WP Local Client WordPress Web Design & SEO Projects

Website Design and Google Optimisation - Havering Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Brief

Havering Chamber of Commerce and Industry needed to refresh and revamp their website as part of their re-launch and WP Local bid for and won the contract.

The website needed to be interactive, easy to update and include features such as a blog, a calendar of events and a members directory which needed to be searchable.

As well as a resource hub for information about about HCCI events and activities, the website also needed to attract new members and therefore function as a lead generation website as well as an info hub.

Development

As HCCI is a committee-led collective, representing a wide variety of businesses across Havering, rather than an agile small business, the design and development of the website took about 4 months, which is significantly longer than local business websites usually take to build and launch.

Local business sites are usually turned around in a month or less, but as well as well as the establishing the look and feel of the website in the early meetings, the special features also took time to design, develop and refine.

The special features on this project were an events calendar which would display teh latest networking meetings, committee meetings, members events which the chamber were promoting and other one-off events that the chamber had involvement in.

The other special feature required was a members directory, which needed to be searchable, with all businesses categorised into their respective types.

Special Features

The calendar had to be both well-presented and clear on the front-end, as well as easy to edit at the back-end, so that the committee could add their events in themselves and not have to be reliant on third-parties to make updates for them.

The members directory was also a lot of manual work collecting, uploading and formatting the member's business details and logos.

Once all the relevant documentation and information was collected and uploaded to the directory, we coded the search function and formatted the display.

Results

As well as being used as an integral piece of the Chamber's communications, advertising the regular networking meetings and other events, the website has also generated many enquiries and requests to join via Google search.

The joining process has been digitised so that membership forms are completed online and sent electronically via the website.

Further recent enhancements to the website include a members-only forum which is has been configured, tested and is now ready to be launched.

As well as a move to making the joining process completely automated with the introduction of online payments for new members and renewals.

Summary

The HCCI project was a perfect fit for WP Local as the chamber required a unique mix of visual design, google optimisation and lead generation, as well as custom design for the events calendar and members directory, combined with creativity to deliver these features in a robust, user-friendly way, but within the agreed budget.

The special features have continued to function well and the site has attracted many enquiries and new members through its high degree of Google visibility.

WP Local continue to work with HCCI supporting and enhancing the website and providing digital marketing advice as required.

Website Re-design and Management - Evans Insurance

The Brief

Dan Evans has been a long-time client of WP Local and when he started winning business awards decided it was time to make his business website look as good as it had been performing!

The Evans Insurance site had been originally designed back in 2012 and had only a small refresh since then, so was well overdue a revamp.

The new site had to maintain its conversion rate whilst re-arranging the content layout into something that was more visually pleasing and worked across all screen sizes.

Development

There were too many elements that had been added to the original site design, so a lot of the initial work was on the design and how we could position things better and what content really needed to be 'above the fold'.

The old website has also become unwieldy due to the large amount of content on the website, specifically images, which were taking up a lot of space and as they were unoptimised and therefore significantly increasing the page-load speed.

As well as the images there were over 100 content pages that needed to be imported into the new site in a way that ensured they would retain their Google rankings.

Launch

The company was also moving to a new domain - a better version of their company name had become available and they wanted to switch to the new domain without losing their Google rankings.

When the new website went live we effected the switch of domain too - cataloguing all the existing URLs, redirecting them to the new domain and informing Google via Search Console, so that all Google search enquiries that were returnning the old domain URLs would now return the new domains URLs so as to avoid a loss of ranking and Google traffic.

Notable Features

Award wins and lead generation - the company wanted to showcase its award-winning achievements - having been nominated for and won multiple awards in recent years - without distracting the user from making enquiries.

This was achieved by placing a pop-up video as the main element above the fold with a lead-capture form positioned next to it.

The start screen for the video was an image of one of the company award wins, thus combining the corporate video, award success and a lead-capture form with a call-to-action, all 'above the fold'.

More Notable Features

Mobile lead gen - on the mobile version of the website a 'Get A Quote' click-to-call strip was positioned at the top of the screen, making it easy for mobile users to make contact with the company with just two clicks on their phones!

