Client
TrainerConnect
Project
SEO: A 90 Day Overhaul
My role & skills
Project lead
Project management
Search engine optimization
Digital and content strategy
Photography
Graphic design
Information architecture
User experience design
User interface design
Blog management
112% increase in clicks from search engines
74% increase in web traffic
117% increase in website page views
97% increase in followers
92% increase in social media engagement
Website updates
TrainerConnect’s previous website held a lot of detailed content across a slew of pages, so we began this project with creating a content strategy. This strategy became the framework for our entire process as it included a detailed plan for examining existing content, crafting new content and tackling the new design.
Our first step was to take an inventory of all of the content on TrainerConnect’s previous website. This included an examination of headlines, body copy, button titles, navigation, footer content, and blogs. Then, we found the areas that were text heavy and planned for ways to reduce the amount of copy on those pages, thus creating less strain for the user.
While examining the content, we were also working on the information architecture for the new website. This included creating a new site map and finding ways to reduce the number of overall pages throughout the site.
User interface
The overall goal with the design was to make TrainerConnect’s web presence more approachable. We began working on this goal by defining a design system that didn’t include heavy imagery, but was still visually interesting. Throughout this process, we experimented with different image styles - photography, iconography and illustrations.
We found that custom illustrations were not only more visually appealing, but also allowed the viewers to add a sense of their own interpretation. The illustrations allowed users to imagine themselves working with TrainerConnect in their own environments, which supported TrainerConnect’s hybrid learning model.
“This is the most beautiful website I’ve ever seen. It's truly a work of beautiful art! I'm amazed!”
— Andrea Atewologun, Vice President of Business Development, TrainerConnect
Blog management
Blogging helps boost SEO quality by positioning the website as a relevant answer to their users' questions. Blog posts that use a variety of on-page SEO tactics can also provide more opportunities to rank higher in search engines and make the site more appealing to visitors. So, our team created a series of blogs that were gradually added to the TrainerConnect website.
First, we worked alongside the TrainerConnect and Certified Healthcare Training teams to determine what types of information they thought their students and clients would find valuable. We came up with a list of over 60 blog topics and were able to narrow it down to the handful that our team would be focusing. From there, our team began researching each topic and publishing the blogs on the website.
Our team researched each topic and began publishing the blogs on TrainerConnect’s website. Each blog was optimized for search rankings through written content, keywords and heading levels. Every blog also had custom graphics, images and social sharing images that were themed around that blog’s topic.
Video Production
If you wanted a single reason why it’s such a good idea to create video content for your business or brand, let it be this one: search engine optimization. The more video content we create, the more quality traffic we can draw to our clients’ pages, which will, in turn, boost their overall SEO in the long run.
Over the course of 90 days, our video production team focused primarily on content that would generate traffic from social media. We began by scheduling interviews with students and instructors and each interview allowed us to create multiple testimonial posts for social media.
Analytics proved to us that TrainerConnect’s followers were really interested in informal posts. They wanted to see what life was like at TrainerConnect, what students were doing and what was happening behind the scenes. With this information, we were able to focus more on content that showed the personal side of TrainerConnect.
Graphic design
Not only did I create custom illustrations for the updated website interface, but I also created a library of over 100 graphics for social media. I created multiple graphics for each certification that TrainerConnect offers so we would be able to cycle through the posts without the content being redundant.
Social media management
Since social media influences the factors that impact search rankings, it has the potential to drive quality web traffic to a brand’s website. When I created and publish quality materials that connected with TrainerConnect’s social audience, they became advocates for TrainerConnect. There was a higher level of engagement across all social channels and more followers were sharing content from TrainerConnect than ever before.
I used an online software to maintain and control TrainerConnect’s social accounts remotely. Because of this, I was able to optimize TrainerConnect’s posting schedule and content types by constantly reviewing analytics, which allowed me to drive more traffic and increase engagement overall.
TrainerConnect had a 92% increase in engagement across platforms after 90 days and a 97% increase in followers. I took them from no engagement to over 1,500 engagements in 60 days and expanded their reach to over 4,000 new people on Facebook alone.
