Websites – Page 2 – ACS Reduc 2022

Tips to Rebuilding a Website

February 28, 2018

It’s always rewarding to work with nonprofit clients. It’s especially gratifying when the nonprofit hits so close to home. We were lucky to partner with the local nonprofit Rebuilding Together Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church (Rebuilding Together-AFF) to help them redesign and redevelop their website.

Rebuilding Together-AFF is a regional branch of a national nonprofit, and their mission is to make every home safe and healthy. Volunteers pitch in to repair homes, community centers and charitable organizations. Rebuilding Together-AFF also partners with government and nonprofit organizations to support local residents.

ACS designers, developers, strategists and writers worked together with Rebuilding Together-AFF on this project. Though the original website had only a few pages, the new site is a vibrant digital hub for volunteers, donors, partners and people in need.

Answering the Questions

When we start a website project, we always think of the client’s core audiences and how they will benefit from the site. What information do they need to find, and how can we help them find it quickly?

In mapping out the Rebuilding Together-AFF website, we answered the core questions people have about the nonprofit:

Who they are
Who they serve
What they do

You can see this strategy reflected in the site’s navigation menu. It’s a simple navigation bar with helpful lime green buttons that direct visitors to apply for help, sign up to volunteer, or donate to the cause.

Showcasing the Stories

Just as a house needs a strong foundation, a website needs a captivating homepage. We designed the Rebuilding Together-AFF homepage to shine a spotlight on the nonprofit’s success stories.

At the top of the homepage, a rotating hero image displays the nonprofit’s mission statement: “Bringing volunteers and communities together to improve the lives and homes of low-income homeowners.”

Beneath that image, you’ll see three stories about renovation projects that Rebuilding Together-AFF organized. Each article shows how the nonprofit’s work makes a difference in the community, thanks to a network of volunteers, donors and partners.

The homepage also has animated icons, with rotating numbers. We included these images to showcase the great work Rebuilding Together-AFF does, which includes 66,500 volunteers, 2,075 nonprofits, 542,000 volunteer hours, and 250 partners.

Guiding the User Experience

As you navigate the website, you’ll see what we call “stutter-step” pages. This type of webpage gives an at-a-glance overview of a topic. We recommend including these pages because site visitors can quickly scan information before diving deeper into a website section.

For Rebuilding-Together AFF, we designed four stutter-step pages for different sections of the website. Each has beautiful, colorful images taken during different volunteer projects. The mobile-friendly design also makes the text on these pages easy to read on any desktop, phone or tablet device.

Nonprofit Website Support

We’re thankful to have worked with Rebuilding Together-AFF on their new website because it gives members of our community access to important resources. We can’t wait to work with them again! If you’re a nonprofit with questions about website design, please get in touch with us any time.

Cheap Web Design Will Cost You

February 6, 2018

Running a business is expensive. It seems like someone else has their hands in your pocket every time you take a step. Watching dollars fly out the door to your various service providers and vendors can be both painful and discouraging. It’s no wonder some entrepreneurs are enticed by ads offering $29 websites or websites in an hour. In a world where you get what you pay for, cheap web design will cost you…

Website Pricing Explained

Simply having a website is no longer enough to compete in this business landscape. Customer expectations are extremely high and their patience for anything sub-par is dwindling. Companies that put thought, research, time (and money) into their online presence are at a tremendous advantage over those who do not.

With that said, what really goes into making a website? A professional, thoughtful design takes many hours to execute. If you factor in custom development, styling, content migration, testing, revisions, and launch, it’s almost inconceivable for even the most basic project to consume less than 40 hours of labor. Keep that number in mind as you’re considering cheap web design quotes. If the time required is high and the price is low, something has to give–and it’s usually quality.

Freelance Falls Short

Many of our new clients approach us after choosing an individual to create their website. Often, it’s a family member or acquaintance. Perhaps it was Craigslist kismet that brought them together. No matter how it came to be, one truth is constant–the company took a convenient, inexpensive option and now has to spend more to undo the damage.

