Objectives

Options Group’s website was not only very limited in the information it communicated, but the technology used to build it restricted expansion and new functionality.  Importantly for the Group’s mission, the the look and feel of the site did not portray its warm and caring personality – key characteristics that parents, guardians and professionals look for when investigating care options.

Cognition’s primary task was to improve the digital presence for Options Group as a whole while making a clear distinction between the two services it offers – for those with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and for those with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). 

Achievements

The new website comprised an integrated landing page that easily splits into what are essentially two microsites tailoring information to ASD- and BESD-specific audiences.  This ensured that all Options Group services maintained a consistent look and feel, but that users could easily navigate to the information relevant to them.  In order to convey the organisation’s personality, schools designed the headers for their own pages and success stories demonstrated the effectiveness of the Group’s approach.

The website also segments information for different types of users, making it simple, for example, for parents and representatives from local authorities to locate relevant content.

The new website went live in June 2010.  Cognition re-built it using a leading open source content management system that enabled non-technical authors at Options Group to keep the website updated on a regular basis.  It is proving to be a good source of enquiries, receiving on average 450 visits per week.  Search engines are responsible for nearly 50% of the traffic.