Image optimisation - there were a lot of images on the old website and most, if not all, were unoptimised. They were either too large compared to the required display size, or their file size was artificially increased by a large amount of EXIF data still attached to the image.

By moving images into a separate folder and bypassing the regular WordPress image upload method we were able to gain control over the sheer number of images and prevent WordPress from creating multiple versions of each.

The images were also optimised for speed by reducing the size to that which was required by the display and removing all unnecessary EXIF data, but crucially keeping the geo-location and ALT data that send local relevance signals to Google.

Finally the folder of optimised images was moved into our CDN to ensure the fastest possible load time without putting strain on the web server.

Summary

This was a project that required a multi-skilled approach, as it was not just web design, but invloved a redesign of an existing content site combined with a change of domain, which all had to be executed seamlessly in tandem with Google without any loss of search visibility.

As well as a design approach which centred on lead generation, it also required considerable technical knowledge of domain redirects and how to effect these changes safely in Google.

Evans Insurance continues to be served as part of our WP Management program, with cloud-hosting, updates, fixes and ongoing support for any questions or issues that may arise.

Custom Website Design and WP Management - D & D Rail Ltd

Brief

DD Rail are a relatively large railway construction company with hundreds of London building projects under their belt.

They write case studies and take photos of all their works and post these on their website so that potential clients can see the work that they do.

They were also keen to showcase their work in a more visual manner, but with so many projects were unsure how this could be achieved.

The site also needed many company pages for the team and all the policies and certifications that are required

Reduce Complexity

DD Rail were actually working off three different versions of their domain name - .co.uk, .net & .com - each of which being employed in some function to get their website online!

They also had multiple domain providers and a two different companies involved in hosting!

NOt to mention several Google accounts for which there apeared to be no passwords.

WP Local were able to access the Google accounts through a process of trial and error, consolidate everything into one single domain registrar and took over the hosting, thus streamlining and simplifying the set-up.

The new website was then set up on the dot com domain and the other domains redirected onto that so that everything pointed to the same domain.

Content

In this project there were also over 100 content pages of case studies and 1500 images that needed to be transfered from their old website(s) and formatted.

The images were unoptimised and so WP Local got to work converting JPEGs from baseline to 'progressive' to increase load-speed and resizing overly large images to their optimum size.

The default WordPress image upload methood was bypassed in favour of moving to a CDN, which saves server space and speeds up load times.

The raw case studies text content was extracted, reformatted and paired with the appropriate images, creating new easier to navigate pages that Google could understand and index.

Design

These changes were then integrated into the new design, along with the interactive project map that we created as part of the project.

Special Features

To represent their work visually we came up with the idea of an interactive map based on the London Underground system, with the stations they have refurbished represented by ‘places pins’, together with an info box and a link to the full case-study.

You can see the interactive map here (desktop only) – http://www.ddrail.com/map/

We have continued to help support and update the map as DD Rail take on and complete more projects across London.

One of the advantages of using WordPress is that it has a user-friendly interface for non-technical people and with a just a small amount of training it is possible for clients to take on some of the updating duties if required, so whilst WP Local deal with anything technical, like adding map pins, DD Rail themselves have been able to update the text and images on their project case-studies, giving them a degree of autonomy and control over their own website.

Website Design and Google Optimisation - UHM Basements

Brief

UHM Basements (Under House Management) are a basement excavation and design company based in west London, who had an unfinished WordPress site that had been launched but never completed and needed someone to take over and deliver the project based on their requirements of having a stylish website that was visible in Google and generated new business.

Essentially this was a regular project for WP Local – a business site that needed to rank in Google, generate leads but also look good and display case-studies and images of completed projects.

Development

The development was without problems as LGW have delivered projects like this many times before.

The client wanted a home page that was image-led and supplied numerous images of their ongoing work which we integrated into a custom slider.

To ensure that despite the client's request for a 'minimal' look did not impact on Google visibility home page text content and service location info was placed behind a 'drop down' content box which required a user click to become visible.

This kept the home page neat and tidy whilst also provding Google with relevant information to ensure visibility in search results.

Lead Generation

Once the site was completed a content syndication campaign was initiated to increase Google visibility and generate online enquiries.

