The Warrington Housing Association
Website Proposal
Introduction
Bringing our clients visions to life is what we’re all about.
Working across all creative sectors since 2008, Visions are passionate about delivering excellence through a ‘first time right’ approach, in order to help our clients reach their commercial potential.
Offering a range of creative services, our primary objective is to successfully align with our clients goals in order to create solutions that will exceed expectations and aid business growth.
The Team
Daniel Cordwell – MD
Having a degree in Graphic Design and over ten years experience in Marketing, I created Visions Design in 2010. Having a creative background but obsessed with anything digital. My philosophy is quite simple.
“Do something you Love, Work Hard and Love your Family”.
My greatest achievement to date has been the ownership of a £1 million marketing budget for a national client resulting in a hugely successful campaign.
I will work with your internal teams and branding agency to develop the strategy, align our goals and ultimately ensure we deliver an outstanding project that raises your profile.
Julia Crossman – Head of Comms
Jules is an integral member of the team, bringing with her 10 years in the digital industry and exceptional skills in CX/UX, Account Management & Operations. Jules works closely on each project to ensure experience, communication and results are top notch.
Karen Adams – Project Manager
Karen will lead the project through initial briefing to final stages of completion. Experienced in both offline and online creative communications, Karen is a conscientious and meticulous project manager who will be on hand to support and guide the project, working closely with the design and development team to ensure the creative brief and client vision is met.
Alex Kitching – Technical Support
Alex works as the lead Project Manager. In the context of this project he will work alongside Karen to ensure that the project team are on target and in budget.
Michael Nowakowski – Head of Design
Michael is our lead designer and has high levels of creativity. Michael has been with us since the early days and is a key contributor to the success of the business.
Matt Hamer – Senior Web Developer
Matt is our senior developer and will be leading on this project. Dedicated and meticulous,
he is always looking into latest trends and bringing fresh ideas to his work.
Martyn Locker – Website Developer
Martyn is the newest member of our team. Dedicated to his craft, he is always on top of his game. Top notch code and pixel perfect build every time.
Eva Rey del Rio – Digital Marketing
Experienced in driving digital marketing projects, achieving goals set and meeting both client and business expectations, Eva is a key part of our team when it comes to overall management of SEO, PPC and social strategies.
Tash Jeary – Admin Assistant
Tash will handle all the paperwork and billing on the account ensuring there are no bottlenecks.
Your Project
WHA to select an agency to begin a long lasting partnership that can scale their digital presence and support as the development continues to grow.
A brand is required to portray the developments to the community and relevant target audiences as an inclusive and sustainable landlord, bringing a balance between ethical and social whilst investing back into the local community.
Phase 1 – Branding
The following Branding solution is what we would suggest is most applicable to WHA and will include;
- Discovery Workshop
- Brand Name
- Six logo concepts
- Three colour schemes
- Social media logo graphics
- Iconography
- Branded collateral
- Brand guidelines
- Website favicon
- Web and print ready files supplied
Phase 2 – Website
The objective with a responsive website is to provide a positive user journey and provoke conversions through well placed Call-To-Actions for the relevant target audiences.
The website will have a clean and stylish feel whilst also providing relevant information in an SEO friendly structure which will enable fast loading times.
The fully responsive website will ensure that all devices and browsers can access the website in a format to suit, and will undergo in-depth testing via BrowserStack.
As a standard the website will come with a user friendly CMS which will allow a number of users to make relevant updates to the website – training will be provided.
Website likely to include but not limited to;
- Information on both developments
- Secure online application forms
- Online enquiry forms
- Webchat functionality
- Downloadable content about the development (such as brochures, floor plans, policies)
- Showcase of homes including Matterport video tours
- Google maps integration
- Tenant report issue forms
Imagery & Content to be supplied by WHA unless specified otherwise.
The timelines stated within the brief are workable, and upon commencement a project plan will be provided including milestones for each party to ensure these timescales are delivered.
Some examples of similar work are;
https://investmenthub.solomoninvestmentpartners.co.uk/
Site Structure & UX
High organic search engine rankings are often the result of logical, well-structured site architecture.
