News
Iceberg Internet Featured In Internet Works Magazine
31 October 2004
In each issue, Internet Works magazine includes a Web Clinic section, which outlines a real-life problem from a website owner and three prospective solutions from website design companies.
We were asked to contribute to the Otober 2004 edition, which focused on Contours’ Spirituality Works website and its need to re-focus its content for a new audience.
Each website design company was allocated a notional budget of £1,500 and our response to the problem was:
"Contours’ aim is to make Spirituality Works a helpful resource. The existing site falls short of this target for various reasons:
- the overall “look and feel” is weak;
- it provides only limited useful information;
- fresh content is not added frequently enough;
Initially, we would meet with Contours to develop a clear understanding of its target audience. Analysing visitors’ needs thoroughly is important before recommending specific solutions. However, our immediate thoughts for re-focusing the website include:
- developing a new look and feel to reinforce visitors’ perception of Spirituality Works as a serious, well-run website;
- adding an Articles section, which could include editorial written by Ravi Mehra and others;
- adding a News section to list topical news related to spirituality and meditation;
- developing the Ask Ravi section to show a fuller list of answers to questions sent in by site visitors;
- including testimonials from people who previously attended workshops and retreats;
- adding a Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) section that would act as a beginner’s guide to spirituality.
Contours could add further value to the site by becoming an Amazon Associate. This would enable it to list relevant books on its website and receive a commission from Amazon on subsequent sales.
We would add a search facility to the site so visitors would not feel overwhelmed by the amount of content. Searching for “ayurveda”, for example, would produce search results linking to relevant News, Articles and FAQs.
The effort required to keep content up-to-date is often overlooked. We would provide Contours with a Content Management System, which would enable them to add, update and remove content as often as it wishes, without reliance on us.
In the future, we could extend the News section to include a direct feed of news from related websites. We contacted the content provider Moreover, who confirmed it could provide a daily news feed specific to meditation, Ayurveda and spirituality.
Although it’s beyond the scope of this pitch, we also recommend reviewing Spirituality Works’ search engine strategy. A valuable, informative website is of little use if it cannot be found!
Overall, a fresh inspiring design, supported by up-to-date content, would make visiting Spirituality Works a rewarding experience."
Countours’ feedback on our proposed solution was:
"[Of the three contributions,] I was most impressed by Iceberg Internet, as they were most specific in their recommendations. I liked their suggestions to set up as an Amazon Associate and to add a search facility to the website, for example. They also took the important step of suggesting help on a long-term basis, which is very important for the success of a site."
