Making it ‘aDoddle’ for you to find help, give help or get connected locally.
Where do I start?! A project I have been working on for a number of years very closely with the brain behind the idea, Jaki King. She’s a great human being and is creating aDoddle to make a difference in communities. The essence of the idea is to make it as easy for everyone to find help and support locally as it is to find a hotel or restaurant on Google Maps. There’s so much more to the projects and the possibilities are endless with aDoddle in the way that it can make a difference. Find out more about aDoddle.
Currently the main focus for the website is to make it easy for charitable organisations to add themselves to the map (as a project) then be able to manage and customise their project with ease.
The whole website has been built from the ground up in my own spare time using my whole skillset based on Larvel and has undergone significant development since the inception of the Beta version. There’s still lots of work to do but here is some of the key developments that I have made.
The project creation form, making it super simple to get a project on the map with a four step process. A key element to the success of this page (based on feedback) is the carousel of live project logos already on the map.
A sneak preview of a project’s editor. Making it really simple to fully complete a project. The completion progress checker has helped to increase the number of comprehensive projects on the map making the data more useful to those that need help.
Projects have the ability to make their project’s profile unique to them. By adding brand colours, featured imagery and other options.
Edison Ford Insurance Brokers was established in 1992 and have been trading for over 20 years, providing a comprehensive service to personal and business customers looking to find the best quote for their insurance and expert advice.
About the Project
Whilst managing the Google Adwords campaigns for the company, the conversion rates were reasonable but I felt could be improved with a brand new website to make the campaign more cost effective. After discussion, I designed and developed a brand new website with a goal to improve the conversion rates of the website. Since going live, we have seen a large increase in the number of leads being generated plus, an improvement in organic SEO due to the website using the responsive design approach to work for any device and the implementation of a blog and online reviews.
Grab-a-Cab has been established in the Yate area for a number of years providing a quality taxi service for the local community.
About the Project
Ian, Grab-a-Cab’s director and I had a meeting to discuss his existing website which was with Wix and wasn’t working for his company. His new website needed to work on all devices and provide functionality for his customers to get a price to book a taxi online. I used the responsive design method to enable his website to work on all devices, which is essential when a large percentage of his users were viewing his website from a mobile device. To develop the online booking form, I used Google Map’s Javascript API which gave me the functionality needed to develop a map-based booking form, enabling users to choose their route and once the route has been chosen, a guide price is given and an approximate distance, the user can then choose to book the taxi online.
Edison Ford Property Maintenance Ltd was established to provide property maintenance services in and around the Bristol area. With expertise and experience in all aspects of building, property maintenance and repairs.
About the project
I worked with Edison Ford to design a brand new responsive website that would incorporate their recently re-designed brand and ultimately, provide a better return on investment, especially with Google Adwords. Since the website has been launched, we have seen an increase of 20% in conversion rates with Google Adwords, a campaign I’m also managing. Along side the website, I have recently began developing software to streamline their internal processes (more on this in due course as it’s still a work in progress!) although so far it’s proven successful.
Simpalarm is a patented assistive technology product, designed to support independent living for older people. It plugs into a power socket, unobtrusively monitors background activity and uses mobile technology to create a caring network of family, friends and neighbours.
About the project
The CEO James and I met a few months back with a view to improving Simpalarm’s website. The old website was using the wrong branding (which changed close to that time), needed improvements in content and some design elements. The old website wasn’t integrated with a content management system, I suggested to James that an integration with WordPress (a world-class content management system) would enable James and his team to make most of the content changes themselves, giving the team much more flexibility. One of the other main improvements was the home page design, now featuring a large image of the device and a video of how to install Simpalarm. Since the website has been updated, I have also worked with the Simpalarm team to capture the product in a “real-world” example and with graphic design, notably a design for an investment application that highlights what Simpalarm is. I look forward to working with James and the team on Simpalarm going forward as it’s a great product and there will be scope for a project in developing the user dashboard that displays the data from Simpalarm.
