Articles
Copy Writing
As you may not be aware one of the services we offer is copy writing. Take a look at a Before and After here
Case Study - Community Development
In 2001, we persuaded the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music to offer visitors a forum for debate on their new website. Today, the forums have over 10,000 registered users viewing over 300,000 posts per month
The 7 Cost Centres of Website Design and Development
All website design, development and marketing projects differ in their emphasis on design, functionality, content and promotion.
The Desired Visitor Outcome
However complicated a website project may appear, there really are only two questions you need to ask and answer.
CBSO Podcast
With our help, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has become the first symphony orchestra in the world to publish a monthly podcast.
Viral SMS Marketing
Your own SMS marketing campaign from £500 plus VAT.
Read on to find out how you can market and communicate using text messaging.
Website Design and Development Questions
24/05/07
If you're planning to develop or redevelop your website, you may not be aware of the questions you need to answer in order to receive comparable quotes from agencies.Here are the questions we ask clients in order to provide an accurate quotation.
Feel free to copy these into an email, add your answers and send them to mark@escapecommittee.com for a quotation.
The two most important questions are:
Who do you wish to attract?
What do you want them to do?
You may wish to consider those questions first before you move on to the detailed questions below.
You may also find this brief article about these questions of help (http://www.escapecommittee.com/latest/40)
General Questions:
1. What company, organisation or individual is the site for?
(This isn't your targets but you and/or your organisation)
2. Please provide a brief description.
3. In what sector or industry do you operate?
4 .Please describe your business model?
5. Do you have a formal written business and/or marketing plan?(If so, and if you are happy to do so, please attach copies to your reply)
6. Who are your customers/clients?
7. Who are your main competitors? (please include website addresses if available)
8. What do they do better or worse than you?
9. Why do clients/customers choose you rather than the competition?
10. What off line marketing and PR do you do?
11. What print sales and marketing material do you currently use?
12. How do you currently develop new business?
13. What % of your business is with new clients or customers each year?
14. Do you have any existing visual identity? (logo etc.)
15. If so, or if not, do you want us to create or update a visual identity as part of this project?
16. Do you have a 3rd Party graphic designer or agency who designs and produces your marketing material?
About Your Current Website (if you have one)
17. What is the URL of your current website?
18. Who designed it?
19. Where is it hosted?
20. How much do you pay for hosting and updates to the current site?
21. Is the website a static site or is some or part of it database generated?
22. Do you currently take payments online? If so, how?
23. If so, which products and/or services are most popular?
24. What are the objectives of the current site?
25. Do you have access to statistics for activity on your site? If so, what do you use?
26. What existing features, content and/or functionality do you want or need to retain in your new site?
27. Do you have visitor feedback about your current site?
28. What do you feel are the main shortcomings of your current site?
29. How does you site compare with those of your competitors?
About Your New Website
30. Is it your intention to host the site yourself; host with your own existing or a new supplier or do you want us to host the site for you?
31. Do you need particular levels of guaranteed uptime or any specific back up routines?
32. Have you documented your requirements in terms of design and functionality for the new site? If so, please include that document in your reply.
33. Do you need to sell products or services from the new site? If so, how many and what type?
34. Will you require a shopping cart feature in order to allow visitors to buy a range of products and/or services?
35. Will you be selling anything that can be delivered digitally?
36. Do you want to stream audio or video content? If so, please give details.
37. If yes, will you need help editing and /or encoding the audio and video for streaming?
38. If yes, do you want a bespoke audio and/or video jukebox developed? Or are you happy for visitors to access this content in their local associated applications (Eg, Media Player or Real Player)
39. Do you wish to include podcasting in your new site?
40. Do you require a keyword search facility that searches the content of your site and provides results?
41. Would you prefer the less costly alternative of incorporating Google search into your site? (Note that Google advertising will appear in the results.)
42. Do you want visitors to complete and submit forms on your website? If so, please give details.
43. Do you intend to offer games on the site?
44. Do you wish to offer eLearning functionality? If so, please give details.
45. Do you intend to offer competitions on your site?
46. Do you want to create an online community using message/bulletin boards etc.
47. Do you want to publish a blog?
48. Have you some idea of the structure of the the information in your new site?
49. Have you given any thought to the main navigation options?
50. Do you want us to write or edit the copy for your new site?
51. Do you want us to source/crop/edit any imagery for the new site or will you do so?
52. Is it your intention to provide all of the content for the site in one go in a digital format ready to go?
53. Will you require a web based content management system so that you can update the site yourself?
54. Or, will you need our help updating the site from time to time?
55. If so, how frequently do you anticipate needing to update the site?
56. What statistics will you require about activity on the site?
57.D o you require a search marketing campaign to promote your site after the launch? (This can include one or more of the following: Serach engine optimisation, pay per click advertising, mutual links generation, online PR)
58. Do you require an ongoing technical support contract or do you prefer to seek our technical support as and when required?
59. What web design/development and database adminstration skills do you have inhouse?
60. Do you wish to send out plain text or HTML newsletters to promote the site? (If, so, do you want us to design and provide templates for HTML newsletters?)
61. Do you want to use our email newsletter tool?
62. Have you set aside a budget for this project? If so, what is it?