In December 2019, Faith began working with managed IT service provider IT Networks to help design and develop their new website. For almost 30 years, IT Networks have been one of Melbourne’s leading managed service providers, working with businesses across Australia, particularly in the healthcare, financial services and not-for-profit industries. However, their biggest problem was that their website was out-of-date, under-utilised and lacking the personal touch that was their key differentiator.
Branding and Identity
Lacking the kind of critical thinking around their position in the marketplace and how their customers viewed them, Faith set out to determine how IT Networks could be positioned and therefore represented through their website.
After discussing with the client early on, it was identified that their biggest strength was their personalised service. IT Networks does not have a team of thousands working for them; instead, they have individuals managing each client, understanding each of their situations implicitly, with experience and history working with them.
Furthermore, after conversing with a number of their clients, IT Networks’ capability to quickly come on board, identify the issues at hand and resolve them with speed and efficiency was seen to be a large factor with continuing to do business with them.
As such, Faith sought to bring these elements to the fore when it came to their website look and feel. First and foremost, the need for clean, realistic photographs of the team was paramount. Too many managed IT service providers across Australia use plain, generic stock photography, and it shows.
When you are trying to communicate trust and effectiveness, nothing is worse than using bland photography that users may have seen a hundred times before. Our in-house photographer and creative team worked with the IT Networks team to develop a library of hero shots that would complement simple and easy to read icon-style images.
We also helped develop the new tagline for IT Networks: IT that works. Simple, effective and catchy, the tagline now accompanies the logo and will be a catch-cry across many of their external activities.
Search Engine Optimisation
One thing that IT Networks determined very early on was the need for content. Faith understands the importance of search engine optimisation and as such worked with IT Networks to determine what their priority keywords should be, based on a combination of their high-ranking and valuable existing keywords plus competitor keywords that they should be fighting for.
With each keyword mapped to a revised site map, IT Networks started to write content for each page, with Faith then optimising each piece of content for the relevant keywords. At the tail end of the development process, Faith also helped complete backend optimisation as is standard practice for search engine optimisation.
This keyword optimisation covered every page on the website, for highly relevant and well-performing keywords that could deliver IT Networks the kind of website traffic that they were craving. Coupled with a robust and effective digital display campaign, IT Networks are set to thrive in the short- and long-term.
Website Design and Layout
Of course, all of this would be moot without a sleek and clean new website. Luckily, Faith’s in-house digital development team were up to the task. Working with a simple WordPress platform, with dynamic page building functionality, we developed a look and feel that was simple and elegant to use.
Breaking down the different areas of interest on the site into groups of Service, Industries and Resources, it gives the user an immediate sense of what they are looking at. With a home page that summarises the rest of the site, almost as an executive summary, and with dynamic design throughout that gets the user to continue to scroll through, the new design is miles apart from where they were.
Video Production
One of the crown jewels of the new website was a hero video piece that was developed, filmed and edited by our video production team right here in South Melbourne. Interviewing the leading figures within the IT Networks team, as well as some of their key, long-term clients from the financial and health-care industries, we developed a solid amount of content that was then edited together to produce a very effective 2-minute piece.
As a result of our effective filming, we can now cut together more footage to create alternate videos further down the line. This kind of content capability is critical for IT Networks over the next 3-6 months, as they look to leverage their new website into increased business, especially after the coronavirus pandemic.
IT Health Score
For years, IT Networks had used a manual questionnaire to give potential businesses an insight into the health and strength of their IT security. The questionnaire was given out manually as a Word document with all answers available for review.
The strength and benefit of a tool like this is undeniable. But it needed to be leveraged in a more functional and advantageous manner for the business. We suggested including it as a lead generation device, a critical call-to-action that would be present across the site, with enhanced functionality that worked as a dynamic questionnaire.
Leading from one question to the next, before capturing users’ name, email and phone number, the questionnaire then provided a comprehensive response tailored to the answers provided. With over 30 different permutations of answers available, all custom-developed in-house, the questionnaire can grow IT Networks’ CRM database, perfect for future eDM activity, and it provides customers with a functionally beneficial piece of information that can guide their decision making into the future.
Gotta Have Faith
We are particularly proud of this project we’ve shared with IT Networks, showcasing the collaborative and innovative approach we take to website development. For almost 20 years, we’ve been a leading full-service advertising agency in Melbourne, with specialties in not just digital design, but creative services, social media strategy and management, media buying and planning, branding considerations and video production. To find out more about our services, please get in touch with us.