San Antonio

Need a Great Web Developer? Hire Through Codeup.

Amy Peveto — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:51:19 +0000

Need a Great Web Developer? Hire Through Codeup.

Amy Peveto Thu, 06/19/2014 - 9:51am

Whether you’re a startup or well-established San Antonio business, finding developers can be difficult; it can take months — even a year or two — to find a skilled developer. But this year we found and hired a great candidate in less than two months. And we did it through Codeup.

We need more developers

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that software developer employment is projected to grow 30% from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations.

But as we’ve experienced while interviewing job candidates (and even interns midway through Computer Science degrees), there’s an enormous gap between what the San Antonio market needs and the skills applicants have.

Self-teaching is the name of the game for many, but development is such a complex beast that it’s hard to narrow focus and hold oneself accountable.

This leaves many smart people unable to learn skills critical to a growing industry, and businesses unable to fill lucrative job openings.

No need to fear, Codeup is here!

This supply and demand problem was well-known to Codeup founder Michael Girdley, who time and again talked with business owners who believed the lack of programmers and developers was normal and a problem that couldn’t be solved.

Together with Jason Straughan and Chris Turner, Girdley built and launched Codeup, a San Antonio-based intensive 12-week boot camp that turns mere mortals into first-class computer programmers.

Attendees have their butts kicked through three months of all-day classes taught by industry experts and entrepreneurs. They learn the foundations of web development — HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and Javascript — and at the end of the course present real-world applications they’ve built to employers who are looking for those exact skills.

Codeup gives its graduates the ability to walk into a job with a good employer and be useful from day one. Not only is this beneficial to employers, it gives graduates a set of skills they can use to improve their lives.

We hired through Codeup

Codeup’s first graduating class presented their applications to potential employers at a Demo Day on April 22, 2014. Digett President Mark attended those presentations, and two weeks later hired one of the graduates, Travis Flatt, as a UX Engineer.

“The Codeup Experience has more to offer than rote learning of a programming language,” says Travis. “There's structure and purpose to it, and it’s a great opportunity to make connections within the San Antonio web development community. Codeup is built with the end goal of creating professional developers, which is a broader scope than simply 'learning some code'.”

Not only was Travis’ application, Eat Safe SA, creative and well-architected, he also presented the project well and distinguished himself from others in the program — just what Mark was looking for.

“I had a strategy,” Mark admits. “I figured if I could get the inside scoop on who the really good developers were, I could eliminate a good chunk of the risk that seems to always accompany a new hire. Turns out it wasn’t hard. The students themselves talked openly at Demo Day about who they thought were the rock stars, and Travis’ name was one that kept coming up. I thought he had a great mix of skills to complement our existing team, and so far that’s proven correct.”

Codeup makes our team stronger

Digett’s strongest selling point is that every one of our team members is an expert in his or her field — it’s the combination of these strengths that allows us to provide the best possible results with our projects.

Hiring through Codeup is the easiest way we’ve found to bring on a developer whose skills complement our team and lead to a more successful business.

“It is awesome to partner with an amazing company like Digett,” says Codeup co-founder Chris Turner. “They truly understand that great team members are what makes their business so successful. We’re proud to be a part of that.”

Register for Codeup and save

We believe in the power of Codeup, and want to help you take advantage of this opportunity to change your life in three short months.

Simply register for Codeup at this link and enter Digett in the referral field to receive $100 off the cost of the Codeup program.

You will be challenged, but you will succeed. And your life will never be the same. Code on!

San Antonio Web Design

AMac — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:51:15 +0000

San Antonio Web Design

AMac Thu, 09/29/2011 - 8:51am

A few months ago, I came up with an idea to design and build a Digett landing page that would break down the state of the San Antonio web design community and explain to the average consumer why the Digett way is the only way to go. Today, I'm proud to announce the launch of that page — San Antonio Web Design.

The goal of the page is two-fold.

1) Simply state what we believe to be true

The message of the site is simple and true. While freelancers and web shops have the technical ability to build websites, their lack of marketing expertise leaves customers with a website that does nothing to grow their business. On the flip side, advertising agencies are marketers by nature, but are constantly playing catch-up when it comes to anything to do with the Internet.

