Iris Financial - a site set for growth

Thanks to diligent planning, execution and team work, Iris Financial have a feature-rich, high ranking site they can grow via their content management system and which perfectly reflects their strategic plans for business growth.

Customer-focused is a good look
Following a major venture capital injection which indicated the market's confidence in their component-based technology, Iris Financial required a site that would not only update their look and feel, but that would also enable and reflect rapid and considerable company growth over the coming 2 - 3 year period.

Iris was looking for a small but committed agency, who would push the boat out on their behalf. Rebecca Bond, Iris Financial's Global Head of Marketing, says

"We wanted an agency that would go beyond merely promising to make the site look nice, to one who was interested in our content; - that meant people who wanted to find out how we could better connect with our target audiences…

"We chose Sodabyte - from a total of 8 companies invited to pitch - because of their mixture of technical and creative ability."

Looking outwards to bring prospects in
At the project outset, to remove the requirements analysis from a company-centric to customer-centric view, we canvassed the opinion of 8 senior members of staff from offices in London, San Francisco, New York and Tokyo.

For a greater external balance, we also conducted 2 client interviews and compared keywords and terms gleaned from this work against a search engine analysis tool. On the basis of this information, we prepared a proposal for the site's Information Architecture, so that the ordering and linking of information on the site is considered and extensible.

A Flexible Information Architecture for growth
The site is based on a Content Management system that uses modular components (PHP / mySQL) to give the optimal mixture of rapid development with bespoke customisation.

The site currently is a fraction of the size it could be grown to using just the CMS, without any recourse to additional implementation from Sodabyte. It has several sets of multiple pages - eg News, Press Releases, White Papers - and also 3 sub-sections in the Services category that will only become available once populated.

Usability and Search Engine Friendliness
Particular emphasis was given to the ease of use of the site, as interface conventions are particularly strong among the internet-savvy audience Iris Financial is targeting, and we knew from our research that easy access to solid information, coupled with messages of capability and legitimacy would be key to the site's success.

"I like it! The new website is a lot more straightforward from a usability point of view. Also the information contained is more relevant to the Iris Financial we know of. It's 'savvier' from a technical point of view. Well done."

- one member of staff's feedback from the internal review

Launched in Feb 2004, and benefiting from existing incoming links, the site was rapidly indexed by Google and as of writing appears at nos. 1 and 2 for Equity Program Trading Systems and no. 6 for Fixed Income Systems (Iris Financial's two main offerings). Visitor stats have grown from around 600 visits per month to an average of 5,000.

We can help you gain new customers and prospects.
To find out how, call Siobhan on 020 8257 3445 or email us.