Are individual freelancers capable and talented? Absolutely. Is it likely that the best website designer for your business just happens to be your nephew? Probably not.

When a business trusts a freelancer to create and manage their online presence, they are at the mercy of that person’s skill set, schedule, and personality. There is a reason you never hear, “yes, we have a guy who does our website, and we’ve been happy with him for years.”

Fact is, freelancers aren’t on the line for your ongoing success. They move, change numbers, switch careers, lose interest, join priesthoods, etc. If reliability, accountability, and quality are important to your business, put your project in the hands of an agency–not a person.

Build Your Own Headache

We see television commercials promising websites you can build in minutes without any help. It’s not necessarily a false claim, but a cringeworthy notion regardless.

Let’s suppose you really could drag and drop some photos and words into a template and walk away with a new site in less than an hour. Does that sound like something a successful business would do?

There’s a reason big companies don’t utilize website-building platforms. Lack of customizability, flexibility, and creative control to name a few. Selecting from dozens of half-hearted, generic page templates can truly narrow your inspiration as well.

Not to mention, the code that these tools spit out tends to be a real mess (which search engines frown upon). These website builders, as affordable as they may appear, make their money from inflated hosting charges and membership plan upgrades, so be wary of hidden costs over time.

It may seem like there are at least a couple cheap web design options these days. Do yourself a favor and carefully consider the undeniable importance of your company’s online presence. Skip the mistake so many clients make before coming to us.

A website is no longer a neat supplemental feature, but instead a marketing engine that can make or break any business of any size in any industry! An effective website is an investment–not an expense. Leave this one to the pros…

The Web Design Process

January 24, 2018

It’s fair to say a website can make or break a business. Whether you run a small town storefront or an ecommerce empire, your online presence is key to growth and success. It’s important to you because it’s important to your customers. Even the most seasoned entrepreneur might be familiar with the steps necessary to set up a business, build out a retail location, and manage the operation–yet still be completely in the dark about what goes into creating a website.

Today, we’re giving you a glimpse into our web design process here at ACS. We feel it’s valuable for business owners to understand not only the steps necessary to launch a successful website, but also to know the intensive effort and strategic attention we give to each of our client projects.

Discovery

To kick-off the web design process, we must first establish the site’s goals and objectives. Discovery is a collaborative dialogue between agency and client to solidify the finer details of the finished project. If you have an existing website, we assess the content and determine what goes and what stays–what’s working and what’s not. From there, we develop a working sitemap, which is, quite simply, a list of webpages and purposes for each.

Wireframing & Visual Design

The Discovery phase is an essential first step in the web design process, but, frankly, it’s a lot of text and diagrams. Here, you get to see your project come to life! Working from your approved sitemap, our User Experience (UX) specialists get to work on homepage wireframes.

Though wireframes lack color, depth, and texture, they act as a blueprint for various elements that will be used site-wide, such as navigation, header, footer, etc. At this stage, you’re likely to see “dummy” text (lorem ipsum) and placeholder images instead of your own content, as we fine-tune the final page layout.

Now the fun really begins! Once wireframes are approved, our designers will deliver fully-produced mockups of those pages. This is your opportunity to see colors, images, fonts, and styles as they will appear on the website.

Frontend Buildout & Development

Nearly all of our clients host their sites with us because the value is simply astounding. We are able to spread the enormous cost of secure cloud hosting among many sites. This affords us the ability to setup a private staging environment to build your project in. Your current website continues to serve visitors as it always has while we create something new, beautiful, and exciting behind the scenes.

First, we deploy a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress or Drupal, which allows clients to make easy edits and updates after launch. The CMS acts as the foundation on which the entire site is built.

Our developers then use the sitemaps, wireframes, and mockups previously established to make it all a reality in beautiful code. Custom features and functionality are built and tested rigorously. The end result is a fully-functional, responsive website. At this point, we’re ready to drop in or migrate your content, images, and media.

