IEDR OPTIMISE Programme open again to HAI SME members

Hardware Association Ireland has partnered with the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) to offer its members an opportunity to develop and improve their online presence through the OPTIMISE Programme. Now in its eighth year, the OPTIMISE fund has worked with over 120 Irish business owners to plan and implement significant web enhancements and e-commerce abilities for their existing websites.

After successfully introducing a number of HAI members to the programme in Spring this year and providing them with detailed website audits and recommendations HAI and IEDR are pleased to invite more qualify members to participate.  To qualify for the fund, you must be a HAI member with a registered .ie domain and website, and be looking to commit to a process that aims to expand your website’s functionality and presence.

The process – which comprises the collaborative work of IEDR and their design and technical support partners and mentors – begins with:

• A one-to-two-hour-long meeting to get a detailed understanding of the participating company’s needs.
• A detailed website audit will then be sent to the participating company three to four weeks after kick-off, covering 10 categories, including branding, coding and social media, with recommended next steps.
• Following the audit, there will a step-by-step presentation of the core recommendations and scores in the audit.
• Next up is a dedicated masterclass, to be hosted at HAI to train participants to be more digitally capable.
• A benchmark check will then take place – three months after the audit – to see what improvements have been implemented by the participants.
• This will be followed by a short questionnaire on your feedback from the process to date.
• The process will conclude with an overall PR event towards the end of the year, summarising the success of participants with videos and case studies. This will be a great chance to talk to journalists and promote your business.

Those interested must note that to benefit from this experience, a level of commitment would be required of the participating organisation.

“Thanks to Hardware Association Ireland, I made time to avail of the programme and found it to be very beneficial and worthwhile. The overhaul of our limited online presence and the ideas offered by Jimmy were very beneficial.” – OPTIMISE 2018 Participant

If you are interested in finding out more about this process, and would like to avail of the benefits of OPTIMISE, please email aoife@hardwareassociation.ie or call 01 2980969.