Complete Childcare is a nurseries group that has been providing outstanding childcare in the Berkshire area for over 20 years. They provide day care for children from 3 months to 5 years and provide a fun, stimulating and caring environment for their children to thrive and develop. As many people at Complete Childcare have children of their own, they understand that the involvement that parents have with their preferred nursery is highly important and that it can have a dramatic effect on their child’s development.

Complete Childcare then decided that they needed to engage parents further and determined that the best way to do so was to launch a new website to update parents on what happens within the nursery as well as providing details on forthcoming events.

The challenge was to produce a new website to unite all 10 of the Complete Childcare nurseries. It had to be not only informative, but also easy to use by the public as well as being easy to maintain by non-technical nursery staff at each nursery. Further to this, a degree of interactivity with parents was required and a new design had to be created to incorporate the Complete Childcare branding and to convey the correct message.

To meet these requirements, a suitable technology platform needed to be established and the Generate CMS was the perfect solution to meet these needs. The Generate CMS provides powerful, user-friendly tools that allow users to take complete control of their website without the need for advanced technical skills. This means that should there be any news or new events, everyone is capable of adding these to the site to keep parents informed. Not only this, but the Generate CMS platform also allows users to create intuitive page and site structures that can be easily managed; this results in a much better user experience as site visitors are able to find the information they require quickly and easily, further improving parental engagement. In having this flexibility built-in from the beginning, Complete Childcare are now able to quickly adapt to market changes and can deliver news and feedback to parents in real-time.

In-keeping with the Complete Childcare branding, a new website design was then built into the Generate CMS to create an easy to use and professional looking web presence. The design was used to emphasise Complete Childcare’s focus on providing first-class childcare as well as raising awareness of the extra services that they provide from learning French, through to their ‘Great little movers’  specialist activity days.

In order to develop a greater level of interactivity, a twitter presence was also created so that news updates and daily events could be ‘followed’ by parents and other users as well as giving these ‘followers’ the opportunity to voice their own opinions and leave comments or feedback. The website was then adapted so that when any news is posted on Twitter, it is automatically updated via the Generate CMS onto the Complete Childcare website so that parents who do not use Twitter can still remain up-to-date on all the latest developments.

What Complete Childcare had to say; Alec Hodson, Managing Director stated “I’d like your team to know that I believe you’ve been flexible, diligent and customer focused. Well done, I believe we now have one of the most visually and functionally effective sites in our sector. I would certainly recommend Generate UK to any person or business looking to design, enhance or build a new website.”

Please click here to visit the Complete Childcare website
If you would like to discuss how a content managed website could help your business, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01635 550431. If you’re already selling products via the Internet, why not let Generate UK provide a free of charge Website Health Check.

When faced with the threat of online divergence in holiday booking trends, Fare Wise Travel understood that they had to move fast or lose potential business. As an independent travel agent, they understood that more and more people are searching for and booking their holidays online with many looking for their dream holiday outside of normal business hours. In order for Fare Wise Travel to continue serving people with their unique adventures for ‘the real traveller’ they had compete and be counted.

The travel industry however has diversified and the way people find and choose their holiday each year has become very different. More and more people are turning to the Internet to research their destination, their accommodation, decide upon their itinerary and then find the best possible price.

Fare Wise Travel has built an amazing reputation for providing quality service and fantastic adventures. However they needed a way to effectively communicate their services and experience to those potential clients and to proactively target those that search the internet out of office hours. They understood they too had to embrace Internet marketing to succeed in this swift changing business environment and so they turned to Generate UK.

A website was agreed to be an essential part of their business moving forward, acting as Fare Wise Travel’s shop window out of hours and proactively generating inbound enquiries and leads.

Following an initial meeting to understand Fare Wise Travel’s website requirements it was clear that the business required an easy to operate content management system (CMS) so that Fare Wise themselves could update products, create promotions and new travel destinations as and when needed. Generate UK was chosen as the partner of choice due to their online experience in delivering stunning websites using the correct technologies for the appropriate business requirements.

From a design perspective it was vital that the new site represented the great travel destinations Fare Wise offered including communicating the fact that they were not a typical travel agents trying to find and sell the cheapest package available.

Using Generate UK’s proven project methodology; the process to launch was exceptionally efficient and completely visible throughout. The website now provides Fare Wise with a platform to continually build business through. The website design includes stunning imagery from around the world and the content is synonymous with the great service Fare Wise offers.

Veronica Bailey, Director of Fare Wise Travel stated “I wanted to work with a company that understood our business and what we were looking to achieve. Our old site was completely out of date and we needed a dynamic looking site which represented the unique service we offer. Generate UK were excellent and I now have a website of which I’m exceptionally proud. It has already provided enquiries and I’m looking forward to developing the site moving forward to generate more business. Generate UK really did encapsulate exactly what we’re all about, our style, personality, great experiences and quality service. I look forward to working with them again.”

www.farewise.com

Here at Generate UK we believe in leveraging the best technologies and methods to suit the specific needs of your business. This successful, tailored approach has delivered business and opportunity to our clients time and again. If you too would like to find out more on our stunning web design and user-friendly CMS solutions, please visit us at www.generateuk.co.uk

I’ve personally been involved with 3 fairly sizeable Sitekit projects in the last few months and I have to admit that the more I use it, the more I like it. I don’t always feel that Sitekit gets the recognition it deserves though. Strangely, you could not call Sitekit a cool product, it’s not web 2.0, it’s not built by a community, and it does not have a vibrant following….. Yet it does what it sets out to do, it is a really great content management system.