Website Launch

The big day is here–launch time. Admittedly, we often feel like we’re in the NASA control room during this final phase. It’s all hands on deck as we test page speed, browser compatibility, malware vulnerabilities, and various devices.

If your new site is replacing an existing one, our goal is to minimize downtime during the transition process. When dealing with domains and hosting changes (DNS), there are several considerations to plan for including email, server propagation, and 301 redirects. For this reason, we devise a launch plan in collaboration with all stakeholders.

On the predetermined day and time, our team transfers all files and assets from the staging environment to the production server, where it will live permanently. The domain is reassigned to our host, and your brand new website is live for the world to see! No matter how large or small your project, now is the appropriate time to celebrate (in case you weren’t sure).

Fixing Stuck Sites

January 9, 2018

Over the years, several new clients have approached us at a time of digital desperation. Oftentimes, these individuals have started a website project with another agency or developer, but were ultimately disappointed by the direction things were going.

Whether the problems are aesthetic differences, creative incompatibility, or overall quality of work, it’s all too common for a company to find themselves with an unfinished website that isn’t going anywhere. Sound familiar?

Perhaps the collaboration started out great but unraveled over time, or maybe you knew right away you had partnered with the wrong agency. We’ve heard so many horror stories. Sometimes, a client will hire a freelance designer and go months at a time without hearing about the website’s progress. Regardless of the issues, you now have a budget that’s nearly depleted and a website that isn’t ready to launch.

Before you spend another dime or (worse) settle on something you aren’t happy with, take a step back. If you move forward with a sub-par site, you will regret it in the long run.

The site is much more than pixels and code; it’s a marketing tool that can propel your company to the next level. Your website is the first place new customers look when they hear about you. That’s why it is important that your website reflects the best parts of your company. It should compel your customers to reach out to you. Putting in the extra effort to launch a beautiful, effective website will be worth it in the end.

We know that the thought of starting over is daunting at best. Finding an agency, managing the project, reviewing work, and providing feedback is a serious time commitment for any business. You might feel hopeless, given the resources you have sunk into the stuck website already. Don’t worry—your energy was not spent in vain. In all likelihood, you won’t have to start from scratch to build a new website.

Chances are, at the very least, you have a decent foundation, but need a company with a fresh perspective and serious design and development chops to bring it home. A new agency can build from the positives of your stuck site to achieve the desired outcome in timely fashion at minimal cost. If you recall, we recently wrote about how we did just that for Kyro Systems.

ACS Creative can evaluate your stuck website and help you develop a plan of attack. Your site may need minor tweaks, or it could have foundational issues and require more effort. Whatever we find, we promise to deliver the best options for your website. You’ll feel confident that the new, un-stuck site will last for years to come.

The important takeaway here is just because your website is stuck doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it! As the client, you have a vision. You have a brand to protect. You have the right to ensure your website is effective in generating new business.

The Most Ambitious Website We’ve Ever Built

January 2, 2018

At ACS, we don’t like to toot our own horn too much. We’ll an make exception though. In this case, we’re tooting/honking the horn of a luxury charter bus. Our longtime client Trailways recently launched their new website. And we must humbly say, the site is as fully loaded and impressive as the buses themselves.

Our team knew from the start that this would be our most ambitious website ever. We knew it meant telling the story of a beloved household brand. We knew it meant bringing over 65 independent companies under one digital roof. We knew it meant fielding customer requests from across the country. Knowing all of this, we still took the bus by the wheel, so to speak. We got to work.

Trailways has been an ACS client for over 10 years, and we were eager to help propel their brand to the next level with the new website. Luckily, Trailways headquarters could not be closer. They work just downstairs, so we collaborated closely with their team throughout the project. We’re excited to share some fun features of the new website, and hope it helps your travel plans too.

