Part Five: New Website Outline (excerpts)
After a thorough review of your current material, discussions with ACME partners, and an in-depth examination of your business offering, it has become clear that the best way to approach your website (and business message) is to start with your high-level philosophy on customer service and integration - then branch out into the components of the philosophy.
ACME has a 'big' story to tell so the best way to approach that story's communication is to lay it out in a comprehensive and logical fashion, while ensuring specific information is easy to find.
Every page will begin with a header statement that reflects ACME's approach, followed by the contents of the page.
My recommended approach presents ACME from a high-level concept all the way to product or tactic-specific information, and this is represented in the order of items in the new toolbar.
The ultimate goal is organizational effectiveness and this is achieved by employing integrated solutions that take customer service to heart, then look at organizational segments (focus areas) to assess what's needed (products, services and training).
This structure not only represents ACME well, but it is also designed to let you be flexible in terms of future enhancements, updates and additions to your site - as your needs and those of your customers change.
A professional designer should redesign this page to capture ACME's professional essence. You don't need a 'splash page' and you can limit designer costs by having them provide just the artwork for the home page and the inside pages - then have your own HTML tagger assemble the pieces as per the guidelines in this assessment.
I recommend two separate treatments for the toolbar links: one for the home page and a second for the inside pages (header).
I believe this process of reviewing your existing marketing-communications material has been a valuable exercise and I am anxious to show you, in words, what ACME's public image can be.
Much of this assessment probably sounds negative, but in truth, it's merely an expression of what your material (primarily the website) can be. ACME has obviously put a great deal of effort into defining its mission, and what messages should be communicated, and all existing marketing material should be viewed as a basis to take things to the next level.
The next step in this process will be to take your material, edit it as required, create new words where needed, and then slot it into the appropriate sections of the new website.