Organising your sites content into the most logical structure possible will drive a positive experience.
Usability
Logical information architecture that is user friendly. This will enhance user experience and increase conversions.
Rankings
An intelligent structure will pass link equity to the most important pages on your site and therefore assist rankings.
Conversions
A well-thought out structure should walk the user through the conversion process, from information pages through to purchase. Throughout the design and build of your site we keep in mind how both users and search engines interact with your site.
For users, it’s about getting the most relevant content in front of them, in as few clicks as possible. The same approach can also benefit search engines; by flattening your site architecture you can make gains in indexation (more pages in a search engines index) that can lead to more organic traffic.
What Does Poor Site Architecture Look Like?
To navigate to the bottom layer, search engines and users are expected to venture down a six-click path. This depth is not ideal. Search engines will expect pages this deep to be unimportant and will therefore be less visible in search results, even for “long-tail” keywords. Users on the other hand will likely drop out before they make it to the bottom.
Creating a Flatter Site Architecture
Pages buried very deeply in the architecture will not receive enough link equity (both internally and externally) to be visibly in search engine rankings. By “flattening” the site architecture, you can promote content up the architecture and therefore improve its rank. This greatly reduces the number of clicks to the very deepest level and improves the indexation of the site.
Internal Linking
The higher the page is in your architecture, the stronger it will be. Linking from down in the architecture back up to pages higher in the hierarchy can help to prioritise the higher pages for more competitive terms. Breadcrumbs are a great way to link up the architecture, providing both more internal links and a way for search engine crawlers to navigate a website easily. Cross-linking from different categories is also a good way to promote stronger pages on your site. It can also help pass link equity across the site.
What does this mean for your site?
When designing and building your site, we keep in mind the best practices of site architecture from conception through to launch. Our platforms promote a “flat” site architecture. This, combined with the logical categorisation of your content means that your site has the most logical and usable structure possible. The impact this will have on your usability, search engine rankings and conversions will be significant.
Search function
Every page will offer a clear and obvious search function as well as free text searching to enable visitors to navigate effortlessly around the site. Results will be displayed by relevance and will offer close alternatives to accommodate mistypes.
Our Platform
The technology you use (open source or SaaS)
We will be building your new website on a platform used widely in our industry called WordPress. We build nearly 80% of our websites using this platform and here are a few reasons why;
1. Ease of Use
WordPress is very easy to use and has an intuitive interface for administrators. Adding new pages, blog posts, images and other elements on a regular basis can be done both easily and quickly.
2. Manage Your Website from Any Computer
The WordPress admin system is browser-based meaning that you can log in from any Internet connected computer and manage your site.
3. No HTML Editing or FTP Software Required
WordPress is a self-contained system and does not require HTML editing software. You can create a new page or blog post, format text, upload images (and edit them), upload documents, video files, image galleries, etc. all without the need for additional HTML or FTP software.
4. Search Engines Love WordPress
The code behind WordPress is very clean and simple, making it easy for search engines to read and index a site’s content. In addition, each page, post, and image can have its own meta tag keywords, description, and title, and be optimized for specific keywords, allowing for very precise search engine optimisation.
5. You Have Control of Your Site
This means you could even make small changes yourself if you so wish. With WordPress, you have control of nearly every aspect of your site and can easily make those simple updates yourself.
6. The Design is 100% Customisable
WordPress acts as the engine for your website. The look and feel of the site can be 100% customised so your brand can shine through on your site and provide a unique experience to your visitors.
7. A Blog is Built-in and Ready to Go
WordPress was originally created as a blogging platform, so news/blog are built-in and are easy to integrate.
8. Extra Functionality with Plugins
Makes it easy to add an event calendar, video gallery, Twitter Feed, Facebook, and more to your site.
9. Your Site Can Grow as Your Business Grows
WordPress sites are very scalable. You can have hundreds of thousands of pages or blog posts on your site and the performance of the site will not be compromised in the least.
10. Have Multiple Users
As an administrator of a WordPress site, you can set-up multiple users for the website and assign access levels and capabilities to each user.
Our Tools
The latest technology enables us to maximise our efficiency and keep you up to date with current progress.