 I am now on a mission to make Sitekit the coolest CMS out there…. especially the latest version 9.

Ok, the title suggests 10 reasons why I like Sitekit, so here goes:

1. As a project manager, it’s nice to know that my back is covered when it comes to support. With the best will in the world, it is impossible to know everything about a piece of software. So it is reassuring that you’re only ever a step or two away from the chaps responsible for building and maintaining the software.

2. The audit trail functionality is very powerful. It is one of those features that appeals to larger organisations with extensive publishing processes. However, the ability to roll back to previous versions of content is a great feature for medium sized organisations too. Also, it’s always nice to know who made that fatal change!

3. We’ve built Sitekit websites with version 8 and version 9 and it is no surprise to know that version 9 is an improvement on version 8. What is surprising is how much of an improvement it is. The back end console and usability is a lot stronger and the time to make changes has been reduced. The objective was to go for a more Microsoft style backend that users are familiar with, which comes across really well.

4. Sitekit won’t mind me saying that their system is not for all customers. It has a price point that frankly can put smaller businesses off considering it as a tool, however larger customers with mature online strategies can do a lot with Sitekit. One area that helps to lower the total cost of ownership is the ability to manage multiple sites through Sitekit. With the right license you can manage your sites via one console, reducing your complexity and reliance on multiple systems. It also means you can train your staff on just one system.

5. The flexibility of Sitekit is very good, there are one or two quirks like the hosting and certain APIs, however in the main you can do pretty much what you need to do with the out of the box Sitekit license. I would advise you to check your requirements off with one of the Sitekit staff if you have a lot of bespoke work to do though. The other great thing about Sitekit is that you can create or migrate your existing Intranet onto the Sitekit platform and manage the pages through the system securely.

6. We were able to roll out a new website for an NHS customer within 8 weeks. This site involved nearly 200 pages, different templates for each area and unique imagery. The site was also set up for an Intranet.

7. So far, all of our customers with Sitekit have really liked it. Each customer is different and experience different reasons for considering an enterprise class content management system. Usually, the pain you’re experiencing with non-content managed website can be alleviated with Sitekit, we’d love to have a conversation with you about this.

8. Search engine optimisation is critical to the success of your website; Sitekit really helps you to set up your site in a way that is truly optimised for the search engines. Taking care of your unique page titles, search engine friendly URLs, keywords and meta. As well as integrating directly with your Google Analytics account.

9. One of the less sexy features is the file and image library. You would expect a file and image library in all content management systems, yet the way it is set up with Sitekit really makes sense once you understand the concept. The latest version extends the file and image library to an asset library, which is even easier to use.

10. The last and most important reason we use Sitekit is that is makes us look good. As a digital marketing agency, we’re keen to work with best of breed technology partners. This enables us to focus on our customer’s business objectives and really work closely with them to deliver a website aligned to their goals.

I’ve worked with many content management systems, from open source to big time expensive and most things in between. The criteria I use to gauge how good a system is, is how easy it is for the customer to manage their site and how flexible the site is once built. Sitekit does really well on both points, yes it has its quirks and you’ll need to do a bit of leg work to understand some of the Sitekit specific commands, but this is the same for any new piece of software.

If you’d like to learn more about Sitekit and how it might fit within your organisation, please do feel free to contact us. Depending on your business needs, there are some really compelling reasons for Sitekit both financially and technically. We’d be happy to discuss these with you in more detail.

Thatcham Jewellers, near Newbury in Berkshire is an independent retail jewellers, set up by Penny Morgan in 1983. As a business Thatcham Jewellers has built a fantastic reputation locally and is the perfect place to locate that special gift or item of jewellery.   Since its formation Thatcham Jewellers has successfully built a reputation for quality and expertise.  This joined with the choice of stock, service and value for money is a powerful combination.
With the growth of the internet and the amount of potential business available Thatcham Jewellers felt that it was essential that they moved with the times and created a brand new website.

Thatcham Jewellers met Generate UK through a seminar attended by Penny and from the word go were able to give Penny the confidence that Generate UK could build her a fantastic and reputable new website.

Following a scoping meeting to understand Thatcham Jewellers website requirements it was clear that the business required an easy to operate content management system (CMS) so that Penny and her team could update products and create seasonal promotions as and when needed.   Generate CMS was chosen as the system of choice due to its ease of use and flexible platform that allows anyone with a non technical background to manage and develop their own website within in a secure working environment. This would provide Thatcham Jewellers with the control needed and ability to continually develop a professional website.

