Posts Tagged ‘web development’

2005.13

Double Award scoop for leading Web Design and Online Marketing Agency, Optix Solutions

Posted by Amanda in Company News

AwardsThe champagne corks were popping for Optix Solutions, one of the South West’s leading web design and online marketing agencies, at the Express and Echo 2013 Business Awards this year.

Not only was Optix Solutions’ Director Alastair Banks winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year, Alastair and Co-Director James Dawkins picked up the award for Employer of the Year.

‘It was an amazing night’ said Alastair, ‘we are having such a great year and feel honoured to have been recognised in our local community. Optix has gone from strength to strength and we couldn’t have done this without the hard work and support of our staff’

Alastair and James created Optix Solutions back in 1999, when they were studying together at The University of Exeter. From humble beginnings in a spare bedroom in their home, 14 years on they have recently moved into new offices, trebling the floor space of their previous office. With 14 core staff members and additional support outsourced to other local, independent businesses, Optix have proven themselves to be one of the leading Web Design and Online Marketing Agencies in the South West.

Their impressive client portfolio includes The Eden Project, The University of Exeter, Devon and Cornwall Probation Trust, Pipex px, Devon Air Ambulance Trust, Ashfords LLP, Flybe, Grainge Architects and YouGen.

Optix Solutions offer a wide range of services encompassing Web Development and Design, Online Marketing – including SEO, PPC Management and Social Media. Alastair also regularly speaks at events and seminars and runs his own blog for entrepreneurs http://www.iambanksy.co.uk/about/

1308.12

How to ensure your web provider is doing the best for you

Posted by Charlie in Company News

I have now been working in the web industry for a year or so, so I thought I would share a few of my thoughts in a series of blogs, which I hope will allow you to get more out of your web supplier.

I want to highlight the most common issues prospects have discussed with me and provide you with some suggestions about how these problems can be avoided.

Understanding your business

It amazes me the way the web industry has traditionally worked. In how many other professional service industries would the client be expected to come up with a brief detailing exactly what they need for a project?

So traditionally it would be down to the client themselves to write a website brief from which an agency would quote and the site would be built. This is truly amazing as doing so fundamentally ignores the role of the agency as the experts in the relationship.
Take Optix for example. The agency has been operating for thirteen years now. The team have seen what works and what doesn’t. If you wanted to know how to build an effective online presence, these people really should know. It shouldn’t be down to you, the client, to come up with what works because put simply that’s not your job.

So, to ensure you’re working with an agency that will take responsibility for the development of your web presence, consider if they are interested in knowing about your business first. You should be hearing questions like ‘What are your USP’s?’, ‘Where do you want to be in 3 years’ time?’ and ‘What does a typical customer look like?’.

With this informed understanding of what you are trying to achieve as a business, your web partner will be able to offer significantly greater value to you over the course of your relationship. They will be in a better position to proactively provide ideas about how best to achieve your business goals through your online presence. Without investing up-front in getting to know your business, this value will be impossible for the agency to impart.

0510.11

How Optix Solutions are more ‘A La Carte’ than ‘Ready Meal’

Posted by Amanda in Design, Development, Online Marketing, SEO

Ever wondered what to expect when you task us with creating and building a website?

We strongly believe that any project is a partnership with a Client. We regularly consult and communicate with our Clients, creating an open channel for feedback and discussion. We strive to ensure the end result exceeds our Client’s expectations and more than fulfils their brief. We don’t pick a template off the shelf, tweak a few graphics and themes – much like you running into the Supermarket and selecting a quick and easy ready meal. Every site we create is bespoke and designed specifically for you, just as if you’d had your own chef and skilled team at home to create a meal from scratch using the finest ingredients.

So you’ve given us the go ahead, what happens next?

After we have assigned a Project Manager to you, we will take you through the following stages;

  • Online Marketing Consultation. Our OLM team would consult with you on your options for optimising your site and continuing support within this field. Should you choose to add this invaluable service to your site, they will continue to consult with both yourself and the design and development teams throughout the following stages.
  • Wireframe. A wireframe is a working model of a site, without any design. It allows us to test the functionality of a site before we start the design and build process, ensuring all requirements have been thoroughly considered. At this stage, we will heavily consult with you and the brief you have put together for us.
  • Design concept. Once the wireframe has been signed off by you, the next stage is design. Our award-winning design team will meet with you to understand what key messages you want the site to convey from a brand point of view, so that they can be taken into consideration when designing the initial concept for your review.
  • Development. Once the design is signed off by you, we proceed to the development stage. This is the process by which we take a static design and start to build the working site, building and connecting elements and creating functionality. These can include links to emails, contact forms or development such as a content management system that allows you to control the content on your site with the design – this would give you the ability to regularly update text and images on the site yourself going forward.
  • Functionality testing. Once the development stage has been completed, the project will be delivered to your Account Manager to check that all required functionality is in place. An element of user testing will be carried out to identify and correct as many “bugs” as humanly possible before delivering the project to you for acceptance testing.
  • Project Delivery/CMS Training. At this stage, we deliver the project to you for acceptance testing. We’ll provide you with training on how to use the bespoke content management system we have developed for you, and give you time to test the site and functionality to ensure that you are happy with how it works. We will then meet with you to discuss any changes you would like to have made. It may be that some of these changes are additional development, if that is the case we will provide you with an estimate for their integration into the site and a project timeline for their completion. This will give you the opportunity to decide if you want to include these features in the site before going live, or they can be added after the site has been made live.
  • Cross Browser Testing. Any changes you require that are within the specification of the project will be carried out at this stage. It is at this stage that we will also complete a process known as cross-browser testing, which helps us ensure that your site works sufficiently in Internet Explorer +, Firefox, Safari and Opera on both Macintosh computers and PCs.
  • Site goes live. When you are ready, we will make the site live.

We pride ourselves in our work, and believe in taking the time and making the effort to ensure everything we produce is to a very high standard.

If you’d like to know more, we’d love to hear from you.