Tag Archive: north east
Ellingham Hall is a luxury wedding venue and its business has expanded hugely over the past few years. As is expected, to accommodate this growth their site has been added to and altered at various stages over this period. When the time came for us here at Blumilk to reorganise and redesign parts of their site, we recognised it as an opportunity to improve their user experience (UX).
Here’s why it’s important to provide a positive user experience and how we applied this understanding to Ellingham Hall’s website redesign!
Providing a Positive User Experience: The Supermarket Analogy
For most businesses, customer satisfaction is an absolute top priority as this factor often determines the likelihood of a person making a purchase, inquiry, referral, or return. Due to the many digital developments over recent decades, this requirement to satisfy customers’ needs and intentions has slowly but surely crept into online – as well as physical – spaces.
Supermarkets are often used as an analogy for search engine optimisation, website redesigns, and UX. Whilst we might not think about it when we go, supermarkets are very carefully planned in various ways. For example:
- Isles are laid out specifically to influence the route made by shoppers e.g. having checkoutsspanning the width of the storeto make it as easy as possible to pay
- Isles are clearly labelled and follow an intuitive order/hierarchy
- Products are labelled andplaced in specific ways to encourage greater attention to certain products e.g. ‘grabbable’ items are placed at the entrance and by checkouts to encourage impulse purchases
- The warehouse section is always out of site of users, similar to the ‘back-end’ or ‘off-page’ elements of a website
- Cold/freezer sections are often grouped together for greater efficiency, just as navigation bars use groupings
Websites can be considered as much a ‘space’ as anything else in the physical world because they also require planning, navigation, and maintenance. Over time, pages will be added and removed, links will be changed, content will be altered, images will be uploaded and deleted, links will be added, and so on. If this isn’t regularly reviewed, this can start to damage what’s termed the UX.
The Ellingham Hall Site: What Was Needed?
When Ellingham Hall approached us to redesign their website we were excited at the opportunity and challenge ahead, recognising it as a great opportunity to improve their UX.
Getting started, we devised some specific objectives to help us accomplish this aim, which were to:
- Make it easier for Ellingham Hall to update and upload changes to the site
- Make their navigation function more consistent across the site’s pages
- Alter the templates used on some pages to make the site more mobile friendly
- Make Ellingham Hall’s popular gallery page more search friendly
- Create and implement consistent call to action buttons on necessary pages
In theory, these changes would improve the site’s UX by reintroducing consistency to the site and making it more seamless and intuitive to use. These changes would also give Ellingham Hall more influence over the user journey, allowing them to encourage users along predetermined or favourable routes.
The Ellingham Hall Site: What Did We Do?
This was a particularly interesting project as it was very varied, involving multiple specific parts of the site.
We started by reviewing the current sitemap and proposing a more effective version which used our custom templates in a more consistent way across the site’s various pages. We then changed the layout of these pages to incorporate more content and to showcase the amazing photography of the venue, which is a key driving point for the site.
Once this was done, our talented developer created a bespoke search and filter system for their gallery page. This means that people can easily search for their wedding photos within the large gallery without wasting time.
Then we turned to the buying journey and thought about how we could use buttons to streamline the buying journey. We added a consistent ‘Book a Private Viewing’ button to the top right of the screen so that users can get to this crucial step regardless of where they are on the site. We also included an expandable ‘Contact Us’ and ‘Private Viewing’ button for both desktop and mobile versions of the site.
These changes may seem subtle but in unison they contribute to a seamless, improved UX. Importantly, Ellingham Hall will reap the benefits of this redesign for years to come as the results will be cumulative over time.
Here at Blumilk, we’re always looking to tackle problems preemptively and for ways to exceed our clients’ expectations. Regardless of the size or type of business or project, we will always find effective business solutions to help propel your business operations. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, from graphic design to digital marketing and from brand development to advertising campaigns!
On Tuesday, Lauren and Alex took the 286 mile trip to Llanelwedd in Wales to support Western Power Distribution (WPD) at the 2022 Royal Welsh Show. It’s safe to say they were very impressed with our graphics for their stalls, and Lauren and Alex had a great time looking around!
After a long drive, they finally arrived at the enormous agricultural business fayre, which has in recent years morphed into a fun family day out as well. Celebrating Welshness, there were livestock shows, tents selling farming equipment and tractors, and even the army and navy had stalls too.
Who Are WPD, What Did They Want, and Why Us?
WPD play a significant role in this fayre as they supply energy to the area. In fact, WPD supplies power to the Midlands, the South West, and Wales too!
The aim of their stall was twofold: education and safety; and they wanted us here at Blumilk to make some creative designs to be used for the inner and outer walls of their stall, to create some videos to be played on the TVs in the stall, and to create the quiz and competition posters too.