Multi-media content such as articles, videos, audios and press releases were created, branded and syndicated across Google to get the brand noticed and increase visibility.

Generating leads for a high-cost service like basement extensions in a very specific local area (west London) is all about quality and definitely not about quantity!

At any given time in a specified local area there will be only a handful of people looking for a service like this, that means that it is really important to present well to the propsect online and make it as easy as possible for people to show their interest.

Custom Website Design and WP Management - BusyBodies Massage

Brief

BusyBodies Massage are an in-office, corporate massage and well-being business that operate across London.

Having experienced significant growth quickly the company needed to establish an online presence to serve both existing clientele and attract new customers and bookings.

The brief was for a website that represented the company's core message, was visible in Google and was easy for visitors to make enquiries and that also provided information to existing clients about upcoming wellbeing days.

It was also required that the new website would enable a switch from physical pen and paper booking sheets and an exchange of cash upon service delivery, to an online automated booking system and payment gateway so everything could be completed online at point of booking.

Development

The actual design stage was straightforward with the client requiring a clean, easy to navigate website that presented the advantages of massage generally and their service in particular, together with an easy way to make new enquiries.

Once the website was completed, the pages were optimised for relevant keywords and a Google My Business page was set-up with each location created as a separate branch of the business in Google Maps to ensure the best possible coverage in google search.

Special Features

Now it was time to build the booking system within the agreed budget, which was the most challenging aspect of the project!

Not only did the system need to be integrated with a payment gateway - PayPal and Stripe - it also needed to be robust enough to handle hundreds of bookings whilst preventing double-bookings, which are very difficult to deal with for a therapist on a tight schedule!

Following multiple iterations and testing both in beta-mode and in live usage, a custom system was perfected which allowed users to select from massage options, pay online at point of booking and which made sure double-bookings were not possible.

The booking calendar was able to work on all devices and email notifications were sent to both the therapist and the clients upon succesful booking.

As well as email notifications all bookings were held in a database on the website for reference should any queries arise or there was any issue with accessing email.

Launch

The booking system was a resounding success, taking away a lot of manual work and saving time and money (on paper and printing) with everything now able to be completed online.

The site performed well in Google and was able to attract individual as well as corporate clients through visibility in the search results.

WP Local continue to host and support the website through our WP Management program, providing hosting, email, WordPress updates and regular back ups to ensure the continued smooth running of the website.

Website Design and Google Optimisation - TE Shipping

The Brief

TE Shipping are a freight forwarding company based in Romford who specialise in bespoke cargo shipping across the world with a focus on Europe, India, USA and China, who needed to upgrade their website and become more visible in Google - ultimately they wanted to generate business online from their website.

The company already had a website that was a few years old that wasn't performing well in Google nor really represented what they felt was the company's main selling point which was its high level of customer service.

As well as the website in general , the directors were not happy with the logo that the previous designers had created and so WP Local included logo development in the package.

Development

TE Shipping did not have a lot of content and what was present on the old website was fairly genenric and repeated across multiple pages, which is of no use for Google visibility.

So whilst the site design was fairly straightforward the real work was in creating the website content - to do this we sat down multiple times with the directors and verbally extracted the information we needed in order to write 5000 words of onsite content and repurpose into video and audio content and gain some traction in Google.

In order to engage users more we created cinemagraphs for some content pages and spent a lot of time on the layout and appearance of these pages, working to present visually attractive pages with a strong focus on lead generation.

Launch

With the design completed and the content uploaded and formatted the site was launched and a content syndication campaign was immediately implemented to complement the on-page optimisation and propel the website up the Google rankings.

As the campaign was dripfed out the website gained rankings and enquiries started to come in - a vast improvement on the previous state of affairs!

TE Shipping is now on to their second Google visibility campaign having picked up a very good client in the first campaign!

Custom Website Design and WP Management - Radford Press

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Little Market Nursery

Brief

Little Market Day Nursery and After School Club had two websites - one for the day nursery and one for the after-school club - which neeeded to be combined into a single website but with distinct sections for each.

They also wanted to keep two different email accounts for the nursery and school club but combine their Google presence.

