We conceptualise and manage large enterprise information websites and information portals. We follow a Content Process Outsourcing delivery model, which entails research, editorial, content policies and guidelines formulation, alliances management and content publishing functions. Online branding and design standards formulation, Identity management, brand promotion, reputation management, content management systems, CRM, newsletter broadcasting, promotional campaigns, document management, analytics reporting, search engine optimization are some of the key areas of intervention at woodapple.

Amongst Woodapple’s strengths is the unique ability to create large sites from ground up. It usually involves a keen sense of problem definition and developing the best possible customizable solution that addresses key challenges and realizes organisation’s broader objectives as well.

Successful Site Management

Woodapple recognizes that a successful site is a thriving, living entity and grows in stages of various life-cycles. At any stage of its evolution, its key goal definitions and realization are the most important factors for growth. Just like any other living entity, there are clear strategies at birth that define the life ahead. Any successful site management strategy must be based on the following key parameters:

Active Consulting & Domain Knowledge: Organizations know their ‘business best’ and we know ours. It is important to actively absorb the client organization’s priorities and marry it to the best practices of the computing world. Woodapple’s domain knowledge is across industries – Publishing, Information Technology, Automobile, Energy, Travel, Retail – thus applications and systems built for one can easily be adapted to another; best practices learnt from one can lead to better solutions for the other.

Information Architecture: This is based on two factors – how intended users expect to browse the site and find relevant information and how the producer of the site wishes to prioritize the delivery of such information. A good, well researched and malleable IA lessens the learning curve of the intended users and the producers can ‘push’ the desired information and achieve goals. Third biggest factor is of scalability of design – a scalable design would provide ‘placeholders’ for ever changing information dissemination needs of the site.

User Experience: International design standards, an evolving standard, helps users from various nationalities and demography to accept the site’s metaphors and notations. Beyond this, an international design standard establishes the brand and authenticity of the site and its information. Last, but not the least, the user experience itself should be pleasant and engrossing – it helps the user to explore more and fulfill his objectives.

Design Maintenance: It is a known fact that sites are launched with acceptable quality of design and content editorials but what happens to it after a few lifecycles (or after a few months) is rarely documented. Almost every site suffers wear and tear of changing information needs, low cost designers and other shared resources. A well maintained site always has a good, dedicated team of designers and editors, whose core focus is the quality of their process (or site) and little else.

Audits: Based on the various BPs and expert inputs, audit reports are generated periodically. The periodicity of such reports are higher at the initial stages of the project roll-out, and later their frequency is engineered to specific needs. The audits are done as a single, exhaustive audit or series of smaller audits as per the requirement. These form the most important ‘site health check’ report. Again the recommendations of such reports become an integral part of the project plan. Technology, Design, Content and IA audits, are periodicity specified.

Collaborative Content Generation & Publication Schedules: A site will finally be known for the quality of its content. Best of breed content aggregation is an outcome of a collaborative approach to building a ‘critical mass’ that is highly credible, readable and which becomes a benchmark in course of time i.e ‘vintage content’ which at once is recognized as the single most authoritative source of information.