Beyond this, we also now have web-based fonts, transparency, blending, and mainstream animations along with ever-evolving tools and frameworks based on HTML5 and CSS3, which has just come of age within the past few years. What this all means is richer, more attractive, and better functioning websites at lower development and maintenance costs.

Thank you all for your support and we look forward to the future!

Ric Albano
Owner and Chief Web Designer
33 Dimensions LLC

2020 Vision

2020 Vision

In our last newsletter celebrating our 5th Anniversary, we reflected on our first five years in business and how much web design has changed in these past 5 years, including our own development practices. Now we are looking forward to the next half decade or so and how will we use social media, user generated content, eCommerce, smart phones, smart homes, smart appliances, etc… as we enter into the 2020’s.

33 Dimensions is committed to providing our customers with the best tools to effectively operate and promote their business or organization, both today and tomorrow.

Client News

4th Annual Plein Air Camp Hill Festival

It is nearly time for Plein Air Camp Hill, which will hold its 4th annual festival in mid-May, starting with a new Scavenger Hunt during the week of May 12th, with many more events during the weekend of May 16th to 18th. The annual festival focuses on artists and photographers, with juried competitions, “Quick Draw” and “Quick Shoot” contests, and painting “in the open air” for participants of any age group. There will be plenty of family-friendly activities, workshops, music and food happening throughout the borough of Camp Hill, PA during this wonderful Spring festival. Check out the ,a href=”http://www.pleinaircamphill.org/2014Festival.php#2014Schedule” target=”_blank”>full schedule of events.

33 Dimensions is proud to have re-designed the website for 2014, adding responsive features, online forms and payment options.

The Bagman Goes Green

We’ve also updated the website for R. Davis Enterprises at RonTheBagman.com. Ron has expanded his business to recycling plastic and cardboard with the entire process done in the U.S.A.

Many New Websites in the Works

May is going to be an extremely busy month for us, with many new and remodeled websites under development. We’ll have more details on these in our next newsletter.

Whether starting from scratch or adding features to an existing website, 33 Dimensions will provide you with a professional and effective design that is highly functional, informative, and accessible. We also offer many related services to help promote your website and your business and will customize an affordable solution for you.

Check out our Online Portfolio and you will see that there is no job too complex or too small for us to handle for you. Feel free to give me a call at (717) 829-4221 or email me ric@33dimensions.com and I will personally negotiate a great deal to fulfill your online needs.

33 Dimensions
P.O. Box 126
Highspire, PA 17034
info@33dimensions.com

33 Dimensions on LinkedIn   33 Dimensions on Twitter   33 Dimensions on Facebook   33 Dimensions on Google Plus   33 Dimensions on YouTube

  • Multimedia Production

    In competition for content relevance, companies and organizations are using images, graphics, and short videos as an extremely effective way to get their message out. 33 Dimensions produces original graphics and video montages which are attractive and interesting.

  • Marketing & Analytics

    For some time now, smart marketers have been using a new set of tools to monitor their markets, with the real potential being the ability to dynamically respond to analytics. Businesses can now instantly meet customer needs and explore new market opportunities.