Our Blog
Every week we post something new to our blog – a new employee Q&A, an opinion piece about web design, cool & new things happening in the tech industry, and so much more. We know the web, and we want to share news and helpful tips with you so you can get the most out of your website – even if you don't have a website built by Visionary.
Visionary is Our Name, But Volunteering is Our Game…
Published on: Thursday, June 28, 2018
VTO – What is it? VTO, also known as Volunteer Time Off, is a benefit that some companies extend to their employees as a way to better connect to their outside community. The company designates a set number of hours that each eligible person is able to take to use towards serving various organizations in the surrounding area without having to take from their PTO/Vacation. Does Visionary...
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"I Didn't Mean to Apply Here": The Art of Not Selling Yourself
Published on: Wednesday, June 27, 2018
“I didn’t mean to apply here” probably isn’t something you should say during an interview. For me it was true. I didn’t mean to apply to a web development company. I was looking for an arts-related communications internship. Where I meant to apply was Art Week Des Moines. When I reached out to see if Art Week had a communications internship, my resume went to David, the founder...
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Get To Know: Production Specialist Erin Vance
Published on: Wednesday, June 20, 2018
What is your professional background? Spent many years in retail management type positions before coming here. What are your hobbies outside of work? Painting, making jewelry and rehabbing old or damaged furniture. What have you enjoyed about Visionary so far? The atmosphere and the people are fantastic. Where is your favorite place to eat in Des...
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Get To Know: Software Developer Adam Logan
Published on: Monday, June 18, 2018
Start off by telling everyone about yourself: I grew up in Urbandale with 2 siblings, a brother (older) and a sister (younger). My dad is a programmer, using COBOL, and a businessman. I grew up loving computers and always enjoyed learning about them from my dad. Although I am a quiet person, I love to travel, try new things, and ride my bike. What is your...
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Get To Know: Summer Intern Mark O'Meara
Published on: Thursday, May 24, 2018
Mark grew up in Indianola Iowa where he graduated High School. He’s currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering at Iowa State and finished his Sophomore year this May and will return for his Junior year this coming August. Visionary is his first Software Engineering related job but he’s also worked for the Indianola Parks and...
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Get To Know: Summer Intern Audrey Ward
Published on: Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Here at Visionary, we're pretty excited to welcome Audrey to our team! She will be directly helping the Contract-Dev team this summer and we fully anticipate her making her mark in the coming weeks! // Audrey grew up in Ames and is currently studying Public Relations and Event Management at Iowa State University. Before landing her summer internship...
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From Mad Men to Modern Day: What the 60's Taught us About Advertising
Published on: Tuesday, May 15, 2018
In a time of shag carpet, psychedelic tie-dye, cult classic music and plaid button-down shirts, the 1960’s had its fair share of fast-paced moments. Transition to today, 2018 seems to be a whirlwind of continuously advanced technology invading our everyday routines. While nearly 6 decades separates these 2 time periods, there are still similarities that highlight how advertising has evolved from then...
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Reaching Your Customers Through Email Campaigns
Published on: Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Email has now been popular for more than 20 years, and we are only tapping into its possibilities. Awareness is a thing of the past; engagement is everything, and email is the platform to build the relationship through knowledge and interaction in a noninvasive environment. Subjective subject lines A major component to every email is the subject line, and...
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The Voice Assistant Revolution
Published on: Friday, April 13, 2018
There is no denying the growing presence of technology in our lives today. Even if you try to actively avoid it, it seems like more and more, the devices we utilize for our daily tasks involve some sort of voice technology…or will. Voice assistants have become vastly popular and seem to be a household staple these days. I happen to own an Amazon Alexa Echo Dot but...
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How A Children's Book Can Improve Design
Published on: Thursday, March 22, 2018
Recently, I’ve discovered a new phrase I’ve been saying more while planning and designing projects and discussing how features will work. “If you give a mouse a cookie…” Used as a prompt to make sure all options have been considered, it’s the title of a book from my childhood, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, written by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Others may be familiar with a few...
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A Crash Course on Social Media ROI
Published on: Wednesday, March 7, 2018
I once heard that social media is like the fun, unpredictable uncle of the marketing family. While some of that may be true as marketing trends seem to adjust and change daily, there are ways to expect the unexpected and see trends that can help you determine strategies to execute for the best results. People tend to view social media’s return on investment (ROI) like how an unceasing distant aunt at family reunions looks at you for the first...
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#TechTuesday: Big Data
Published on: Tuesday, March 6, 2018
#TechTuesday Background: We are aiming to bring monthly topics to you in four easy-to-digest subcomponents that will occur weekly on Tuesdays. These focus areas are going to be relevant to the technology and software industry that we serve in but they can also frequently span into other marketplaces as well. Overall, we would love to educate, bring awareness to important trends and ideas in the tech world as well as learn from you...
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My Tribute to Visionary: Celebrating 25 Years in Business
Published on: Wednesday, February 28, 2018
As you may all know by now, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary here at Visionary and while we’ve actually been in business for 26 years now, we’re just getting around to toasting to our latest milestone accomplishment! Established in 1992, Visionary has been helping develop and create tools for the World Wide Web before it was truly worldwide. What started as a dream from our President and fearless leader, David...
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Page Speed Matters and Google is at the Forefront
Published on: Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Have you noticed your website loading slower than others lately? Maybe a few large images or pop-up boxes cause a delay? The bad news is you have about 5 months to speed things up or risk seeing your site creep lower in Google’s mobile search rankings, the company announced on its blog in January. The good news is, slow sites can be fixed! Though website speed has been a factor in Google’s ranking algorithm for...
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Have you heard the news? Facebook is changing the game (again)
Published on: Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg announced early last month that the Facebook algorithm is once again changing. This time, they are aiming to create a more positive and engaging, community-based feel to the social platform by promoting account user’s personal posts instead of spotlighting news stories, viral videos and organic unpaid business ads. Before getting into how this affects everything and everyone, it’s...
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