website redesign

Generative and evaluative research included:

• a focus group with the Student Advisory Council to explore their thoughts and feelings about the service and its offerings
• usability testing with student volunteers to learn if they were able to complete key tasks, and how long these took
•  a card sorting exercise to understand how the users expect the content to be organized and labelled

The user research participants were not what I would consider a representative sample because they were highly engaged with the institution's programming. Less engaged students were difficult to find and recruit.

Data and analysis approaches included:

• User Explorer in Google Analytics to assess pages per session and goal completions among users with a comparatively high number of sessions
• Technology and Device to understand which browsers users had and whether they used desktop, mobile or tablet
• Users Flow to understand common exit pages (whether or not there was a CTA to be had)
• Acquisition sources to understand how users arrived on the site
• Site content to discover the most commonly visited pages
• Google Search Console to understand the queries users searched most often 
  • Note: This was before Core Web Vitals became a big part of Google's algorithm 

My content audit approach included:

• a big spreadsheet of each page, its metadata, content topics, stakeholder RACI, update cadence, content gaps, keywords,  and high-level recommendations (retain, revise, retire)
• Performance metrics for each page comparing pageviews to conversion events, bounce rate, and SEO standings

My audit surfaced issues with the content lacking clarity, purpose, and a clear map to a user need. There was a lot of information that they wanted the user to have, without much consideration about what the users wanted out of the content.

The site had accessibility issues lacking operable controls for the image carousel, mobile responsiveness (table-based layouts), formatting for assistive technology, and alt-tags on non-text elements.

The structural issues included a deep navigation structure relying on a matrix of hyperlinks, and a lack of intuitive groups and labels. The site adhered to Conway's Law, as the navigation structure reflected the department's org chart (who cares? not the site visitors). It took some effort to convince stakeholders that there did not need to be multiple landing pages for workshops, depending on who was delivering them. That the user just wants to register for a session that meets their needs and get on with their day. 

Website design

The component-based CMS had a decent library of branded content blocks that could be pulled into layouts to design the on-page content. This made designing the pages simple, but I still templated similar page types in order to maintain a consistent experience.

Web content accessibility

Since one of the main issues users had with the existing site was its jargon and difficult information, ensuring all web content had a Flesch–Kincaid readability score of Grade 7 or lower was important. I didn't want to increase the cognitive load of users who are seeking mental health or medical care. 

The on-page content was formatted for scannability and front-loaded with the most important information first. Employing the correct use of headings (h1-h6) enabled users accessing the content on assistive technology the ability to use it with ease. 

Anchor text and CTAs were all written to be distinct and meaningful, and I did away with all tables.

Content strategy

The content strategy involved aligning content with these key goals:

• creating and maintaining consistent, clear, helpful content to meet user needs
• providing transparent information to improve the centre's reputation and trustworthiness
• increasing organic reach to earn more key conversions (newsletter sign-ups, workshop sign-ups, and appointment bookings)

I wrote clear, concise, and action-oriented content and documented the content lifecycle. This document had who required the content, its target audience and performance goals, how often it needed to be updated, and who needed to be consulted and informed.

I created a library of re-useable content blocks. By structuring the content for re-use, information like seasonal open times and contact information could be updated once and displayed correctly across the site.

To increase key conversions, I created a content marketing strategy called “Staying Healthy”. It was anchored around a blog with weekly wellness tips and event listings. The blog was supported by a newsletter, with content repackaged for social media. The purpose was to ensure consistency in digital interactions, to be useful and engaging, and to grow the audience. I integrated a newsletter registration form (Marketo) into the site to capture leads, growing qualified leads by 25% month over month for the first six months.

Embedding a new event management system (LiveWhale) enabled greater efficiency in the promotion of available programming, with sign-ups and email communication handled in-app, and all upcoming programs categorized in a closed taxonomy and displayed in a user-friendly calendar view. Before this, I would have to write HTML descriptions of each event to show in a custom calendar view. Then users filled out a form on the website, and the event host would have to download a CSV of registrants and upload their information to an email client to send confirmations or pre- and post-event communication. 

I created an SEO strategy to increase their organic traffic. Creating a mobile responsive site, optimizing images, and writing keyword-optimized metadata enabled the site to rank first for each of the target search terms and long-tail phrases. The blog content helped improve E-A-T for human quality ratings, supporting the goal of trustworthiness.