Dorset-based Skills & Learning have been improving the lives of adults and young people through learning for over 25 years. The Skills & Learning team hoped that a new website would improve their service offering and attract new customers. What they didn’t expect was new website users to increase by 742%, organic search to increase by 712%, and a whopping 1,328% increase in page views – all within a few weeks of the new website going live.
Skills & Learning used internal research to document the issues of the existing website. Staff focus groups helped them identify that the new website needed improved navigation to help users find essential information quickly and easily. It was also vital that the new website was fully accessible.
Staff and tutors also wanted to elevate Skills & Learning’s service excellence and success stories. This meant moving away from the use of stock images, and replacing the existing media with new photography, client case studies, and video showreels.
The accessibility features of the new Skills & Learning website deliver on a promise of enhanced usability and improved user experience. This commitment to inclusion is a vital part of attracting, reassuring, and retaining new and existing clients.
It’s also a reflection of Skills & Learning’s brand values, and their pledge to deliver a premier service to everyone. Website accessibility also improves organic search rankings and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Skills & Learning anticipated that a large proportion of their audience would be mobile users. Due to the sheer volume of course information and data, a core part of the planning and visualisation process was a focus on clear page design, straightforward visual signposting, and logical displays of information.
With this brief in mind, we delivered a website with a responsive interface that provides an excellent user experience across smartphones, tablets and desktops alike.
The website development included integration with course management software WebEnrol, a hosted system that houses details of hundreds of courses.
Building websites and seamlessly integrating them with third party software that’s vital to a business’s needs is part of what Cognique do. We performed similar integration for SS&L, Hippychick, Somerset Chamber of Commerce, and South West School Wear websites.
Bespoke, beautifully built, and quick: the new WordPress website went live and made an immediate impression. Following the launch, we created and managed a Facebook ads campaign to boost interest in a Skills & Learning Open Day, targeting personas in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
The campaign ran over a 23 day period and, in that time, it had over 195,241 impressions, a reach of 37,528, and 1,891 clicks to the Open Day page on their website. The ads engagement had an impressive 135 post reactions, 20 post saves, and 47 post shares.
We’re now rolling out a programme of retained SEO research and management that continues to deliver increased website traffic and engagement with Skills & Learning’s content.
Olivia Girling, Marketing Officer, Skills & Learning
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