COVERPLAY, the first slip cover designed for play yards, came to JTCG with an amazing product and a Web site that really didn’t tell the story. Furthermore, it wasn’t very user friendly and certainly didn’t resonate with their target market…moms. At first, the client requested just a face lift their current Web design. After close review and some market research, JTCG requested to do a full re-brand in order to make the most of the new Web site and marketing strategy.

The first site was very cluttered and flooded with a blue spotted background that took focus off the actual product. As well, there was no company logo and no clear message as to what the product was and its benefits. JTCG tackled the project by starting with the COVERPLAY logo design. It seemed clear that the logo could be more fun, colorful, and friendly. Also, we wanted something that would really catch a potential customers eye when walking down the aisle at target, kmart, or sears, where the item is currently being sold. JTCG designed a logo with a soft look and feel, a pastel color palette, and a visual of a baby peeking his or her head over the top of the letters, much like a child would do in a play yard.

For the site, JTCG wanted to keep the overall look very clean… for the same reason that COVERPLAY makes the slip cover product… to keep a baby clean and germ free. We used flash sparingly, but always as a form of interactive function. For example, the virtual room was created using flash to enable potential customers to see how the product would look in their very own room. We enabled the user to choose patterns while changing the color of their wall and floor or even to upload a photo of their room and place the play yard with slipcover inside it. Also, we use nomenclature that is more friendly to the market. For example, we changed “Testimonials” to “Mommy Reviews” and rather than showing the testimonial, we show the child photo that the parents sent in associated with each review.

We are very pleased with the outcome of the site and now all we have to do is finish the instruction video. I’ll post here again when we get it done. Check out the site at http://www.coverplayard.com.

It’s funny how sometimes we get into niche businesses in Web design. Although we are really capable of designing sites for ANY industry we find as soon as we get that ONE client, whether it be a service based or product based, once we create a successful Web site for a certain business type, more clients in that specific industry are soon to follow. As i’m sure you realize, each business has different target markets and customers. Jacob Tyler, as a full service agency has to learn each clients specific market and design unique Web sites that will hopefully convert users into buying customers. That’s how we keep our clients coming back.

Okay…so now we seem to be getting requests suddenly from the spa industry. These are always fun sites to do because there is a little more leeway for creativity, however, many of the smaller spas have to contend with tight budgets and while the spa owners know they need a Web site, they don’t really
understand how they are going to get customers walking in the door from it. Good news… We do. Below we are listing 6 quick tips a spa owner should think about when developing a site and reviewing Web design vendors capabilities. Of course there are some more things to think about, but we can’t give away our WHOLE secret sauce recipe

1. Appearance – Every customer that enters a spa is coming for an experience. If the experience they have is enjoyable, comfortable, and relaxing, they will come back. Believe it or not, your spa Web site has to act the same way. For example, the two spas we are showcasing (photo to right) are small spas located in a strip mall, one in Maryland (Salon Jean) and one in North Carolina (Divas Day Spa). While both are very comfortable and well designed on the inside, potential customers can be confused by their buildings harsh and unfriendly exteriors. When creating your site (unless conflicting with your brand), if possible use a soft, muted, and organic color palette. Color is very important to create a feeling of warmth, and inviting someone to convert from an online visitor to one that enters your business.

2. Convenience – If people are viewing your site online, make it easy for them to get the information they need with relative and informative content. Include pricing for services, the ability to make or request an appointment online, and contact information and directions that are extremely easy to find. Remember, the easier you make it for your customers to get the answers they need, the less you will have to take time out of your day to respond to their questions. Even though your site MAY provide all the answers one may need, it’s a good idea to include phone contact information on EVERY page. Many potential customers want to hear the tone of your spa staff which helps determine if they want to make a personal visit.

3. User Generated Content – We are currently in the Web 2.0 era. What is Web 2.0? In short, it is a Web design that aims to enhance communications, information sharing, and collaboration among users on the Web. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to allow users to contribute to your Web site. How? Create an area where they can write testimonials about their experience about the spa. Don’t worry…you can moderate the content so you can pick and choose what posts are appropriate. Also, enable users to comment on your site. The best way now to do this is to BLOG. Good blogging not only helps increase your search engine optimization by increasing your relevant content, but your spa also becomes an expert source and you seem more credible. What do you blog about? The latest in trends, products, spa experiences, etc… You’ll find that your users will post questions and other tips that will get people talking and potentially help your site expand virally.