The other main requirement was for many of their printed paper tasks like child registration and policy records to be digitised and delivered online.

Finally the project required a large number of images to be resized and uploaded into a gallery for users to browse.

Development

The first stage was to agree the new design which was quickly achieved, then we had to figure out how best to present the two different entities of the business in a single website and Google listing.

To do this a home page was created which offered the two different options of nursery or school club using click-through buttons and upon choosing an option users would be taken to the home page for that particular side of the business.

The two sections were identical in design but with different content which offers a pleasing uniformity.

The paper forms were conveted into digital forms and visitors are able to ask questions, book a tour and register their children all using the website.

Combined the nursery and school club have nearly 200 separate policies and all of these were formatted and uploaded to teh website for easy access.

Digitising forms and policies has made a huge difference to the workflow at Little Market, as parents can access these very easily and no longer need staff to help them with this and the nursery and school club no longer have to spend time and money printing off policies and forms onsite.

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Innercity Environmental

Brief

Innercity Environmental are a specialist asbestos-safety construction company based in Kent and Essex and are part of the Downwell Demolition Group.

Their existing website was difficult and expensive to manage and provided no return on any financial and time investment.

WP Local reviewed the website in terms of Google optimisation and lead generation and found it sadly lacking across the board.

So the brief was to create a new website that looked professional, ranked in Google and generated leads, whilst being managed and kept up-to-date - which was a perfectr fit for WP Local!

Development

The design stage took some time with multiple revisions implemented and a constant focus on usability and lead generation.

Innercity Environmental are quite forward thinking in terms of marketing and had a lot of text and image content from various client projects that they wanted integrated into the website.

WP Local love working with clients who create their own content and were delighted to have this highly relevant and on-topic content to add to the website.

A number of page lay-out designs were required for the home page, blog pages, project pages and service pages and once these were created and the content uploaded the site was ready for launch.

Launch

The website was launched and a Google visibility campaign was implemented to get the site ranking for the right keywords in order to generate enquiries.

Multi-media content created, branded and syndicated across Google and as the website began to gain more rankings and more visits the enquiries started to come in.

After 12 months which included a second visibility campaign the website was producing regular high-quality enquiries.

It is worth noting that these kind of enquiries convert extremely well because people are actively searching for that service at that exact moment!

Compared to something like paid Facebook ads (which defintely have their place for the appropriate audience & product) which is a form of interuption marketing, when people search in Google they are already qualifying themselves as being interested in that product or sevice, so it is just a case of getting your offer in front of them at that time they are in need.

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Christine Fitzgerald Dog Training

The Brief

Christine Fitzgerald had a small part-time business training puppies and dogs for friends, referrals and dog-owners she met whilst walking her own dogs, which fitted around a full-time job.

Like for many people, when the pandemic struck things changed and a reduction in hours and salary from her full-time job meant she had more time for dog training but also a greater need for clients to make up the short fall in monthly earnings - so it was tiem to get professional!]

The brief was for a classic WP Local website - one that looked profesional, was optimised for Google and for lead generation!

The results have been beyond expectations!

Development

The website was quickly developed, optimised and launched using the tried and tested WP Local methods.

All the pages were optimised for the relevant keywords and a local Google listing was configured for the business, whilst a content syndication package was implemented to increase Google visibility.

Launch and Results

Since the lockdown was lifted the enquiries have flooded in and the business has been extremely busy with new clients making this project a resounding success!

WP Local continue to manage the website and provide email, hosting, WordPress updates and security along with full technical support.

Web Design, Optimisation & Lead Gen: Clients & Projects

Website Design and Google Optimisation - Havering Chamber of Commerce

Website Re-design and Management - Evans Insurance

Custom Website Design and WP Management - D & D Rail Ltd

Website Design and Google Optimisation - UHM Basements

Custom Website Design and WP Management - BusyBodies Massage

Website Design and Google Optimisation - TE Shipping

Custom Website Design and WP Management - Radford Press

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Little Market Nursery

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Innercity Environmental

Website Design, Google Optimisation, Hosting and Management - Christine Fitzgerald Dog Training