Case Study: Development of a Custom Job Board Module for Government Contractors
The Problem:
In our experience, advertising jobs, attracting quality employees, and having a robust, employee online application system are some of the most important pieces of a government contractor website. While there are numerous third-party job board and application modules that can be incorporated into websites, these systems have some problems:
- Some require users to leave the contractor’s website and go to the developer’s website to search jobs, apply, etc. This is problematic because:
- Users leave your website to view and apply for jobs and they may not return.
- Users also may not want to submit their sensitive application information when entered on a third-party website, especially regarding security information and clearances.
- Many times, the interface of the jobs pages will not be able to look like the contractor’s website or even to include the contractors own branding. This not only can be confusing for potential employees as they may be unsure of where they are, but it also loses a valuable opportunity for the contractor to deepen their brand value.
- When custom branding is available, in order to make the landing pages look like the contractor’s site, an additional template will have to be created and installed on the third-party website. Each third-party system may have its own unique requirements for the creation and implementation of custom templates. Creating a template that complies with the third-party requirements and is kept up to date may incur additional costs to the contractor. Furthermore, these templates will have to be updated and changed any time that the contractor’s website and/or branding changes.
- The contractor may not have complete control over the job system, application fields, and data.
- The contractor will have a separate system to log into, learn, and use solely for their job board.
Our Solution:
We’ve worked with many government contractors and understand the unique needs and requirements they have regarding advertising their job opportunities and managing applicants. We know how important attracting quality employees online is and that government contractors often have unique requirements for applicants.
As such, we develop custom online job board and applicant tracking systems for our clients to ensure that their online job boards are:
- Incorporated into their own websites
- Potential employees never leave your website
- Potential employee data does not go to or through a third-party
- The job area uses the exact same layout and branding as the rest of your website
- The job system doesn’t require a separate administrative log in
- Useful and searchable in a way that makes sense and is helpful to employees
- Custom made for each contractor. We customize each job system to ensure it works in the best way possible for each contractor.
- Display, include and collect information that is specific to your own needs and requirements
- Can be made entirely to your specifications.
- Contractors have control over the layout, look and feel, fields, and data.
- We are always available to help if needed.
Our job systems are built using MySQL (database) and PHP (scripting). They can be built and incorporated into any type of website as long as MySQL and PHP are available on your web server. We can also create and incorporate a custom WordPress plugin for your job system.
Contact us for more information or to view a demo.
Case Study: Performing a Website "Digital Facelift"
The Problem:
Clients often come to us with old, rather outdated websites that are in need of a “facelift” to modernize them and give them a current look. Many times, the content/text of the website is still relevant and correct, but the website (desperately) needs a new look and feel and the content itself needs to be re-organized and visually updated to give it a better and more modern look. These clients turn to us to modernize, re-vamp and re-invigorate their website … to give it a “facelift” and bring it into one of today’s standards.
Our Solution:
Just like a plastic surgeon re-invigorates and improves the signs of aging with a facelift, our “digital facelifts” improve and overhaul aging websites.
Technology and web standards are changing so quickly that older websites easily become dated and in need of an overhaul. We perform “digital facelifts” quite often and are very good at taking a website and re-vamping the content and giving it a new, modern look and feel. Simply put, we improve the look and feel, get rid of the signs of aging, re-vamp the content, and iron out any wrinkles.
While the content itself may not need to change much, we do re-organize it and display it so that it is easily readable on screen, and visually appealing. We may break the content down into “chunks”, update the stock art and other photographs and graphics, and design a new overall layout. We often perform website facelifts to standard html websites, or to WordPress or other content management system websites.
A website facelift often takes much less time to complete than creating a new website and, depending on the level of work needed, can often be less expensive too.
Case Study: Creating the Message. Crafting the Content
The Problem:
Our staff was approached by a small government contractor to help with the content of their new website. Their current website had been online for years, but both the design and the content was outdated and ineffective. The company did not have the in-house expertise — nor the time — to create effective content themselves. They had contracted with a web design firm to build a new website, as well as an independent writer to help them write new content. However, the writer they had been using had little experience with government contractors and was unfamiliar with the lingo and tone needed to successfully craft their message on the web. Moreover, the writer was often very difficult to get in contact with and would often take weeks to return a call or email thereby delaying the project drastically. Having had enough, our client started looking for alternatives.
Our Solution:
They approached us because of our experience working with government contractors and our expertise and experience in developing effective web content. We spent time getting to know them: we interviewed their executives and staff to get a solid understanding of their services, their clients, their history and mission, their employees, their corporate culture, and their needs. We analyzed their competitors and their government clients. We reviewed their other marketing materials. We crafted their new web content from scratch and worked closely with them to ensure their message was clear.
Although our client essentially started the project over from the beginning when they brought us on, we were able to develop original content for 50 web pages in much less time that what the company had spent with the original writer (all the while having gotten no effective content from them). We devised a workable schedule for our researchers and writers as well as for our clients’ reviews and approvals and the project was completed on time. The end result was the creation of new website content that successfully showcased our clients’ services, long history of government service, and corporate culture thereby creating a strong online reference for current and potential government customers as well as being an appealing and attractive source for potential employees.
Case Study: Designing a Cohesive and Comprehensive Look and Feel for Website, Print Materials and Display
The Problem:
A medium sized government contractor needed a new website their “old” website had been built years ago and was drastically out of date. Although they had in-house marketing staff, their staff did not have the design and development expertise needed to create a professional, modern website.
Our Solution:
We were contracted to help them update their online presence and to design and develop a modern website suitable for a government contractor. Like many government contractors, their goal was to enhance their online presence for their government customers and to attract new employees while also enhancing the communication with their current employees. Our staff worked to design a user-friendly, modern website that met all of the project goals and was completed on time and on budget. Once the website project was completed, we also worked to create other marketing materials and a tradeshow display for the client that had a similar look and feel thereby giving the company a comprehensive and cohesive look and feel across all of their marketing. The end result was a professionally designed, comprehensive marketing package that worked across all media and formats.
Case Study: Effective Marketing to Support Different Government Sectors
The Problem:
A government IT contractor who works within numerous government sectors needed trade show and print marketing materials that could be easily adapted to appeal to the different sectors of their government clientele — from education to healthcare to homeland security. Although they had a substantial in-house marketing team, they did not have the in-house know-how needed to design large format trade show displays. They needed a professional design studio and they turned to our staff for help.
Our Solution:
As professional designers, we understand the intricacies that are involved in creating effective large scale designs for trade show displays and large prints. We understand image resolution and color. We also understand how to capture attention and interest on a large scale. Working closely with our clients’ in-house marketing staff, we designed and developed numerous trade show display graphics with corresponding print materials for them to use to market themselves to different government sectors. What’s more, we consulted with them to help them select the best trade show displaypop-up system to use to take advantage of designing and displaying different sector graphics on a single display system thereby saving them money in the long run. The end result was that they purchased a single display pop-up system and we designed multiple, changeable graphics panels for the display that they could use as needed while marketing at various trade shows specializing in different government sectors.
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