You deserve to have an experienced team working on your online presence!
Our first design project was the conversion of The Custard List, which was an E-Mail distribution of the flavors of the day for Milwaukee-area frozen custard stands. The website was announced on the newsgroup milw.general on November 7, 1994. (see the announcement)
On January 25, 1995, we launched The BigScreen Cinema Guide (then known as The Penguin Cinema Guide). This site was developed to provide movie schedules and other movie-related information as a way to give people something useful to look at on the then-new World Wide Web. SVJ Designs continues to publish The BigScreen Cinema Guide, and it has grown to list showtimes and information for theaters in Wisconsin and across the United States, attracting approximately 500,000 - 700,000 readers and generating more than two million page views each month! What began as a hobbyist project is now a viable business with a loyal readership and positive cash flow.
In September of 1996, we joined forces with ExecPC, Wisconsin's largest Internet Service Provider, whose founder Bob Mahoney grew his simple BBS in 1983 to the world's largest BBS only a few years later. Together, we formed the Interactive Services team, managing such projects as FilePile (the BBS' huge file system available to the web) and SignPost (an index of businesses, broken into simple categories), as well as ExecPC's own websites.
We also created what was known as the company's "Start Page" — a portal before the term was even coined by the likes of Yahoo and others. This service provided news headlines, weather conditions, discussion forums, classified ads, and much more to the company's ISP customers. Additionally, we were responsible for the design of many websites for external clients, such as Summerfest and the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County.
Working with Bob Mahoney was an incredible experience, and after ExecPC was sold in September of 1998 and as the web began to mature, the team's emphasis was placed upon the growing needs of the new company's websites. At one point, the Interactive Services team was managing 29 brands, amounting to over 1500 pages of sales, support, and technical information.
After multiple acquisitions and takeovers and leadership changes, 2003 marked the year when SVJ Designs became an independent entity once again. We hit the ground running with the ability to pursue projects that weren't possible before, and removing layers of bureacracy helped us achieve a higher level of effectiveness and customer service.
Not all design firms are a good match for all clients. We're experienced enough to know that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to developing a website that's perfect for your organization.
One way to evaluate whether our style and approach matches yours is to look at some of the work that we have done. Another is to meet with us by phone or in person and, together, we can determine if our skills meet your needs and goals for your project. Contact us today and let's get the process started!
Many years have passed since we released our first website, and we're showing no signs of slowing down! The internet is constantly changing, and we have seen many changes in browser technology, the "commercialization" of the web, the dot-boom (and the dot-bomb), et al. We continue to focus on performance over promises.
This history provides us with the experience to deliver excellence to our clients, and it also gives us a view for what is coming in the future. Allow us the opportunity to demonstrate how our experience designing websites and applying solid marketing techniques can help you — contact us today!
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