It’s all about communication. These are just our initial ideas but the best ideas come when we work closely with our clients. Through working closely with you we ensure we are all on the same page & pulling in the same direction with a clear goal!
Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of 20+ desktop and mobile apps and services for photography, design, video, web, UX and more.
Slack is an instant messaging platform bringing all our communication together, in a single place — helping everyone save time and collaborate together.
We use monday.com a project management system which helps us plan out a project while keeping our clients informed on progress. Once a site is launched we can use the same software to support the website, logging tickets and time spent. Our clients are given full access to monday.com, giving you the ability to monitor the workload.
At the design stage we use an online proofing system called InVision.
InVision allows us to prototype and share design ideas directly with our clients who can view and comment directly on the design. This saves us time and allows us to present ideas and receive feedback quickly and precisely, eliminating unnecessary delays.
HubSpot offers a full stack of software for marketing, sales, and customer service, with a completely free CRM at its core. They’re powerful alone — but even better when used together.
SEO
Content is King.
“If you’re not putting out relevant content in relevant places, you don’t exist.”
– Gary Vaynerchuk
“67k searches are performed on Google every second.”
“93% of all online experiences begin with a search engine.”
Don’t forget that it is common for a customer to see your website or your social media before encountering any other part of your business so it’s important to keep it brimming with fresh content. Updating your social media accounts every time a blog is posted means that lots more people are exposed to your content.
Generates new leads and sales
Fresh content generates leads and sales! High quality content stands out in a crowded market, allowing you to become the best of the best and increases your sales as more and more customers discover your brand and what you stand for. Good content stands out more to consumers than competitors who constantly force sales posts upon them. Fresh content that is high quality subliminally advertises you to consumers but in an honest and worthwhile way, they see you as being experts in your field and when the time comes that they need your product or services they come to you!
Adds value to your product/service
Any content that adds value to your customers or potential customers is a good thing. Most people ignore sales posts on social media; so insights, tips and tricks are always a great way to inform and engage with people all while building your brand image. Content that adds value to consumers, be it by educating them on the relevant topics in your industry or on the product or service you offer is ideal for adding value.
Increases traffic
As mentioned above; high quality content helps your SEO, online presence and brand/ customer relations but it is also a great way to increase traffic to your website. A website with limited content that was added the day the website went live and hasn’t been updated since will have a high bounce rate (The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page), a low amount of returning traffic and very little engagement. However, a website with fresh, up to date and meaningful content will have a lower bounce rate, a higher number of returning site visitors and a higher rate of engagement.
Security
It may seem obvious, but ensuring you keep all software up to date is vital in keeping your site secure.
Security is of the upmost importance to you and your users. We follow a number of best practices to ensure our solution offers you the best protection.
Our best practices for websites are:
A hosted staging site allowing us to demonstrate new functionality and test new features without disrupting your live environment
We run all of our sites through CloudFlare
www.cloudflare.com giving you DDoS protection and fast traffic routing
We use Wordfence
www.wordfence.com a WordPress plugin providing multiple security options for your new site
Allowing FTP, Database and SSH access via VPN meaning no 3rd party
can access anything within your hosting environment
Locking down your admin area by IP address meaning only those on certain networks can gain access. We can offer 2 factor authentication for the admin area.
Application of security patches (as part of a maintenance agreement)
Hosting
100% Connectivity Guarantee.
We know how essential uptime is to you, which is why we offer you a 100% connectivity guarantee.
Our hosting solutions will provide maximum uptime, flexibility and speed. We partner with and use one of the UK’s leading data centres provided by UKFast, based in Manchester. UKFast are public sector cloud experts providing modern, tailored solutions.
They design and supply solutions for local and central government including the police force and the fire service, educational institutions and the defence sector to ensure security, compliance and cost-saving through greater efficiency.
The 100% connectivity guarantee we offer our clients is possible because our hosting partner UKFast invest heavily in their infrastructure:
Each circuit in every regional POP (internet access point) is connected to a different router, they guarantee continuous service, even in the event of a total loss of a router and/or circuit.
Each POP has a redundant UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system, so should either UPS fail or be taken out of service for maintenance, your connection remains unaffected.
