Company History
2010
The www.forwardmultimedia.com domain was registered in March 2010, and started out as a New York based website business with a project portfolio of one (1), and a free one at that, done as a favor. It was built in the year before in 2009. using Adobe Dreamweaver, the go-to website design software at the time, and when sites were static pages, similar to how one can view a PDF online.
Also at that time, even in modern New York City, companies had to be convinced that they needed a website, as it was now catching on and not viewed as the critical tool it is today; it was just a neat thing to have and business owners paid little mind to it. This meant that the phone wasn’t ringing off the hook or inbox flooding with email— no, website business had to be sought the old fashioned way— pounding the pavement with flyers in hand.
2011
The company started in 2011 in a market already dominated by larger and more experienced web design firms. A quick Google search at the time would not see any appearance of ‘www.forwardmultimedia.com’ in the first ten pages. In a hint of irony, this website company had to advertise in the newspaper. A tiny classified ad under Website Services in the Trinidad Express newspaper marked the beginning of this local journey.
In a hint of irony, this website company had to advertise in the newspaper.
With no portfolio to lean on, it was strange that the first few clients never asked to see past work. There was also no general pricing guidelines as other web designers never advertised their prices, so the initial pricing structure was somewhat arbitrarily set at $1,799 TTD with no packages to choose from.
2012
Realizing that no website company worth it’s salt should have to advertise in the newspaper, Forward Multimedia began a mission to improve its search ranking while simultaneously building its client base and portfolio. It was also for that reason, that services for online marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) were not offered until it was proven it could be done first on the company’s own website.
Unbeknownst to early clients, the company was actually still learning WordPress (the content management system websites are built upon) and the website business in general. But that didn’t disadvantage them in any way as the website market was now beginning to develop.
By the end of the first year Forward Multimedia was on the first page of Google next to established local web companies around for more than ten years, and has since remained consistently at the top, often at the number one spot, and also owning many other major industry keywords.
By the end of the first year Forward Multimedia was on the first page of Google next to established local web companies around for more than ten years
After a consistent appearance on the first page of Google was maintained, newspaper advertising ceased completely and the company chose to rely exclusively on search to gain new business with absolutely no paid advertising, which is still the case today
2013
After a year of consistent first page search rankings, all advertising in the newspaper completely ceases. Promotion relied exclusively via online search. Forward Multimedia appears as the first place result in Google search for the first time in January 2013!
The deliberate use of articles via blog posts to boost SEO also caught the attention of First Atlantic Commerce (FAC), the Bermuda based provider of our TT Dollar payment gateway, because E-Commerce was a frequent topic. FAC offered the opportunity of a strategic partnership which Forward Multimedia gladly accepted. This marked the beginning of a concerted E-Commerce push in Trinidad & Tobago as all the major obstacles for local online shopping had been overcome.
The same articles also caught the attention of the Trinidad Guardian newspaper in 2013 for a piece about local E-Commerce in their business section and asked for Founder Zaf Rahaman’s insights which were used in the article. See article here.
2014
No doubt about it, Forward Multimedia is permanently etched as a premier website company in T&T, owning the top position for at least four major keywords. Comfortable in its own skin, the company continues marching forward.
2015
Recognized as a premier web designer in T&T, Forward Multimedia is on every potential client’s shortlist of web designers to call, often chosen over competitors with a robust portfolio of prominent companies in the country: Chief Brand Products, Linda’s Bakery, Gulf Insurance, Nutrimix Feeds, Krave Restaurant.
2016
Over a dozen in-depth articles on the ins and outs of local E-Commerce, Forward Multimedia is a known authority on setting up an online store in Trinidad & Tobago and the main source of all local E-Commerce related online knowledge in the country.
2017
Forward Multimedia is consulted for input for the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s National E-Commerce Policy that became an official policy in December 2017. Many of the company’s recommendations made it into the final document.
2018
In 2018 Mr. Rahaman was an invited panelist in the annual Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum. Also in 2018 he was an invited speaker for the launch of the Virtual Caribbean DNS Entrepreneurship Center (VDECC) an initiative of ICANN- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body that that coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS) worldwide.
Mr. Rahaman was also a consultant for the Ministry of Trade & Industry’s National E-Commerce Policy which was passed in December 2018 and many recommendations made it to the final policy.
2019
Online stores continued their march forward. By the end of 2019, Forward Multimedia dropped the Magento platform to build online stores exclusively on the WordPress/WooCommerce platform. The company also continued developing it’s own system of inventory syncing with major accounting and inventory software.
2020
An online surge like never before came after the first Covid lockdown in March 2020. Forward Multimedia grew from a team of 3 to 25 to handle the workload. With the pandemic poised to hang around, online in T&T will never be the same, and will never go backward, only forward and upward.
2021
This was a full year of lockdowns, Forward Multimedia continued maintaining sites and new online store projects continued to come as a result. Many new web design companies and individuals began marketing on social media to capitalize on the online surge.
Forward Multimedia was approached by Scotiabank to test and implement one of the first integrations of their own payment gateway, referred to as Scotiabank IPG, now known as Scotiabank eCom+. Forward Multimedia was instrumental in refining the API.
Also in 2021, work started on the first integration with the new API being developed by CSF Couriers for integrated delivery with online stores. The store was MivaTT, and again Forward Multimedia was instrumental in refining the API.
2022
With the country opening back up, things slowly got back to normal. Online business remained steady still. Given the growth we were fortunately ready for during the Covid period, Forward Multimedia became Forward Multimedia Ltd in July 2023.
2023
The trend for 2023 was social media promotion like never before. Web and online store business stayed steady, but the primary focus for the year was online marketing, paid Facebook ads, and short-form videos for IG, TikTok etc.
Forward Multimedia also emphasized focus on client support and development and implemented an initiative called No Client Left Behind as a lynchpin for future growth.
Forward Multimedia keeps moving forward!
The final choice is still theirs but the work and website of Forward Multimedia is unmatched by any other web design company in Trinidad & Tobago. ♦♦♦
