Presence Services, be seen on the web and elsewhere

Many small businesses, family enterprises or public service bodies are increasingly aware that they need an online presence.  In many cases, however, providing a website is only part of the requirement.  I can provide a tailored approach to your needs including:

• Simple website development (or refreshing an existing ‘tired’ website);
• Advising on promotional activities;
• Designing supporting marketing collateral;
• Documentation;
• Illustration.

Website Activities

Websites perform many functions, sometimes they are the shop window of the organization, in other cases they are intended as a means of communication.  In either case it is essential that the site is visually appealing to its visitors, easy to navigate and easy to understand.  My first foray into website development was for Brentwood Trampoline Club where the site ‘grew like topsy’; following major rewrites early in 2006 and again in 2009 the site is now much easier to read with key information such as session diary and club newsfeed right up front on the home page and making it much more compelling all round.

Other projects have included developing new and updated websites for rental properties in Florida.  This included research into the amenities in the local area in order to provide a ‘one-stop-shop’ for potential tenants for planning their holiday in the Orlando area.  The styling of the new site shown near right here took its design cue from the nameplate the owners had on the property.   The original site is shown on the left as a contrast.  I also have extensive experience with ‘not-for-profit’ organizations and small businesses.

See more?

To see more website examples including those under development click here.

 

Promotional Activities

Having a shop window is no guarantee that anybody will buy from you.  First you need to find ways of driving people past your online shop window.  In part this can be achieved through ensuring that the site is registered with major search engines but with hundreds, if not thousands, of other sites trying to achieve the same then getting on that first page is often virtually impossible unless you are prepared to pay for the privilege.  You can, of course, ensure you get a listing on relevant directory sites – this not only increases the chances of your site being found but will improve your raking with search sites such as google as well.  As part of my service to you I can:

• submit your site to relevant search engines;
• research relevant listing sites, make entries for you where free to do so and advise on those where a charge is made;
• help draft press releases or advertorials for relevant press.

Designing supporting marketing collateral

Building on the theme of driving customers past your shop window – in some cases it makes sense to produce leaflets and brochures, in others a different approach may be required.  The objective is to to provide sufficient information to attract a customer either to your website for more information or to contact you directly to place an order.  When looking at the needs of one of the Florida rental properties, we agreed that it made economic sense to market the property in the local community using notice boards and other similar communication media.  The objective was to drive potential customers to the website where an online booking could be made.  I provided the design on the right here which is intended to be printed as a postcard.

The design is simple and provides a number of key attributes:

• personalised with names;
• localised by telephone number;
• insight into the property and appealing pool;
• reference to online resources to help holiday planning;
• pictures evoking different aspects of the theme parks;
• the graphics draw your eyes to the website address.

Most importantly – the contact and website details are in sufficiently large print to be easily read and concise enough to be easily remembered.

In another diversion I have also helped another website customer, Davenheath-OTS, to produce a range of stationery and other materials such as an attractive fridge magnet to send to their domestic customer base. The design objectives for the fridge magnet were to provide some key information highlighting the risks of not having fire and security protection services maintained and encouraging customers to sign up for a maintenance deal. The pictures on the right shows the original photos I used to as a basis to create the main design elements and how I combined them into the final design. I have subsequently been asked to extend this imagery into a number of other customer-facing documents.

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To see more examples of my design work please click here.

Documentation

Often as important as the final product itself is any handover or support documentation that goes with it.  Sometimes the product is itself a document as is the case in some of the examples shown on the design examples page referenced above, but often they are procedures designed to help a customer to get the most out of the tools I have provided them with.  The following are examples of the documentation I have produced for customers previously:

• Instructions for updating a google calendar that may well be embedded in the customer’s website;
• Instructions for managing and creating Blogger blog entries that might then be fed into a customer’s website through use of an RSS feed.

With a strong background in technical writing and presentation I am more than hapy to take on process and similar documentation projects.

Illustration

To see more about our latest service please click here.