We branded the crap out of these folks
The YMCA undertook a national rebrand, developing an entirely new set of brand standards. However, the new brand standards didn’t include any guidelines specific to the web.
The YMCA undertook a national rebrand, developing an entirely new set of brand standards that all local YMCA chapters were expected to adopt in all their communications media. However, the new brand standards didn’t include any guidelines specific to the web. The YMCA of Greater Louisville needed to comply with the new national brand standards, but beyond that, their existing website wasn’t functioning well as a communications or marketing tool. Poor user experience design and information architecture meant that they had a 90% abandonment rate for their online registration process. YMCA members frequently complained that they could not find the information they were seeking on the current website.
Makespace was one of the first three developers permitted to apply the new national YMCA brand standards to the web. We pulled off an amazing 16 week end-to-end turnaround. Our new design was so successful that several other YMCAs have used it as an example of how to apply the Y’s new brand standards to the web. Our user experience experts dramatically simplified their online registration process from 13 steps to two steps, drastically improving conversion rates.
We also developed a more streamlined information architecture to help users quickly find the information they were seeking. Additionally, our front-end developers integrated their social media feeds into the site, making it simpler for members, staff and volunteers to keep up-to-date with the latest news and events going on at the YMCA. Built to modern web standards, the new website also ranks significantly better in organic search engine results.
Disciplines Applied:
- Define Digital Brand Standards
- User Experience Design
- Information Architecture
- Social Media Integration
- Front-End Development
- Search Engine Optimization
Business Benefits/Return on Investment:
- Simplified sign-up for new members
- Improved conversion rates for registration
- Decreased bounce rates for the site overall
- Increased average-time-on-site
- Improved success rates for visitors finding desired information
- Improved search engine rankings
- Social media integration
- Set the standard for national brand compliance on the web