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Web design Brisbane
Case Studies

Why the right web developer is crucial to success

Finding the right web developer is paramount

Australian Online Courses

26 July 2018/in Business, SEO, Websites /by Grant O'Neill
Australian Online Courses (AOC) was established in 2008, and has enjoyed steady growth over several years. In late 2016, they decided to redevelop their website through a local marketing agency, but that didn't go well. This is how we helped AOC get back on track.

Why did it go wrong? The website was completed, well past deadline, and had several glaring issues, including AOC losing all their existing Google rankings which they’d spent years working towards. Their business was going backwards, and this is where we were brought in to help.

The issues with the website were wide-ranging and had a negative impact on sales. Not only was this causing a huge reduction in website traffic compared to the previous site, but it was harder for customers to find and enrol into a course.

The problems included:

  • Design: issues with unfinished elements, a poor homepage layout, the way courses were presented, and more.
  • Courses: editing courses was difficult and required entering a lot of data in a specific way (which was easy to forget or mess up).
  • Payments: the checkout and payment processes were confusing for users; customers were receiving duplicate receipts, and AOC had to double-handle a lot of data.
  • Configuration: the website code was full of errors, the site’s language and time zone settings were incorrect, and there was sloppy/lazy development work in a huge number of areas.
  • Speed: the website was very slow and hadn’t been configured properly.
  • Management: the client didn’t have the necessary time or skill to properly update the website software, take backups, perform security scans, and so on.
  • Search engines: when the old website was replaced, the developer didn’t take the necessary steps to inform Google about the changes, causing a sudden drop in rankings/traffic.

Solution

Step 1: Put a website management plan in place

Our website management packages cover several different options. Without going into all the details, AOC has daily website backups in five separate locations, ongoing website software upgrades and bug fixes, prepaid developer support, performance/speed scans, security scans, and more. This ensures their website is always up to date and running smoothly.

Step 2: Fix website issues

As outlined above, there were so many issues here. Instead of a large up-front payment, we fixed the most critical problems initially and have progressively tackled the other issues over time. This has seen a significant increase in conversion rates (the number of visitors who become paying customers), which is of course the main purpose of a website.

Step 3: Make website improvements

We looked at the site holistically to determine what was missing, what could be improved, and what wasn’t needed. There were many items, including adding the course search to the home page (it’s amazing that this wasn’t already in place), completely restructuring and redesigning the main menu, and making the site more mobile-friendly. These have again greatly increased the number of sales.

Step 4: Improve search engine presence

We needed to improve the website’s ranking in Google, fast! Our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) service is all-encompassing; we weren’t just ensuring the website was more visible in Google, but continually improving its content, adding new content, creating online business listings, setting up reports, and everything in between. The results were immediate and have been ongoing.

Outcomes

The website maintenance, fixes and improvements led to strong improvements in conversion rates, with significantly more visitors going on to enrol in a course. This was then combined with a 44% increase in website traffic from Search Engine Optimisation, one month after the service began.

The result was that sales increased by 50%!

From a very small SEO investment, AOC has now taken their business to the next level, allowing them to employ more staff, upgrade their office, and expand further into their target market.

What we learnt

This project confirmed to us that there’s a huge range in quality when it comes to web development. Many website developers simply don’t have the skills and experience to deliver on their promises and genuinely help businesses grow.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult for business owners to know the difference before they’re already working on the project, but we go out of our way to educate potential clients on what to look for.

From this project, and other recent ones, we’ve identified a few ways we can help business owners even more, when it comes to choosing the right web developer. Whether they choose us for their project, or another company, the main thing is that the end up with a web developer who delivers results.

Take your business to the next level now!

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Services used in this project

  • Web development
  • Website management
  • Search engine optimisation

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St Hilliers is very happy with the service provided by GO Creative. Our micro-website design was user friendly and the overall standard of work was excellent.
Pasen RubasingheSt Hilliers Construction
GO Creative’s standard of work, value for money and communication on our SEO and PPC campaigns was excellent! Great service. Thanks.
Stanislav NikitinLED Shop
My business dealings with GO Creative have been nothing short of excellent. Their creativity with web pages and graphics has made my life so much easier. I have and will continue to recommend GO Creative to people I know who can use their services.
Roland GlendonDirectorHi-Tech Fibre & Data
I was very impressed how GO Creative handled the website for OzSports, so we revamped the website for OzSports Trophies as well.
Nicky PirottaOzSports Trophies
Overall very pleased with the outcome of the website. From start to finish, GO Creative was extremely helpful. Thankyou!
Lance GuerraLGF Plumbing
Really happy with all aspects of service received from GO Creative. A very professional business with fast lead times and overall great service.
Annie RobertsDirectorBrisbane Spa Super Centre
The standard of work and value for money was excellent! It was great that any requests for changes were dealt with promptly. I’d be happy to recommend your services.
Karly PhillipsGallang Place
GO Creative will investigate exactly what it is you want to achieve; then use their creativity and expertise to deliver something that will blow you away, ensuring you are kept in the loop every step of the way. You will become a raving fan! Thank you for helping me achieve success with Global Innovations.
Karin BryerGlobal Innovations
Thanks very much for your work. I’m very happy with the quality of the final product as well as your rapid turnaround time.
Ian BallasBPMG Pty Ltd
GO Creative has been a great help to my business. Their staff are very capable and punctual and they offer excellent ideas in web design and marketing.
Gavin DunwoodieProducts For Industry
GO Creative understood our needs well, and their communication and work standards were excellent. The redevelopment of our website was good value for money.
Jim WoodOzSports Springwood
Grant and his team are wonderful to work with. Patient, understanding and quick to respond. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough!
Lynette BuddIpswich Community Youth Service
GO Creative has a talented team, with the ability to interpret an abstract brief and deliver concrete results. It’s always a pleasure to work with the GO Creative Team, after 2 years hiatus they came up in conversation today – we knew they’d break up our creative deadlock.
Lee CurtisTroven
We have worked with GO Creative on several projects. Every time documentation was written well and any additional information necessary to complete project was provided. We definitely will be glad to work together with GO Creative in future and would recommend them as a partner for other web design and development agencies.
Marcin BiegunCEOOptArt
 
Established in 2001 • Ecommerce specialists • Australian owned and operated

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