Case study - Apollo Business Broking

Based in Derby and Oxford, Apollo specialises in brokering and managing business sales. The company also offers a programme called ‘Get your business ready for sale’, which helps businesses grow and develop, so they can command the optimum price when the time comes to sell. 

Alan and Dominic knew they needed a brand identity and that prospective customers expected the company to have a website in place. They decided the company should have a more professional ‘look and feel,’ and a proper brand identity. 

 

The primary aim was to find a service that offered genuine value for money. After being quoted some eye-watering sums from other providers, Alan met Phil Revill from it’seeze Nottingham at a networking meeting – and the rest is history! 

 

“Phil explained how the it’seeze website design service works, with fixed upfront pricing for the website itself, then ongoing fixed monthly fees for hosting and maintenance,” says Alan. “Of course, there was also the branding work to consider, which Phil was able to arrange through an associate called Wes Hemstock. There was a lot of work involved overall, but the amount quoted definitely met our requirements for getting great value for money.” 

The first stage of the process was to sort out the new brand identity for Apollo Business Broking, so this could be used for the new website and elsewhere, such as on social media. Wes Hemstock presented a range of options for colours, fonts and logos for Alan and Dominic to choose from. They ultimately decided on an understated but professional-looking brand identity in red and dark blue, with an attractive font for the Apollo logo. 

 

Meanwhile, Wes’ partner, Lucy Warner, took some professional headshots of Alan and Dominic, which can be seen on the new website alongside their profiles on the Who We Are page. Of course, these photographs can also be used for Apollo’s wider marketing activities, such as social media pages, business cards, brochures and so on. 

 

“We’re very pleased with our new brand identify,” says Alan. “It reflects the corporate nature of our business without being too formal or stuffy – which is perfect for us as we like to take a relaxed approach to our work where we can. The headshots are especially useful for adding a personal touch as with a service like ours, business owners are effectively buying ‘us as people,’ as well as choosing Apollo as a company.” 

 

With the new branding in place, the it’seeze team could get to work on the fully-customised website design. Alan and Dominic had clear ideas about what they wanted in terms of pages and content on the site and discussed these with Phil, who suggested a few minor tweaks such as padding out the word content on some pages for SEO purposes. Where extra imagery was needed, such as for the boxes on the Home page, it’seeze sourced suitable images that matched the overall look and feel of the site. 

 

The design and development process was consultative, with Phil and the team on hand throughout to offer advice and information as required. “The it’seeze team basically just did what we asked them,” comments Alan. “We were pleased to take Phil’s advice where needed, but it was a pretty straightforward process on the whole." 

 

 

The Apollo Business Broking site was built using the it’seeze Max package, which offers an unlimited number of pages after the initial ones have been created. There’s also a built-in blog if Alan and Dominic wish to start using this in the future. As you’d expect, there are integrated social media buttons for the Apollo Facebook and LinkedIn pages, plus other integration options, such as a link to Zoho, the company’s CRM system. The site has also been fully optimised for SEO at the development and launch stages. 

 

“There are still a couple of small changes we’d like to make, such as integrating our appointments calendar and adding Google Analytics (GA4) functionality to the site,” says Alan. “However, where we’ve asked it’seeze to make changes in the past, such as upgrading the Zoho text codes, these have been taken care of quickly and efficiently.” 

 

Like all it’seeze customers, Apollo have full Content Management System (CMS) access and have received training on the it’seeze Website Editor. This is simple and intuitive to use, and Alan has already made some minor changes to the website himself. For any larger amendments, he knows the it’seeze team will always be available to handle these on Apollo’s behalf. 

Apollo Business Broking now have a comprehensive, professional-looking website to which they can send prospective customers to find out more about their business sales and business building services. Whilst the site’s primary aim is to act as a virtual brochure rather than a sales piece, Alan and Dominic will of course be happy to receive any enquiries that result directly from prospects finding the site online. 

 

“At the end of the day, it’seeze Nottingham did what they said on the tin,” concludes Alan. “They’ve delivered a new brand identity, and a reliable and great-looking website we can use to showcase our business – all at a competitive price. I’m more than happy to recommend Phil and the team to any other business in the Nottingham area looking for a new or refreshed website that offers excellent value for money.” 

If you’re looking for professional website design with a wide range of functions and features, it’seeze Web Design Nottingham are here to help. We offer a free, no obligation demonstration of our unique Website Editor, as well as a free Health Check of your existing website. Get in touch today and take your first step towards a higher quality online presence!