A Carlisle web design company is pioneering a new data-driven approach to help local firms grow their businesses online.
User reviews, blog posts, search engine information, forums and other online data are all being analysed by Web Industry using their new software.
Owners Oliver Warnes and Dan Towers are then crunching through all the data to help their clients draw up a strategy for their websites and the type of content they will need to influence search results and generate business.
Oliver explained: “We spent about two years developing our own software which gathers all this data and information on competitors. We use this to advise clients what approach to take with marketing.
“It comes up with a long list of suggestions on what to write with a section on blog posts, a section on social media based on data, keywords and questions people asked on Google.”
“It means our customers have a guide on what to write, what questions that they need to answer and what their own customer’s needs are,” he added.
One of Web Industry’s clients to benefit from this structured approach is Carlisle accountants MoynanSmith . Dan explained: “We launched their site using this approach and it’s had the desired results. They are over the moon that they have material to guide what they write for the foreseeable future. Good enquiries have come in on the back of it.”
It is a methodical approach that mirrors the work Dan and Oliver have been through with Business Doctor Peter Fleming who has helped them come through a “challenging” and “stressful” year.
The floods in December 2015 put their offices out of action for a month and Oliver was flooded out of his home too, leading to ongoing problems with insurers.
But at work there were issues to grapple with too after taking on a batch of new client when they bought another local web design company and a realisation that if Web Industry was to prosper it needed to go through its own restructuring.
Peter Fleming’s approach was to guide Dan and Oliver on standardising their work processes and to clarify their own roles.
Dan said: “Peter got us to think about our roles in the business and when he mapped it out on paper it hit me, we realised that the business has been a jumbled up ball of string and Peter just helped us unravel it.”
“We’ve been doing the same thing for 10 years and Peter got us to see clearly how the business should be structured and clarify work flow processes.”
Peter said: “When I first met Dan and Oliver the were working long hours with a low return and margin for their time.
“We got to work creating a five year strategy linked to their personal aspirations which meant determining their own roles and responsibilities before we focused on creating procedures for developing and adding value to their existing customer accounts and new business.”
“This meant Dan and Oliver now have management KPIs and anything that they are not good at or didn’t have time for they have outsourced or brought in extra skills”.
“It’s great to see the positive effects this is having at Web Industry with turnover up year on year, and them both having a much better understanding of their purpose” he added.
If you are looking to review and then grow your business, Business Doctors Cumbria offers a free business health check to help you to establish a clear vision and understand the steps to fulfil your aspirations.
Book a free business health check: businessdoctors.co.uk/health-check
Contact Peter Fleming:
Call: 0845 163 1490
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