SMALL & MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES WEB SITES
BLACKHALL PODIATRY - www.blackhallpodiatry.com
Blackhall Podiatry is an Edinburgh-based podiatry and chiropody clinic. They required a web site as part of a brand development programme that is aimed at increasing customer awareness of the business in their key markets.
The web site had to do the following:
- Present the business in a professional manner. The colour scheme for example had to suggest professional health-care. The final design is bright and appealing, and the content easy to read through the use of lots of white space.
- The clinic caters for all ages, and is a family-focused practice, so the images used had to represent this.
- The design, build and content had all to be search-engine focused.
- Client testimonials are an important part of building potential customer confidence.
STONE INSPIRED - www.stoneinspired.com
Stoneinspired.com is a new web site for Jason Hoffman Drystone Walling.
The main purpose of the site is to show case the drystone walling work, so images feature prominently: in the banners and in the image galleries that illustrate each project.
COBURN BLAIR - www.coburnblair.co.uk
Coburn Blair is an executive recruitment company with offices in Edinburgh and London.
Arkose Design was asked to create a simple web site for them to promote their business. As will many small businesses, the majority of clients come via referals. The web site that we were asked to create was intended to show case what they do, who they do it for and what their clients say about them.
AJGPROPERTY - www.ajgproperty.com
AJG Property is a company that offers a range of services for individuals looking to sell their homes quickly, without having to go through the usual channel of using an estate agent. As many of their clients are selling for emotive reasons - bereavement, financial problems or ill-health - the client made it clear that the design had to reflect the company's commitment to professionalism, confidentiality and sensitivity.
We were asked to:
- Create a site that is good-looking, functional and intuitive to use;
- Produce a site that is search-engine friendly;
- Create a look and feel that promotes the business as "professional", "confidential", "discrete", "understanding" and "sensitive";
- Develop your brand identity
Quote/unquote
Arkose Design does what it says on the tin! They provided me with a superb site that shouts professionalism, is very well designed, easy to use, and simple to navigate.
After chatting to a number of companies I chose Arkose Design because of their customer focus and excellent client management allied to a clean and simple design style. I didn’t want fussy design or complicated frills. My design is perfect and it is right on brief. Arkose delivered my site quickly and with the minimum of fuss.
Use them. They are good!
Proprietor, Owner, AJG Property
PRO-SCOT LTD www.pro-scot.com
Pro-Scot Ltd are the premier rider and driver training school in Fife, Scotland. As well as providing tuition for those looking for their first car and bike licences, they also offer advanced driving instructor training, advanced motorcycle and driver training, fleet services and sell a range of motorcycle clothing.
Their current web site had been around for a while. They were keen though to look at a redesign and rebuild to create a site that was more appealing to their core target market of younger drivers. The new site was intended to get across the "lifestyle" benefits of having a driving licence. We were therefore asked to create a site that would:
- Promote Pro-Scot to young people (17 - 24), and give them enough information to make an informed choice on where to go for their driving lessons, without over-burdening users with details;
- Present Pro-Scot as a dynamic and exciting company to train with;
- Place successful students' testimonials as the key element of the site - not only to give it colour but to showcase the diverse range and number of successful candidates;
- Create separate areas for each of the five main business areas. It was felt that users were unlikely to want or need to read about other the forms of training on offer;
- Set up a forum;
- Create an administrative area to add and edit testimonials, news and prices.
Quote/unquote
When we decided that it was time to redevelop our website we found it hard to make a decision: nearly all promised the earth and at prices that varied so much. Jason did his bike test with us and offered to help us, at first I was sceptical, Arkose were a small company after all, could they really provide us with what we needed?
We wanted a large multiple entry site, it had to be clean, clinical, and professional whilst being easy to navigate with minimum text and lots of images. Jason and Emma designed just what I had asked for, and then I changed my mind!
Jason was very patient and understanding despite several design, content and layout changes from me, because I could not make my mind up. Arkose have worked with us all the way, they have gone above and beyond our expectations, nothing is too much trouble for them, they have provided us with a large clean, easy to navigate site that is bright and colourful with lots of unique areas to it. We have without doubt the most professional rider and driver training site around, our rankings are on the front pages of most search engines and our Google stats package provided by Arkose enable us to measure the sites success. The fact that we receive over 2000 unique views per week and business enquiries are up by approx 25% since the site went live is testimony to that. I can't wait for Phase 2, with the addition of e-commerce.
Our website is now a continual work in progress and Jason's enthusiasm and encouragement to embrace and welcome the new ideas and changes required will ensure that our site will stay top in our industry.
I have no hesitation recommending Jason and Emma at Arkose Design for anyone who needs a website whether it be large or small, at extremely competitive prices.
John Macdonald, Director, Pro-Scot Ltd
MOORE AND SHAW LLP- www.mooreandshaw.co.uk
Moore and Shaw LLP are licensing practitioners, providing expertise to the licenced drinks trade. Being a new business, they had limited resources to spend on a web site, but they understood the importance of having a professionally built site.
Our brief therefore was to:
- Produce a web site that would promote them online
- Allow prospective clients to get in contact at all times
- That was good looking and functional
- That could be expanded in the future, without the need for a re-design
- and most importantly, was within their budget
Quote/unquote
"As Steve and I were looking to get our web site designed, I was contacted by Arkose Design by post who were offering their services. We sent all the photos, text and a basic idea to them requesting for a quote which was promptly returned, which was acceptable. The draft design followed within a couple of days, and barring a few minor changes the web site was functional within the week. I also found Jason very helpful whenever I spoke to him regarding the web site."
Ian Shaw and Steve Moore, Moore and Shaw Ltd
ADVANTAGE PR - www.advantagepr.co.uk
Advantage PR is a Scottish Public Relations company. They were already an established and successful PR business. However, the client felt that the time had come to develop a web site to take the business on to the next level.
Our brief therefore was to:
- Promote the client's brand, services and name online
- Provide potential clients with a snapshot of the business
- Create a site that is visually interesting
- Has the content clearly written with search engine optimisation built-in
Quote/unquote
"I am thrilled with the finished product and would recommend Arkose to any company which wants speedy service and professionalism."
Clare Graham, Proprietor, Advantage Public Relations
DIAMONDS HR - www.diamondshr.co.uk
The client is an established Human Resources business specialising in executive search and recruitment. As well as redesigning the web site, we also redesigned their logo as part of a rebranding process.
The client required:
- A new look for their corporate branding
- A web site that was modern and professional - echoing their business ideals
- A web site that had effective search marketing built-in
- A web site that would both appeal to existing clients and draw in new clients
Quote/unquote
"Your explanations and input was particularly useful for a technophobe like me, and I really appreciate your persistence in following me up to keep to our agreed timescale and agenda!"
Barbara Robertson, Diamonds HR
GIRAFFE CONSULTING - www.giraffeconsulting.biz
Giraffe Consulting is a firm of marketing and management consultants which specialises in strategy, marketing, technology and innovation consultancy services.
The client required:
- An updated look and feel, but retaining the essential elements of the Giraffe Consulting brand
- Reworking the site architecture to better present the key sectors and the functions that the business covers
- Content presented to users in a visually interesting way
- Raising the profile of the business through working on the search terms used in the site
HOME IN CRETE - www.homeincrete.co.uk
Home in Crete is a web site advertising a holiday property for sale in Crete, Greece.
The client required:
- A good looking web site that would advertise not only the property but the Cretan lifestyle
- Lots of white space to make reading the content as easy as possible
- A site that is easy to maintain