Wednesday, June 30, 2010

And the Winner is…The Event Center at Plaza Lecea

First in a Series on Award Winning Programs from the 2010 PRSA Del Oro Awards
Award Recipient of El Bronce Award of Excellence – Web Design

It is no doubt that we are an Internet-driven society. Whether it is reading the news, searching for the right gadget or even buying cars, we go to the World Wide Web as our first reference. For many companies and organizations it has meant revamping their marketing strategy to include a website that is both dynamic, diverse and user friendly.

When The Event Center at Plaza Lecea needed to market to more corporate and business clientele, they brought the Ashford Davis company (AFD) on board to determine how its website could be redesigned to attract weekday event clientele. Their weekends were quick to book with weddings and anniversaries, leaving weekdays and week nights available for other events.

The Event Center’s website wasn’t user friendly and the wedding product line received all of the emphasis. AFD established three main goals: increase functionality, establish conversion ratio goals and increase search engine visibility. “Much like any campaign, a website must be built around a strategy, says AFD owner Ashleigh Davis. “All too often people build websites “because they need one.” The only true approach is to first determine what it is you want your website to do; how you want your website to help you achieve your goals. Only then will you be able to accurately determine and implement the functionality necessary to make your website work for you.”

With the new site structure, each product line received the attention it deserved by funneling traffic efficiently. In order to monitor ROI and watch traffic patterns, AFD established separate “Requests for More Information” with goals defined in Google Analytics. These new goals will allow Plaza Lecea to decipher precisely from where converted leads are coming – referring websites, specific keywords or CPC campaigns. Functionality had increased by 26 percent, and new visitor traffic had grown by 140 percent..

Ashleigh Davis launched AFD in November 2008 with the intent to bridge offline marketing strategies with emerging Internet visibility initiatives such as search engine optimization and social media marketing. After only one year in business, AFD has received several awards including the El Bronce Award of Excellence for Web Design. Davis was pleasantly surprised. “Receiving the El Bronce Award was truly an honor. I never imagined I’d be receiving recognition for the work I completed my first year in business!”

By Trisha Box, PRSA Board Member and Director of Development at the Winston School San Antonio

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