Invitation to Tender Action4Youth Website Support and Hosting

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1 Introduction Invitation to Tender Action4Youth Website Support and Hosting Action4Youth is looking to appoint a web partner who can fulfil the requirements outlined in this Website Support brief. Action4Youth is an established charity operating throughout Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and into the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Our aim is to enable young people of all abilities and disabilities to learn to challenge themselves and work with others - learning what they can achieve rather than what they can t. We operate from two sites our Aylesbury office HQ and our outdoor adventure and learning centre, the Caldecotte Xperience, in Milton Keynes. To find out more about Action4Youth visit Timetable Invitation to Tender issued Mon 3 December 2018 Questions and clarifications Mon 10 December - midday Response deadline Mon 17 December - midday Interviews Wed 19 December - afternoon Contract start date Early/mid January by mutual agreement Shortlisted suppliers must be available for discussion on 19 December at our offices in Aylesbury. Responses In responding to this brief and invitation, please provide relevant information: 1. About your company, your personnel, and your relevant experience 2. Referees who can be contacted upon appointment. Responses and any questions should be sent to: Nick Lund, Development Director nick.lund@action4youth.org, phone Thank you for your interest in working with Action4Youth. 1

2 Invitation to Tender Website Support Brief Introduction This brief describes the services that Action4Youth require from a web agency to develop their 2 websites (using existing content) to increase their domain authority, web rankings and visibility and, in partnership with the marketing team, maintain the site going forward as a dynamic, responsive and accessible platform from which to promote the charity and its activities. Action4Youth has its main office is at 5 Smeaton Close, Aylesbury, HP19 8UN. The charity also owns and operates the Caldecotte Xperience, an outdoor adventure and learning centre at 366 Simpson Road, Simpson, Milton Keynes, MK6 3AG. There are two websites, one covering Action4Youth and all its programmes and activity ( and one for the outdoor centre specifically ( Purpose Action4Youth depends on these sites as both a dynamic and highly visible shop window for its services and, on the Action4Youth site, as a means of taking bookings for specific programmes and events by means of online booking forms and payment for these and associated merchandise. It is essential these are maintained and supported by the supplier to remain current and useable across all platforms and that as sensitive data is collected, that they are fully secure. This brief for website support sets out what Action4Youth currently require, how a web support supplier will provide maintenance and support services for both sites, which items the supplier will provide support for and how we can expect problems to be handled. 2

3 Dates and reviews Any contract will run initially for 12 months, with regular progress reviews, Prior to the end of the contract, the supplier and client will discuss potential renewal terms. It may be also be reviewed at any point, by mutual agreement. The Background and Requirement Our current websites were created in 2016 and 2017 the Caldecotte site being the more recent and cloned from the original Action4Youth site in terms of layout and platform. The sites are built in Wordpress from a Themeforest template. While we are not seeking to change the overall style and design, we are now aware that the template is creating limitations for the site development and many of our requirements need plug-ins that affect performance which, as a result, may require a rebuild onto a customised wordpress platform,. The sites are designed to be responsive but do not always display correctly on mobile devices. The sites are slow to load, as they are not fully optimised, we have recently added an image optimiser that will reduce loading times. The site is hosted on a dedicated server, but even allowing for the above the sites are slow to respond. Images and pages have not been tagged or described effectively as development has been done so sites are not effectively indexed. We have not used any SEO tools on the site to date nor analytics and we now need to make the site more effective and visible with an improved user journey. The Action4Youth site in particular has experienced performance issues that have created potential loss of income and reputational damage, particularly around the booking and ecommerce systems, with auto responders failing and payment requirements being complicated and not obvious. We need a simple (WooCommerce or similar) ecommerce platform to work within the site. We are now looking to work with a provider who can support us in taking the sites forward and enable us to have and maintain a responsive site that delivers a dynamic modern experience for the wide range of different users and associated journeys and to provide SEO services, help adjust content and ensure we remain visible and improve dwell time and conversions where relevant. This requirement covers the services listed below. This list may be updated at any time, with agreement from both parties. 3

4 Audit and review of current sites to include - software platform, performance, server, security, SEO, content optimisation, accessibility across platforms and mobile devices, user experience, site authority and hosting From audit, recommend any changes and improvements required to address identified arising issues from each of the above area to provide a long-term stable solution. To maintain currency of sites and optimise structure for best user journey, funnelling specific users to specific areas to maximise conversion goals. To establish and maintain on and off-page SEO to enable full and effective Google (and other search major search engines) indexing, visibility and organic ranking. Including content adjustment where appropriate. To provide ongoing support during working hours for any changes and additions required to the sites, not achievable by A4Y admins within the CMS remit, and complete them in a timely manner. To provide CMS training, telephone and on-line support where required to A4Y admins. To propose alternative hosting packages and fees Supplier responsibilities The supplier will maintain and support the websites as defined above. Additionally, the supplier will: Ensure websites are maintained on relevant software platforms Respond to all support requests within the response times outlined below. Resolve requests and issues in an appropriate, timely manner Inform the Action4Youth of any additional costs that may be incurred by work outside of the contract. Maintain good communication at all times. Provide reactive support services so if the supplier encounters an issue with the websites, it should raise this with Action4Youth. Response times Support to date has been provided by a small supplier and while excellent our needs have changed. As the charity has expanded the purpose of website has expanded as a primary communication tool and we need to ensure that we have a partner who can respond in a timely manner to requests and support. The response time outlined below indicates desired response times and how long it should take to respond to and acknowledge a support request raised via the supplier s reporting system. The supplier is deemed to have responded when it has replied to the client s initial request. 4

5 Fatal - 15 mins either or both sites unavailable business affected as a result. Severe - 1 hour any/all critical functions of sites affected, business affected as a result. Medium - 2 hours CMS assistance and support, time critical uploads, amends and changes required Standard - 4 hours design amend, new pages, non-time critical amends and changes. General support queries and questions. Resolution times The supplier will always endeavour to resolve problems as quickly as possible. It recognises that the websites are business critical. However, the supplier is unable to provide guaranteed resolution times. Fatal and severe issues will be prioritised by the supplier. In all cases the supplier will make its best efforts to resolve problems as quickly as possible. Throughout, the supplier will provide frequent progress reports to the client. Action4Youth responsibilities Action4Youth admins will use the website CMS within agreed parameters and as instructed to avoid errors and site damage. Additionally we will: Notify the supplier of issues or problems in a timely manner Provide the supplier with access and information required for the purposes of maintenance, updates and fault prevention. Maintain good communication with the client at all times. Fees. Please estimate fees on monthly basis for these services Option 1 websites only Audit and any associated re-design, content adjustment, site development and deployment of both sites (assume Caldecotte site will be a clone) Option 2 website + 12 month support and maintenance As above and to include telephone/online support for admins, ongoing adjustments and improvements (new content, pages etc if required) to improve hits, dwell time and conversion, bug fixes and security upgrades. 5

6 Option 3 - website + 12 month support and maintenance + on and offpage SEO Domain authority improvement, target keywords (per thousand volume/time period), review, adjust and hone keywords. Hosting Secure hosting on dedicated server or WordPress specialist server with appropriate bandwidth and room for expansion, SSL included. 6