Start Your Trip Plan in Seconds

For over 80 years, Trailways has connected independent charter bus companies nationwide. Their charter bus network extends into Europe and Canada, and together their members serve thousands of groups each year. Trailways also sells individual bus tickets for a variety of U.S. cities. The new website supports charter groups and one-off tickets alike, thanks to our custom booking engine.

On the site’s homepage, our designers created a simple form where visitors can quickly request the information they need. Whether you want a single ticket or buses for 100 people, it takes less than a minute to start your trip research.

ACS developers also built a custom system for charter bus companies to track and manage incoming leads. This booking engine makes life much easier for every Trailways employee.

Each time someone wants to book a group trip, the system automatically routes the request to the right company based on the customer’s location. Before the new website, Trailways managed these customer inquiries manually. Now, it’s a smooth process with an easy-to-use online dashboard, branded emails and detailed customer analytics.

Connect with Companies Nationwide

Though Trailways is a single and storied brand, the network includes over 65 member companies. Each with its own buses, processes, regions and customers. The new website needed to represent each member, while keeping a cohesive look and feel.

Having these goals in mind, we designed individual profiles for the member companies. The profile pages showcase each company’s strengths, educating interested customers with friendly graphics.

With helpful bus icons, customers can scroll through the company’s fleet of motorcoaches. From full-size luxury coaches down to minibuses, you learn the full scope of travel options in seconds. Curious travelers can also read the company’s short bio, services and amenities — all helpful insights for trip planning.

Each profile has a consistent format, so customers never feel confused as they navigate the site. But charter companies can customize their profiles with images, text and icons. To edit the webpage, staff simply log in to their backend account. This portal also connects charter companies to the booking engine. So they can edit their company profile, connect with potential customers and track incoming leads — all in one convenient online portal.

Discover Destinations

Searching for transportation also means exploring different destinations. On the new Trailways website, you can learn about popular hubs throughout the country. Cities have custom Destinations webpages, beautifully designed to encourage travelers to visit.

You can learn all about the city’s sights, attractions, and restaurants. The pages also guide you to hotel discounts and local bus stations. Like the rest of the Trailways website, this section helps make trip planning easy and enjoyable.

Trailways started with over a dozen destinations on their new site, but we made sure they have room to grow. Our developers built an easy-to-use template, so Trailways staff can quickly add new cities, without needing to know how to code.

Thanks to our wonderful partners at Trailways, the new website is off to an amazing start. We can’t wait to continue our journey with the company.

Website Management Made Easy

November 21, 2017

When we design a website, there are always two important people in mind: the person who visits the website and the person who manages the website. Of course, the site has to appeal to customers. But it also has to make life easier for the website manager.

Every website we build has a user-friendly content management system (CMS). So staff members can add website content, without needing advanced technical skills.

We recently launched a website for the Washington Metro Chapter of Community Associations Institute (WMCCAI). They help community associations through advocacy, education, networking events and other services. Their new site provides a great experience for website visitors and WMCCAI staff.

Courting New Members

Members are the heart and soul of any association. Without them, these organizations wouldn’t exist. Appealing to new members was a top priority for the website, but it’s a challenge we had to approach carefully.

For example, you can’t expect someone who walks into a clothing store to buy the first sweater they see. They want to shop around a little. Try on a few different outfits. In that same way, new website visitors won’t want to take action right away. They need time to click around to a few pages. Read more about the association. Feel comfortable before they commit.

We needed to convince potential members to sign up, without expecting too much from them too soon. To build the case for WMCCAI, we developed a custom Membership page. It answers the question, “Why should I join this group?”.

The eye-catching page shows visitors the benefits of membership. It doesn’t expect users to sign up on the spot; it just gives them enough information to spark their curiosity.

Read All About It

One central membership benefit is access to the the monthly magazine, Quorum. The publication offers best practices, strategies and trends for associations. We needed to bring this print publication into the digital world.

The pages are colorful and easy to navigate for website visitors. They also save time for WMCCAI staff. On the backend, we designed a simple content management tool staff members. They don’t need to understand complicated code. They simply need to drag and drop content into this system. That way, they can upload articles on a monthly basis, without needing hours and hours of time for the task.

