Drupal website design and development
PreviousNext is Australia's most experienced designer and developer of large Drupal websites, and the only company in the southern hemisphere to qualify for Enterprise Select Partner status with Acquia, the world's leading Drupal enterprise services company. We can design, build, test and deploy an entire Drupal solution from scratch, or create new Drupal modules to fill the functionality gaps in your existing Drupal site. The successful Drupal projects we've completed include intranet and extranet systems, and high-traffic websites for leading Australian businesses, government entities and non-profit organisations.
Drupal theming and visual design
With his award-winning user interface design experience, co-founder Owen Lansbury sets exacting visual standards for every web project PreviousNext works on, ensuring your organisation's brand is engaging online. Customising the visual layout of a Drupal site is a specialised role that requires expertise in CSS styling and HTML markup, and PHP coding skills to unlock the powerful presentation features of Drupal's theme templating system. We see huge efficiencies having our designers and Drupal themers working side by side on projects.
Drupal migration and integration
Our experience in migrating large websites to Drupal and creating complex integrations with legacy systems is unmatched in the Australian market. PreviousNext has successfully migrated many large websites from a proprietary, bespoke or no-longer-supported CMS to an open source, vendor-independent and semantically interoperable Drupal implementation. Co-founder Kim Pepper has deep experience in systems integration, data migration and high availability infrastructure, and his PreviousNext team have successfully integrated Drupal with legacy databases, authorisation, Customer Relationship Management and e-commerce systems. Our services also include Drupal integration with iPhone, Android, iPad, and other mobile and touchscreen applications.
Drupal consulting and project scoping
Web strategy and project planning are key ingredients in every Drupal site we build on behalf of our clients, but our consulting and project scoping expertise is also available to organisations who intend to build some or all of their Drupal solution in-house. We work closely with our clients to help prioritise feature and functionality requirements, and then optimise the Drupal implementation approach (including the identification of appropriate "contrib" modules from the thousands available) to best suit budgets and timelines. Smart planning up front, and robust project management throughout, always saves time and money. And our consulting capability extends beyond the Drupal ecosystem, so we can advise on a wide range of other issues surrounding website design and development, from security considerations and stakeholder consultation to content streamlining and customer touchpoint strategies.
Drupal hosting and content delivery
As Australia's only Acquia Enterprise Select Partner, PreviousNext provides enterprise-grade managed hosting on Acquia's Drupal-optimised infrastructure. Alternatively, we can manage or liaise with a local hosting partner or internal IT services team for your website. Performance optimisation at the server and proxy level, using Varnish and other tools, is one of our core competencies, and if your site serves a lot of files such as video, audio, images or documents, we can incorporate a local or overseas-based Content Delivery Network (CDN) as part of your solution.
Drupal tech support and maintenance
Whether or not we build your Drupal system, we can provide post-launch maintenance and tech support for your site and your in-house team. At the infrastructure level we can monitor and tune your servers and content delivery arrangements. At the code level we can implement new feature requirements and ensure the latest module upgrades and security patches are promptly applied. And at the business level we can help you to streamline your content production processes and pre-publication review workflows, and analyse your site traffic and performance data.
Drupal training and documentation
Acquia, the Boston-based Drupal training pioneer, has appointed PreviousNext as Acquia's first and largest Authorised Training Partner in the southern hemisphere. We can provide a standardised curriculum or devise customised Drupal training solutions for developers, designers and content producers. Project documentation is another way we can add significant value. Documenting the system architecture, code and human processes associated with your Drupal solution is a proven way to future-proof your investment.
Usability, Information Architecture and User Experience design
Usability, Information Architecture (IA) and User Experience design (UX) are fundamental aspects of any web solution, and PreviousNext has deep expertise with these disciplines. In today's multi-device environment, IA is no longer just about segmenting, positioning and linking your content. At PreviousNext, we devise comprehensive IA strategies that service multiple stakeholder views, social network stream integrations, location based intelligence, and other data touchpoint considerations. Our approach to UX design combines a respect for established layout and interaction conventions with a desire to innovate in ways that enhance the specific brand values of our clients in the context of leveraging the power Drupal can provide. We also strive to deliver a consistent user experience across website, email, and mobile interfaces.
SEO, SEM and the Semantic Web (Web 3.0)
PreviousNext can support or drive your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy with SEO-friendly title, URL, header and metadata conventions and site-wide keyword density targets. We can also incorporate campaign-specific landing pages and analytics modules to support your Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and other promotional efforts. The semantic web is widely considered to be the next key evolution for online content, and PreviousNext's David Peterson is a local pioneer in the field. Tagging your content with RDFa and other globally-recognised semantic vocabularies adds meaning to your data and ensures it becomes interoperable with other web systems around the world.
Quality Assurance and accessibility compliance
As part of our Agile development methodology, Quality Assurance (QA) tasks are built into every iteration cycle, so User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a basic component of our solution building process. We also provide QA services on a consultancy basis. Access for sight-impaired and other special users has become a key requirement for many websites, particularly in the government and non-profit sector, and PreviousNext is a leader in WCAG 2.0 accessibility compliance for Australian Government websites using Drupal. We also created the AGLS Metadata module for Drupal 6 to enable the Drupal community to build sites that comply with the Australian Government Locator Standard (AGLS) metadata scheme, a set of descriptive properties designed to improve visibility and availability of online resources.
Content strategy
We work closely with sales and marketing teams to develop a Content Strategy for new websites. e.g. What new content needs to be created and when? Do we need to develop videos, animation, social media or mobile applications? What happens to content after it's published on the site? How do you monitor whether your content is achieving its goals with site visitors? When do you retire or recycle content? This naturally ties in with your SEO strategy. Whether the channels for your customer relationship management program are email, mobile or service-staff delivered, a Content Strategy is an essential component to any successful website.
Copywriting and media production
Development of, and adherence to, a comprehensive brand style guide that covers editorial tone, length targets, and spelling/grammar preferences is an important aspect of any web project. PreviousNext can set and monitor writing guidelines, develop and source new written material, and fine-tune existing content to maximise readability, audience engagement and SEO-friendliness. We can also help with media production, including image preparation and audio/video recording & editing, with a focus on ensuring that your media assets are web-optimised and theme-compliant for any Drupal website.
