Pemaquid Communications

A few weeks ago Pemaquid launched a new Web site for the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF). MeHAF advances its mission through three strategic priorities: advancing health care reform in Maine; promoting patient and family-centered care; and strengthening Maine’s health care safety net.

The goal of our redesign project was to help give MeHAF the online tools needed to share knowledge, publicize the work of its grant recipients and strengthen its position as a thought leader on health care issues in Maine.

When MeHAF approached Pemaquid in January of this year, their Web site was not helping them advance their strategy. For several years they had been using a rigid, hard-to-use content management system that had been built using proprietary programming on an ASP.net platform. The system was balky and hard to adjust to meet changing needs. MeHAF staff had a tough time understanding how to manage the CMS, let alone how to use it to communicate quickly and effectively online.

Pemaquid responded by developing a custom version of our Pemaquid Content Manager, built atop the Django framework. We were able to quickly architect a solution that allowed MeHAF to preserve and migrate all the data from their existing site. At the same time, we were able to dramatically improve their ability to self-publish content on the site. Their page templates are much more flexible and search-engine-friendly, so over time we hope to see their search positioning (already relatively good for relevant topics) improve.

With the new Content Manager in place, MeHAF can update every page on their site – and create new ones – in a way that is easy to manage and is search-engine friendly. They can even easily control naming conventions (i.e. “mysite.com/mysection/mypage”). They can update news and events, and can update the contents of a custom library of Resources.

With a little help from graphic artist Arielle Walrath we updated the look and feel of the site to match design elements from their most recent annual report, designed by Portland agency Pennisi & Lamare.

As with all Pemaquid sites, MeHAF.org is built with bulletproof, cross-browser compatible CSS and xHTML and is structured so it’s easily accessible to folks with visual and physical impediments and who use assistive devices to browse the Web.

The solid base we’ve established also puts MeHAF in position to incorporate linkages to their nascent social networking system, and Django’s Open Source framework will allow us to build an online community for sharing health information through an onsite social network/forum, should MeHAF decide to move in that direction.

Whatever they decide to do next and however they choose to approach it online, the Pemaquid Content Manager will give them a platform that allows their site to easily grow and change along with their online communications objectives.

Yesterday I spoke with someone at an organization to whom we gave a pitch presentation last week. He explained that we weren’t getting a gig to redesign his organization’s Web site. He said his committee told him one reason they weren’t inclined to give us their business because ‘we never asked for it’.

We don’t mind a bit. We will never ask for business.

Sound crazy? It’s not when you think about it. It’s actually become part of our screening process. Let me explain.

When speaking to potential Clients, it’s my job to demonstrate that we are the experts, that we have the know-how to give them the best Web site possible. We should be able to convince them that our approach and our process will lead to a site that is clearly superior to other options.

If we can’t do that, if the prospect doesn’t end up coveting our approach and our previous work, it means one of two things: we haven’t done our job demonstrating our capabilities, and/or they will end up being a Client who is not a good fit.

In a way, it’s like dating. You’ll form a healthy relationship with someone who likes you for who you are and not because you bought them diamond rings and took them for a ride in your Carrera.

Don’t get me wrong. For the prospect in question, we wrote up a proposal, we prepared and delivered a solid pitch presentation and, at the end we said (as we always do) that we were looking forward to the opportunity to work with this prospect (and we were very forthright in saying that).

But we wanted to work with them because we wanted to build a great Web site, not simply because they waived money under our noses. We won’t say anything or do anything just to get the work (we have plenty already). We’ll propose to do what we think is right – and prospects will either agree or they won’t.

For the health of our company, the Clients we want (and the ones you should want for your business) are the ones who want to work with you, not the other way around.

Today we’re reviewing a Client’s competitors’ online presence: their sites, content management systems (CMS) and social networks. We’ll compile the results of our digital survey and provide analysis as to strengths and weaknesses regarding a competitor’s online marketing communications, their code base, the accessibility of their sites and the technologies they use.

If you’d like some perspective as to how your business stacks up against the competition, just get in touch.

After building Web sites for more than a decade now, I can say that when you boil it down there are basically four types of people who build most Web sites. And three of them are not the people you want monkeying with your pixels and data, not because they’re incompetent, but because their professional interests and motivations are at odds with what makes for a great Web site.

I submit for your consideration:

Susie Sunshine (The Graphic Designer) . Susie got into design because she likes to work with colors, fonts, layouts and patterns. Designers like Susie get involved in Web design because all her Clients, for whom she already does brochures, logos, letterhead and other collateral, ask her about Web all the time (this is also how a lot of so-called “full-service” ad agencies fall into Web design work as well).

But Susie and her ilk aren’t usually great coders – in fact, they often have an aversion to it – and let’s face it, that’s not what floats their boats. So she ends up building “Supermodel sites”: they look pretty, but they break a nail or break a heel when asked to do anything athletic (interactive).

For a full-featured interactive Web site, equipped with even a simple content management system, Susie’s not your gal.

Sir Codesalot (The Programmer). Sir Codesalot can write a script to do just about anything. He’ll make your Web site sit up, beg and fetch your slippers in the morning. Content management system? Check. Chron job synchronizing online and offline databases via XML export/import schema? No problem.

But programmers far too often create systems that only other programmers could love. They’re often too complex for most people to use easily, and ignore common workflows. To make matters worse, programmers are not trained as communicators, so you often get cryptic error messages or help text that’s unhelpful because it’s chock full o’ jargon.

Sir Codealot will not slay it when it comes to your site.

P.T. Bar-Nunn (The Search Marketer). Search marketers are really good at convincing their Clients to spend money on all sorts of voodoo that may or may not bring people to a Web site (my 80-20 rule of search marketing is that 80% of the practice is drop-dead simple; but that’s a blog post for another day). Then, P.T.’s Clients pay for a monthly report filled with all kinds of statistical metrics on how well – or poorly – they are performing… and justifying more search marketing.

When it comes to actually architecting a Web site however, many search marketers are mediocre – because their focus is on the marketing, not the build. And the problem with that is that even if your search marketing campaign is successful, you could end up bringing people to A Really Bad Web Site, and that’s kinda like being The Boy Who Cried Wolf. People will come to your site based on the search marketing, but they’ll leave once they get there – and they’ll never return. At that point, your entire search marketing budget will be wasted.

Search marketing should be considered when redesigning your Web site, but don’t treat it the marketing as more important than the site itself.

Mr. Clean (The Interaction Designer). An interaction designer takes the psychology of how people browse the Web into account when building a site. He’ll first try to understand who will be using the site and what task patterns they’ll follow when navigating through it. Then he’ll use the appropriate graphic design and programming to support the needs of people visiting the site. Other architectural issues, like the types of content (news, events, job postings, resource libraries, member directories, meeting minutes, products for sale) will be taken into account to fashion a content management system that’s best for the people visiting the site.

If you want a site that gives people a great user experience (and a great user experience sells products, by the way) then look for an interaction designer like Mr. Clean.