The Client
Mike Morse Law Firm is the largest personal injury law firm in Michigan. As such, they run many different marketing and community campaigns that require ongoing design work on the site. In addition, they are always looking for ways to improve their website and stay at the top of the market.
Project Highlights
- Lead rate increased by 40%
- Brand recognition and trust improved drastically on key pages (see metrics)
- Established monthly recurring design service with the client, with high client satisfaction
My Roles & Responsibilities
- Create strategy plans based on data (see metrics used)
- Create prototypes to present to the client (see software used)
- Client Management
- Project Management
- Work with Development and SEO teams
- Oversee design implementation and ensure quality control practices
- Track data and effectiveness of designs implemented
Client Goals
- Increase website leads
- Improve brand recognition
- Improve website aesthetics
- Add new custom pages as needed
- Maintain top-notch SEO
Internal Goals
- Strengthen client relationship
- Establish recurring revenue
- Set industry standards of UX design
- Maintain top-notch SEO
Deliverables
- Rubric, grading site effectiveness
- Prototypes for new designs
- Developed and published designs
- Reports on data and effective design
- Ongoing site QC
Technologies Used
Impact & Measurements for Success
-
Client relationship - (Measured based on referrals received from the client.)
Throughout the more than one and a half years of this service, we received numerous referrals from this client for new clients, including a design contract with a big name national company. This design contract alone held strong potential to recurring revenue over $1 million per year for the company I was working for at that time.
-
Increase website leads - (Measured using Google Analytics data to determine if the form and call conversion rates on the website were rising.)
This number often fluctuated with various campaigns, however pulling data from various comparable time frames we identified a 30-60% increase in the conversion rate.
-
Improve brand recognition - (Measured based on the bounce rate and time spent on page on key pages on the site.)
The most clients most prominent service page (the car accident page) had a bounce rate of 60% drop to 15% along with increased user time on the page, and user flow maps showing users diving deeper into the website than before. An incredible result that we were able to continue replicating for future clients. This also resulted in an increase in leads coming in from key service pages.
Overcoming Obstacles
-
The first version of the contact page redesign failed in terms of conversions.
The original redesign of the contact page was immediately well loved by the client. Aesthetically, all parties were very happy with the new design. User testing also showed that the page was easy to navigate and contact the firm. However, we began to see a drop in the conversion rate. We soon realized that this was not due to a shift in marketing campaigns. As we dug into the issue, we could see that it was not a usability issue either. So we dug deeper. With the use of heat mapping software we identified that the issue was occurring because may users were showing so much interest in a certain section on the page, that they were leaving the contact page and ultimately not submitting information. We removed the section in question, as well as any buttons that led to other pages on the site. Then we watched. The conversion rate on version 2 of the contact page redesign was then 30-60% higher than the original page.
Client management - Throughout this process, I kept the client updated and met with them regularly. I was upfront about the drop in leads, and was careful to explain how the process of iteration works, and what we would be doing next to address the situation.
-
SEO was impacted by an aesthetic design change.
During the redesign process I was careful not to remove or change content or content order without speaking with the SEO team first. Despite these precautions, we found that the SEO for one of the client's major service pages was negatively impacted by the redesign of the page. The SEO team was able to determine which design change had caused this drop, and we adjusted the design accordingly. Working with the SEO team was an interesting dynamic. At first there was a sense of tension, as some of the SEO team members felt that my designs were challenging their work and tactics, and there was pushback. When this happened, I met with the SEO team member in a virtual office. I explained them that designs are flexible, and as far as I'm concerned getting the user to the site is a priority over optimizing conversions. There isn't much to convert if there isn't traffic. From there the relationship was much better. We were able to collaborate and share goals and solutions, rather than rival each other's strategies.
-
Quality Control had hiccups.
The Quality Control process was very difficult to manage at first. Creating and developing new designs was no small feat. As a new designer with no guide to follow, at first I found myself spending days in the QC process, checking every small detail. Ultimately, the weight of QC rested on my shoulders. If something went wrong, I needed to be able to speak on it to both my company's C-Suite as well as to the client. In the beginning I often needed to defer to my boss on how to handle situations that came up. However, as time progressed, I was able to recognize what was important and what wasn't. I also learned how to frame issues in such a way that would bring the client understanding and reassurance rather than shock and confusion. Alongside the CTO and COO, I worked to create a QC process including a spreadsheet that could be delegated. I also found very quickly how important it was to keep watch over the client's conversion intakes, even when design changes were not made to intake forms. Odd things can happen in code, and domino effects occasionally effected vital forms and call buttons. I learned quickly to prioritize those, and to de-prioritize uncommonly used aspects of the site, that really just needed a quick glance every now and then.
