The Brief
Bridgend based Andrew Davis Photography previously had a website that was ageing, not responsive to mobile browsers and lacking in facility for Andy to easily update the website layout with any flexibility. He also required an elegant and clean brand identity showing the high contrast light and shade style synonymous with his work. He needed an identity that worked across light and dark colours, giving him the opportunity to represent his wedding and studio photography in their best light. His identity needed to be able to sit back, allowing his dynamic photography to stand out.
Andy wanted a new website that adopted a fresh approach, showing clean lines and trustworthy professionalism. In essence Andy required a standout web presence for his Pencoed based photography studio. He needed online facilities to showcase his photography as well as a strong marketing facility with a social media integration. All of this had to be tied into a content management system that enabled him to update the imagery and content on the website to save long running costs. Most of all Andy needed a website where the design allowed his fantastic photography to shine through, unencumbered by unnecessary design elements.
The Approach
The SeedMill initially ran a strategy workshop with Andy to help him clarify goals, expectations and exactly how his website could be used to generate leads and gain customers. From that strategy workshop a clear plan emerged with multiple phases, first of which was to simply redesign the website into something that spoke volumes of the service Andy offered.
A full brand identity for Andrew Davis Photography was created including a logo, business cards, leaflets, flyers and compliment slips. This brand identity was then incorporated into a high quality web presence on the Andrew Davis Photography website that really helps to show off Andy’s unique photography style. Whilst in control of the entire design and development process, also integrated into the website were class leading blogging facilities.
The website was designed behind WordPress for the content management system, enabling Andy to change virtually anything whenever he wanted. Using custom built templates (a custom theme), the website was deliberately keep spacious and simple in its design, keeping the navigation simple and the imagery large. Andy has plenty of facility to add imagery and text content within the templates.
Call-to-action messages were then also distributed strategically around the website to make it very clear to the target audience how they can communicate with Andy.
Various contact forms were also employed on the website in order to gain valuable information about any enquiries or feedback. Having multiple forms help Andy to communicate more specifically to the identified and different types of customers that Andy has.
Finally, microformats along with other search engine optimisation features were built into the website to give maximum opportunity for the search engines to consume content on the website easily, resulting in far better potential rankings going forward.
The Result
With ongoing consultancy, Andy not only has a visually strong and quality web offering for visitors, but a well search engine optimised web presence that enables him to compete effectively against larger businesses in the Bridgend area. The new website is a powerful and elegant online platform which will only improve over time as new content is added. Crucially, the new website is one that Andy is proud to show off to people and update with new content.
At the time of writing the website had progressed from being beyond the top 10 in rankings on Google for many of the local keywords that Andy is targeting to well within the top 10 and in most cases even top 5. However, this is just the start of a multiple tier strategy identified in the strategy workshop session performed right at the start of the project.
Andy now has a website that will work with hime and allows him to go as far as he wants in building his online presence.
