WONDERS OF THE WEB

How do you create the perfect web site? And, what exactly is that? Assertis Digital offers advice on how to get the best from your designers

With 30.1 million adults in the UK accessing the Internet almost every day and 31 million ordering goods online within the last 12 months (November 2010; The Office of National Statistics) a clear web site strategy is not only essential, but potentially profitable as well.
Do you have a clear web strategy? Do you know what you want the site to do? And is it achieving your goals? If not, then the following Step by Step Guide is for you.

STEP 1 - CREATING YOUR BRIEF
This is your opportunity to really think about what you want your website to do for your club. Who do you want to target - existing members, new members, children, investors? And how do you want your website to speak to these people?
How you engage your target market online should be an extension of how you engage them in the club. It is essential you think about your short-term and longterm goals before approaching an agency, so you can clearly communicate to them what you want. A great agency will work with you to achieve your goals, offering you guidance and expert advice, rather than simply make the decisions for you.
The key to the perfect brief is in the title - be “brief”. Use bullet points to outline your goals. Your brief should include:

• Introduction - background information on your club.
• Your short-term goals - e.g. a new website.
• Your target groups - e.g. existing members, new members, children, investors.
• Your brand and tone of voice - e.g. local and friendly.
• USPs - what makes your club special?
• Individual requirements - e.g. a private members area, a calendar of events, etc.
• Your long-term goals - e.g. sending interactive email newsletters to members (to cut down on print/postage costs), improving your search engine rankings, bringing in more investment, or adding an e-commerce section.
• Key dates - when you want your short and long-term goals delivered by.
• Idea of budget - the uncomfortable question of cost! It is essential to set a budget. Be honest about your budget when speaking to agencies and ask what you can get within that budget.
• Key contacts - the ideal situation is to have one main contact from the club who can deal with the one main contact from the agency.

This brief becomes a document you can send to agencies. In return, ask them to send you a similar four-page document outlining:
• An overview of their company.
• A list of their key services.
• What are their USPs and the benefits of choosing them?
• Contact details of their key people.
• Examples of their clients (ask for 10 so they don’t just pick the best ones)
• Some wireframe ideas (i.e. creative sketches) or a website
• Some wireframe ideas (i.e. creative sketches) or a website structure.
• Details of how they will manage your budget.
• How they will help you achieve your goals.

The last three points are essential in our opinion, so that they will tailor their response document to your individual needs rather than send you a generic statement about who they are.
Asking agencies for creative sketches and an outline of how they would spend your budget will highlight those who have really thought about working with your club instead of just for your club.

STEP 2 - CHOOSING THE RIGHT AGENCY
Every agency is different and it’s often a nerve-racking experience choosing the right one. Can you trust them? Will they deliver on time? Will they listen to you?
Here are our top tips for selecting the right agency:
Top tip 1 - ask for the document outlined above This will help you narrow down the agencies that you feel will work with your club and who you can see yourself building an ongoing relationship with.
Top tip 2 - speak to their clients Pick up the phone and speak to their clients. Ask their client’s how they find working with the agency; would they recommend them?
Top tip 3 - speak to the project manager This is the person you will build an ongoing relationship with so it’s essential you can see yourself doing that. Call them and have a chat. Ask them how they manage projects and see if their working methodology fits with yours.
Top tip 4 - Test the technology The content management system (CMS) is the tool you’ll use to regularly update your website so ask to use a demo version of it. Do you like it? Is it something you find easy and user-friendly? Make sure the answers are yes before selecting that agency.
Top tip 5 - Go with your gut feeling! By this stage you’ll have a “gut feeling” about the agency. Listen to this. Don’t be afraid to discount an agency because you didn’t gel with their project manager or because you found their CMS too confusing.

 

STEP 3 - USING THE FOUR-STAGE APPROACH
The following four-stage approach is paramount:
• i: Research & planning
• ii: Design & branding
• iii: Development
• iv: Testing

i: Research and planning
Research and planning is essential and - in our opinion - the agency should:
• Outline a clear understanding of the goals and measures of success
• Research competitors (where appropriate).
• Create mood boards for inspiration.
• Research the club (infrastructure, technical systems, calendar events, sports fixtures, printed material, etc).
• Create the site structure and outlining the main pages.
• Sketch wireframes (creative page sketches) to show creative direction and interactivity.
• Put together a clear project schedule.

