By Wallis Shamieh, PR & Integrated Media Assistant
At the end of January, Love and Company launched a completely overhauled version of the Springmoor website, and the results have been better than anyone could have hoped. When it comes to continuing care retirement community websites like Springmoor’s, it’s important to remember that websites need to be designed with a dual focus on informing seniors about the benefits of the community and of community living, and catering to their unique needs.
“We needed to redesign the website first and foremost to bring the site up to brand standards. The site also needed to meet current web standards,” said Sarah Camp, Interactive Communications Director at Love and Company.
Goals of the Redesign
The main goals of Springmoor’s website redesign included making it mobile-friendly, improving cohesive branding, improving organization and flow, and adding imagery that reflects the community lifestyle. Through these goals, Love and Company has created a more informative website that has kept the attention of users longer and has increased the number of users and pageviews in general.
Making the site more compatible with mobile devices, even in the senior market, is a significant design strategy. Seniors are now using mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, and won’t just be looking at your content on laptops and desktops.
It’s also important for the website to be easy to navigate, and offer attractive visuals. Now, prospective residents don’t just read about what it’s like to live in the community, but can also see visual depictions of the Springmoor way of life. Having a website that’s easy to navigate will help capitalize on Springmoor’s competitive differentiators and key selling points of relevancy to their audience.
Another strategy to improve Springmoor’s website was to add relevant calls-to-action to enhance inquiries, responses, and conversion rates. Adding a call-to-action helps build leads, and leads users to opportunities to receive more information.
The Numbers
With the Springmoor website, we compared the months of February and March, post-launch, to February and March of last year. The number of sessions, number of users, pageviews, pages per session, and session duration all increased by at least 25% or more compared to the previous year’s stats. Additionally, the bounce rate fell more than 5%, which means users are more likely to engage with the content and find what they are looking for on the site. (Find out more about what web metrics mean in this blog.)
But where the evidence in the site’s success really lies is in the contact form. The form, which requests information from users to generate leads, has a conversion rate of 6%, which is three times the national average for conversion rates. In March alone, the general contact form captured 51 leads – more than 1 lead per day (this does not include other forms on the site).
“We knew that the redesign would present significant improvements in many areas, including content and branded design, and we knew the calls to action would lead more users to complete the desired goals. However, we did not expect the improved response to be as immediate or significant. Springmoor saw improved results just hours after launch of the redesigned site,” says Sarah.
When considering a website redesign for your senior living community, it’s important to choose a design team that understands the senior living market. There are many ways to design and build a website, however, seniors have unique needs, and it’s important to optimize this content specifically for them.