Signature Content for Signature Events

Members can also learn about upcoming events on the website using a virtual calendar. Visitors can explore different educational, networking and chapter meetings throughout the year.

Every event also has its own webpage. You can learn important details, export the event to your calendar, or contact the event organizer through these helpful pages.

Some of WMCCAI’s events needed a little more attention. Signature events happen every year, building on member memories and momentum. With that in mind, we created these custom pages as templates. These are easy to update, so anyone can switch out the information. Year after year, WMCCAI staff will recreate these event pages, without using HTML code.

We’re happy WMCCAI members and staff will have no hassles or hurdles as they use the new website.

Redesign with Purpose

November 7, 2017

Since our experience at An Event Apart (AEA) in Washington DC this past July, we’ve been inspired to write about Image Optimization, Website Accessibility, and much more. This final installment of our AEA blog series focuses on takeaways from Jeffrey Zeldman’s “From Research to Redesign” presentation.

Let’s set the stage for those of you who couldn’t be there in person… Beautiful ballroom packed with hundreds of like-minded geeks—MacBooks EVERYWHERE. Jeffrey Zeldman takes the stage as opening speaker. The excitement was palpable. Jeff is well-known and highly respected among this crowd as founder of A List Apart Magazine and the man behind the magic at AEA. With a three-day schedule of various experts speaking on a wide array of topics, it was only fitting that his presentation be relevant and applicable to all digital professionals. In essence, his message was clear… Do your homework.

Whether we’re creating a brilliant new website or designing holiday postcards for a client, research is the key to success. Learning, planning and preparation determine the foundational trajectory of any project or campaign. For businesses, it’s about understanding your market—more so than your competitors. They say the best ideas solve a problem. Find your industry’s pain points and create a plan for becoming the solution! These steps are simple, and they provide a proven blueprint for website redesign success.

Know Your People

Interview, focus group and survey relevant stakeholders to build consensus. Utilize applications such as Hotjar and Google Analytics to see beyond assumptions and get REAL, priceless user data.

Listen and Ask Questions

The challenge at hand is abandoning any personal notions to make room for valuable insights from both stakeholders and customers. As Zeldman says, “You don’t have to be an expert to have a conversation.”

Define Goals

What’s really the desired result here? This is an opportunity to get granular (and realistic) about your expectations for this project. Equally as important as the objectives themselves, you must determine exactly how you intend to measure their success.

Clear Direction

You’ve collected the data, and now you need to tell your story in a strong, efficient way. We know what we need to do, but exactly HOW do we do it?

Measurement

You’re not entirely off the hook after launch. Consider each campaign or project a living, breathing entity. With your clearly defined metrics of measurement, the ongoing mission will be to react and adapt over time.

How do these fundamentals apply to website design, for instance? Layout, language, and user interface are all crucial elements that can be fine-tuned to better serve visitors and thus, grow your business. With such a highly subjective landscape, one must rely on facts and research to make informed design decisions. Redesigning with purpose encompasses the work you put in before a single pixel is drawn or line of code is written. The more effort up front, the more effective the end result.

We would like to thank Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman)—not only for the enlightening presentation, but his passion and vision for An Event Apart. This three-day conference features 18 brilliant speakers and travels to several major cities throughout the country each year. If you’ve enjoyed our perspectives from the event in July, imagine what you’d gain from being there yourself! Thanks for reading.

Silicon Valley Start-Up Launches New Website

October 17, 2017

We all know the lore around Silicon Valley. The ambition, the technology, the ultra successful start-ups. But we don’t always think about how companies start in Silicon Valley, before they make it big as household names.

We are fortunate enough to work with one of these emerging start-ups, Eridan Communications. The company is developing transmitter technology to enhance 5G wireless networks. (It’s all pretty complicated, for people like us outside of the industry.)

