December 10, 2024
Congratulations to Beacon president and CEO Tracy Dirks on 25 years of service to the company! Look back on her illustrious career and many accomplishments.
October 15, 2024
At Beacon, we love animals. That's why, for our BeaconCares program, we spent Q3 "Helping Furry Friends" by volunteering at a local animal shelter and a ranch.
August 2, 2024
Personalized SEO: it keeps your site at the top of student searches, ensuring a better online performance than your competitors. Learn from Beacon's SEO team about how to keep your site ahead of the curve.
July 3, 2024
Discover how volunteers from Beacon worked with two local organizations to positively impact the lives of children in our community.
June 5, 2024
Good design: it keeps your audience coming back and ensures a great user experience. Hear from Beacon's designers about how they build incredible websites.
May 2, 2024
Want your school's site to rise above the noise and reach more students? Discover how content strategy strengthens your digital marketing to boost applications.
April 18, 2024
At Beacon, community service is our passion and motivation. See how we helped in Q1 by "Serving Our Neighbors" at Meals on Wheels and a hospice care facility.
April 3, 2024
Want to keep your school's enrollment numbers from dropping? Explore how to rework your website to find and speak to today's students and maximize enrollment!
March 11, 2024
As of March 2024, Tracy Dirks is the new CEO and President of Beacon. Here's what she has to say about her history with the company and plans for the future.
October 16, 2023
Welcome to The Beacon Brief – our quarterly newsletter with quick-hitting business updates. Read on for what we've been up to in Q3 2023.
June 15, 2023
GA4 is a seismic event in digital marketing. Beacon joined Hannon Hill to discuss the new analytics tracking system and how higher ed marketers can best use it.
March 27, 2023
Learn about some of 2023's top digital marketing trends for higher education in this recap of a one-time-only chat between industry leaders.
December 14, 2022
We've entered the twilight of 2022, and as we prepare for the onset of 2023, we often hear several IT considerations from our clients during this time of year. Naturally, due to the holidays and many workers opting to take time off, some companies will decide to perform significant infrastructure overhauls during this time frame while things are quieter. It can certainly be beneficial to start the year fresh with new equipment or software.
November 21, 2022
Learn all about the Beacon team's experience attending two 2022 Higher Ed conferences and how we wowed attendees with our Beaconville booth.
August 31, 2022
It's celebration time: as we head into the final quarter of the year, we're taking a look back at some of our biggest higher ed wins from the first three quarters of the year.
July 18, 2022
Beacon has opened a second office in Carolina Beach. Discover how this expansion will create more opportunities for staffing and serving our clients!
May 23, 2022
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a BITS team member at Beacon? If you’re a client of ours, you’ve likely spoken to us over the phone and may already be familiar with some of our technicians and what they do. For this month’s blog, we interviewed Dustin Shives, our Associate System Administrator to get the scoop on what his day-to-day is like as a member of our team. Read ahead to discover the IT issues Dustin gets calls about the most often, some of his personal tips & tricks, and more!:
May 3, 2022
Discover how audience personas can help you find the right balance between creating content that's too broad and content that's too focused.
April 1, 2022
Celebrate Beacon's sales team: they've earned Gold Sales Awards for their achievement in bringing Beacon's services and high-quality work to new clients.
March 28, 2022
Come in, come in: the tour is about to begin!
Thank you for joining us today for our guided tour of our newly-launched and redesigned Beacon IT Services (BITS) website. We're going to show you around and give you a fresh look at what we do and the services we provide.
We know, some of you have been here before! But we hope you'll enjoy seeing how our website, design, and technology have evolved over our 20+ years in this business. And for our newer clients or soon-to-be clients, we want to give you a taste of everything that goes into making us...us!
March 28, 2022
Discover how one community college is using digital marketing to turn the tide on falling enrollment rates and better connect with prospective students.
March 14, 2022
It's an exciting time at Beacon filled with new clients, new projects, and new opportunities. There's never been a better time to join our team. Learn more!