4. Video – Ever hear of youtube? if not, hundreds of millions of Web users have. Site visitors love to view video. However, don’t waste their time. Show them what they want to see. This can include your location, the atmosphere of your spa, and examples of some of the treatments you specialize in (including hair coloring, cutting, massage therapy, hot stone massage, and more). Also, keep in mind that when you post video, it requires a lot of bandwidth to stream. Thus, compress the size well so people won’t tune out while they are waiting to load. Speaking of youtube, you should post all of your videos on a page there as well. You should also post them to facebook, myspace, and other social media outlets to increase awareness of your business and search engine optimization (SEO). Okay…speaking of SEO…

5. SEO! SEO! SEO! – Think of your Web site like real estate. Then take the words location, location, location, and substitute SEO, SEO, SEO. Yes…that’s how important it is. People surfing the Web usually have no idea who you are or that your business exists. How will they find you? With good search engine optimization, you stand a chance against your competition and hopefully a leg up in bringing in business. Your Web vendor should build your Web site with all appropriate on-site optimization which includes the development of all meta tags, title tags, keyword rich and relevant content, and appropriate link and button names. As well, they should be able to help you with off-site optimization which will mostly consist of link building. Link building is the process of getting as many links back to your Web site from sites with high page ranks. For more information on page rank, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank.

6. Don’t do an all Flash Web site – Often we use flash when we create Web sites as a call out to get a users attention to a specific message or topic of interest. The information then links to a section of the site with additional information. This is what we call “functional Flash”. It is functional because it creates an interaction for the user. Many times we see sites that are all flash and mostly just a poor presentation with minimal interactivity. This is not a good idea for multiple reasons. First of all, while flash can be search engine optimized, it is only one file which limits the page count and indexing for your site. Not good. Another reason is that many mobile units, including Apple IPhone, do not support the use of flash. Thus, if someone is trying to find you while traveling or on the go, your site will not appear on their phone. Lastly, in most cases flash requires more badwidth than standard HTML coding, so your site will take longer to load and could annoy a potential visitor and force them to click away. You’re better off keeping flash to a minimum and only using it to create interest where needed.

Well, hopefully some of these quick tips will be helpful when you are developing your spa Web site. Remember, there is a LOT more to think about to create a successful web site but hopefully this information will get you off the ground running in the right direction.

Jacob Tyler has designed and re-designed Web sites for over 9 years now. Most often, we are tasked to re-brand a company and create a new Web site and corporate identity. At this point, I would say we have done this for well over 50 companies and unfortunately we have never saved the original version of the logo and site. Thinking about it, this is a disservice to potential clients and a bigger disservice to our team because the sites we create for our clients are such a huge improvement based on the original version and we should really show off the difference. Well…here you go.

Digital Dimensions hired Jacob Tyler to re-design their Web site. After initial review, we suggested that their logo was not a good representation of the brand and requested (actually more like “forced”) permission to re-design their corporate identity prior to designing a new site. The result of the re-design can be seen now at www.ddicad.com

A couple of quick notes about the re-design and our methodology. DDI is a Solidworks (CAD software) reseller with stiff competition in California and Arizona. As well, they offer full service training and support for the Solidworks line of products. The problem with the initial Web site is that it lacked appropriate messaging that would quickly engage a site visitor. Thus, their “bounce” rate (meaning how many users went to the home page and left without clicking on any links) was very high. The site was difficult to navigate and some of the sections lacked a cohesive look and feel with the rest of the site.

JTCG re-designed the identity with an added tagline “Forward Engineering Solutions” to quickly communicate the breadth of their services. Along with the new logo and color scheme, JTCG created a Web 2.0 site with interactive functionality to create a “sticky” environment for visitors, including Web casts, Pod Casts, Blogs and more. From customer research, we had determined that site visitors wanted to feel that once the technology and software was purchased, that they would fully be supported and constantly updated with tips and tricks. Also, we determined that many potential customers really didn’t know what software was right for their needs. With that in mind, we created a section called “Solutions for You” that is database driven and asks the user very specific questions about their business and directs the user to the correct product choice. DDI edits the site daily with content and specifically requested that the site be built using the Joomla platform as they had experience using that content management system.

Please visit www.ddicad.com to see the new site. Come back here often as we are going to keep adding more before and after case studies.