Home page highlights member directory and topics.

The Kentucky Chapter of the National Speakers Association (www.nsakentucky.org) has a new custom-designed site that makes it easier to manage the profiles of the speakers in their chapter, publicize events, accept payments for events using PayPal and make website updates (both text and photo albums) without assistance.

• Easily Manage the Roster of Speakers: Integration with the eSpeakers database (www.espeakers.com) makes it possible for individual speakers to keep their information up-to-date, taking administrators out of the loop and saving time. Individual profiles are customized to fit into the website design, and the new website provides a visual directory of all of the members. eSpeakers also provides the tools to browse, search, and display these profiles on your chapter’s website. We worked with them to fully customize and integrate their service into the NSA Kentucky website design.

eSpeakers profile is customized to match site design.

• Multimedia Component Adds Flash: Using Adobe Flash on the home page highlights all of the members of the chapter and the key elements of the site including “How to Find Speakers” and “Speaker Topics”. JavaScript, Flash and animation techniques can be very effective in creatively engage an audience.

• Easy Updates: Administrative personnel for the chapter are able to add chapter events and update website content on their own using our easy editing tools. They simply log in and navigate to the page they want to edit using a browser and use our editor to edit, save and publish changes. It’s easy to change images or create new pages.

Easy editing interface simplifies site updates.

• Photo Albums: A web-based tool makes it easy to manage and make additions to the photo album on the site. Users can easily upload, delete and sort images or videos. Use of transition effects and thumbnail previews enhance the presentation.

• Emphasis on Style and Design: Not a template design, the site is enhanced by moving beyond the limited set of web fonts. See www.typekit.com for the possibilities. It’s also optimized for widescreen display which upgrades the look of the site and sets it apart from the crowd. Stratejus follows the direction of HTML5 and CSS3 to infuse creativity into all of our website designs using drop shadows, borders and animation effects.

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A Prospective Student website developed for Houghton College uses personalized URLs, variable data printing and customized web pages to boost direct marketing response rates and drive website traffic (http://explore.houghton.edu/).

Personalized Marketing

A key component of this project is the use of personalized URLs and variable data printing to gain the attention of targeted prospects, create a more effective direct marketing campaign, and increase direct response rates. The college launched the website by sending a series of printed mailers, plus an email blast, to a mailing list of 25,555 high school students, and received 1,575 responses. The message to prospective students included a personalized URL (http://explore.houghton.edu/firstnamelastname) and a unique password. This information was generated by preloading the mailing list into the database, and the system creating a set of unique user names and passwords that could be used with the mailing.

The 6.2% response rate to the initial communication was almost equally split between those who responded via paper (743 or 47%) and those who responded electronically (832 or 53%).

Customized Web Pages

To create a more personalized experience for prospective students, Houghton’s website now invites users to build customized pages that display information about the college tailored to their specific interests. As part of the registration process, users complete both a personal and interest profile which gathers information on their interests from academics (majors, study abroad programs) to extracurricular programs such as athletics, drama or music. After completing the profile, the site generates a set of personalized pages with an overview of each interest area and links to more content on the college website.

Maintaining Visitor Interest

A key goal of the website project was to gain mindshare and invite visitors to browse the site to learn more about the college and its programs. The site uses innovative technology (Flash video, animated slide shows, a Flash document viewer and visitor polls) to create a more interactive user experience.

Results tracked using Google Analytics have been outstanding with good response in terms of pages per visit (4.5), average time on site (2:33) and a very low bounce rate (less than 5% of visitors are viewing only one page, versus 35% for the Admission section of the main website).

Linked to Ongoing Promotional Activities and Google AdWords

The ongoing plan is to use the website as a key marketing vehicle and landing page as key marketing tools to continue building relationships with prospective students entering their college search. Because the website is targeted specifically for prospective students, the website can speak directly to prospective students and highlight news and create an electronic view book of college life. The new content and expanded capabilities also encourages student prospects to engage in a dialogue that helps bond them with the college and voluntarily enroll in a relationship building process that earns loyalty. Use of Google AdWords each month provides an ongoing stream of new prospects, and additional direct mail campaigns and email blasts are being designed to drive traffic to the website.

Highlights of Website Development

The Houghton Prospective Students Website was developed using standards-based HTML and CSS for the interface, with PHP providing the connection to a MySQL database. The slideshows and video players are driven by SlideShowPro for Flash using a server-based software product called SlideShowPro Director. The Flash document viewer is powered by Issuu. Polls are driven by PollDaddy.

Integrated Flash component allows user to easily explore Cheesy Eddie's product line-up.

When we set out to redesign the Cheesy Eddie’s website (www.cheesyeddies.com), we knew the cheesecake itself needed to be the star. With more than 20 swirled and infused flavored cheesecakes, plus a line-up of “Over the Top” cheesecakes with names like “Oreo Explosion”, the strategy was to capture interest and attention by making it easy for surfers to interactively explore Cheesy Eddie’s product line-up. So we focused the design on putting the product front and center, using strong visuals and interactive Flash technology to capture the interest of visitors.

Animated Flash Slide Shows

The key to the website’s design concept is a series of animated slide shows. Playing in fixed windows and embedded into the site’s page design, the slide shows quickly deliver the basics of Cheesy Eddie’s message. The bakery “started with a great family recipe” for cheesecake, and has become a Rochester tradition offering a wide array of products. A series of interactive buttons make it simple for visitors to explore these options including traditional cheesecakes, “Over the Top” cheesecakes, carrot cakes, “Chocolate Lover’s” and “On the Lighter Side” offerings.

Slide show application software on the Stratejus Web server is used to manage a total of nine slide shows on the site. This software integrates with Flash movies on the Cheesy Eddie’s site, and is used to create the albums of images and captions that deliver specifics on individual products. It is simple to add or delete images, and manage other multimedia assets such as Flash movie files and video.

We are seeing increased interest in using animated slide shows and Flash technology to deliver targeted messages because of their visual appeal and ability to grab the attention of visitors. These presentations use elegant animations, thumbnail images, customizable captions and user controls to provide a multimedia experience that separates a website from its competition. Here are a couple other sites we helped design, Myrtle Beach Villa and Hollerbrook Builders, which also make effective use of this approach and technology.

Importance of Photography

Quality photography is vital to the overall presentation.

During the project, we took more than a thousand photos of cheesecake and the other desserts at Cheesy Eddie’s bakery. Utilizing a portable lighting system, we were able to set up studio lighting on-site at the bakery to capture the complete array in less than two days of shooting. With taking that many photos, we could see the visual impact, especially of product close-ups, and reinforced for us the importance of presenting the products effectively. It also demonstrated how website excellence is often linked to a strong visual presentation, and many organizations need to invest to make sure they have strong imagery to support their website presentations – even if they’re not selling cheesecakes.

E-Commerce Integration

A key goal for this project was tight integration of the shopping cart with the overall product presentation.

A second key area in the Cheesy Eddie’s redesign was integrating their online store into the overall website presentation. The strategy was to present the product in a “mouth watering” way and then make it easy for customers to order online.

Stratejus created a solution for e-commerce that works for Cheesy Eddie’s utilizing free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software. This standard shopping cart software supports categories, featured products, bestsellers and more. Web-based administrative tools make it easy to add/delete products, change pricing and create special offers for customers.

A key feature was integration with the USPS Web Tools program to provide online access to shipping costs, a shipping calculator integrated into the website and administrative tools to simplify the logistics of processing orders. Integration with PayPal and their free basic business account option eliminated the cost and need for a secure certificate and online credit card processing.

If you haven’t been to the Cheesy Eddie’s website, take a look and tell us what you think.