From a design perspective it was important that the new site represented the style of products on offer which were traditional, fashionable and contemporary. As well as the importance of design it was equally important to allow the user to navigate easily throughout the site, showcasing the products through eight identifiable categories and encourage enquiries. After a number of design concepts Generate UK used the favoured design and integrated it upon Generate CMS and worked with Thatcham Jewellers over the project period to optimise and format the content which they provided. 

Since the launch of the website Thatcham Jewellers have now opened the doors and business to a far greater audience, the World Wide Web and they have already experienced a significant increase in enquiries.
Penny Morgan, Owner of Thatcham Jewellers stated “I was seeking a reputable web company to work with on this new venture as the website represented a substantial investment for the business. It was essential that we invested into a web platform that allowed us to easily manage the site moving forward and allow us to quickly update and build upon the fantastic site we now have. Generate UK really did encapsulate our style and personality as a business and I look forward to working with them again.”  To visit the new website please click here.

If you would like to learn more about this project or to arrange a demo of the Generate UK Content Management System, please call us on 01635 550431.

Donnington Grove Country Club is one of Newbury’s ‘best kept secrets’; as well as offering a first-class golf course the venue also offers fantastic conference facilities, an intimate wedding venue, a beautiful hotel and a newly opened restaurant. 

The existing website did not do justice to the growing Donnington Grove business and therefore, Generate UK were tasked with delivering a fresh yet functional new site. 

It was important to Donnington Grove to have the flexibility to make regular changes to the site content to reflect new promotional activity, special offers and specific event information. These changes needed to be managed in-house whilst still maintaining the professionalism of the rest of the site and therefore the Generate UK Content Management System (CMS) was utilised. 

One of the biggest challenges with the Donnington Grove site was to deliver a design that show-cased each of the different business areas but was also easy to navigate. Equally, Donnington Grove had to manage the conflict between promoting their core golf business over and above the other areas of the company. 

The website has been launched and very well received by both customers and staff alike. The CMS has given Donnington Grove a very simple and user friendly interface that enables the team to make changes to any aspect of the content without the worry of inadvertently changing the site’s main structure. 

The CMS system provides a great platform for search engine optimisation through search engine friendly URLs, keywords, descriptions and page titles. This has enabled Donnington Grove to compete with other businesses for keywords that they were previously not listed for. 

The website analytics have shown an increase of 130% in the daily number of unique visitors to the site alongside an increase of 420% in the number of ‘sign-ups’ for the Donnington Grove Newsletter and special offers. In particular, new membership enquiries have increased and are25% of the number of new ‘sign-ups’. This has meant that Donnington Grove have been able to reduce their marketing spends in other areas. 

Oscar Inaraja, Deputy General Manager of Donnington Grove Country Club stated “The main challenge the new management team faced when they took over Donnington Grove was to make people aware that Donnington Grove existed and was open to the public. We are not just a golf venue, we have conference facilities, a wedding venue, a great restaurant; all of these services have a different set of target customers, which means that we had to adopt a flexible approach to marketing to ensure we were able to deliver the right messages to the right people.  

Generate UK have proven to be a great partner to work with, they have delivered more than what we agreed and are proactive and flexible in terms of helping us to identify new opportunities to increase the awareness of Donnington Grove. The new content managed website is the platform we needed to help promote our fantastic Golf Club.” 

Click here to visit the Donnington Grove website

If you would like to discuss how the Generate UK CMS could drive your website please do not hesitate to contact us on 01635 550431.

OPISAS is one of the fastest growing international investment companies specialising in providing the latest overseas investments in the most profitable regions throughout the world.

OPISAS are a new business and as a result were keen to stand out in their market and differentiate themselves against their competitors. They were also determined that the web site should contribute to their growth in terms of new sales and marketing opportunities.

A major area of focus was the usability and navigation of the site; early on in the scoping exercise a “three click” rule was introduced, which meant that it should not take the visitor any more than three clicks before landing on a property page. It was also very important that there were plenty of opportunities for the visitor to engage directly with OPISAS, by way of call to actions.

Another important aspect of this project was that OPISAS wanted to make their own updates and add their own content to the web site. This was vital because the quicker a new development could be added, the quicker the details would be available to potential customers. The ability to update and make changes in accordance with their market conditions gives OPISAS a huge advantage in this competitive industry.

Generate CMS provides OPISAS with the ability to amend every page within their web site, and supports search engine friendly URLS. It also has the advantage of being able to provide up to date visitor information on the fly, as well as incorporating the latest Social Media icons to encourage visitor interaction.

Tom Berry, Senior Partner of OPISAS stated “The challenge for Generate UK was to build a brand new website that needed to meet a number of objectives, those were; a great design, easy to navigate, encourage call back and ultimately sell property. The website is fantastic and it meets all of our objectives and more highlighted during the initial project scoping meeting. Now it’s built we’ve entered into the second phase of marketing the website and Generate UK are doing an amazing job of increasing our presence in all the search engines to help drive targeted traffic to our site, we’re really happy with how things are progressing”

Click to view the OPISAS web site.

If you would like a demonstration of the Generate UK CMS or would like us to quote on your design requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01635 550431. If you’ve already launched your site, why not talk to us about growing your Internet Footprint.