Working with Mike and the MK Way team has been exciting and an opportunity to grow for me and my company, 3V Communications. We are in the process of a multi-month marketing project, and so far everyone I’ve met and worked with has been friendly and professional. I’ve had a photo-shoot, a brand refresh, am currently creating new online videos and courses, all with the goal of increased revenue in the next coming months. Mike and his team care.
Overview
The Whale and Dolphin Company is an organization providing eco-friendly wildlife cruises while helping to contribute to valuable marine research, explore remote destinations and encounter fascinating wildlife.
Led by Dr. ‘Chas’ Anderson, the founding member of the Marine Research Centre (MRC), The Whale and Dolphin Company had recently hired a website team to design their new online presence and it didn’t go as planned. The website was signed off with fundamental UI (user interface) errors, a basic homepage that was confusing to visitors, and missing spacing, fonts, colors, and CTA’s on the inner pages.
They approached MK Way to help fix their their website to support their expanding operations with the ultimate goal of gathering more online visibility and increasing the frequency they can take liveaboard trips each year.
Challenges
Once we signed off, we found the following areas to improve from our initial assessment:
- Visitors were clueless on the homepage, due to a lack of brand messaging and proper information architecture
- The homepage did not have a clear value proposition
- Visitors aren’t guided to take any action due to lack of CTA buttons
- The website’s copy lacked clarity and did not effectively communicate with the target audience, leading to confusion and low conversion rates.
- High-res images flooded the site, causing slow loading times
- Huge accessibility issues due to copy added on images
- Contact page form is poorly placed & designed
- Newsletter subscription pop-ups that was confusing to close
- Missing links on the footer to their social media
- Broken or missing links in buttons
- Websites’ Innerpages had cosmetic issues on both desktop and mobile version
- Responsiveness issues with sections and buttons not visible on mobile
- No clear CTA to the newsletter to attract a bigger fanbase
Success Factors
Our deep understanding of Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) in UX was crucial to the project’s success. This expertise enabled us to immediately identify key areas for improvement that would lead to the necessary changes to achieve the client’s business goals.
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Our Solutions
Re-design the homepage
We created a new homepage that addressed the challenges of the previous design. We started by adjusting the copy to make it more sales-oriented and appeal to the target audience.
Old Copy EXAMPLE
“Expert local snorkel guides, who know all the best locations, ensure we enjoy extraordinary coral reef excursions. We aim to enjoy one or two snorkelling sessions each day.”
New Copy EXAMPLE
“Experience extraordinary coral reef excursions, offered by our expert local snorkel guides. One or two sessions are offered each day! Visit all the best, secret places known only by the locals!”
MENU & ABOVE THE FOLD
We then designed a new navigation and menu that was relevant to visitors and helped them find what they were looking for.
We also implemented an above-the-fold strategy with messaging that clearly communicated the company’s offerings and included a prominent call-to-action (CTA) that led to the destinations page. We strategically placed essential information about the company and services on the homepage in a user-centered order, including properly placed CTA buttons to guide visitors towards the actions we wanted them to take.
The result was a useful, delightful, and conversion-oriented experience for visitors.
Technical and cosmetic improvements to the inner pages
As a next step, we identified and addressed all technical and cosmetic issues throughout the website, resulting in a fast, responsive, and well-designed online presence. This included optimizing images, improving accessibility, fixing broken links, enhancing the design of inner pages, and ensuring the website displayed properly on all devices.
Re-design the homepage
We created a new homepage that addressed the challenges of the previous design. We started by adjusting the copy to make it more sales-oriented and appeal to the target audience.
Old Copy EXAMPLE
“Expert local snorkel guides, who know all the best locations, ensure we enjoy extraordinary coral reef excursions. We aim to enjoy one or two snorkelling sessions each day.”
New Copy EXAMPLE
“Experience extraordinary coral reef excursions, offered by our expert local snorkel guides. One or two sessions are offered each day! Visit all the best, secret places known only by the locals!”
MENU & ABOVE THE FOLD
We then designed a new navigation and menu that was relevant to visitors and helped them find what they were looking for.
We also implemented an above-the-fold strategy with messaging that clearly communicated the company’s offerings and included a prominent call-to-action (CTA) that led to the destinations page. We strategically placed essential information about the company and services on the homepage in a user-centered order, including properly placed CTA buttons to guide visitors towards the actions we wanted them to take.
The result was a useful, delightful, and conversion-oriented experience for visitors.
Technical and cosmetic improvements to the inner pages
As a next step, we identified and addressed all technical and cosmetic issues throughout the website, resulting in a fast, responsive, and well-designed online presence. This included optimizing images, improving accessibility, fixing broken links, enhancing the design of inner pages, and ensuring the website displayed properly on all devices.
Before MK-WAY
After MK-WAY
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The MK-Way “WOW” effect
MK Way team has been exciting
Ric - 3V Communications President
Thank you Mike!
I couldn’t have pulled it off without you. I still have things I want to do to the site but for now until after thanksgiving it’s good enough lol
Mimi G Style Owner
Thanks Mike!
I am excited to have the new site live! Thank you for your patience (…) I will be sure to recommend you to anyone I can – your team has been amazing!
Lisa - Lisa Hutcheson Owner
Scissors Cut Founder & Owner
Thank you Sara for the most encouraging words you express in the letter.. You are the best project manager I’ve ever had!! Working together is so much fun!! I enjoy it a lot!! Have a lovely weekend!
Patricia - Scissors Cut Founder & Owner
Fortelli Salon & Spa Coordinator
Working with Mike, Sara and his team has been an absolute delight! Their professionalism and attention to detail has been overwhelming in helping us build and expand our new website! They are always available to us and offering us tips and tricks on how to do updates – we are truly grateful having them part of our Fortelli Family!
Linda - Fortelli Salon & Spa Coordinator
An Absolute Delight!
I’m on my way to the airport but had a chance to see the site on my laptop and perusing now on my phone. WOW! You guys crushed it! I’m very impressed and this well exceeds my expectations.