If you're serious about wanting to market your business online, there is no better approach than inbound marketing, an online strategy guaranteed to generate qualified sales leads. In the San Antonio market, only Digett has embraced this approach and effectively used it to help our clients grow their business.

2) Deliver our message as only we can

Clean, user-friendly, innovative web design is hard to find in San Antonio. While the rest of the world consistently pushes the design envelope, our community seems to be lagging behind. Digett aims to change this reality.

Our new page showcases some of the hottest trends in web design today, including parallax scrolling, Google web fonts, HTML5, CSS3, custom graphics, and a creative approach to navigation that hasn't been done before, to my knowledge. Consider this just a taste of what we can do, design that will outshine the competition and can't be found anywhere else in San Antonio.

San Antonio Web Design

At the end of a blog post, it's customary that we summarize our thoughts and provide you a course of action. As a slight break from tradition, I invite you to visit our new landing page, where we'll cover everything you need to know about San Antonio web design, and then offer up a free download of our Marketing Plan for Growth.

San Antonio Internet Marketing Education at its Finest

Mark Figart — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:26:19 +0000

San Antonio Internet Marketing Education at its Finest

Mark Figart Wed, 08/31/2011 - 9:26am

San Antonio business owners and marketing execs got a good dose of Internet marketing education Tuesday, thanks to the North San Antonio Chamber’s How2 Series event entitled “How to Market Your Business” at the Hilton San Antonio Airport.

I want to extend my personal thanks to all who attended, and especially to those who approached me after my presentations on lead generation and email nurturing to offer a compliment or word of appreciation. That made my week!

Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to put up my last slide offering a few freebies that might help inspire some further action on your part. So without further ado, here are the links:

My presentation - This was created with Prezi, a totally rad new tool that I think I’m falling in love with. I wish you would take a moment to leave a comment to tell me whether you liked the format of it. If you prefer the more traditional, static powerpoint slides, you may not be alone and I may need to reconsider my approach.
Inbound marketing mindmap - This mindmap is something I began creating about a year ago, and forms the core of not only Tuesday’s presentation, but also just about every conversation I have on the topic. Meet MindMeister, a really sublime hosted mindmapping application. I could scarcely live without it.
Scorecard template - This is a spreadsheet we keep in Google Docs that we maintain for many of our clients to be able to track lead generation progress at a glance. You can modify this in any manner you want. The idea is to give you an idea of some relevant metrics to consider as you’re getting started.

Oh, and please don’t forget about Digett’s upcoming webinar on social media, Tuesday, September 13!

San Antonio Web Design Portfolio

AMac — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:25:05 +0000

San Antonio Web Design Portfolio

AMac Tue, 06/14/2011 - 11:25am

Notice anything different about our main navigation? That's right, a new design section! We've recently added an abbreviated portfolio to our website, meant to show off our mad design skills, and link to our best work.

We launched the new Digett.com back in January, without a design portfolio because we didn't want to detract from our inbound marketing message. Although we do provide the best in San Antonio web design, from our perspective, websites should be lead generators before anything else. Form should follow function.

Web Design Matters

We realized soon enough that our designs were more important than we initially thought. Potential clients began to ask to see our work, in order to feel more comfortable with the Digett brand. They wanted to be sure we could provide professional-quality design in addition to an effective inbound marketing strategy — the best of both worlds.

We've found over the past few months that good design can not only start a conversation, but also close a deal. And so we decided to put some of our best work on display.

So take a look through our new portfolio page and imagine your new website next to these. It could be our greatest yet, and the key to growing your business.

San Antonio Web Design: Generations Federal Credit Union

AMac — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:52:44 +0000

San Antonio Web Design: Generations Federal Credit Union

AMac Tue, 05/24/2011 - 2:52pm

The brand new Generations website is just a few hours old, and isn't she lovely! Over the past five months, the Digett team has worked closely with Generations Federal Credit Union to completely re-vamp their online presence, and we think the result represents the best of San Antonio web design and banking.

Generations' new website is teeming with polished design, high tech features, and uber-usability, which combine to really showcase the power of Drupal CMS. I was happy to be tasked with designing the site, and we accomplished a lot along the way.

