Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Creative Edge Talent Voucher Story
Article as it appeared on Creative Edge.Eu Website on 11th June 2014:
A Creative Edge Talent Voucher was provided to Cox Power Architects (Mayo, West of Ireland) to re-design their website to be responsive and to enable better targeting of international clients and export markets. The re-design was conducted by inTandem web design (Sligo, West of Ireland).
Assignment
Cox Power Architects are an architecture practice based in Westport, Co Mayo. The assignment they applied for was to create a new online presence that adapts to all modern devices and is designed so that it can be managed, controlled and updated by them going forward. Their previous website was in need of a makeover and as a design business they understood that their visual brand was of utmost importance.
They were experiencing problems with their existing website including the following:
- Very difficult to upload content.
- News / Awards pages were buried at the back of the site and consisted only of raw text with no graphic content.
- The site changed format (for the worse) when viewed on different devices or with different screen resolutions.
- The graphics were not of a standard expected for a (visual) creative business.
- Their current export services (40% of turnover in 2012) did not appear on the site.
- Their Google search ranking was extremely poor.
They wanted their new website to come across as professional, innovative and interesting to all users even those who may not be as familiar with the area of architecture. They felt their old website did not reflect, as much as it should, the creative side of their business.
Projects – Tourism page of coxpower.ie developed by inTandem web design
Process and reason for selecting the talent
Cox Power Architects reviewed the MyCreativeEdge website and selected inTandem web design (Carolin Collins) for development of their new website. They were impressed with inTandem’s portfolio as shown on MyCreativeEdge and further exploration of inTandem’s work on the company’s own site confirmed this view.
They made contact with inTandem prior to applying for the Talent Voucher to gauge their interest and availability to proceed with the project should their application be successful. They felt from the start that Carolin understood and explained the issues / problems they were experiencing with their current website and also understood the direction in which they wanted their new website to go. This confirmed to Cox Power Architects that inTandem were the right talent to go with for the new website.
The benefits to inTandem from working with Cox Power Architects included the ability to:
- Broaden their client base with expansion into a new geographical area.
- Reach clients in new areas with a subsequent opportunity for business growth through referrals, which can be of tremendous value to a supplier of creative services.
- Showcase their own skills at their best through involvement in a highly design-driven website development project.
- Attract further clients who wish to create a new online presence that adapts responsively to all modern devices. (As this is a relatively new trend, it has benefited inTandem to add this new service to their portfolio.)
Implementation
The assignment was carried out through web-meetings, phone calls and e-mails. It is worth noting that Cox Power Architects and inTandem did not actually meet face to face. Their relatively remote geographical locations did not prove a barrier to carrying out this assignment and in fact their respective offices could have been in different countries. They both felt that this reinforced the concept behind the Creative Edge project that creative services can be traded easily from regional locations.
Once Cox Power Architects had reviewed the problems with their existing website and their needs and expectations from the new website, they then gathered the information / images etc. that inTandem would need to develop the site.
inTandem provided a very detailed client needs analysis document for Cox Power Architects to complete which included an analysis of comparable websites for review and information on their business objectives.
Home page of www.coxpower.ie developed by inTandem web design
When inTandem had received all the information, they began designing layout options / folder structures for the front page. Once they had an agreed structure for the website they were able to commence coding and pagination and re-design the site. The ultimate cost of the website re-design was somewhat greater than the value of the Talent Voucher with Cox Power Architects covering the difference.
Conclusions
Without the MyCreativeEdge directory, Cox Power Architects felt they would not have been aware of inTandem and would have found it difficult to know where to start in their search, beyond their immediate locale. They felt it was of great benefit to be able to scan a number of profiles quickly purely on a ‘first impression’ basis before drilling down into their own sites for more detail.
The benefits Cox Power Architects will gain from their new website are:
- Ability to sell their services: The new website reflects the services they offer–in particular the creative design content of their architecture.
- Ability to sell their location: The new website content turns their peripheral location into an advantage. The link between their site and their MyCreativeEdge profile embeds their website in the creative sector and allows them to sell their location in Westport as a place of innovation and creativity.
- Reassure clients: Their new website is more manageable and enables them to update content more frequently which reflects their ability to keep up to date with current regulations and architectural design.
- Attract clients: Their ability to put useful information for the general public on the site in the News section draws people to the site. Users (in time) will become clients, expanding their business.
- Improve export: Approximately 40% of their turnover is from international web-based services. The new site allows them to consolidate and expand their export market. Their website has become a portal for communication.
- Improve visibility: Web optimisation has improved search ranking and allows for increased domestic and international traffic which will (in time) lead to new clients.
- Increase their turnover and employees: They have a good international base and their premises can accommodate twice as many employees. Given the availability of well qualified personnel in the region they can quickly respond to any increased workload arising from increased work generated through the site.
They found inTandem very professional and a pleasure to work with and are very pleased with their new website.
