Custom Website Design for SEED Corporation
- Strategic Website Consultation
- Custom Logo Design
- Custom Responsive Website Design
- Personalized Instructions for Updating Website Content
- Maintenance Plan providing Monitoring, Backups, and Security
Spotlight Client: South Eastern Economic Development Corporation
The South Eastern Economic Development (SEED) Corporation is a nonprofit certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SEED was established in 1982 to improve the economy of the region by helping small businesses get started, grow, and create jobs. Nearly 40 years later, SEED continues to serve small businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by financing all types of commercial projects and providing technical assistance to hundreds of existing and prospective entrepreneurs annually.
How Our Web Design Will Help Them Thrive
SEED came to us in need of a new website. Their current website did not reflect all that they have to offer their customers. Additionally, it was difficult to maintain and therefore most of the information on the site was outdated. Over the years, content and pages were randomly added to the site without much planning. This created a haphazard 28-page navigation that was counter-intuitive, making content hard to find and the overall website user experience frustrating.
Before and After
The first thing we did was evaluate every piece of content from every page and redefine the user experience. SEED knew what their clients needed, and we knew it was our job to create a website that met those needs. Task number one was obvious to us – we cut the number of pages in half from 28 to 14, simplifying the sitemap.
The design was tired looking – so for the next task we designed a fresh new modern layout. We created a widescreen responsive design with plenty of white space and a modern color palette of greens, blues, and grays. The key elements to be included on the home page layout were client spotlights and loan programs. Bold photography is used to showcase clients and their businesses while loan programs and monthly rates are also prominent, backed with simple solid frames so they are easy to find. Overall the new design is fresh, clean, and simple – just what they were looking for.
We discussed what processes the client performs on a daily basis, and whether they could be improved using the website as a tool. We worked these procedures into the website using the calls-to-action and intake forms that made the most sense and saved both the clients and staff time and effort.
It was also very important that the staff be able to update the website themselves. They needed to be able to update monthly loan rates, add news articles, as well as the latest business spotlights. The website backend design was created for ease of use, specifically with these tasks in mind.
Essentially the final design decreased the number of pages by half and fine-tuned the process leaving them with a website that is as functional as it is beautiful.
Launch date: September 2020
Curious about how this project came out? Take a look for yourself.