A Look at Asheville is a local company that produces books for placement in hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, and other places geared towards visitors to the Greater Asheville Area. Advertisers fill out a profile, and are featured within this book. The idea is that visitors will learn about different businesses local to the Asheville area, and patronize them, generating revenue for the local economy, and helping tourists enjoy their stay. There was a companion website that reflected the information in the books, as well as provided a method for visitors to the site to purchase the books.
Their original website was built on a proprietary system. This system did not work well anymore, and was no longer being supported. In addition, the client desired additional features to add value for site visitors and for advertisers. This included having the capacity to create memberships, save favorite advertisers, see markers on maps indicating the location of businesses, and find out additional information about the companies listed on the site. During the pandemic in 2020, the client decided to also add the option of linking to a location to purchase gift cards for those who wished to support local businesses, or to plan and budget for a future visit.
The site is constructed in such a way as to make it easy for the client to keep the content updated. They do not have to format individual listings, just input the data. As the principal of the company is also a graphic designer – they provided the design files, and Diva Deluxe Design coded the design and functions. It also became necessary to change hosting companies, as the original company was ill-equipped to handle the needs of the site. The client also decided to integrate the contact forms with HubSpot to streamline the process of client acquisition. Finally, the client required some assistance in setting up G Suite email addresses.
