PDMS’ Digital Design team have been working with Adventurous Experience’s owner and lead Coach, Keirron Tastagh to relaunch their website (www.adventurousexperiences.com), a project initiated to deliver a refreshed, mobile-responsive site.
Adventurous Experiences provides a range of outdoor activities on the Isle of Man and specialises in sea kayaking. Passionate advocates of outdoors and actively involved in the local community, Adventurous Experiences is a business with a strong identify and underlying philosophy. It is also closely involved with promoting the Isle of Man as a world-class destination for outdoor adventurous activities.
Adventurous Experiences have a long-standing relationship with PDMS, having designed and built the original website. The website is the primary way the business allows potential and existing customers to learn about the business, its philosophy and history, as well as book training sessions. However, to stay ahead of changing technology and design trends, the website needed refreshing.
In particular, mobile responsive websites have become essential for delivering good customer experiences. Figures show that smart phones are now the most popular way of accessing the internet in the UK. However, more importantly for businesses, in 2016 a major tipping point was reached when over 50% of online sales were made through smartphones and tablets! In short, online mobile presence really really matters to business.
Those organisations without mobile-responsive websites will not only loose out with consumers, but will also be penalised by Google. Since the infamous ‘Mobilegeddon’ in 2015, Google changed the way it ranks websites and (simply put) it now ranks mobile-responsive websites higher than those which aren’t.
Design Manager, Jim Rawson worked closely with Keirron throughout project, including the initial design phase and during its construction. Built using the popular WordPress content management system, it’s exceptionally intuitive interface allowed Keirron to add content whilst the website was being built with very little training. The new website features a fresh, simple and elegant layout. It includes:
• Mobile responsive layout
• Online booking
• Comprehensive contact us page
• Adventurous Experiences’ own stunning photography
• Integration with video, social media and Keirron ’s extensive blog
The project was partially funded by the Department of Economic Development’s (DED) business support scheme.
Commenting on the project Design Manager, Jim Rawson said, “This has been a particularly pleasurable project to work on because of the availability of Adventurous Experience’s own powerful photography. We effectively built the website around their pictures – this has in fact allowed the amount content to be scaled back - the pictures say it all!”
Jim further added, “Adventurous Experiences have been a client for over a decade – it’s a business that we understand – and its real pleasure to deliver a website for a local family run business who is not PDMS’ typical customer.”
Adding to Jim’s comments, Keirron stated: “We chose PDMS from our shortlist of 3 companies who could deliver a future proofed website which encapsulated the experiences and skills development programs we deliver; (within our budget). Not only did PDMS exceed our expectations for a crystal clear format, with every element customised and exactly how we wanted it. Jim, Nick and the team know us so well that their understanding and designs helped steer the experiences and programs themselves”.
“The site was built ahead of schedule, and the consistent communication through to completion was exemplary. The project was also eligible for Department of Economic Development assistance, which further extended the scope and options available to us. As a direct customer facing business delivering exceptional service, working with reliable and trustworthy partners is something we value highly. We are entirely satisfied with every aspect of this project”.
To find out more about PDMS’ design services or get in touch, visit the website here: www.pdms.com.
