CASE STUDY: The National Conference Center

Redesigning a Website with Research at the Core  

How we helped the National Conference Center reach a new local market.

Client: The National Conference Center

Executive Summary

When the National Conference Center came to us, its goal was to pivot away from only serving government organizations and expand into a new market. We got to work with the same first step we always take, and that is research. Through market research and an audit of their digital marketing assets, we were able to understand their audiences. With that understanding, we were able to optimize them for local searches, as well as strategically update their branding and redesign their website to achieve their goals. After one month of the new site being live, we saw increased acquisition, engagement, and conversion metrics over the previous month and year.

GOALS

  • Update the brand and website to appeal to a broader audience

  • Create brand awareness for a new local market

DELIVERABLES

  • Digital Marketing Audit

  • Visual Identity Updates

  • Local Search Optimization

  • Website Redesign

RESULTS

  • 1547% increase in conversions over last year

  • 54.8% increase in users over last year

  • 11.06% increase in organic search traffic over last year

Background

We initially met The National in 2017 when we helped them develop an award-winning brochure for the property. After the pandemic, they were back in growth mode and looking to reach a new local market—the many organizations that are located in the Washington, DC area.

The How

DISCOVERY

We started with a digital marketing audit that was focused on their digital marketing assets, as they were interested in the feasibility of being found in search by a new local audience. During discovery, we performed market research on the current and new target markets, as well as an audit of their digital marketing assets. We used our findings to answer the question of how they could improve their SEO rankings for local searches.

Ultimately, our audit found several reasons why the property wasn’t being ranked for local searches, and we delivered several recommendations on how it could be improved organically before moving into paid avenues. After these recommendations were delivered, The National Conference Center decided to make a brand change to The National. So, although our recommendations didn’t initially include a website redesign, we agreed that the brand change would require it.

PUTTING IT INTO ACTION

Local Search Optimization

Before entering a paid approach, we focused on optimizing their local search assets, which would benefit both arriving guests and help prospects find them.

Branding

Since The National’s goal was to reach a new audience, we made some tweaks to their visual identity to help position them in front of that new audience by shifting the overall focus of their brand assets.

Website

By tapping into the data from the recently done audit, we were able to quickly design a user interface and experience (UI/UX) that would help each user group find what they were looking for while also making the site actionable.

The team at The National is pretty tech-savvy. Since they were able to write and populate the website, we designed page templates for them to use.

After the site was populated, we did some cleanup, set up integrations with their marketing software, search engine optimized (SEO) the site, and assisted them with launching the new website.

The Results

When we looked at the data over where their site was at the same time last year, the data showed a 54.8% increase in users, a 1547% increase in conversions, and an 11.06% increase in organic search traffic.

Where Are They Now

With the new website up and running, we are now working with The National on their initial goals and talking through new goals for the upcoming year.