Archive for ‘Website rebuild’
Image: Per Axbom / Flickr If there’s one thing that every web manager has had on their agenda in recent times it’s responsive. Responsive Web Design has become the defacto standard of web sites in a very short space of time. But is it a silver bullet? Is it a magic cure for many digital illnesses our sites (and visitors!) have been suffering from? When I first started looking at...
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In the world of web, all signs point to the fact that mobile devices will very soon replace desktops as the number one way to access the internet. It's already happened in China and the rest of the world isn't far behind. So in Oxfam Ireland we decided to get prepared. We've just relaunched our shiny new website, which we rebuilt from the ground up. And what's the biggest change? ...
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Image credit: psiaki on Flickr In recent months there has been persistent and largely erroneous talk about the death of web content management (WCM). This discourse - largely the result of the desire of WCM vendors to position themselves as suites capable of being one-stop-shops for digital marketers - if nothing else, demonstrates how far WCM has come over the last few years. Indeed to the point where the central...
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Image credit: 36clicks / 123RF Stock Photo People today are using more devices and screens than ever before, from traditional desktop PCs and laptops through to a variety of smartphones, tablets and consoles. EPiServer's own research Developing a Mobile Strategy revealed that customers are now less forgiving of poor mobile experience, but only 30% of companies reported having a mobile optimised site or app, let alone a site optimised for tablet....
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Image: screenshot of University of the Arts London homepage The onslaught of changes to government funding for UK higher education means institutions must now demonstrate a contribution to both their field and the wider economy. To win funding from a shrinking pot and a growing competition pool this means being ever more transparent, showing efficiency and "return on investment". It's no longer acceptable for academic activity not to be accessible to...
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Image credit: camerashy / 123RF Stock Photo How to develop a digital strategy was a hotly discussed topic at the Web Managers Group meet-up in London last month. While the importance of good planning is clear, how to tackle complexity in the implementation stage which can result in a shortfall on delivery, is often overlooked. Reasons why projects fail to deliver 1) Unclear goals, or goals not tied to company...
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I’ve explained on the Smart Insights blog before why I see social sign-on as a significant technology for integrating social networks with company websites. I gave the example of Sears Social where users are able to share purchases while the company gains additional insights about the preferences of social network users that can be used for web and email targeting. This new infographic from Monetate certainly presents the benefits of a lower-friction...
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Image by Gaping Void. There's a popular thread on our LinkedIn group about redesigning websites, which has produced some excellent tips and resource recommendations from our expert members. One comment in particular caught my eye and started me thinking about social media optimisation (SMO): "If our site redesign had come 6-12 months later I would, without a doubt, have built social elements into the website much more effectively." Social media...
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“What are the top five things a web manager should take into consideration when redesigning and launching a new website?” Some weeks ago Larry Peterson asked this question on the Web Managers Group on LinkedIn. There was such a great response from the group we thought it would be a good idea to summarise some of the thread here - though we had to expand from 5 to 20... 1) Vision, strategy,...
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Over the last few weeks there has been a very helpful discussion about website redesign and relaunch on our LinkedIn group. Members have shared their top tips - practical, philosophical and pragmatic, tried and tested in the real world. In this guest post Tonya Price shares her experience of managing the process in a university. Great expectations A website redesign is an exciting time for an organisation. Problems with the old design can be...
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