Introduction
Drummoyne Art Society has a long history of servicing the artists of Sydney but their website was in urgent need of a fresh, modern look.
Established in 1964, this prestigious Art Society now has over 150 members from all over Sydney. Classes are available for all levels, from beginners to advanced, and usually run to an 8 week term – similar to NSW school dates. Art workshops, demonstrations and kids classes round out the mix.
In addition to their many classes, Art Exhibitions are the highlight of the year. Many members are award winning and show their works in numerous art shows and galleries around Sydney.
Challenges
Students and members needed an easy to use website that they could book and pay for classes online. Most of these bookings would come through a smart phone.
The website needed to be ready for the new school year and handle the influx of “start of term” enquiries.
As a “not for profit” organisation, they needed a website that could offer all the features they needed within their limited budget.
The original website was not ranking anywhere in the first 12 pages of Google.
The website had to be easy to navigate by members of all ages…and payment of classes made on a mobile phone.
Solutions
Art Society websites should be bright and colourful so splashes of colour and members original art work was used throughout the content.
The Art Society’s core applications were given their own colourful, clickable areas and each application was given it’s own page to assist with easy navigation.
Classes were organised in separate date and time “boxes” that then connected through to Paypal for secure payment.
Boxes were colour coded so members ensured they were booking the same classes.
A gallery was added where tutors and some members were given their own pop up biography page with clickable links to PDF’s on class instructions and materials.
A separate Members page with an easy fill form was added. This also connects through to Paypal for secure payment.
Make the website bright and colourful and easy for all ages to book and pay for classes.
Process
Using the content from the original website as a base, the pages were rewritten to include key words and phrases that customers were typing in to find the art classes. This also gave more information so customers could understand what the different classes entailed and were able to pay with confidence.
It was also important to create a natural and easy flow to the navigation of the website.
Heading images were put on a slider and core application boxes pop, move and change colour. Tutor’s biographies also pop up when clicked.
The Results
A website that is bright, colourful, moves, pops, zings and is easy to use, navigate and pay…even on a smart phone.
Membership numbers and Art Class participation has increased.
Drummoyne Art Society has added more Art Workshops to accommodate the growing demand.
Locals were saying they didn’t even know the Art Society existed but were able to find their new website with a Google Search.
Traffic to the website has substantially increased in a very short time.
Summary
The speed at which technology changes now means websites should really be updated every 2-3 years.
Customers expect to be able to interact with your website much more and are happy to pay online. They no longer have a “separate computer credit card” like the “old” days on the internet. Your website needs to be responsible and easy to use on a smart phone.
Understanding the changing needs of Drummoyne Art Society and also knowing the proper use of SEO and key words in their content, has enabled the increase in traffic to the website. This has in turn increased their patronage and membership, ensuring this prestigious Art Society will be around for many more years to come!
What our client had to say…
Our members love our new website! They can’t believe how easy it is to book and pay for their classes, particularly on their mobile phones. Our class sizes have increased and were putting on more Art Workshops to cope with the demand. I love the colours and the movement.
