Version 1.0 16/01/1998 TTJ
Contents:
Action File Software Ltd requires a Web presence in order to generate leads for new sales, and to generally promote themselves online.. The site will be relatively simple, but will need to have a high quality look and feel that reflects the professional corporate image of AFL.
Although the site is primarily sales oriented, I feel that a broader approach to putting information about AFL online would be valuable. This open approach serves to give potential customers a 'warmer' feeling than simply being pushed with a 'hard sell'. This can be achieved in a number of ways, many companies publish their accounts or philosophy. However in the market that AFL is in, possibly the best approach would be to publish case studies, where AFL can show how they quickly and professionally solved customers' problems.
This document is designed to stimulate ideas for the web site, and no items within it should be considered fixed. A later revision of this document will form the specification for the development of the actual site. The costs given are approximate for the items laid out here, they will be revised for the final specification.
It is anticipated that a visit to AFL will be required to discuss the site prior to commencing development.
The site will use original artwork created by HOOP to create a professional, clean and corporate look, based around Actions File's existing logo and colors. It is essential that the site has an up-to-date look, a high quality web site will put you on at least an equal footing with your competitors.
The site will break down into a number of areas, although these are termed pages, they may well contain more than a single page of information.
The home page will contain the AFL logo, and act as a summary of the entire site. It is essential that the casual visitor can find the information they are looking for within a single click, each of the pages on the site will have a brief description and a link on the home page.
News and important events can be posted on the home page.
This page will provide a number of ways to contact AFL, fax, telephone and email address will be given. There will also be a form where potential customer can define their requirements with targeted questions. This is useful when sales staff respond to the queries, as they have something to work from. It also gives the potential customer some interaction, and a feeling that they have not only been somewhere, but done something. The form will be emailed to the sales team.
This page will give details and prices of AFL products, probably including screen shots.
This page will give details of the customer support services that AFL provides, it will have a form where support problems and inquiries can be entered, and emailed to the AFL support team. This page can be used to allow customer to download software patches and as a distribution mechanism for Year End updates etc.
This page will profile AFL staff and their roles with pictures of key staff members. It can also give details of semi-serious issues such as AFL football, cricket or Aunt Sally scores, or used to post job specs for vacancies.
This is a key sales page where customers' case studies can be profiled. It can provide links to customer sites.
This page is key to raising the profile of the site online. The majority of visits you will get will be from links that other sites make to yours. Such links are normally reciprocal, and the more that are established, the better.
The single biggest factor in making your web site a success is promotion. The site will need to be registered with all the significant search engines (some 250). These registrations are based on some 6 key words which will define AFL online. These words need to be chosen very carefully, and you could start thinking about them now! HOOP will provide help when choosing these key words, and handle the submission to the search engines.
The web site address should be put on all stationary and advertising, when working online it is easy to forget how important conventional promotion is.
Newsgroups are a very important source of targeted email addresses for potential customers. HOOP will advise on the most appropriate news groups to monitor. Monitoring these groups will need to be handled by AFL, and can be time consuming.
As already mentioned, links from other sites are the best way to get people to your site. AFL will need to spend considerable time surfing the web for appropriate site to form strategic relationships with.
For credibility, Action File should register a domain name along the lines of www.action.co.uk. This can be handled by HOOP (in conjunction with the Internet Service Provider I-way), or done by AFL independently. The service provider chosen will also supply web space and a dial-up email account for the domain name (whoever@action.co.uk).
The internet can throw up as many problems as it provides solutions. HOOP will always be on hand to help AFL through the sometimes black-art of becoming an online success. A web site is certainly not a 'fire and forget' project, and you will probably need Consultancy in the future as the site develops.
Throughout the development process, the site will be available online for review. This will allow instant feedback and ensure the site meets your needs. HOOP operate a policy of complete openness, this means that all documentation relating to the project will be available on our virtual office web site at www.paneris.co.uk. Please take a look if you are interested in current projects, if you are asked for a password, please enter:
id: paneris
password: erisian
The site will de developed using open standards, this means that it can be viewed using any browser, and delivered from any web server. This prevents you from being locked in to any particular software supplier.
Action File will be expected to supply as much content for the site as possible in electronic format. HOOP has facilities to generate content using scanners and digital cameras, although this will incur extra costs.
As discussed over the past couple of years HOOP are very keen to develop online products in conjunction with AFL. We would like to think that the development of the web site will lead to other joint software projects. Perhaps we can discuss some ideas during the site visit.
All work undertake by HOOP is charged at £35 per hour.
| Task | Time Required (hours) | Cost (£) |
| Graphic Design | 10 | 350 |
| Sign off Design and changes | 5 | 175 |
| Build of Site | 16 | 560 |
| Initial Promotion to Search engines | 4 | 140 |
| Set up of web space and upload of site | 2 | 70 |
| Maintenance for first month (addition of links etc.) | 4 | 140 |
| Consultancy (pre sales) | 4 | 140 |
| Consultancy (visit to AFL) | 4 | 140 |
| Total | 1715 | |
These costs are payable to a Service Provider, and cover registration of a domain name, a matching email account, and 10MB of Web Space. Cost given here are for I-way, other quotes received were similar.
| Set-up cost (one off). | £150.00 |
| Annual Cost | £600.00 |
Happy Object Oriented Programmers is a close association of skilled web professionals. We take a special pride in forming a close partnership with our clients. Please take a look at our Web site http://www.hoop.co.uk, or review the sites of some of our existing customers: