Knowlesco.com
Project Year: 2014-2015
Project Timeframe: 4 months
About: KnowlesCo.com is #1 rental and real estate company on Mount Desert Island, a popular East coast vacation destination including the town of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.
Company Size: 10
Company Location: Northeast Harbor, Maine
Founded: 1898
Introduction
The Knowles Company has found OGO Sense by searching online for a local company with Joomla and MLS experience. After the initial contact by phone, the Knowles Company spoke with a local reference Nicole Ouellette, the owner of Breaking Even Communications, who further praised OGO Sense staff for their work.Problems
New knowlesco.com faced several issues:- The company website was very outdated.
- The previous website vendor was developing the new website for more than 3 years.
- As development issues were being fixed, additional functional issues were introduced.
- The working relationship with the previous vendor was strained due to the incomplete project.
Solution
OGO Sense helped the KnowlesCo.com team release the new website ahead of the next busy season and without functional issues. The new website documentation was created and the website was moved to a new hosting. Some of the improvements included:- Integrate MLS feed for the Mount Desert Island and Downeast Maine regions.
- Develop a real estate update function that enhances Knowles owned listings with better images and make them stand out.
- Optimize website loading time.
- Improve user experience such as the rental search.
- Update website with security patches considering that the previous developer was completing the website over a 3 year period.
Results
The new website was released ahead of the busy season, allowing Knowles Company to debut a new, functional website just as website traffic from their target audience began to grow. Other positive results included:- Increased number of real estate and rental inquiries in 2015 making it one of the most successful business years.
- Numerous compliments from clients and vendors about the new website.
- Better experience for mobile visitors by implementing a responsive design and making the website more SEO friendly to visitors searching on their phones.
- Simpler admin experience by implementing admin shortcuts and automated summaries of IDX feed updates.
Client Testimonial
“OGO Sense completed the site in a timely manner, and organized the admin side to be logical and user-friendly.”Heather D. Jones, Business Manager/Associate Broker/Owner, The Knowles Company