Embolden Design: Newsroom - Archived Press

3/25/04
Embolden in the News: Web Design Company Launches Consulting Division
Providence Business News
March 22-28, 2004

As technology continues to evolve and high-speed Internet connections create a larger audience for sophisticated applications, a local design firm is looking to engage its clients in taking their Web sites to the next level.

Pawtucket’s Embolden Design recently launched a new consulting arm of its firm, called Panorama, late last month to help clients focus on creating and upgrading their Web sites – a growing part of business for most local Web firms.

“Technology is changing every day,” said Embolden President Ann-Marie Harrington. “And all the while there’s more exciting technology coming down the pike, it’s also becoming more affordable than ever. Things that cost would have prohibited three, four years ago are now the mainstream. Organizations need to take advantage of that.”

Embolden recently hired another two employees, bringing its total to eight, and Harrington expects to see the majority of those added resources directed to Panorama, named for the division’s goal to look at the “big picture.”

When Harrington started the company in 1998, she chose to predominantly focus on Web design for nonprofit organizations, building sites that followed the mostly static, brochure-type feel that was the standard at the time. While her company had added on several services in the recent years, including graphic design, e-commerce and high-availability hosting, along with offering a content manager application, about 60 percent of the firm’s clients remain nonprofit groups.

The services encapsulated within Panorama developed out of several sessions of consulting on an ad-hoc basis, and Harrington said the company eventually decided to formalize its business plan, helping clients to understand the service as a “tangible thing.” Harrington said while some of the services have been delivered in pieces over the years, there’s real importance in making a targeted, collective effort.

As an example, Harrington said one of the first places where improvements might be made to a Web site is for nonprofit groups seeking donations over the Internet. A few years ago, when buying and selling online were not as common practices as they are today, such a fund-raising measure would likely have had little success.

The Panorama division can focus on driving traffic to the site, including the building of credible e-mail lists and optimizing key words for search engines. Harrington said a big part of such an effort would be gauging the audience for an e-newsletter and considering how best they want to be contacted or communicated with. Online “blogs,” or diaries, are another technology that has entered the mainstream, becoming a staple of political Web sites during the Democratic primaries.

Because the Internet gives companies the unique ability to get a quantitative look at exactly what is happening on their site at any point in time, Harrington said it’s easy to get a feel for what is working and what isn’t.

Panorama will also begin publishing a regular e-newsletter for its clients called “Tech Tips,” which will keep them abreast of the latest trends in Web technologies, as well as provide practical advice on matters specific to developing, maintaining and improving current Web practices.


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