Brook Group
8231 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21743
410-465-7805
 
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I-Fund

Customer Experience Design, Web Site Design, Information Architecture, Web Site Usability, RAD Prototyping, Search Engine Optimization

Screen shot of I-Fund's Web site

www.i-fundinfo.org

 

Higher Education on the Web

The Independent College Fund of Maryland, better known as The I-Fund, raises money for Maryland private colleges, principally from businesses and foundations. The money is used for scholarships, programs and technology.

“Few organizations have the ability to understand the essence of their client's business, goals and vision. In a very short period of time, the Brook Group captured what we were trying to achieve and translated it into a renewed web presence for us. I was impressed with not just their professionalism and concern for our mission, but the tools they used to make it easy for our small staff to see the pages unfold. The Brook Group is one of THOSE organizations that gets it!”
— Rick H., Executive Director

In order to better promote the fund, they realized they needed a Web site that was optimized for the search engines and populated with new content. They hired Brook Group to institute an SEO strategy and implement the updated content. Halfway into the project, they decided they wanted a redesign to reflect the other changes.

More Specifically

The I-Fund wanted Brook Group to design a new look and feel for the site and restructure the navigation for better usability. We were to add new content and additional pages and most importantly, incorporate SEO best practices for higher search engine rankings.

How It Happened

Brook Group began by conducting a Discovery session with the I-Fund staff to determine the target audiences and their needs. We then performed extensive keyword research to figure out what terms should be included in the new content.

We dissected the information architecture of the old site into content buckets to assemble a modified navigation system. We created a new site in RAD, our signature Web site prototyping tool, and taught the client how to enter their keywords and content.

Our Creative Designer developed a new look for the site, maintaining brand consistency. Our staff then produced the site in HTML using CSS best practices. The content and metadata were imported from RAD which finished the site. We uploaded the new files to their current server and the site went live.

The Grand Finale

The new site makes for an aesthetically-pleasing visit. The navigation and design exhibit increased usability by promoting ease of use and obvious user pathways. The pages have clear calls to action and the Web site is getting more hits from new visitors. Now, the site places higher in the major search engines for the optimized words.

Reaching Your Potential

Does your site make the grade? If not, contact us today!

 
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