Mengmeng Yao | Digital Designer
A website redesign project for an SDR online bootcamp to boost the conversion rate
Client Context
Elevate stands as a transformative SDR (Sales Development Representative) bootcamp, offering a comprehensive 10-week program engineered to facilitate career transitions into the realm of tech sales. With a dedicated website as their platform, Elevate endeavors to furnish prospective users with informative insights into their services while seamlessly guiding them towards becoming valued customers. The client approached us with a compelling requirement: to instigate a profound metamorphosis through revitalized visuals, aimed at not only attracting customer attention but also catalyzing a surge in conversion rates.
My Role
UI/UX Designer
I restructured the website's information architecture to highlight content that directly addresses users' needs and pain points, drawing from my comprehensive research. Employing optimal landing page design principles, I aimed to enhance the conversion rate. Additionally, I established a unified visual identity throughout the entirety of the website.
Timeframe
4 Month
Outcome
The company took my design solutions and visual elements into their website. They also took my advice of using HubSpot for hosting their website instead of Wordpress. Since launching, the conversion rate from the landing page has increased by 40%.
Check the launched website HERE
The Original Website
Similar to many bootcamp enterprises, Elevate adheres to a highly distinct website structure. The homepage not only functions as a landing page aimed at user conversion, but it also offers pathways to alternative content destinations, such as the About Us page, Event page, and a dedicated Hire from Us page, strategically designed to engage potential hiring partners. The website boasts a clean and understated visual aesthetic, evoking an air of sophistication.
Understand the Business
Competitors are Valuable Resources
My initial step involved a comprehensive analysis of Elevate's existing website, followed by a thorough comparison with prominent industry competitors like VictoryLap, School16, and FuleSales. This meticulous examination of various bootcamp websites enabled me to discern prevalent trends within the sector, as well as identify areas where Elevate's website presented shortcomings.
Content analyze for Elevate and its Competitors
Based on my research, prominent brands within the SDR bootcamp industry typically convey the following key details to their audience:
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What users need to pay for the program
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What users will get from the program
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The possibility for user to get what promised on the website (the credibility)
Regrettably, Elevate's website falls short in these aspects. Their communication about tuition lacks precision and clarity. Critical statistical information is placed in a less prominent position. Despite having a commendable score on platforms like coursereport.com, the absence of third-party reviews is noticeable. Furthermore, their course information lacks the necessary level of detail.
INSIGHT
Elevate's website is currently deficient in content that resonates with its target audience. It's crucial for them to incorporate industry best practices
to establish and enhance their credibility.
User Interview AKA A/B Testing
Following an in-depth examination of both Elevate's website and those of its competitors, I proceeded to engage with users in order to validate the insights gleaned from the competitor analysis and to gather further perspectives.
To provide a comprehensive framework for the interviews, I opted to present users with both a competitor's website and Elevate's website. By doing so, I aimed to elicit their impressions, preferences, and critiques for each site, as well as their inclination towards applying for programs on either platform.
For this comparative study, I selected SV Academy, a prominent industry leader, as the competitor website to be showcased.
Of the individuals we interviewed, 75% exhibited a preference for selecting SV Academy, driven by various factors, some of the primary ones are outlined below.
Transparent and Detailed
Information
Including curriculum, detailed course schedule, payment and anything else provided by the program. These information serve to assist users in making informed decisions and contribute to enhancing the program's credibility. It is essential for users to have effortless access to this information for their convenience.
Motivating and Relevant
Contents
Including the quotes and stories of alumni, pictures of the course/events, and life after graduation. These contents show the audience a future they desires, resonate with their emotion, therefore motivate them to take the action.
INSIGHT
The audience need to be enthused and driven by the contents on Elevate’s website, so they will take decisive action and leverage Elevate to turn their aspirations into realities.
Solutions
The research and the best practice of landing page provided me with a direction to go. For the redesign, I need to arrange the information architecture to make it easier for audience to find the information they need, strategically present the contents to capture audiences’ attention and boost the engagement, and provide contents that’s relevant to users.
Streamline contents discovery
One of the best practice of landing page is to avoiding diverting audiences to other destinations, therefore I decided to include all necessary information on the landing page. However, with so much information on one page it’s easy to overwhelm the audiences, so I decided to utilize a secondary navigation system to provide more structure and help users locate the information they need as soon as possible.
Landing page content
Primary navigation for the whole website
Secondary navigation for the landing page
Inspired Actions
The Call to Action button is an integral part in landing page. By placing the buttons throughout the page, I want to make sure no matter where someone lands within this page. there is always an opportunity for them to take the action and apply.
One interesting thing here is that we found out that the information on the website may not be the trigger for the user to finally decide to participate in a bootcamp, lots of our interviewees said it’s the people from the admission team who persuade them to take the action.
In addition to these two CTAs, the landing page will feature supplementary buttons such as "Request Syllabus" and "Talk to an Alumni." These buttons will also lead to the Application Page, catering to individuals with diverse requirements and ultimately enhancing the conversion process.
Use Visuals and Interactive components to Boost Users’ Engagement
Concerning the presentation of information, my approach involved a significant integration of visuals and interactive elements. This strategic decision aimed to heighten user engagement and effectively seize their focus. Notably, these visual and interactive components were deliberately incorporated into critical and pertinent details, such as alumni testimonials, the value proposition of Elevate to users, and the curriculum details.
Delightful Visual Language
Accessible across multiple devices
Adhering to accessibility compliance standards, I worked on ensuring the new platform's accessibility across different devices while complying with WCAG standards.
Reiteration after Launch
Highlight the Interaction Option
Based on the report from HubSpot, the clicking rate of the curriculum breakdown diagrams is low. We figured that most of them are not aware of the content behind the diagram, therefore I changed the arrows to a button with clear CTA. After implementation, the click rate increased by 70%
A Better Information hierarchy in the Tuition Part
Delivering crucial details such as tuition fees and payment plans to users stands as a pivotal function of the landing page. However, in the initial test phase, the first iteration fell short in this aspect. The visual elements and quotes took precedence, overshadowing the information presented below. Additionally, the unconventional arrangement of the CTA button, content, and three options posed challenges in terms of alignment and responsiveness during implementation.
In the subsequent reiteration, I resized each content element to enhance the visibility of financial options. Furthermore, I adopted a more conventional layout, streamlining the coding process for improved ease and efficiency.
Be Adaptive for More Testimonials
In the initial month of the launch, the validation of my hypothesis that incorporating testimonials and reviews from actual students would substantially boost the conversion rate was evident. Consequently, the company resolved to augment the volume of reviews, including testimonials sourced from various social media platforms. I promptly adjusted to this decision and modified the design accordingly.
User-controlled Application Process
In the midst of a surge in applications, we observed that the traditional approach of users submitting their contact information and waiting for our outreach introduced additional uncertainty for them. Consequently, we opted to empower users by allowing them to dictate when our representatives would reach out to them, leading to a significant enhancement in the overall user experience. Additionally, leveraging the meeting function offered by HubSpot proved to be instrumental in reducing the time and effort required for the independent development of the application page.
Measuring Success
The company took my design solutions and visual elements into their website. They also took my advice of using HubSpot for hosting their website instead of Wordpress. Since launching, the conversion rate from the landing page has increased by