Design Goals

Establish a clean, professional, and modern site design that reflects the Generations brand and message
Combine the latest trends in web design with the timeless tradition of banking to create a unique online experience
Most importantly, exude usability by way of catering to the needs of the Generations members and potential customers

Design Elements

Color & Shade

Shades of gray set the cool, modern tone for the site. Orange is our primary call-to-action color, while green accents highlight environmentally friendly efforts, such as online banking. Smooth, subtle gradients help create depth throughout the design, which modernizes the look nicely.

Icons

Heidi tells us that In fashion, one day you're in and the next day, you're out. The same can be said for web design, and right now, icons are in. Icons are great communicators, telling users what they need to know in a heartbeat. Using icons throughout the site aids usability and modern design.

Custom San Antonio Photography

To enforce Generations' really local platform, we produced some photography unique to San Antonio, near each of their branches. For example, this particular photograph is of the famous North Star Mall Boots, from a vantage point that locals can appreciate.

The Tip of The Iceberg

Design is just the beginning of what makes this site great. From stellar information architecture and dynamic content, to administrative simplicity and seamless third-party software integration, mygenfcu.org is the full package.

My big hat goes off to Generations for working tirelessly with us to launch this new website and for continuing to be a great client.

My even bigger hat goes off to the team here at Digett, who has really pulled together and busted their collective hump to produce another outstanding product — in truth, the best in San Antonio web design.

So what are you waiting for? Go on and see it for yourself. Dive in and when you're done browsing, come back and tell us what you think. Seriously, leave us a comment and praise our work, won't you? ;)

San Antonio SEO: Keywords

AMac — Tue, 10 May 2011 19:17:30 +0000

San Antonio SEO: Keywords

AMac Tue, 05/10/2011 - 2:17pm

A major component to search engine optimization (SEO) is choosing the right keywords around which to develop your content strategy. A keyword is a word or phrase that your customer might enter into a search engine (ex. Google) to find your company and others like it.

For example, if I were looking for someone to optimize my website in San Antonio, I might Google San Antonio SEO. Now, a company that wants to be at the top of those search results would need to publish compelling online content, optimized for that keyword — San Antonio SEO —
in order to rank high in search engine results.

Choosing the right keywords takes time and research, much like planting a garden. To yield the best results, you've got to understand your climate, soil, and sunlight, among other key factors.

Digett can help you determine the key factors that play into choosing the best keywords to grow your business. We can identify the most popular keywords, how relevant they are to your business, and how you stack up to the competition. Once we've hand-picked the keywords with the most potential, we can help you develop a content strategy that will shoot you straight to the top of the search results.

Icons In Web Design: San Antonio

AMac — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:57:25 +0000

Icons In Web Design: San Antonio

AMac Thu, 03/24/2011 - 10:57am

I'm a web designer by trade, and as part of my job I think it's important to keep up with what's trending in our industry. One of the hottest fads in web design today is creating and using icons.

As I see them, icons are small, graphical representations of larger concepts. In web design, they're most often used to communicate ideas more efficiently. Where a written phrase is a horse, an icon is a cheetah — smaller and faster.

The web is full of icons, available to represent virtually everything from aliens to sandwiches. Websites like iconfinder.com offer free icons for download, while iStockphoto sells some really nice, inexpensive sets.

However, there are some icons that can be hard to find, or simply don't exist. For example, an icon set that represents San Antonio, Texas could be hard to find. Well that may have been true before today, but it's all about to change.

I've designed five icons that represent San Antonio and I'm offering them up as a free download. This layered Photoshop Document (PSD) has five vector icons for use as you see fit. Simply click the image below to start the download and enjoy! And if you're so inclined, we'd love you to provide a link back to this post via your website, Twitter or Facebook account. And if you're really feeling ambitious, leave me a comment letting me know how you found us. Thanks and happy day!

San Antonio, Texas Icon Set Download

Submitted by Luke Meier on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 2:38pm

Andrew, these icons are great, thanks for putting this out there. By the way the new web site looks great! Say hi to the group for me.

Submitted by Kathryn Cornelius on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 2:54pm

Great icons, Andrew. I think they do an excellent job of depicting San Antonio - very symbolic & recognizable.