Ensuring maximum network performance and reliability, they operate on the main hub between Manchester and London, and with significant duplication of connectivity, we promise to always deliver a resilient, constant route to the internet.
They carry out comprehensive round-the-clock monitoring of our network routers, circuits and power. So, if there’s a network issue, they can act immediately to resolve it without disrupting your business.
Quick and responsive hosting is also a factor with Google ranking. By investing in good hosting you are helping in setting the foundations for ongoing SEO.
Compliance
The Public Sector Bodies
(Website and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility
Regulations 2018
Came into force in September 2018
Compliance required by:
September 2019 (new websites)
September 2020 (old websites)
June 2021 (mobile apps)
The website we design and build will be compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 to an AA level+.
Will also comply with The Accessible Information Standard, formally known as DCB1605 Accessible Information. Other information we will be adding to ensure your website is legal will be:
Registered business details, the website needs to display the following Company Information, the Business Name, place of registration, registered number and its registered office address.
Adhere to Priority 1 of the Web Accessibility Guidelines set out at W3C.
If the website collects user data (i.e. via simple enquiry form, or shopping cart), display a Privacy Policy informing the user what the business does with the data and that it conforms to the The Data Protection Act. The Privacy Policy needs to explain what cookies the website will create and what they are for.
Require user consent to leave cookies on the visitors machine, unless the cookie
is a necessary requirement for the website to function.
Testing
Before any project goes live we will interrogate its functionality via our robust testing methods. Our internal processes ensure that any work we complete is right first time around. Every website we produce is signed off against our testing criteria by the development team.
Functionality Testing
This is where we check the working of your new site. This includes but is not restricted to:
- Links
- Database connection
- Enquiry forms
- Cookies
Interface Testing
We check that your new website works perfectly in whatever browser or device it might be viewed in. Every website we produce is checked, refined and then checked again until correct using www.browserstack.com
Security Testing
Every site we produce is secure and safe from modern website attack methods.
We use security software (www.wordfence.com) to first of all scan the final site looking for vulnerabilities and then secondly to secure and monitor it.
If any suspicious activity is highlighted our team are immediately alerted.
We will install and test an SSL Certificate which encrypts data between the server and user’s browser
Compatibility testing
The compatibility of your website with the range of devices it will be used on is a very important testing aspect. Compatibility tests we execute are:
- Browser compatibility
- Operating system compatibility
- Mobile browsing
- Printing options
Performance Testing
Your new website may sustain a heavy load in terms of traffic. Our web performance testing allows us to check how your site will perform under stress giving us the ability to hone performance and prevent any future downtime.
Usability Testing
Usability testing is where we evaluate real world users using the final product. We use a set task list to evaluate user interactions which we record with specialist software and also surveys as we aim to hone and refine the end user experience.
Your Data
Regular data backups lead to peace of mind.
There are two ways that you could look at backing up a solution, the first being the UKFast backup, and the second using CommVault.
UKFast Dedicated Backups
- 1 full backup per week
- Daily incremental backups of all files that have changed in that day
- Growing 7 day retention, the full backup is overwritten each weekly cycle
CommVault
- Application aware, allowing you to separate your file and DB backups
- Custom backup frequency and retention times
- Data is compressed and de-duplicated giving you much better space efficiency
- Option to encrypt backups at rest
The website will be compatible and work perfectly and consistently in all modern web browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge. All images throughout the site will be optimised and compressed to ensure the site has quick loading times and improves the user experience.
Process and Timescales
The timescale for a site of this nature can take anywhere in the region of 4 – 8 weeks, depending on the turnaround time regarding review and feedback. We can work to more specific timings within reason.
1. Kick off Meeting
A kick off meeting to get to grips with the project and ensure full understanding of all requirements will be scheduled. From here a creative brief will be developed internally and sent to the design team.
2.Website Content
We will require skeleton content at this point, if not all. It is ideal for us to have an idea of what content will be involved throughout, in order to give us a steer on the development of design.
3.Design
Initial creatives will be developed and will be sent through for review before a full wireframe design roll out is created and signed off.
