Version 1.2

Contents:

1. Introduction

Following an initial meeting at The Corps of Commissionaires with Patrick Dealtry, the Commercial Director, Keyhaven International have been asked to prepare a quote to design and implement a high profile website based on a very clear specification. The new website must encompass a number of key features:

• Interesting and informative, but interactive and well structured

• Innovative and modern to reflect the Corp's values such as trust, dependability and teamwork and bring its image 'up to date'

• Provide a communication medium for employees and visitors alike

• Provide a useful marketing tool

• Provide a launching pad for visitors to associated sites like BSIA and sister companies such as Resolutions Worldwide Ltd

• Provide a site that can be expanded to give customers access to all aspects of their contracts from invoicing to staffing levels

The real challenge of the site will be to retain the excellent heritage of the company whilst attempting to dispel the public's misconceptions of an outdated organisation. The Corps is a highly professional and competitive company that employs ex members of the police, fire brigade and armed forces who are well trained and highly motivated. As well as achieving this through smart design it will be critical to provide an 'information forum' through the following:

• Mailto forms

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Case studies

This proposal details the structure, design and build aspects of the website which by its nature will be fairly large (approx 30 pages). The proposal also includes detailed costings to design and implement a website of this size and complexity.

An often overlooked aspect of launching a website is that of promotion, both online and off-line. Off-line promotion should be handled by the Corps and should include ensuring that the appropriate website address is printed on all published material. Keyhaven feels that further ideas for off-line marketing of the site should be developed. Online marketing can be coordinated by Keyhaven who will ensure that the site is registered with all the major search engines. We will also design a full online marketing campaign, including banner advertising and targeting of appropriate sites, if required.

The majority of people who visit the site may not have heard of the company before, therefore an important aspect of the design should be to establish credibility and branding. This is essentially done by providing highly polished graphics, and references to the 'real' company.

The navigation needs to be consistent, straightforward and intuitive:

• Consistency: the site will have a menu that will be present on every screen. This gives the visitor the feel that they always know where they are, and can always get 'home'. All links will behave in the same manner, text links will always be in the same colour, and graphical links will always 'roll over'. No underlining will be used except for links.

• Straightforward: Links will do exactly what they say, the visitor will be left in no doubt where they are going. Graphical links will have associated text or tool-tips. Where possible a link will have a sentence or two of text describing what is on the subsequent page.

• Intuitive: Links will be placed and designed to 'guide' a visitor to sections of the site we feel are useful to them.  

3.1 Primary Menu

This menu will form navigation to the primary areas of the site. It will contain links to the following pages:

• Home

• UK National Contract Services

• International Services

• Recruitment Services

• About the Corps

• Our Customers

• Links

3.2 Home Page

The home page will contain a brief introduction to the site, so the visitors instantly know where they are. The page will then go into brief detail about each of the pages available on the site, highlighting new areas, and areas of particular interest. It is important that this page changes regularly, so the visitor is constantly seeing fresh content. This will be done as part of regular monthly maintenance, and will draw on Press Releases.

The key to a successful home page is to provide quick access to things that the visitor wants to see. In order to aid navigation it is envisaged that the Corps' cap badge will feature on every page as an instantly recognisable navigation tool to take visitors to key areas of the site, using the points of the star:

• Contact the Corps.

This page will allow visitors to contact the company in a number of ways;

• 'formatted' email, where visitors fill out a form to request brochures or subscribe to the mailing list or magazines. This will provide excellent marketing feedback on the customer base.

• 'unformatted' email, will allow visitors to send email to individuals at the company.

• Fax numbers and telephone numbers.

Additionally, we will encourage visitors to sign up to a mailing list, where they can be kept informed of new additions to the site and general news.

• FAQs

• Employees Section - Form

• Clients Section - Form

• Home

This page will cover all the services provided by the Corps across the UK including:

• Manned guarding

• Mobile Patrols and keyholding

• Building Services

• Corporate Hospitality and Special Events

This section will also include details about training and health and safety

This section will deal with the operations, training and support carried out by the Corps world-wide. This section will also provide a link to the Resolutions World-wide website once it has been implemented.

This section will deal with all aspects of recruitment and will emphasise the traditional and unique nature of the Corps' workforce as well as update its reputation. The pages will include profiles of typical 1990s recruits - young, motivated and professional men and women recruited from the armed forces, police force and fire brigade.

The section will provide visitors with a link to the Service Solutions website once it has been implemented.

3.6 About the Company

This page will provide detailed information about the company and its history, dispelling the myths and jaundiced public perceptions. It will also give information on the following:

• The company's ethos and information about the quality of its services and workforce.

• History of the Company, how it has kept up with the pace of change and future plans.

• A map of the UK and the world showing geographical coverage of the company's operations.

This page will feature some of the Corps' customers and will have a number of case studies. It will be possible to provide links from this section to customers' websites. I time this part of the site will provide customers with information on contracts, staffing levels and invoicing etc.

4. Marketing

4.1 Search Engines

Search Engines are a black art. They are nasty untamed beasts which the entire online community battle with, and there are many hopeless warriors out there offering bulk search engine registration. Unfortunately there is no alternative for hard work. To appear on the first page of a search engine is a significant achievement and will bring many visitors to the site. Keyhaven have extensive experience of tackling search engines, which we will be used to promote the website.

4.2 Banner Advertisements

Banners are a good way of bringing qualified visitors to the site, there are essentially 2 types of campaign:

1. Banner exchanges. This is a free way of advertising, essentially you put your banner in a pool, and provide space on your site to other banners in the pool. For every banner you show, your banner will be shown on someone else's site. This means that you are not necessarily generating additional traffic for the site, but are rather increasingly the quality of leads.

2. Purchasing Advertising. You can purchase space to put your banner on. Either you pay per click-through (how many people respond to the ad), or per Impression (how many people see your banner). For the site launch, a pay-for-banner campaign will be run, the results of which will be analysed and used to justify further campaigns.

4.3 Amateur Sites

This is the best way to generate traffic to your site. Exchanging links with sites that are relevant to the security industry will help build traffic. It must always be remembered that we are working on a network (the Internet), and networking is crucial to success. Good amateur sites should be supported, and we should look at the feasibility of creating a referral programme where sites who send traffic are rewarded.

4.4 Bulk Email (Spam)

Spam email campaigns are not recommended. Although they are an easy way to generate traffic to your site, they are strongly detrimental to the image of your site (and therefore company). In the long run, you are looking to build a strong base of loyal customers. Bulk email will not encourage this.

4.5 Targeted Email

Visitors to the site will be encouraged to leave their email address on the contact page. If consent is given, these email addresses will be used to build targeted mailing lists. Press releases and general information about new services can then be run on these lists. It is important that these lists are not abused (sold on), on-line customer loyalty is hard won and easily lost.