Since 1898, The Fry Group have been helping people make the most of their money, wherever they are in the world, and at whatever stage of life. The Fry Group use their extensive experience to make all aspects of financial planning simple, straightforward and effective.

The look and feel of the site was designed by our colleagues at the Design Distillery and we were responsible for the site build and implementing the functionality.

We worked hard to make this website as usable as possible and feel that the website works well both from a design and functionality perspective. Looking closely at the user experience, attention was paid to how any user would locate relevant information, this in turn has led to a contact enquiry to The Fry Group. The Library (their extranet) was custom built to contain financial information for registered members which of course, is managed internally and required further custom development of the CMS.

SLC is a new business owned by Duncan Wood-Allum. Duncan has worked in the sport, leisure and culture sector since the age of 17. He has developed a reputation for innovation, community engagement and operational excellence. By the age of 25 he had project managed the development of multi million pound leisure facility and was innovating in the fields of sport, arts and leisure development.

To get things moving, Duncan wanted a full branding solution that not only promoted the business but also Duncan as an individual. The brand solution needed to have full synergy to ensure both Duncan and the company would be recognised as a company but also as individual entities.

In October 2009, Duncan began a long trip around the world to promote his services and present his thoughts and aims to some of the most important people in his sector. In order to promote the trip and also start building a platform for the SLC Consultancy, Duncan wanted to develop a website that was fresh, dynamic and easy to update. Duncan wanted to tap into social networking tools to communicate his aims and objectives and wanted Strawberrysoup to provide a solution that could grow and evolve during his trip around the world and into the future.

Aviastra Flight is a Flight Charter Charter Company that offers a complete international air charter service from a customer’s first enquiry to their final destination. Aviastra can provide any licensed jet, air taxi or helicopter for any journey and with over a decade’s experience, they have the ability to ensure flights run smoothly.

User experience of this site is one of the key requirements. A user would need to be guided through the site in a manner that would encourage the user to make contact with Aviastra. Aviastra needed to capture as much information as possible from the user to enable them to meet the requirements of a potential customer.

A website that utilises our StrawberrySystem CMS (Content Management System) was needed that allowed Aviastra to keep all data up to date. A custom made layout facility which would allow Aviastra to choose from a 1, 2 or 3 column layout . This is controlled via an ‘on, off switch’ in the CMS.

If you would like to find out more about this website – why not visit it?

We were approached by South Coast Nursing Homes who were looking to refresh their online presence with a brand new website and functionality.

It uses our bespoke content management system, StrawberrySystem and allows them to control all aspects of the website including pages, news, assets and also manage the extranet area which allows relatives of those staying at one of their nursing homes to contact a relative directly via their internal mail system.

The design is inviting and friendly, there are lots of interactive parts of the site making it pleasant to use: A non registered user will have access to an interactive map which utilises a feed from google maps displaying address details and location. They will also be able to view a generic image gallery which is customisable by South Coast Nursing Homes and the option to register if they wish is also available.

For more information on this project, why not check out it’s case study or visit http://www.scnh.co.uk?

Four Corners Properties is a locally owned Bournemouth builders who approached us to help create their new website. Four Corners Properties work all around the south coast and also internationally in Dubai. They core building services include kitchens, bathrooms, refurbishments, landscaping and flooring.

We were approached by Four Corners Properties as they had an old website that was starting to look out of date. It had great search engine rankings, but the layout and content was badly organised and was in need of restructing to improve usability and navigation.

We designed and developed a professional looking website which helps build confidence for end users. The building industry has received some bad press in recent times, so we wanted to demonstrate that Four Corners Properties specialise in quality, and the website demonstrates this.

If you would like to find out more about this business, why not click here to check out the website?

Oasis Overland was formed by Chris Wrede and Steve Crowhurst 11 years ago when they realised that with 18 years of overlanding experience between them the time was right to begin their own venture. Their extensive knowledge of Africa, Middle East and South America had been gained by leading trips for larger more established companies, as well as their own independent traveling adventures.

We were originally approached by Oasis Overland to build a new eCommerce website for their business, however this brief quickly changed into a complete system overhaul – and we were asked to revamp their website, eCommerce functionality and create a new business application.

We developed a brand new business applications from the ground up. It was quite a daunting prospect, as a lot of the calculations that are done by Oasis Overland involving trips, trucks, dates and passengers, it was very important that they system was intuitive as possible.

The website features some great design including a time sensitive background which changes depending on what time of the day you visit at. It also features custom photo galleries, a Flickr account and lots of custom information – all controlled via the central content management system.

If you would like to find out more about this project, why not visit Oasis Overland and check out some of their great overland adventures?

We are proud to announce that London and Dubai based recruitment agency JJ Associates have just launched their new website. We have been working with JJ Associates over the past year to create a new brand for their business as well as launch their content managed website.