February 17, 2022
It's February and 'tis the season for Valentine's-related everything. We won't be dishing out any relationship advice this year (this is an IT blog after all), but we do whole-heartedly recommend that you commit to multifactor authentication (MFA). It doesn't matter if your employees are working remotely across the country or if they've been in-office every day for the past 10 years. Multifactor authentication is now a business necessity that goes a long way to secure your infrastructure and financial information.
February 11, 2022
Connecting with students isn't easy, but HBCUs' traditions and legacies of excellence offer some unique ways to market themselves. Read on to see how!
January 26, 2022
Here we are at the end of January already, racing ahead into 2022. Are you still keeping up with those New Year’s resolutions? Because the BITS team is still ready and raring to go this year! We’re already preparing for what the coming months will bring our way. As we leave 2021 behind us, we want to share a few hot topics that will be sticking points in the tech world during 2022.
January 24, 2022
To meet the needs of your audience, your website needs to evolve. We've compiled some 2022 higher ed digital marketing trends to help you achieve that goal.
December 15, 2021
Ah, the holiday season! It’s the time for spending time with loved ones, reflecting on the past year, and gift-giving and acts of appreciation. It’s also time for radio stations and retail businesses to be taken over by everyone’s favorite Christmas songs (we’re looking at you, Mariah Carey). At BITS, we have a few favorite holiday tunes of our own…and to celebrate the season, let us tell you why!
December 15, 2021
New site launches, giving back to our community, and all the possibilities of 2022: discover what is bringing the holly and jolly to our December.
November 19, 2021
As the days grow shorter and families gather for holidays, we often take time to reflect on the past year’s events and accomplishments in our lives. Anniversaries. Graduations. Promotions. All those memorable moments you look back on and smile. We’ve had plenty of those moments here at Beacon IT Services (BITS) over this busy year, with plenty of notable events and advancements in our realm of managed IT services.
November 15, 2021
Your Thanksgiving meal is a lot like your institution's website. Really! Discover how and see what you can do to make your meal and website the best it can be.
October 20, 2021
When your content feels fake, it can leave your audience screaming. Discover a few tips to creating authentic content that will engage prospective students.
October 20, 2021
Picture this: Years from now, you're sharing a holiday with your family. After overhearing you reminisce and discuss how unpredictable the beginning of the 2020s was–and hopefully how wonderful the rest of the decade was–a child in the family looks up from their tablet and asks you: "So, were you there for the great Facebook [...]
September 24, 2021
It’s Hurricane Season. Unless you’re a Carolina hockey fan, those words are enough to send a shiver down your spine, especially given how frequent—if not constant—hurricanes and storm warnings have become in recent years. Beyond the very real threat hurricanes pose to people’s well-being and property, they also pose another challenge to small business owners. A natural disaster may not only severely damage your business’s facilities or stock, it can also destroy the data you rely on every day to get your work done.
September 24, 2021
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Discover how to use compelling imagery to elevate the content on your site—along with a few common pitfalls to avoid.
August 27, 2021
We’ve all gotten those emails. They’ll come from a company you’ve done business with, or from someone you know. A boss maybe. The wording is odd sometimes—there are always phrases that seem a little off, like “I’m stuck on a conference”—but the tone is usually urgent. Some action or information is needed. A cell phone number. Or credit card or social security data. Or maybe just clicking a quick link.
August 26, 2021
The pandemic continues to disproportionately impact students from underrepresented minorities, low-income families, non-traditional students, and students with disabilities. As members of a college or university team, you may feel helpless when it comes to stopping the pandemic itself, but you do have options for improving student retention.
July 27, 2021
We take a look at how, despite a challenging year, we managed to come through for one of our partners to deliver the awesome website redesign services that have made us an industry leader!
