I have worked with Bekonscot Model Village since 2010 when I was approached to overhaul their website. The brief at that time was that the existing website was too cluttered and visitors complained that they couldn’t find the information easily prior to visiting. And so this was the new look launched in 2011.
It was important to use the bright, colourful style they employed throughout their marketing style and we used Flash animation in the header showing a small train moving along to add some interest and make it unique.
But roll onto 2016 and we needed to update it further!
I was pleased that they approached me again to re-create a more modern version of the website and to ensure it was mobile friendly. A high proportion of their visitors would be travelling to them and so it was really important to be clear and easy to read on all devices. Flash software ceased to be supported by Apple products and this meant that the header area animation was invisible to IPads and IPhones and so needed to go!
We chose to also move the website into WordPress as a great base system with the potential to expand into online booking in the future. We selected a mobile-friendly, attractive theme and updated the navigation and to make it easier to move around the site. A great new video was added to the homepage to replace the Flash which provides a great flavour of what a visitor can expect. Social media is linked to the site and I maintained the colourful, welcoming approach which we started back in 2010.
So if you’d like to visit the new version of the website you can do so here: www.bekonscot.co.uk and I hope this demonstrates why its important to keep re-inventing a website every few years or so.
Why? Read here!