Essex Cares Ltd (ECL) goes live

ECL approached Enovate, and a number of other companies, with a tender opportunity to redevelop their website. The basic requirement was to replace the existing content management system (CMS) with something new and modern but there were also a wide range of additional features and enhancements needed.

We submitted a response to the tender and after meeting the project team at ECL we were delighted to be awarded the contract.

After documenting and confirming the project requirements in a statement of work we began the planning and design stages of the project. We worked very closely with ECL until the draft designs they’d supplied were evolved and enhanced into the final, approved site page designs. During these early stages we also considered SEO best practices, ECL’s existing Google search engine ranking and Google Analytics data, which helped guide us when making decisions related to design and content strategy.

With the page designs all approved, it was now the turn of the development team to get the new site up-and-running. As with all our responsive website design projects, the content management system we used was Craft CMS. Its flexibility and ease-of-use for clients making it the best choice for a project of this scale and complexity.

During the development stage of the project, we gave the ECL team access to a secure development site as soon as we could - the development site is effectively and work in progress site that the client can access - which allowed them to follow our progress as the website was being built. This always proves to be a valuable asset for both parties because it allows the client to supply valuable feedback during the build which can be addressed before the new website is launched.

The finished website has a number of custom features, including a fully bespoke Location Finder. This allows website visitors to find ECL locations in their area, providing matches based on the location and service criteria they have supplied. Another interesting feature is the custom Contact Us page. This has been designed and developed in such a way to help visitors find the exact contact information they need to resolve their query quickly rather than just supplying a single, generic email address or telephone number.

Another unique requirement from ECL was to give their Local Business Managers (approximately 30 users) Craft CMS accounts with restricted permissions so that they could only make content changes to certain areas of the website. Thanks to the flexibility of Craft CMS, we were able to accommodate this.
 
The positive working relationship developed between ourselves and ECL ensured the project ran smoothly and we are elated with the end result, which was delivered on time and within budget. ECL are a fantastic team to work with and we are looking forward to completing phase two of the project and incorporating the new features that will be coming to the site very soon!
 
Why not take a look at the site yourself, and if you’re considering a similar project we’d love to hear from you.