July 23, 2021
Bear with us here, because we’re going to take a moment to talk about a subject that isn’t particularly fun. Insurance. Ugggghhhh, right? Unless you are in the insurance business (in which case, sorry), there is nothing particularly enjoyable about insurance. It costs money, and if you ever use it, it means something bad has happened. Nope, no fun at all. Insurance IS important though, and it can provide some peace of mind that if the worst does occur, you won’t be financially ruined. Chances are you already have a lot of insurance in your personal and professional life: auto, health, life, liability, the list goes on. But now it’s getting increasingly important to add cyber insurance to that list. Here’s what you need to know about this new and evolving area of the insurance industry.
June 25, 2021
If you're not thinking about your brand voice on the web, students may find your warm welcome much chillier than you think. This month, we explore ways you can improve your institution's brand voice, making stronger and more meaningful connections with your students.
June 24, 2021
It’s never good news when cybersecurity is in the news. Unfortunately, that’s certainly been the case this year, as story after story has emerged of cyber attacks and hacks crippling major corporations and utilities. The ransomware attack that halted Colonial Pipeline, hiking prices and causing gas shortages on the East Coast, was one of the most well-known recent incidents, but certainly not the only one: hackers also targeted food suppliers, insurance companies, communication companies, and many more. Indeed, one prediction from Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that businesses will be attacked by ransomware every 11 seconds by the end of 2021.
June 1, 2021
Discover Beacon's new website with a tour of five key pages that highlight our modern design, streamlined content, and enhanced user experience.
May 25, 2021
We get it: when you’ve got a problem, the temptation to handle it yourself is strong. It’s why there’s a whole do-it-yourself (DIY) industry, devoted to giving you the tools you need to get the job done on your own. And it’s so satisfying and fulfilling, isn’t it? Fixing your house and putting together a new piece of furniture are great DIY projects. So it’s easy to say, “I can fix it”, when your computer, network, or something else in your information technology (IT) setup needs attention, right? Here’s the thing about IT DIYs though: Don’t.
May 25, 2021
Beacon Technologies discusses why now is the time to prioritize web accessibility and how you can do your part to create a fairer, more equitable web.
April 23, 2021
How’s that saying go? “Head in the clouds?” It’s a term that usually has negative connotations, but maybe not for much longer. That’s because nowadays, the term “cloud” has become synonymous with technology and cloud computing, a service that lets users store data and programs on a remote server—the cloud—and access it from anywhere they have an internet connection. It’s quickly becoming apparent that migrating their network to the cloud is an absolute must for businesses that aim to stay on the cutting edge: in fact, a Verizon study in 2017 found that 77% of businesses felt that the cloud gave them a competitive advantage (and that number has surely only gone up since then).
April 22, 2021
If you're tired of the chaos of an open-source CMS, we've put together some of the most important things to demand of your next content management system.
April 6, 2021
Discover how Beacon can keep your website at peak performance, even as new changes come to Google's algorithm this year.
March 24, 2021
“Are you working from home?” It’s become a common question this past year as the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives. When it was suddenly unsafe to work in the offices we’d spent years commuting to every day, we adapted fast: spare rooms were transformed into makeshift offices, old chairs were drafted into service as desk chairs, and our home wireless routers were pushed to their limits handling the new wave of traffic from video calls, file transfers, and Slack conversations.
March 18, 2021
Over time, an ungoverned website grows wild and loses identity. Discover how establishing effective content governance can help your website blossom!
February 24, 2021
A special message to inspire change, from Mark Dirks, Beacon CEO.
February 16, 2021
Ah, February. The season of Valentine’s Day, of romance. What, you don’t find the gray skies and mushy, freezing rain common to the bleakest winter months romantic? Have some chocolates. Anyway, what is romance all about? Love, trust, support, and most of all, connections. Ok, we know what you’re thinking now: why is this IT services company blog going on about romance and connections? Because here at Beacon IT Services (BITS), connections are what we do: network connections, cloud connections, and connections with customers like you so that you can then connect with your customers.
