Our team will work with you to create a dynamic homepage flash element. More than just an image rotator, it will ...
- deliver the “Wow!” factor site visitors appreciate
- powerfully convey your most important message the moment people land on your home page
- let you take complete control of adding flash imagery, highlighted properties from our Sites and Buildings module, news and events articles, and so on
Dynamic Content Pages
Dynamic Content Page functionality lets almost anyone on your staff manage general content pages with near-unlimited layout and design flexibility. If you can use a word processor, create an email, or use a typewriter, you can quickly and easily change your site content - without the expense of hiring third-party Web development expertise or waiting for internal experts to get around to it.
News Management
Stay in communication with your clients, prospects, and the community at large by highlighting what's happening at your EDC. You can spread the word about promotions, tout business success stories, create general press releases, and break news stories quickly and easily through our advanced site management tools. These tools also let you generate a link to any offsite article you want people to read.
With our News Module, you can optimize your news content for search engines by creating a unique page title, a page name, and access within each article to important META data.
Other features include integrated RSS feeds, scheduled publishing and removal, related photo management, and extensive categorization and tagging for ease of search and display on relevant areas of the website.
Through the client portal management tools, you can also assign a news article to a specific user or group for display only in the secure portal area of your website. The presentation (display) of your news articles is independent of the site's functionality, which means your articles can be shown in many different ways, depending on the needs of your EDC and your site's overall design. Here are some examples of different news presentations:
Event Management
Much like our News Module, the Events Module lets you display upcoming events in a variety of ways on the Web page - say, in chronological order or in a calendar view - and automatically archive them on your site when the date has passed. You can filter events by category, download them to your Outlook calendar, and email event data to a friend. An events detail page can be accessed by clicking on the event title, which allows a full page of content for a specific event to be seen by the user. This detail can include event directions, document downloads, video promotion, embedded maps, and other relevant information.
With the Events Module, you can optimize your events for search engines by creating unique META page titles, descriptions, abstracts, and keywords.
Other Event Module features include integrated RSS feeds, scheduled publishing and removal, related photo management, and extensive categorization and tagging for ease of search and display on relevant areas of the website. Here are some examples of different calendar presentations:
Image Galleries
Use our Image Gallery applications anytime you want to show a series of images with titles and descriptions. The administrative interface lets you quickly create a new gallery.
Another great feature of this application is that it can automatically resize uploaded photos to the right specifications for your website, saving you time and money. Just upload any new images straight from your digital camera to the Web.
As needed, you can assign Image Galleries to specific customers within the portal so they, and they alone, can view a particular image collection.
Widgets
Our platform incorporates Widget technology. It empowers you to add dynamic content to just about any specific area of your website, such as a sidebar or the bottom section of a page. With Widgets, you can display related content like documents, client testimonials, photo galleries, and FAQs, or embed related social media like YouTube videos, Flickr photos, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, RSS feeds, and so on.
Page Manager
Create new dynamic content pages on the fly with our Page Manager tool. This automated module lets you manage sub-navigation, create an unlimited number of dynamic sub-pages, automatically update your sitemap, and more. Each page created with the Page Manager tool also allows improved search engine optimization through user control of META page titles, page descriptions, abstracts, keyword tags, and dynamically created search-engine-friendly URLs.
Editable Regions
The Cirrus eBusiness Suite lets you create various editable regions within complex page layouts, such as on the home page of your website. Its flexibility permits the use multiple applications and interactive design elements on a Web page while preserving the capability of editing content in a pre-defined space without disrupting overall page layout and functionality.
Sitewide Search
You can perform a Sitewide Search using advanced indexing technology that includes all HTML content, application content (FAQs, Testimonials, etc.), and all documents on the site.
Sites and Buildings
Our Sites and Buildings application gives you cutting-edge control of your sites-and-buildings data, allowing integrated Google mapping, categorization, photo management, and other tasks. You manage this application - including Properties, Property Types, Zoning Types, Counties, and other categories - through our standard eBusiness Suite administrative portal. Multiple deployment levels are available and can be further tailored to meet the needs of virtually any customer. Features such as instant filtering for searches make finding properties easier. Fully customizable detail pages offer property-specific photo galleries, advanced categorization, an enable/disable option, latitude/longitude, and other features that make for a much more customized presentation of your sites-and-buildings data than any other system on the market allows. The Cirrus default includes access to our basic tool and/or integration with third-party sites-and-buildings tools such as NIPSCO, GIS Planning, etc.
Community and Industry Profiles Manager
Manage community and industry information - including demographic data, photography, video, documents, Google mapping, and other Web content - with this powerful tool. It's an automated module that lets you create new Web pages and manage navigation and sub-navigation on the fly, create an unlimited number of content pages, automatically update the sitemap, and complete other, related tasks easily. Each page created with the Communities Module also allows improved search engine optimization through user control of page titles, page descriptions, META abstracts, META keyword tags, and dynamically created search-engine-friendly URLs.
RSS Feeds Module
RSS (Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing Web content. Many news-related sites, Weblogs, and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to anyone who wants it. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the Web: It keeps them "in the loop" and lets them easily retrieve the latest content from sites they're interested in without having to visit each site individually. Privacy is ensured by not requiring users to join each site's email newsletter.
Our RSS Feeds Module enhances the overall usability and viral impact of your site by allowing users to subscribe to updates that are pushed right to their desktop or RSS software through various Cirrus eBusiness Suite modules such as News, Events, FAQs, and others.
Social Networking Integration
We make it easy to spread your content across the Web by allowing visitors to bookmark and share content to their favorite social destinations. Our eBusiness Suite also can be configured to generate content for social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others through the content management portal.
