New Horizon Academy Responsive Website Redesign

At MJK, nothing is more important to us than our clients’ success. The easiest way to make your clients adore you is to provide them with a product that generates an eye-popping return on investment. This past fall, MJK was presented with an opportunity to do just that, when New Horizon Academy invited us to redesign it’s website.

New Horizon Academy is a family owned and operated childcare provider with over 65 school locations nationally. We are very pleased to share that within two months of launching the new website for New Horizon Academy, the number of online web inquiries about their schools quadrupled! A lot of this success is the direct result of MJK’s efficient and inclusive business process. This process is strategically formulated to reduce risk for MJK clients, and to provide them with a web solution that helps exceed their business goals.

As the website redesign project got underway In the Discovery phase, the partnership between MJK and New Horizon Academy began to blossom. MJK was able to learn more about the specific goals New Horizon Academy had for their website redesign, as well as their main target markets, and how they wanted their brand to be perceived in those markets. The Discovery phase is a crucial part of MJK’s process, as it allows the remainder of the project to be completed in a much more efficient and effective manner.

As part of the engagement, MJ Kretsinger was also invited to refresh the company brand and source and direct a top photographer to capture a new library of images for the website. Additionally, MJ Kretsinger conducted an SEO analysis and implementation strategy to insure the website would see stronger rankings on all major search engines.

As the process moved along, the project entered the User Experience Design Phase. In this phase, MJK created a website prototype for the New Horizon Academy site. MJK’s innovative prototyping allows them to show their clients the overall functionality of a new website design on desktop and mobile devices before design and development begins.

After completing the prototype, MJK began it’s Interface Design phase. As MJK’s talented designers worked their interface magic for New Horizon, the beautiful website began to take shape. After working hand in hand with New Horizon to pair the most fitting interface design with the prototype they had selected, MJK’s skilled development team was able to quickly develop the beautiful website and get it live in time for the upcoming school year. The site was written in PHP utilizing the WordPress content management system (CMS) which enables the client to easily create various banner ads to promote the benefits of the company and other areas of the site, and is hosted by MJ Kretsinger.

The result is a fresh, new site featuring a homepage video experience along with beautiful photography, design and content that appeals to young families. Sliders are used in various places in the website to highlight the company history and various children’s programs they offer. Visitors can use the “Find A School” tool that leverages location services to pinpoint school locations in their area. Visitors can also enter a local destination (e.g. their office or work address) to see how many New Horizon schools are on their route. Each school location page includes details on the teachers, contact information, photography of the location and the programs offered, so parents can make an informed decision. A robust blog was also provided.

This project was one of MJK’s all time favorites, and it was a true pleasure to have had the opportunity to work with and help out the top-notch people at New Horizon Academy.

To visit the website, go to newhorizonacademy.net

SERVICES
Brand Identity, Content Management System, Design, Hosting, Photography, Responsive Design, Responsive Design Prototype, SEO/SEM, User Experience Design, Web Design, Web Development, WordPress