Austin Web and Design

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company.

We offer a continuum of affordable living options for seniors. We’ve been around for about 120 years but, during the last 15 years, we’ve grown substantially from about 130 units to more than 700 units. We provide all levels of senior care, ranging from independent living facilities to full-scale nursing homes.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m a housing manager, and I also manage our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Austin Web and Design?

We were very unhappy with a website we had developed with a local vendor. We had spent a considerable amount of money developing the site and, although it was very nice looking, we could make only minor changes on our own. We were constantly being forced to pay additional money to the vendor for edits that we thought we should be able to make. Austin Web and Design was hired to correct this situation.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They took our old website and transitioned it to WordPress. They made everything look exactly the same, but gave us the interface and training so that we could edit the site ourselves. 

What was your process for selecting Austin Web and Design with which to work?

The recommendation came from a Web-based marketing company we had been working with.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

The total project cost $2,500.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

Austin Web and Design helped us transition to WordPress, so that our content management system was fully editable by us, which was exactly what we were looking for. The project started in 2012, and our relationship with Austin Web and Design is ongoing, since they provide us with occasional support and maintenance.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

I wish I could offer some metrics but I can’t. Nonetheless, we are very satisfied with the work of Austin Web and Design. 

Is there anything unique about Austin Web and Design that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

The owner of the company [Isaac Simon], who is the primary person I worked with at the beginning of the project, was absolutely wonderful. He addressed our needs, held our hands through the transition and, in particular, provided me with the coaching and training I needed to be able to use WordPress.

But, the most impressive thing about working with Austin Web and Design was their incredibly quick response time. Compared to other companies I have worked with, this level of promptness was very unique.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

During the past two years, their company has grown and they have become busier, and I have noted some decrease in their response time. I’ve had to follow up a bit more to get certain jobs taken care of. Sometimes, one or two little things have been ignored or not formally addressed.

The only other thing I can think to add would be general design issues, it would have been nice to have a little more help with some of the graphic design features.