Scared Rabbit Productions – A One-Stop-Shop for Media and Marketing
Aaron Hiatt is the owner and CEO of Scared Rabbit Productions, an Indiana-based web design and marketing firm. Besides sharing perhaps the most unique name of a web design company I’ve ever heard, Aaron also gives great advice to anyone considering how to get their next web project built.
1. What would you say your company does?
Aaron: Scared Rabbit Productions provides a wide array of services and I think that makes us unique. Not only do we provide web development, web hosting, and domain registration, but we also offer graphic design, printing, and digital video services as well.
Scared Rabbit, being virtually a “one-stop shop” for media and marketing needs, is in the business of serving customers. We want their brand to be as noticeable and professional as possible, while also establishing a relationship that provides consistency, reliability, and affordability.
2. What advice would you give to someone trying to hire a web design firm?
Aaron: When hiring a web development firm there are several key things to keep in mind…
1) It’s important to make sure they take an interest in your business. The point here is that the more your web developer knows about what you do and the goals you have, the more accurate they are going to be in creating designs and functionality that represent who you are and result in the best investment for the money you spend.
2) Make sure you are dealing with an actual web development firm and not an individual freelancer. You should research the firm you’re considering hiring before making any decisions. Most importantly – find out how long they’ve been in business, who they’ve done work for, what happens to you if they go out of business, and how they can be contacted. Ideally your web developer will have a brick and mortar office with in-house employees, a phone number, and regular business hours.
We have seen time and time again, businesses hire individuals to develop a website for their company and that person ends up not having time, moving, falling ill, whatever the case may be – and the business is left holding the bag. Please don’t let it happen to you! Hire qualified professionals who work every day on projects like yours.
3) If possible, hire a web development firm that also provides multiple services like graphic design, printing, and video. With one company creating/handling your image, it is virtually guaranteed to be utilized on a much more consistent basis in all mediums than having separate companies handle different marketing pieces for your business. Each company has good intentions, but typically colors, fonts, and sizing end up inconsistent from piece to piece when different agencies are involved.
3. What are your thoughts on choosing a template-based website versus a custom website?
Aaron: If you’re a new business and don’t have much in your budget for a website, templates may appear to be an attractive option. However, there are many pitfalls to watch out for.
1) Buying a template to begin creation of a website seems like it would make things less time consuming and easier on your pocketbook. In actuality, templates are made to look nice as just that – a template. Rarely are they set up in a way that will be practical for your business’ content. And even if it is, most people don’t realize they need software like Photoshop, Flash, and Dreamweaver to manipulate the template they’ve purchased. Not to mention in most cases you will also need at least a firm understanding of HTML to flesh out the site text and imagery.
2) Maybe instead of buying a template and trying to set it up yourself you decide to use a site builder which takes care of all the structure and gives you a content management system to manage the data. This might be easier and less time consuming – maybe even cheaper – but at the end of the day you have a generic looking website that is not professional, and may even be identical to the website your competition has.
The bottom line here is that any business wanting to be taken seriously by potential clients should invest in a custom website. If you hire a quality web development firm, they can set up a content management system for you that makes managing the site’s data very simple.
4. I’ve decided to use your design firm to build my website, what happens next?
Aaron: After a client decides to use Scared Rabbit Productions to develop their website, there is a standard procedure that follows.
1) The customer is set up in our system so there is a record of who the contacts are, how to contact them, addresses, etc.
2) The customer receives an account activation email with their user information and other important data.
3) We make sure we have gathered all of the company’s available direction for the project such as: list of pages, logos, goals, etc.
4) At any time our customers can log in to our website and check the progress of their project. They can see the hours that have been worked, which Scared Rabbit employee did which work, and they are also able to accept/reject updates we post for their job. This area provides the customer and Scared Rabbit with one place for all formal project updates, feedback, and approvals.
5. Are clients asking more questions about social media and seo? What should they know?
Aaron: We are finding that most companies now have a Facebook page, and in some cases even a presence with Twitter, YouTube, and/or LinkedIn. These are not substitutes for having your own, official company website, but they can be extremely beneficial if utilized properly.
Of course it is important to be included in the social media markets and pay attention to the search engine rankings your site achieves, but in many cases a good web development company will handle that for you, or be able to direct you to agencies that can help.
BE VISIBLE, ENGAGE CONSUMERS, & DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS. I see those as the most important aspects of search engine optimization and social media marketing.
6. How has social media changed the way you design a website?
Aaron: Social media has not drastically affected the way we approach web development, but in most cases now we find ourselves making space for at least the Facebook icon. Our customers are beginning to understand the importance of social media before they even walk through our door.
7. What is a content management system and why is it needed?
Aaron: A content management system allows the website owner to easily make changes to the content without needing programming knowledge, software, or plug-ins. At Scared Rabbit, over 90% of the websites we develop are dynamically managed through a custom, integrated content management system. This gives our clients the ability make changes at their own pace and desire without having to pay us to make those changes and be at the mercy of our schedule.
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