Set-up services
Consultancy
At Simplicity, it's about business first, technology second. It goes without saying that we're experts when it comes to the technical options available to you, but we don't shy away from the deeper business issues either.
At the start of each project, we want to hear all about your business model and about any concerns you might have - that way, we can help you to refine your model and create webware that really delivers on your business imperatives.
And because all our clients, regardless of sector, share a common goal of making the most of the Web to achieve success, we understand what works and what doesn't; an insight that makes us even better consultants.
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Business analysis
Early on, our experienced team of business analysts gets under the skin of your business, asking things like: How can we help your team to be more productive? What do we need to put in place now so that your Web system can evolve in line with your business? How do you want your brand vision to be reflected online?
It's all about understanding your whole business rather than just the technology in isolation; making sure that we create a brilliant system that can be rolled out smoothly to your in-house team.
We'll investigate and listen; then we'll suggest ways you can reduce your costs, increase your profits and improve efficiencies.
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Competitor research
Competitive insight is crucial for any business and, with things happening so fast on the Web, it's even more important for internet brands.
By working with you to assess the marketplace you are already in or are planning to enter, we can help you to stand out from the crowd. This includes putting together a long list and short list of your key competitors and a features and positioning report that will feed into the design of your Web system.
That way you'll understand the competitive challenge and be ready to face it head on.
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System design
You might have heard horror stories about programmers disappearing into dark rooms for several months only to emerge with ugly, slow and unusable software.
Not here. Our team, which includes experts in Human-Computer Interaction, knows that your systems need to be integrated with your employees and customers and that every single interaction must be intuitive, easy and quick.
That's why we carefully design each interactive flow and give you a prototype early on so that you can see exactly how the system works. We can even pilot it with a sample of customers to get their feedback.
Our overall goal? To reassure you that the system will work and that your team will be able to hit the ground running once it's delivered.
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Graphic design
At Simplicity, we believe websites should be a thing of beauty. It's all very well having a sophisticated back-end system, but the truth is that customers often make decisions based on how a site looks and feels.
With this in mind, our Web designers will take a detailed brief from you - not just about your objectives, target audience and competitors, but to get a real understanding of the philosophy behind your brand so that we can showcase it online.
Flexibility is key: We can take your existing brand identity, create a new one for you, or work with a third party designer. We'll give you at least three conceptual mock-ups initially, which we'll refine based on your feedback. And you can be certain that our designs are fully accessible and standards compliant.
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Content management
Your website administrators have the difficult task of managing a myriad of tools and content. It's our job to simplify matters.
That means making it easier for them to manage and update all aspects of the system - no more juggling separate content management systems, email marketing systems and management reporting systems.
Simplicity's content management tools can be fully integrated with your other business applications, giving you everything you would expect from high performance webware and improving productivity at the same time.
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E-commerce
It's likely that you want your customers to undertake a financial transaction on your website.
Ensuring the security of your Web system is a given. With years of experience designing e-commerce sites, we know how to integrate your chosen payment provider and test your systems to make them bullet-proof. We use the most secure and widely-used systems as standard and we can also recommend third party security services to give your customers extra peace of mind.
Furthermore, we thrive on designing innovative e-commerce solutions for businesses that need more than just the standard shopping cart. So, if you're looking for a technology partner that can act on your unique idea for a transactional website, you've come to the right place.
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Software development
Our experienced in-house team of software developers will turn your ideas into reality.
Trained to degree level and above in a software engineering discipline and experts in software project management, we are committed to delivering on time and budget. And that's no false promise: We offer fixed-price contracts for software development so that we bear the risk of any delays or additional costs, not you.
It's all about peace of mind. You can rely on us to create the technology that will power your business while you focus on other things.
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Back office integration
Do you want to share some of your data with affiliates? Integrate your system with accounting or CRM software packages? Or gather content and data from other websites so that your customers can navigate the Web in a new way?
In today's online world, no system is an island. So, we work with you to fit your webware into your enterprise and ensure that your in-house team have data that flows freely and securely around your organisation.
It's all about linking everything together and it's something we've done successfully for a number of our clients.
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Accessibility
Helping make the Web accessible to people with disabilities is a priority for us.
As you may know, the Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for website owners to offer services that are not accessible to people with disabilities. So you can rest assured that we'll use accessibility best practice in all our projects and that we can comply with any level of W3C standards.
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Email marketing
With so much competition on the Web, it's crucial that you build strong relationships with your customers and encourage return visits to your site.
As you know, today's savvy internet users won't tolerate unsolicited emails but if they have signed up for your newsletter or left a comment on your message board, you need to make the most of these opportunities.
Accurate, relevant, attractive and timely email communications can be very powerful. But if you've ever run email marketing campaigns in-house, using a third party product, or with an expensive agency, you'll know it can be difficult to get the quality you're looking for.
At Simplicity, we integrate email marketing tools in your Web systems from the outset so that any number of targeted emails can be sent on-demand or on a regular basis. And we're not talking generic emails. We can provide customer profile data so that you can personalise the email copy, making your customers feel genuinely cared for.
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Management reports
We know that managing a dot com business means constantly being on the ball. With this in mind, we ensure that you have all the Web stats you need to make business-critical decisions.
We give you state-of-the-art traffic figures from Web Trends, a third party product that is used by major companies like Microsoft. In addition, many of our clients use Google Analytics for integration with their Ad Words campaigns and our systems are compatible with all third party traffic analysis packages.
You'll need much more than traffic stats to make strategic decisions about your business though. So, up-front, we work with senior management to determine what data you need and we design your online database so that we can produce reports easily and quickly.
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Search engine optimisation (SEO)
As you're looking for high-volume, high-quality traffic to your website, we can support your use of search engine optimisation as part of your wider marketing strategy.
Some say that search marketing is a dark art best left to specialist agencies. We'd argue that if you design the site architecture well from the outset, a few simple techniques will help you to lift your website up the rankings.
Our bespoke approach means we can control every level of the technology, making sure your site is search engine-friendly and that additional elements can be added as new SEO techniques are discovered. That means you can make the most of this powerful marketing tool without worrying about costly re-engineering in the future.
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Ad words management
Pay-per-click marketing for Google, MSN and Yahoo search networks also plays an important role in driving traffic to your site. But it's a time-consuming process - researching the keywords, identifying gaps in the market, setting up keyword campaigns and monitoring and fine-tuning them on an ongoing basis.
We can take this off your hands. Our experience in this area will ensure that you make the most of this growing marketing tool and we are happy to either configure an Ad words system that you can manage or to provide a fully-managed solution with regular reporting.
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