JJ Associates is an international banking recruitment agency based in London and Dubai. They help find candidates for banking, investment and international vacancies and vice versa help their international clients find suitable candidates for roles they want to fill.

Their new website markets JJ Associates as a professional recruitment agency. It demonstrates that they have the talent internally to select the best candidates for some of the highest profile jobs in the marketplace.

Historically, their old website has static, so JJ Associates had to contact their web designer each time a job needed to be uploaded. Now they have StrawberrySystem, they can login whenever they wish and update all content online themselves.

You can see the new JJ Associates website by clicking here.

Action in rural Sussex (AirS) was established in 1931 as Sussex Rural Community Council and has worked with rural communities since then. Their vision for Sussex is that it is a place where an active community life is valued equally alongside economic success.

Due to the number of services AirS has to offer and the number of communities they support, AirS required a website that not only provided general company information to Internet users but also displayed and promoted what services are available to these communities through AirS and how AirS can help them improve their communities in many different aspects.

The website was built using our StrawberrySystem content management solution and had a number of bespoke modules to allow AirS admin to add new communities and services whenever they required. The CMS was also built to manage membership and newsletter subscriptions, internal job opportunities at AirS and much more.

This website was a typical example of a fully bespoke content managed web solution from start to finish and allowed us to investigate user needs and requirements right from the start; something we have found helped to make the final result successful.

If you would like to find out more about this website, why not click here to visit it?

Trade Aid UK is the trading name for Trade Aid International Limited. By providing a top quality sugar product, they aim to give the consumer a new choice for this most basic of commodities.

At the same time, customers can be confident that they are making a real difference. Established as an alternative supplier of household sugars, profits generated are donated to help people who are deprived of the basic necessities of life, such as water, food, healthcare, education and housing.

The website has a number of bespoke content management modules allow Trade Aid to add/edit and remove all projects that they have been involved in and all products that they sell to support their activities. As both their projects and products and changing regularly it was vital to allow them to administer these sections of the website themselves without the need to revert to Strawberrysoup.

For more information about this website, why not click here to visit it?

Each website is built for a different purpose, which could be to sell a business’ products online, or simply as a brochure to show potential customers what a business does, and then to attract them to contacting the business for more information.

This article aims to describe the differences between a static website and a content managed website using a content management system by describing the benefits and disadvantages to SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises.)

We hope that this article helps both business users, and other website design firms to understand more the difference between these two types of website.

A STATIC WEBSITE

A static website is a website that is designed, created and then hosted by a website designer and is usually programmed using a static language like HTML or XHTML. Once the website is online, any changes that are needed require a website designer, or someone that knows how to edit, create or delete web pages.

Typically, static websites are much simpler to create a content managed website, due to the fact that no database needs to be created.

ADVANTAGES OF A STATIC WEBSITE

There are a number of advantages of static websites over a dynamic, content managed website for SME’s, dependent on their business:

• Less cost involved
• Simpler to create and host
• Quick to download on lower bandwidths

DISADVANTAGES OF A STATIC WEBSITE

• Could cost you more in the long run depending on the frequency of the updates
• Long change process as you have to wait for a website designer to have the time to make your changes
• Not as much functionality, so you website could be lacking against your competitors

A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR A WEBSITE

If a business decides that they want to sell their products online, update their website content when they need to and capture customer details, then a content management system is more than likely to be the best solution.

A content management system is a system that allows users to add, edit, update and delete their website content quickly and easily through the use of an administration section on their website and a database (usually MySQL, MSSQL or Access.) Content management systems use server side scripting languages such as PHP, ASP or ASP.net.

The database is used to store information that the user enters via the administration section, and data is retrieved from it each time a user accesses the content managed website.

A content management system is suitable for all types and sizes of businesses, and it can be used to drive all types of content, including text, documents, sound, video and much more.

ADVANTAGES OF A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• Content can be changed on the website as frequently as is needed, without having to use a website designer or know HTML code.
• Changes can be made immediately due to a much shorter change process
• Can be cheaper than a static website in the longer term
• Easier to budget for ongoing costs than a static website

DISADVANTAGES OF A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• Initial cost is normally higher than a static website
• May be slightly slower for users on low bandwidths than a static website
• Training may be needed depending on the complexity of a content management system

CONCLUSION

This article has aimed to describe the advantages and disadvantages of both a content managed website using a content management system (CMS) and a static website.

Both of these types of website offer various benefits over each other, however it is becoming increasingly evident to Strawberrysoup, that SME’s want to be able to look after their own website, without having to ask a website designer to make changes to their website.

New technologies are being implemented on an almost weekly basis which is allowing web designers and web agencies to create and install content management systems quickly and therefore with less of a cost implication to their clients.

Strawberrysoup has their own proprietary content management system called StrawberrySystem which is a modular based content management system allowing SME’s to choose which aspects of the system they need, such as bulk email, e-commerce, news stories or job postings.