CORPORATE WEBSITE DESIGN

Many Purposes - One Chance

We have found over the years that a Corporate Website has to fulfil many functions and yet we only have ONE front page. It is therefore essential to distil the look of the front page to a brand essence and design a consummate Navigation system that can lead in two or at most three clicks to the visitor's desired data.

Because a Corporation has many divisions each dealing with either region or product, we may decide that the best approach is a universal or "Global" landing page with access to regional variations. We may also decide that the company is product orientated and that customers may look for assistance via product or brand route and simply expect information in their own language even though the product is manufactured in a country that speaks a different language.
Example: Gaggia is now owned by Philips, neither of which is a UK company. Both sites are multi-lingual, both default to English.

Either way, the Navigational choices must be simple and intuitive.

Consultations

The first step in a project like this is consultation with the client and establishing objectives of building a new website.

We will also require details of in-house procedures, IT staff level of web literacy and expectation of site self-management.

We would then draw up a flowchart of the company structure : Divisions Regions Products Brands and decide if one site is desirable or one main sites with domains/subdomains for each region/product.

A project file can then be established with goals, waypoints and markers set. Finances are estimated and payment points agreed upon. Its a good idea to set a contingency fund, however Calco UK are happy to work to a fixed budget and prepare a speciication in advance for this figure.

Next the The Corporate identity if being retained can then be added to the design "brief". Calco UK's many years of experience in multiple market sectors can also be utilised.

Each product demographic is carefully considered as most times we will only be designing one website for one niche. Design and Demographic are closely related.

If Social Networking is commissioned, we would start the foundation for placement at this stage (i.e. not when the website has been completed).

Next some rough options are presented to the client for appraisal and a design chosen to progress for second and final approval. Once the design is completed a home page, "regular" content page and form page are created and again presented for approval. The navigation (interface) is also tested to see if its logical and feasible.

When the client is happy with the design page coding can begin. A wire frame of how the page is constructed is filled out with images and tested with a few other pages to make sure the website design flows seamlessly from one part of the website to the next. Call to action and Contact panels are added where there is an unobtrusive location. SEO is added to all pages and the text of each page balanced for content vs SEO. This balance is confirmed with the client.

The website is launched in a secret location so the client can see progress. ALL final changes are made, legal and spelling are checked. The site is launched.

The full weight of SEM is unleashed and any snagging in the main website dealt with.

Re-appraisal is part of the normal marketing dynamic and is applied as budget allows.

It's a Lifestyle

Aspirational - Lifestyle - Simply Contemporary - Timeless ... all terms used to describe the design concepts behind websites that don't overtly advertise brand and product.

You would NOT see the words FREE or BUY NOW or TIME LIMITED OFFER. What we are trying to achieve is a close cooperation between a company that is acutely aware of its market, products and plans for the future and ourselves who understand the web paradigm in all its forms.

The result should be a modern, faultless website that becomes almost transparent as the visitor flows from the landing page to his or her goal.

We would also hope to use various devices to take the person's name and email address for customer feedback.

What is a Corporation vs SME

A "corporation" in the sense of this web page simply describes a complex website (as outlined left). If you want these principles applied to your project even though you have 15 employees, we fully understand that you require this level of interaction and a professional approach to your design and build.

Conversely if you are a multi-national and simply want a straight forward, no nonsense website that looks great and in a short period of time - that's not going to be a problem.

The Wow Factor

Is defined as : "Basically the customer has no idea what they want" Dont worry though, we know what you mean - you just appreciate good design.