The purpose of these graphics was to educate both adults and children on power and safety and to help WPD get their aims out there and fully understood by their audience. More specifically, they wanted to drive home the message that WPD has a number their customers can ring (105) in the event of a power cut. This is particularly important given the current energy situation and the fact that winter is steadily creeping up on us.
They also wanted more of a focus on Net Zero as this is an increasingly important problem for the world. Rather than following the in the wake of Net Zero awareness, we encouraged WPD to embrace the change and incorporate it into their messaging, setting an example for their competitors.
Graphics for Stalls: What We Decided To Do
Getting right to work, there were two factors we took into consideration regarding demographics:
- We decided to create the graphics in Welsh so the messaging would resonate better with WPD’s target audience
- We understood the importance of making this information accessible to both adults and children given the event’s family-friendly nature
Taking these insights on board, we hired a Welsh translator to ensure the information was accurate and genuine. Then we created two versions of the information: a cartoon-style version which used the Pyloman character, and an adult version which, in comparison, was more corporate and serious.
Here are some examples of what we created:
Looking Forward
All in all, we were very happy with WPD’s presence at the fayre and we could see how integral they are for the local area, as well as how much they care for their customers. We’re also very proud of the work we created and we have some great ideas to make next year’s event a success story too!
Here at Blumilk, we pride ourselves in making sure we can find innovative and creative solutions for businesses and projects. Regardless of the purpose of your campaign, the mediums you want to use, and the objectives you want to achieve, we will always find the most appropriate solution – it’s just what we do! If you have any questions about how we can help, whether it’s for graphics for stalls or anything else, then don’t hesitate to get in touch here!
Here at Blumilk, our central aim is to better connect our clients to their customers and audiences via effective marketing and communication services. We know we’re doing our job right when our clients are expanding their customer base, being chosen for awards, and establishing their authority within their sector or field.
It can be daunting for companies large and small to choose an agency to deliver a project, strategy, or campaign. It takes time from both sides to find the most effective fit and to develop a working relationship so that we can better understand a client’s needs and requirements.
Here at Blumilk, we have 20 years experience providing marketing and communication services for clients across multiple sectors on both a regional (e.g. Northern Power Grid and Alnwick Gardens) and a national level (e.g. various NHS trusts and CCW). Here are some examples of what we have recently produced:
Central to this track record is that we have a very collaborative approach for all our projects and campaigns, preferring to create a collaborative bond with our clients, rather than simply consulting them. We do this by taking the time to get fully understand their business needs, challenges, and opportunities from conception to completion, and have found that this yields the best results.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new clients (you know who you are!) and to acknowledge and appreciate our existing clients who we have been constantly building a long-lasting relationship with. We are proud of the work we produce and we are more excited than ever to see what the future holds, and to see how we can find gaps to evolve and innovate.
Would your business benefit from creative and digital business solutions to help you better grasp your opportunities? Don’t hesitate to drop us an email or get in touch with us here to find out more about how we will help you excel!
We mentioned a little while ago that we were soon to launch a new initiative to assist business growth across the North East and beyond.
Today is the day that we launch the Blumilk Business Support Clinic, a support service where businesses can access free, no strings attached, impartial advice for any issues they currently or expect to face.
We know that being in business can be difficult. In all of Blumilk’s 21 years, we have always held onto the same belief and culture that we’re all in this together, and our clients are as important as their brand.
During the first lockdown of 2020, Blumilk pledged £50k to help North East businesses to ride the storm. During this initiative, we worked with some of the country’s most dedicated and inspiring organisations – we’ll be updating you on these very soon.
The Blumilk Business Support Clinic
Whether you’re a business owner, director or work within a marketing or sales capacity, the Blumilk team will come together to point you in the right direction and offer you guidance on how best to tackle whatever the world throws your way.
Common questions we often get asked range from ‘finding and retaining the best staff’ to ‘increasing sales opportunities and closing business’ or, perhaps, ‘we’re looking to launch a new product – where do we start?’
No question is off-limits, and we’ll do our level best to support you and your business in any way that we can.
The way we’ll run the clinic will be virtual (sadly!) for the time being but hope that in time we’ll be able to invite guests to our HQ where we’ll work face-to-face on any issues and provide regular workshops dedicated to business owners, managers and start-ups.
Fortunately, for the time being, you will still be able to receive all of the info you need to get your business on the right track. We will publish a monthly podcast where we’ll discuss the most common questions, and we’ll have a dedicated page on our website which will feature each and every question we receive.
If you’re wondering ‘where can I grab some support for my business’, Blumilk have you covered. You can submit your question here.
