McGowan-Kemp Project Profile 

Project Details

Company Name: McGowan-Kemp Ltd

Business Sector: Specialists in the international sale and purchase of web offset printing presses.

Centred Dot Brief: To design and build a web site allowing McGowan Kemp to demonstrate current press availability all around the world to potential clients.

www.mcgowan-kemp.co.uk

Detail: McGowan-Kemp Ltd had previously operated a web site which required manual updating on a daily basis using specialist web development tools.  They wanted the site to be updated using online tools, available for use by any authorised user anywhere in the world.

As well as operations in the UK McGowan-Kemp have several partners around the world all dealing with the purchase and sale of printing machinery.  Prior to the completion of their new web site, the partners concerned were unable to share or access any necessary information easily as there was no central data source available. The McGowan-Kemp team were also unable to access data easily when working overseas, the problem often being exacerbated by working in different time zones.

Solution: After a period of consultation between Centred Dot and the client it became clear that there were four main factors which had to be resolved within the new design;

• Too much time taken in updating and publishing the web site manually every day

• The formatting of the web site was easily disrupted by staff not trained in the use of web design or publishing software

• There needed to be a central information resource available to all staff and agents from anywhere in the world

• Due to trading internationally several different language versions had to be accommodated on the site

The first two problems were addressed by applying a back end system to the site out of view of the public areas, allowing the client to update machine availability information online and to a fixed format thereby saving a lot of time and effort on unnecessarily complex administration. This information can now be viewed in a consistent style by the visitor who is able to access the information via a search facility on the site. The visitor is also able to request further information on the machinery displayed in the search results, view images and other associated documentation and contact McGowan-Kemp immediately to express an interest or request further clarification.

As this public information and documentation are stored in a central area they can now be accessed anywhere in the world at any time and updated by authorised data administrators. Information and documentation not available to the public domain can also be held in an area accessible only to authorised administrators and agents.

To cover international trading it was decided to make the home and about us pages available in five languages.

Future developments may include a multilingual news facility and further refining of the content and document management system.

 

AOS Technology Project Profile 

Project Details

Company Name: AOS Technology Ltd

Business Sector: System design and engineering services for               opto-electronic and opto-mechanical instrumentation.

Centred Dot Brief: To redevelop the existing AOS Technology web site.

www.aost.co.uk

Detail: When Centred Dot met with AOS Technology they already had a web site in existence; however they were dissatisfied with its functionality, visibility and overall performance and asked us to look into these areas and redevelop the site.

Solution: We met with AOS to discuss exactly what they wanted to achieve from a redeveloped site and how they expected their goals to be met.  These included raising site visibility with the search engines as the company required a higher profile within its market sector. From the meeting several points were raised;

• The existing web site looked good but had been produced totally in Flash and held little useful technical content

• Being Flash-based, the site was totally invisible to search engines

• The products and services available from AOS technology were highly specialised and as such a new site needed to raise awareness of the unique offerings available

• A very specific site publishing date had to be met to coincide with a new product range being launched at a large trade exhibition

• Due to the technical nature of the work being done by AOS the amount of data to be held on the site was quite extensive

• The client required a content management system to be in place to allow them to update the news section they required as and when they needed to.

From this meeting Centred Dot were able to put together a design which fitted in with the previous site's look and feel but which allowed the client more flexibility of content, as well as an in-depth map of the site in order to test the navigation structure was solid and instinctive for users.

Working closely with the client we then began to build the site level by level, ensuring that the visitor could find the information they required quickly. Content emphasis was based mainly around a products and services page ensuring that all technical content was easily available and that all keywords were used to maximum effect as on the index page of the site.  Some Flash was used but only in a couple of areas where it could add visual interest to the page.

The news pages and content management system were easily fitted to the design which had been produced to incorporate all of the functional elements of the site prior to the build. The build itself went well and the deadline was met.

AOS Technology now has a functional, manageable web site, visible to the search engines; the site is highly focused on the products and services the client wishes to offer to potential clients of its own. All information is displayed cleanly and simply within an easily navigable structure.
 

Axiom IFA Project Profile 

Project Details

Company Name: Axiom IFA
Business sector: Independent Financial Advisers
Centred Dot Brief: To design an internet presence for a relatively new company to fit in with the style and design of their corporate literature.

www.axiomifa.co.uk

Detail: Centred Dot met with the Axiom team in order to get an idea of how Axiom worked, the kind of business they were trying to attract and in which geographical areas they wished to focus on in the first instance.

Solution: Once these things were ascertained the build was fairly straightforward. The main area Axiom wished to tackle was the mortgage market although they also deal with pensions, saving and investments amongst many other things. We therefore focussed the bulk of the site towards mortgages, including an online version of The Mortgage Code and a short but detailed form for the applicant to fill in prior to contact being made. We also ensured that the types of mortgages available were briefly outlined and that all necessary disclaimers etc were added on the relevant pages.

We also made available a general enquiry form for those people interested in the many other services Axiom had available to both corporate and individual clients.

After the site had been approved by the necessary financial bodies it was published and marketed with the major search engines and directories as well as local and financial based directories.