Website Before New Design & Upgrade
Why Adventures Online?
NGC started their relationship with Adventures Online in about 2008 after networking with Karen at a local BNI chapter group. At that time NGC was about 5 years old and their first website had been built on ColdFusion. Though the team was happy with their logo and design, they had some challenges managing the website when edits were needed.
The managing partners of NGC sought out Karen for her expertise in WordPress development. They were impressed with the websites Adventures Online had created for other respected companies in the area.
Initially Karen converted the first version of their website to WordPress so that NGC could manage their content more easily. After that version went online, NGC engaged Karen for all their WordPress services including plugin updates, hosting and maintenance.
WordPress Redesign & Version Migration
December 6th, 2019 WordPress 5.0 was released #WordPress. This new version included a totally rewritten base which was not backwards compatible. The NGC team was compelled to upgrade their website to the newest technology.
In addition to a version upgrade, NGC seized the opportunity to give their site a new look and more modern layout. Their goal was to expand the existing content and make it easier for potential clients to identify a telecommunication service that fit their business needs.
Website After – The Solution
Website Design Requirements
With a new look in mind, the NGC team reviewed websites to be able to provide Karen some direction. Karen of Adventures Online took in all their feedback and met with NGC to lead them through a wireframing exercise to address all of their requests. They identified items that fit their professional aesthetic and supported their technical expertise in the telecomm space. That meeting led to a custom design that presented NGC in the best light utilizing their logo, colors and vendor icons.
Jackie, the main driver of the website design from the client’s perspective, provided updated content. Her timely responses to design questions kept the project moving forward as well. Jackie emphasized that Karen’s spirit of collaboration is extremely important. She felt that she was able to voice her likes and dislikes and that enabled her to get a beautiful website that represents the NGC brand.
Well-Defined Project Plan
Armed with a design, Karen collaborated with Jackie to come up with a project plan that would minimize downtime and get their new site live within 30 days. She outlined all of the deliverables, responsibilities, and organized all of the items that were required. Jackie and Karen also met weekly to check in and review progress so all parties were informed and knew what they needed to do next.
Additionally, Karen was able to provide some direction on images that tell the story of unified communications. With Jackie’s approvals, images accompanied content that represent their expert advice and tailored communication solutions. Having a defined plan and working as a team meant that time spent on back and forth communication was minimized. Jackie’s responsiveness allowed Karen to build the site rapidly and launch on time.
Interactive Design
Creating a website that encourages client engagement was also important to Jackie. The team at NGC often interfaces directly with multiple customer resources. For this reason she wanted her clients to have multiple avenues through which to stay in touch.
To encourage interaction, Karen offered a design that flows with clearly marked navigation and compelling images. She also added a contact form and links to NGC on LinkedIn and Twitter. Now NGC’s clients can reach them on multiple channels. As a result, Jackie noted that she has noticed an uptick in outreach since the launch.
Search Engine Optimization
Maintaining placement in Search Engine Results Pages (or SERPs) post-launch is also an area that Adventures Online specializes in. Jackie pointed out that Karen does a great job with SEO and they wanted to keep that momentum going. With Karen’s expertise, the NGC site is easy to find and traffic from potential clients has increased since the new site went live.
Karen’s redesign program addressed the careful migration of existing content. Furthermore she coached Jackie on enhancing her rankings with updated content and blog post optimization. Jackie also took Karen’s suggestion of consolidating their menu of services into one area so they are easier to search for.
Analytics
Measuring site traffic and knowing where your potential clients are coming from is important to any business’s growth. So Karen made sure the nextgenerationcommunications.com’s traffic is measurable by creating and connecting a Google Analytics account. This way, the NGC team is able to review their statistics and make educated decisions about the direction of the website.
Security
With the advent of HTTP/2, Karen recommended that NGC acquire an SSL Certificate. An SSL Cert provides assurance to site visitors that the business they are visiting is legitimate and is who they say they are. As security is a primary concern in all communication that NGC manages, it is essential to let consumers know their online presence can be trusted. Karen often leads her WordPress clients through the process of purchasing and installing SSL certificates of varying types. Hence nextgenerationcommunications.com is ahead of the curve and now has an SSL in place for better search performance.
GDPR
Lastly, according to https://gdpr.eu/ the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the “toughest privacy and security law in the world”. The regulation was put into effect on May 25, 2018 and it promises to “levy harsh fines against those who violate its privacy and security standards.” As a consequence, any business with potential partners in the EU needs to notify them of their right to privacy and how their data is handled. As part of the security efforts a GDPR checkbox was added to the NGC website.
What’s Next for Next Generation Communications?
Since the new website went live at the end of April 2020 Jackie has been hard at work putting new blog articles together. Her plan is to address the current climate of telecommunications during the COVID-19 pandemic. NGC creates a vital pipeline for businesses to take in omni-channel communication and present a unified voice across all those channels.
Next Generation Communications will continue WordPress Services with Karen at Adventures Online and thanks her for her professionalism and knowledge. Jackie added that Karen makes sure that you are informed every step of the way and she delivered the product they were looking for. Feedback on the new website design has been overwhelmingly positive and people that have seen it just love it. The NGC team are ecstatic with the end result and would recommend Adventures Online to all serious businesses.
About Next Generation Communications, LLC.
Next Generation Communications acts as the primary resource when service and support is needed for any of the data systems they provide. Some examples of the solutions they offer include VoIP, SIP, Cloud Services, Hosted PBX offerings (UCaaS or CCaaS), voice and video collaboration apps. Unifying communications means that if a company has communication coming in from multiple channels they can route all of those contacts to a central location. From there omni-channel sources can be easily managed, cutting down on disparate messages and time to resolution.
Contact Jackie for more information about Voice, Data & Internet Consulting Services by Next Generation Communications:
Jackie Winchenbaugh | Partner
O 508.485.4229 | F 508.848.3095
jwinchenbaugh@nextgenerationcommunications.com
https://www.nextgenerationcommunications.com/