Document Sharing/Management
Securely manage documents online for the general public or specifically for customers. Quickly and easily upload new documents to the system and assign them to a category, a specific user, or both. This versatile application can be used wherever you need to share documents online.
Content Rotators
Use this tool to rotate different types of content, thus giving your site a fresh, ever-changing look that'll keep attracting repeat users. You can, for example, select several client testimonials that you'd like to see rotated on the home page. Each time a user visits that page, a different designated testimonial may be displayed. The same effect can be applied to pictures and other content throughout your site.
Staff Listings
Our Staff Listings Module allows site users to browse staff information in a summary view or click on a specific staff member to access a complete profile and contact information. You can optimize your staff members’ pages for search engines with unique page titles, descriptions, and access to important META data for each staff member.
Client Testimonials
A great way to build credibility with prospective customers visiting your site is to highlight what other customers are saying about your product. This application lets you easily add new testimonials to your site and highlight specific testimonials of your choosing on the home page.
Links
You can use the Links Module for a variety of purposes on your site: provide useful links to other websites, list business partners with their logos and a link to their websites, or show companies and product lines you represent. The links tool lets you create a list of items with an image, a description, and a title that also serves as a link to any Web address you specify. With the administrative interface, you can create a new link item quickly and modify or delete an existing item. This application also can automatically resize uploaded photos, logos, or designs to the right specifications for your website, saving you time and money.
Frequently Asked Questions
This application fulfills a key customer-service function, allowing customer-service inquiries to be offloaded to the website. Site users can search through a knowledge base of frequently asked questions and post their own question if they can't find an answer otherwise. The FAQ Module lets you optimize your FAQ content for search engines with search-engine-friendly permalink URLs, unique page titles and descriptions, and access to important META data for each question and answer. Over time, FAQs help identify areas of concern or confusion that clients and prospects have about the site, your products, or your services - and answer questions without staff intervention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Smart Data Collection Forms
Our technology uses Smart Data Collection Forms to record information from site users for various purposes. We work with your organization to identify the exact information you want to collect, any incentive for filling out the form, where the information should be sent, and what required fields need to be set up. The data from these forms can be emailed to specific addresses, sent directly to a cell phone via text message, and integrated with a lead queuing system or a variety of other third-party applications.
Project Portfolio Management
Manage your project portfolio with a combination of images, text, documents, and even video. This powerful application allows site users to search the portfolio or browse by category. Site administrators have the flexibility to manage portfolio categories, do full HTML layout, and handle META data management for search engine optimization.
Glossary of Terms
Our Glossary of Terms Module allows for a dynamic listing of terms alphabetically or by topic. Each term can have an unlimited amount of information, including pictures and downloads. Site users are enabled to search your glossary as well, so they can find the specific definition they want quickly and efficiently. Terms can be linked-to directly from other places in your site.
Knowledge Base
This is an especially powerful tool for organizations that focus on customer service. Essentially, the Knowledge Base Module is a self-help feature giving customers access to information about common support issues. Articles can be accessed either by category or by keyword searches. And standard customer-service tools, such as email requests and live chat, can work in conjunction with the Knowledge Base to provide site users with additional support options if the Knowledge Base itself doesn’t answer their questions. Each topic in the Knowledge Base automatically generates a Permalink. This is a big deal for search engines, because it gives each topic a page dedicated to just that Knowledge Base, with a custom URL for every one.
Data Cart
If site users would like to store information from any given browsing session, our online Data Cart (“PDF on-the-fly”) lets them compile GIS applications and other data from anywhere on the site into a shopping cart. With this application, site users can even arrange their information and create a final branded PDF they can download. This PDF would be of print quality. It also could be useful in helping you create reports for your customers.
Print this Page
Each page of your site features a “Print this Page” option. This tool uses a cascading style sheet with header and footer (logo and contact information) and is not simply a browser print command. At your request, page bottoms will not show browser information but will show page numbers and a completed footer denoting your address, telephone, etc.
Embedded Live Mapping
For location-based applications, our eBusiness Suite supports direct embedding of popular “live maps” from providers like Google, Yahoo, and MSN. This service lets you embed interactive maps within your Web pages, helping customers better understand and find geographic locations. Custom implementations of this technology can allow for plotting of multiple data points on the map with custom graphics.
Search Engine Optimization ToolsBeing found online through search engines is crucial to the success of any website. We'll work with you to optimize your website so you can be found online for keywords defining your products and services, your industry, and the geographical areas in which you do business. We'll help you understand how your target customers use the Web
to find the products and services you offer, and we'll help you embed the right keywords throughout appropriate areas of your site (i.e., META tags, page titles, page content, image descriptions, etc.).
Site Administration PortalThe Site Administration Portal provides a secure area within your site where authorized site administrators can log in to manage the site. Upon login, the portal user has a view of key site metrics at a glance through the site metrics dashboard. Authorized users have access to all site management tools that they've been granted permission to use. Furthermore, all site tools have a consistent user interface and have been designed for ease of use, even by people with little or no Internet or computer experience.
Role-based SecurityDecentralize site management by specifying administrative roles for various staff members and assigning responsibilities for each role. New users can be assigned a role granting them permission to update specified areas of your site content. With this methodology, your site can become more of an online communications tool that everyone in your organization can use to better communicate with prospects and clients.
Site Usage Metrics & Google AnalyticsFundamental to any successful Web initiative is the ability to receive real-time reporting on all site usage metrics. Our eBusiness Suite includes the industry-leading Google Analytics website metrics package, which gives you that ability. It will tell you where your traffic is coming from and what keyword searches were used to find you. It also will provide data on site path usage, the time spent on each page, bounce rates, and many other key metrics.