“How to install Simpalarm” video that I produced with the team.
The Tower is a beautiful, period apartment building set in the centre of Bristol with excellent views over the city and was on the market for sale.
About the project
This apartment was on the market for sale, and due to it’s unique position could appeal to a very wide range of buyers, from businesses in need of an apartment to professionals in need of a short commute. Working with the team at Edison Ford, we needed to have more control over the content and how it’s presented as online portals presented restrictions. Using the microsite, we were able to do more creative marketing such as contacting local corporate businesses by email with a short link to the microsite, which proved to be quite successful. My role in the project saw me photographing the property, designing and developing the microsite, designing the brochure and then producing email marketing.
Acton Aid was formed 40 years ago when a group of men living in Iron Acton decided to set up an informal organisation to organise events in Iron Acton for the benefit of local villagers with surplus funds helping good causes in the local community.
About the project
Acton Aid came to me looking for a system and website that would streamline how they currently sell and manage the ticketing for their events that they run throughout the year. They also needed flyers, correx boards and banners designed to advertise two of their best sellers, Proms in the Meadows and Mash in the Meadows.
I began my research to find a solution for their website and soon found that the best solution to solve the problem would be to power the website with WordPress and then use a ticketing system called “Event Espresso”. This enabled Acton Aid to sell tickets online and then manage any aspect of ticketing for an event within a user-friendly system (view transactions, total registrations, build a database of customers, etc). The system was setup by myself and required custom development to work for Acton Aid’s needs, for example the printable tickets were custom designed to include sponsors branding to improve their return on investment. I also provided training to the members, ensuring they were well up to standard with the system and were prepared to use the barcode scanning facilities included with the system on the day of an event.
The website encompassed a trendy flat design style with a clear navgiation and an easy to read font to enable a wide audience to have a good experience. The design is also fully responsive, enabling customers to visit the website on literally any device.
Edison Ford Property is an independent company (part of the Edison Ford group) offering estate agency, letting agency services and property management facilities. They have been providing services to their clients for over 25 years.
About the project
This was a project undertaken working with the team at Edison Ford. The old website was incredibly dated, wasn’t user or mobile friendly (an important factor, especially so in property), lacked a comprehensive property search and wasn’t SEO optimised.
The new website has a simple design to appeal a wide audience range and is fully responsive, meaning clients can view properties literally anywhere in the world from their desktops, laptops, phones or even tablets. The website also features a custom property search, enabling interested buyers or renters the ability to find properties with a range of filter options. The property search also saves Edison Ford time and money as it’s automatically updated every hour with the back office system, Dezrez. The website is fully SEO optimised, which includes a blog with helpful advice to “satisfy” the content needs of Google.
Bristol Glass Processing specialise in crafting mirrors, splashbacks, fire glass and balustrades for homes and businesses in the United Kingdom.
About the project
Bristol Glass Processing was just in the process of starting up their company when they came to me looking for a website. They needed something that would effectively provide information to potential clients about who they are, what they do and where they’re located that would tie in with their local print marketing. Almost straight away, we came to the conclusion that a one page website which showcases some of their past work, is mobile friendly and has a large map of their location and multiple contact details would be most effective to build their online presence.
A South West based professional husband and wife team, with a background in event management, creative writing and public speaking, Tailor Made Ceremonies was established to create ceremonies that inspire and capture life stories.
About the Project
Tailor Made Ceremonies came to me looking to move away from their existing provider, Wix. The biggest problem they found with the software was the SEO restrictions and the fact their website wasn’t mobile friendly, which was increasingly becoming a concern due to the rise in mobile users. With this in mind, I first converted their existing design into a mobile, tablet, desktop, laptop (and pretty much any other device!) friendly website using a “responsive” design approach. I then integrated their existing content into WordPress whilst at the same time, optimising the content for better search engine ranking.
