Tuesday 28 September 2010

The global leaders in renewable energy solutions practise what they preach



ENER-G (www.energ.co.uk) based in Manchester, designs, develops and finances energy efficient and renewable solutions on a business-to-business basis globally. They deliver a comprehensive end-to-end service – from energy procurement and efficiency expertise through to renewable and low carbon technologies and services.

ID, the Preston based digital agency, have been working with ENER-G for over 5 years now and with their rebrand on the horizon and new requirements for the site it was time to re-scope and re-develop. Or so we all thought.

ENER-G had already invested in the initial website and CMS so the approach was planned to recycle the CMS and just develop new templates to represent and support the new brand. So in terms of renewable solutions this project delivered that promise always made when clients are looking at website development which is rarely delivered against. The site you buy will be able to be redesigned without having to buy a new website or starting from scratch.

There's been new features added to enhance the online presence for ENER-G like a jQuery hero area on the home page:


...and a deep linking SEO type footer which acts as a method of navigation when at the base of the page and highlights where the user is in the site. And obligatory social media sharing options handled by an AddThis widget:


A lovely jQuery based map of Europe helps promote their growing international portfolio via the CMS without getting caught in the messy Flash map scenario getting in the way of SEO and updatability:


And because this was ID's CMS in the first place coupled with our excellent development skills it didn't mean the system hindered the evolution of the site, which can happen with some CMS products. ENER-G could have exactly what they wanted.

ID created the online design after Happy Creative (www.happy-creative.co.uk) in Blackpool did an excellent job with the rebrand, having worked many times with 3rd party branding agencies and extending the clients brand online for the likes of United Utilities and BAE Systems this was an ideal project for Interactive Dimension.

"This is a demonstration of how important long term relationships are these days. 2nd and 3rd generation websites for clients is great for all involved, no need to get another agency up to speed and maximum cost effectiveness for the client and repeat revenue for the agency, it's a win-win situation for all.

"To top it all off, we're very happy with the site and feel it works well in our portfolio, they have a great team over there at ENER-G", said Jonny Wilde at ID.

You can have a look at the site on www.energ.co.uk.

Thursday 9 September 2010

New website from ID turns the spotlight on Preston



A new website promoting Preston as a modern, creative, innovative European city has gone live.

www.prestonvision.co.uk features links with popular social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr, allowing Preston people to get involved in discussions about the planned transformation of their city over the next decade.

As well as expressing their views on current projects and initiatives featured on the site, the public can contribute videos and photographs which celebrate the area’s beauty, heritage and personality to help raise the city’s profile as part of the bid to attract investment.

The fresh, sleek, clean website was designed by Preston creative agency ID and commissioned by Preston Vision Ltd, the regeneration company which is driving forward proposals to transform the city.

Preston Vision’s head of marketing and communications Emma Blackman said: “The website is a key part of our strategy to market Preston in a comprehensive and far-reaching way, bringing together the city’s best attributes and proudly showing them off.

“Preston is a vibrant, compact city with fantastic transport links and a lot of personality, this website will give Preston a new platform to stand alongside it’s European counterparts, showcase development opportunities and highlight Preston’s strengths in sectors such as advanced manufacturing , knowledge and design.

“The website is fully integrated in terms of social media so that Preston people feel part of it and, most importantly, can contribute towards telling the world what a great place it is to live, work or visit - it’s a celebration of Preston. Feedback from local people about our proposals now and as the projects are rolled out is also crucial.

“These are potentially very exciting times for Preston and its people as the city positions itself as a 21st century centre of knowledge and innovation.

“We were delighted to find the creativity and technological expertise needed for our website right here in Preston with the ID creative agency.”

Strategic Account Director at ID Jonny Wilde said: “It’s been a privilege to work on such an important site for the City of Preston. The new brand was easy to work with, and the client was great!

“Integrating so much social media into the site means the community can contribute and that’s something we’re interested in observing, to see how the social media and website channels blend - it should be very interesting.

“We’re very pleased with the final product and have enjoyed the follow-on opportunities with Preston Vision such as exhibition systems and email marketing, it’s a great relationship, and one I’m confident will only grow over time as we work closely moving forward.”

The site was developed using ID’s content management system (CMS) with several enhancements such as:

- Social media integration, including Twitter (both account and search related feeds), Facebook, Flickr (particularly the header on the ‘Preston is Evolving’ page which is made up of images drawn from Preston photographers), YouTube, Delicious and LinkedIn

- Pages tailored in terms of colour and style according to the user journey

- RSS feeds from tourism and property sites are to be integrated making the site a hub of information for the whole of Preston

- Site map footer which acts as the breadcrumb trail highlighting where the user is on the site, and delivering great linking into the content of the site

- Newsletter subscription which feeds directly into the email marketing platform

The site is built with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind and features SEO tools in the CMS and rich keywords all over the site giving natural search success, especially relevant to the recently launched Google Instant.

You can visit the site on www.prestonvision.co.uk.