Surveying the landscape before drafting the blueprints
You'll find the following text on our About page:
"We don't force you to use technology that maximizes our profit. We discuss your needs, then build a website that maximizes your investment."
These aren't empty words, and the website projects below are perfect examples of how we can "maximize your investment."
Undiscovered Cellars
Serrhel Adams, proprietor of the new wine label Undiscovered Cellars (UC) was referred to I Design by his brother whom I had worked with in the past. He knew he needed an eCommerce website that could sell his product, but he wasn't sure exactly what functionality the website would need. After an initial consultation, we began surveying the landscape.
We researched the industry and competition and collaborated with the UC team, coming up with the following plan:
- Build a clean, simple, contemporary looking website with an easy backend interface to allow Serrhel to update the content
- Integrate that website with third-party winery management software to ease the burden of complying with the strict regulations of online alcohol sales
- Integrate the winery platform with the inventory management and shipping software used by the shipping vendor UC had already procured
We actually spent much more time on the research and integration than we did building the website, which was only a small part of the overall project. Instead of pushing a complex eCommence website, we proposed a more economical and functional route. The final product is a well-integrated website that allows Serrhel to handle all of the aspects of his new business including sales, regulatory compliance and inventory management.
Rocky & Carlo's Restaurant & Bar
Rocky & Carlo's is a New Orleans area institution and people from all over patronize the restaurant to enjoy their oversized plates of home cooked Italian food. They were referred to I Design by their lawyers, Mumphrey - Zelaya Law Firm whom we have worked with for many years. They had never considered creating a website for the busy restaurant, but a few developments changed their mind:
- There was a lot of incorrect information published on other web services (Singleplatform, Foursquare, etc.) about their menu items and prices
- They had a new banquet room that needed promotion
- They wanted to publish their catering menu to increase group and pick-up sales
I was privileged to meet with co-owner Tommy Tommaseo many times at the beloved restaurant, and was able to get a really good feel for the place and it's clientele.
We researched the issues above and crafted the perfect blueprint to help Rocky & Carlo's accomplish all of their goals without having to build a complicated website with unnecessary bells and whistles. The vendors responsible for the incorrect information were contacted and all menu items and prices were fixed throughout the web. We did a photo shoot that included the new banquet room. We took measurements of the banquet space and compiled a list of amenities to create an informative Banquet Room page. We also published a clear, concise catering menu page.
Finally, we helped them claim their Google My Business listing so they could manage their online reputation by responding to comments and maintaining their menu and prices info. This work, along with some other search engine optimization, contributed to their website's amazing performance on Google. I just checked their stats as of this writing (3/26/20), and they amassed 39,900+ page views last month along with 26,800+ searches!
Not bad for a new kid on the block.
Read other website development articles:
Case study: your website can be much more than a marketing tool
Business Council of New Orleans portfolio page