4.Build
Once the design has been signed off we will begin the development of the site. Once complete we will review and test internally, before sending over for full review.
5.Go Live
When everyone is happy and the site has been signed off, we will then schedule to go live. We have a dedicated go live checklist to ensure all boxes are ticked and no links are left unclicked! Once live, we will be on hand for any support in the event of any technical problems.
Trust us
A dedicated Account Manager will be on hand to support and drive your project at all times. It is important to us that all our clients expectations are met with the delivery of each successful project, but don’t just take our word for it, take a look at our reviews!
“Visions have helped create all my branding, business cards, website and emails. Can’t fault the service I have received. I highly recommend!”
~ Crossfire Close Protection
“Really good service. Designed and built the website I was after, understanding my requirements. Would definitely recommend Visions Design.”
~ Individual Living
“From the first point of call to completion the team listened to my needs and wants and worked with me. The end result has surpassed my expectations.”
~ Precision Orthopaedics
“The Visions team stood out from the crowd for us with their professional approach and genuine interest in our business. After our initial meeting we were under no doubt it was Visions that we wanted to work with.”
~ Bathtime Bliss
Training
This is the fun part. You get to play with your new website. We will deliver onsite training at a time convenient to yourself.
Our team will come in and guide you through the new website.
Training will include, but isn’t limited to;
Updating Your Website Content
- Write new content for your website
- Successfully add new pages to your website
- Understand how to research and include SEO Keywords in Website content
- Successfully change content on Website pages
Technology – Maintaining Your Website
- Understand the different features of your Website
- Set up a system for backing up and maintaining your Website
- Set up a system for monitoring your Website’s traffic and security
- Identify signs of possible problems with your Website, and understand basic steps to troubleshooting
We will offer refresher training as well as new starter training via either online tutorials or face to face.
Costings
Each client will pay in 3 milestones;
- 25% upfront
- 25% on sign-off of designs
- 50% before go live
We will closely monitor all work and update you with any changes or issues. Once the agreed work has been completed we will notify you and allow for a single set of related amends (unless stated differently elsewhere).
Once the project is finished and signed off each client will be invoiced for the remaining 50%.
Please adhere to the invoice payment terms provided. Queries or disputes regarding the invoice must be made prior to the due date. Any disputes after the due date will be at the discretion of Visions Design Ltd.
Acceptance of this quotation confirms adherence to our terms and conditions.
Phase 1 – Branding
- Discovery Workshop
- Brand Name
- Six logo concepts
- Three colour schemes
- Social media logo graphics
- Iconography
- Branded collateral
- Brand guidelines
- Website favicon
- Web and print ready files supplied
£3,700+VAT
Phase 2 – Website
Website Design
- Research and development of new website and brand design
- User friendly and responsive designs for desktop and mobile
- Website structure and wireframe design to include all customer facing pages, interfaces and content based on client approval
- X2 rounds of client amends
Website Development
- Development of style sets and interfaces
- Creation of all pages and content blocks based on approved sitemap
- Full optimisation for desktop and mobile
- Social media integration
- Content population from new or existing approved content
- CMS Integration; latest Content Management System to be installed with custom admin
Testing & Deployment
- Thorough testing of site across all browsers and devices
- Final corrections
- Migration and redirection of all existing URLs and search engine data
- Manage and deploy to live site
£8,400+VAT
Ongoing Costs;
Monthly Maintenance
We would strongly advise that all websites have a maintenance agreement to ensure the site is kept in the right condition for users. This would include;
- One Update/Amend per month (One hour)
- Security monitoring, scans and malware checks
- Proactive WordPress plug-in updates & proactive WordPress updates
- Creating and storing back-ups
- Optimising performance
- Fixing broken links
- Hosting
- Vimeo Video Hosting
- HotJar Live Sessions & Heatmaps
£150.00+VAT per month
Let's start
the conversation...
Thanks for reading our functionality breakdown. We hope we’ve answered any questions you may have had, however if there’s anything we’ve missed or something that’s not quite clear then please feel free to give us a call for more information.
Visions Design
9 Church Road
Lymm
WA13 0QG
01925 75 9669
[email protected]
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