Getting an inside look at a Silicon Valley tech company, we were excited to help Eridan launch their new website. The site includes miles of information. It guides potential investors through different products and technology, encouraging them to get on the ground floor of Eridan’s journey.

Seeing Double

Eridan’s founders have been in the start-up game for a long time. In fact, their company InnerProduct Partners (IPP) helps new start-up companies raise funds. We developed the IPP website, and we were eager to design Eridan’s website too.

Whereas IPP had a fairly straightforward website, Eridan’s site needed to show the depth of their technology to potential investors. That means there was a lot of information to show off. Unfortunately, website navigation bars only stretch so long.

It would be impossible to cram all of the sections and topics into one, easy-to-read navigation menu. To solve this problem, we decided to add a second navigation bar. Two navigation menus is a little outside of the box. It’s also a great solution to information overload.

The top horizontal bar has standard information about the company. A second navigation bar runs down the left side of the page, and it links to detailed information about Eridan’s products, markets and technology.

There Be Dragons

Once we had the navigation menus set up, we had to organize the rest of Eridan’s detailed information. We applied the strategy we use for most websites — glance, scan, read, study. People absorb information differently and at different times. Some people just want to skim past pages (glance, scan). Others want to dive in deep (read, study).

We structured information on Eridan’s website to accommodate all types of information seekers, the scanners and the studiers alike. For each of the sidebar sections, we started with an initial summary page. People can scan these pages for a quick overview of what’s in store, before diving into specific markets or technology details. These smaller chunks of information help prevent visitors from feeling overwhelmed by walls of text.

Some technicians or investors will want more information, of course. They have the option to click through to more detailed internal pages on the website. For the most technically minded visitors, they can even read in-depth reports on physics and amplification. As the site notes, this content is complicated. The page even warns, “there be dragons in there.”

Customer Connections

With the information neatly organized, we also had to focus on how customers can connect with the company. These connections are important for any website. We especially wanted to make sure interested buyers and investors had a way to get in touch with Eridan.

Throughout the website, customers have opportunities to contact Eridan. In the site’s footer, there is a “Contact” button, so interested investors can easily connect with company representatives.

We also developed a custom contact form for each of Eridan’s core products. This way, Eridan can collect key customer data, including email addresses, company names, and phone numbers. All of this information can be used later for marketing messages.

Overall, we’re proud of how Eridan’s website turned out. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the Silicon Valley start-up!

How We Took a Website from Stuck to Stellar

September 26, 2017

When Kyro Systems came to us, they were at the end of their rope. (Somewhat odd, for a company that spends a lot of time hanging from ropes to install skylights).

They were redesigning their website and hit a wall. The project was dragging on month after month. Another web development firm (and we won’t name names) had built most of the website. The website didn’t look bad, but it also didn’t work. Overall, the site lacked organization and was difficult to navigate.

We meet a lot of clients like this. Clients who get most of the way down the road on a new website and need help over the last hurdles. We love picking up projects like these because we understand what it takes to build effective websites, not just pretty ones.

On Time, On Budget

A family business, Kyro Systems installs and repairs skylights and building envelopes in the DC area. They have worked on gorgeous buildings for prestigious institutions like the National Gallery of Art and the Ronald Reagan Building.

After sinking resources into a website that wasn’t working, Kyro had very little budget left to finish the project. We wanted to help them out of this tough spot, so we stuck to a tight schedule to launch an effective site without breaking the bank.

Our finely tuned web development process helps us turn sites around quickly. We present initial mock-ups, receive client feedback and then build out the final webpages from there. By following these steps, websites can be built and launched in a matter of weeks.

At ACS, we place a premium on direct communication. Unlike other agencies, we don’t have account middlemen. Our clients work directly with the creative team, so nothing gets lost in translation. This helps projects run smoothly and efficiently.

Words, Words, Words

To launch a website, you also need to write web-friendly content. This hurdle often slows down many companies. Web copy has to be shorter and easier to read than other types of content, and not everyone knows how to tackle this challenge.