I hope someone "rebounds" your "Citicons" on Dribbble! http://drbl.in/Yxf

Submitted by AMac on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 3:05pm

Luke, Kathryn — thanks for the kind words! Speaking of the new website, have you seen the career opportunities page? It was designed with developers in mind ;)

Submitted by Robert Kuykendall on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 3:51pm

How about we make things official with a license? Unfortunately, all modern Creative Commons licences REQUIRE attribution, which seems silly for icons. Oddly enough, it's extremely hard to legally give stuff away, but there's a few free licenses out there:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/

Submitted by addypam on Wed, 08/17/2011 - 5:46am

thanks for sharing

Internet Marketing in San Antonio

Art Williams — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:31:31 +0000

Internet Marketing in San Antonio

Art Williams Wed, 03/23/2011 - 1:31pm

If you search for Internet marketing on google you will find everything from get rich quick schemes to established marketing agencies. But if you are a small to medium size business in San Antonio, TX with a brick and mortar location, what should Internet marketing mean to your business?

According to wikipedia, Internet Marketing is “the promotion of products or services over the Internet.” For businesses in San Antonio this simply means using the Internet to increase your sales. Even if you don’t have a product that can be easily sold on a website you can still use the Internet to drive leads and help close business deals.

San Antonio’s economy has been affected by the global economy, but not to the degree that many other parts of the country have been affected. That means that local businesses have a unique opportunity to push ahead and grow during rough economy times. Over the next few years those who don’t effectively move their marketing budget to the Internet will have a harder time competing. San Antonio business owners and marketing directors need a sustainable plan for growth and should look at Internet marketing as both a solution and a process.

Internet Marketing Solution (Don’t Skip This Part)

All businesses have problems. Even the best businesses in the world have those painful areas that they don’t like to talk about. While effective Internet marketing can’t solve every business problem, there are many that it can solve. Before you begin building a process for online marketing you need to take an honest look at your business and find those sensitive areas and dig deep into what is wrong. Define them in the most thorough and descriptive way you can. Keep those critical problems on the top of your mind as you build out the process so that everything you decided to pursue with your Internet marketing plan is focused directly on solving those issues. If you skip this part you are gambling away your online marketing dollars.

Internet Marketing Process

After isolating your critical issues, begin formulating your Internet marketing plan. It’s important to realize is that it is an ongoing process. Be sure your plan is both immediately impactful and sustainable. This means that you can’t just attack one area of online marketing.

A few years ago “SEO (search engine optimization)” was the buzz word in marketing; now it’s “social media”; in the future it will move to something else. Don’t get caught up in the buzz words. Are those things important? Yes, but only as part of a comprehensive plan.

Design a process for marketing online that builds each week on what you’ve done in the weeks before. You should plan on taking the first 12 months to build up your content and fine tune the process so that it is sustainable well into the future. But that doesn’t mean that the hard work stops at 12 months. Humanity has never seen a technology that changes as dramatically and as quickly as the Internet; you need to have analysis tools in place and develop the expertise to evaluate the data effectively. This feedback loop is critically important moving forward.

I can tell you online marketing is not easy. You must be willing to constantly change and adapt to the new ways things are done online each and every year, but the rewards to your business are huge. I think San Antonio is on the precipice when it comes to the marketing shift that much of the rest of the country is currently experiencing. Any company in San Antonio without a comprehensive plan for Internet marketing is already at a serious disadvantage, but that disadvantage is only going to increase in the coming years. The time is now. Get started right away.

San Antonio

Need a Great Web Developer? Hire Through Codeup.

We need more developers

No need to fear, Codeup is here!

We hired through Codeup

Codeup makes our team stronger

Register for Codeup and save

LEAVE A COMMENT

San Antonio Web Design

1) Simply state what we believe to be true

2) Deliver our message as only we can

San Antonio Web Design

LEAVE A COMMENT

San Antonio Internet Marketing Education at its Finest

LEAVE A COMMENT

San Antonio Web Design Portfolio

Web Design Matters

LEAVE A COMMENT

San Antonio Web Design: Generations Federal Credit Union

Design Goals

Design Elements

Color & Shade

Icons

Custom San Antonio Photography

The Tip of The Iceberg

LEAVE A COMMENT

San Antonio SEO: Keywords

LEAVE A COMMENT

Icons In Web Design: San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas Icon Set Download

LEAVE A COMMENT

Internet Marketing in San Antonio

Internet Marketing Solution (Don’t Skip This Part)

Internet Marketing Process

LEAVE A COMMENT