You should be involved with the agency at this stage. At the end of it you will have a detailed site structure, wireframes of the main pages, an idea of the creative direction, and a clear project schedule. You should approve all these before moving into the design and branding stage.

ii: Design and branding
Design and branding is much more than simply making a website look good. A great design will demonstrate brand consistency (the club being the brand). The website must feel like part of the ‘brand family’. Having clear brand guidelines will help, and your agency will help you develop your brand for use online.
Design feedback should be clear and brand-led. Don’t expect an unlimited budget on design reiterations; most agencies will charge extra for this. Good planning at the outset will ensure there are no surprises when you see the designs.
Only when you are completely happy should you sign off the designs. This is your point of no return regarding the look and feel of the website. Once development commences it becomes very costly to go back and make design amendments.
iii: Development
Development can be an unnerving time. The agency may go quiet as there is no input needed from you at this stage. Don’t panic! Trust in your project manager to keep things on track. Here is what’s going on at this time:
• Front end development - building the templates that form the appearance and user interface of your website.
• Back end development - building database structures; configuring automated systems; and integrating the website with any content management system.
iv: Testing
Thorough end-to-end testing of your website must be carried out. This involves:
• Functional testing - ensuring all aspects of the website work as intended.
• Usability testing - ensuring users can complete key tasks in a meaningful way.
• Cross-browser testing - ensuring your website is compatible with all commonly used browsers and operating systems.
Once development and testing is complete you will have the opportunity to review the website before it launches. The four-stage approach ensures there are no nasty surprises at the end as you will already have signed off the designs, so you’ll know what to be expecting.

STEP 4 - THINKING OF THE FUTURE
What the club should do...
After the launch it’s easy to fall into the trap of that’s the website done; I can tick it off my list. Don’t make this common mistake. If you simply forget about it, your website will become stale and boring.
People form an instant opinion about your club from your website. You do not want their first impression to be stale and boring.
Update your website regularly. Make sure your calendar shows upcoming events so visitors can see all the great events going on. Photo galleries are one of the most-viewed sections of any website. Update these at the end of every trip to show what an exciting experience it is attending your club.
Show your pride by shouting about achievements through the homepage and the news section. This will help to create an initial impression of exciting and vibrant.

What your agency should do... Make sure your agency helps you to plan for the future on an ongoing basis - this could include search engine optimisation, online marketing, e-commerce among others.

THE PROTECTION OF FREEDOMS BILL: IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) and Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) looks set to change under the Protection of Freedoms Bill. ELIZABETH HUBBARD, Senior Policy Manager at TRGCMB explains

The Protection of Freedoms Bill will legislate to reform procedures for both VBS and CRBs in England and Wales. (The Bill remains at Committee stage until 17th May 2011 and is subject to change.)

BACKGROUND
The Bichard Inquiry recommended certain changes to enhance safer recruitment of adults who work with children. Some of these recommendations became the framework of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act (2006) which created the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

This Act introduced the concept of ‘Regulated Activity’ and created statutory requirements to refer individuals to the Independent Safeguarding Authority if employers removed people from Regulated Activity, believing they may pose a risk of harm to children. The requirement to ‘not knowingly employ a barred person’ also became law. The coalition Government announced a review of CRB, ISA and VBS in June 2010 expressing concerns that the scope of vetting should be ‘scaled back’. The Bill affects CRB, ISA and VBS.

KEY CHANGES
There are key words and concepts in the Bill that require clarification and definition and the information below may be subject to change. Organisations currently making representations on certain features of the Bill include the NSPCC who’s response can be found at www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform The key issues include:

Cancellation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority registration The Independent Safeguarding Authority registration scheme has been cancelled. This may have a small impact on budgets saving some money this year. Requirement to ‘not knowingly employ a barred person in Regulated Activity’ This duty is strengthened to become ‘must ensure the person is not barred’ before they commence their Regulated Activity duties.

It will be important to ensure that new starters are properly vetted in a timely way and confirmation that they are ‘not barred’ is received before they take up their duties. We believe the gradual introduction of portable and continually updated Disclosures (see below) will mean that confirmation of non-barred status will eventually become a quick and easy online check. This will, however, take time to implement.

Redefinition of Regulated Activity
Regulated Activity is being redefined to remove certain roles from the requirement to ensure the person is ‘not barred’ Barred people will be able to work in these roles and there will be no duty to ensure the person is ‘not barred’. Portability and the Continual Updating arrangements Clause 80 of the Bill allows CRBs to become portable if an applicant subscribes to an updating service.

This should enable a new or existing employer to check and see if any new information has been generated about the individual since the first Disclosure was issued. The cost of this service and its details are not yet available, but this has the potential to speed up recruitment, reduce costs, facilitate movement between roles and smooth partnership arrangements.

An applicant will ‘own’ his Disclosure and multiple employers should be able to check and see if it remains current. To be fully effective an updating system must allow a person to move between Regulated and non-Regulated Activity.

Single Issue Disclosure
The Bill intends to change the system so that only the applicant receives copies of the Disclosure. Employers will need to be very familiar with the appearance and texture of Disclosures to ensure they are not edited or fabricated. It is expected that new security features will be developed to keep this system safe.

Any clubs using an online application and e bulk process may find that they receive an email alerting them of the issuing of the Disclosure and, possibly, the information required to ensure the person is ‘not barred’. At present however no detail is available and this remains speculation.