Kyro sent us pages of text they had written about their services. We adapted the content, shortening the sentences and breaking up paragraphs. This way, website readers can quickly scan a page for the information they need.

Thanks to careful planning and client input, the new Kyro website is broken into simple, easy-to-understand categories. Though the original design was unorganized, the new website clearly guides people to relevant information on Kyro’s services, projects and contact information.

Preparing for the Future

The new Kyro Systems website provides a straightforward introduction to the company. But, as with any project, there is always room to grow. In the future, Kyro may want to use their website as the centerpiece of marketing efforts. With the foundation we set up, it will be easy for their team to expand the website whenever and however they choose.

We build all of our websites using WordPress, a popular Content Management System (CMS). WordPress has backend editing tools that allow you to update a website without needing to understand coding.

For instance, Kyro may want to set up a blog on their website. From there, they could share the content on social media or email the articles to their subscribers. In this way, they can keep their brand top-of-mind for valuable customers. The website we built makes this future marketing possible.

We’re so happy to have helped Kyro Systems get their new website up and running. We can’t wait what the future holds for their business!

New Security Training Website Hits the Mark

August 22, 2017

What does it take to build a good website? What does it take to make a good website great?

As website designers, it’s sometimes tough to know the answers. Our client O’Gara Training came to us with a good, solid website. We helped them make it better. Their new website not only helps customers learn about O’Gara (the key function of any site), but it also sets up the company for future growth and success.

Go with the (user) flow

When the O’Gara team came to us, they knew their site wasn’t addressing the needs of all of their customers. The company trains clients on how to manage dangerous scenarios. From highway emergencies to explosions, experienced trainers cover a broad array of crises.

We had a blast (pun intended) when we visited one of O’Gara’s training facilities. Our gracious hosts taught us to shoot firearms and drive on slippery roads. We saw first-hand that these practical courses could help so many people, but their old website focused mostly on military training.

In reality, O’Gara serves NGOs, government contractors, corporate executives and many other non-military clients. With the new website, we had to communicate with these different audiences without alienating any one industry.

Keeping the customer industries in mind, we created specific user flows. A user flow (or conversion path) is the journey someone takes as they navigate a website.

We completely restructured the O’Gara Training website to create these user flows. From the second someone lands on the new website, they are led to pages specifically designed for their needs. The homepage has four neat blocks for each customer sector: Individuals; Corporations, Organizations & Institutions; Governments, Military & Police; and Non-Governmental Organizations. Each audience has a custom webpage, addressing the unique security needs of their industry.

New logo for new markets

To complement these new user flows, we refreshed the O’Gara Training brand. Their old logo had a strong military feel, with its green color and traditional serif font. The new logo had to attract military and non-military industries at the same time.

Our designers created a modern logo for O’Gara, with a clean sans serif font and a neutral brown color. It communicates the serious tone of O’Gara’s business, while appealing to a broader array of customers.

We incorporated this logo and brand scheme throughout the new website. We also designed a PowerPoint presentation and email to support the renewed brand. All of the branded marketing materials work together to deliver a cohesive message to customers.

The new brand also helps distinguish O’Gara Training from its parent company, The O’Gara Group. The training division now has room to grow beyond the company’s security roots to branch into more commercial sectors.

Laying the groundwork for growth

Websites tell customers who you are. They also tell customers who you want to be. We built the O’Gara Training website to help the company expand down the road. Our developers included back-end tools to allow O’Gara to easily add new services to the website any time.

The old website put their training facilities front and center. But we all know physical locations don’t matter as much anymore thanks to digital technology. The new website focuses more on services and customers, rather than locations. That way, O’Gara can offer online courses, without needing to connect the course to a physical training center.

We’re proud to have been apart of O’Gara Training’s new website. We hope to visit their training grounds again soon, and we’re excited to see how the new brand helps their business grow.

Ready for a New Website?

If your site could use a new look, get in touch. We can take websites from good to great. Let’s have a conversation!
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