Category: Case Studies


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Pay Per Click Ads Success Story – Vancouver Foundation

The Vancouver Foundation is a philanthropic organization that supports communities across British Columbia by providing grants to charities and non-profits. Their mission is to foster healthy, vibrant, equitable, and inclusive communities. Funding for their initiatives is sourced from community donations and the management of endowment funds for individuals, charities, and businesses. As one of our longstanding clients, we have had the privilege of assisting them in expanding their online presence.

Out-Smarts began supporting the Vancouver Foundation in 2017, initially providing web traffic analytics consulting to enhance their website’s SEO, Google Universal Analytics, Google Ads, and tag tracking for key site interactions. Through this consulting, we discovered that the Vancouver Foundation was not taking advantage of the free Google Ads offered to non-profit organizations (Google Grants). Consequently, Out-Smarts was engaged to develop and manage their search ad campaigns. This partnership has since evolved to encompass Microsoft Ads, Paid Google Ads, and managing their Google Grants campaigns. Out-Smarts continues to provide consultation on SEO and analytics as needed.

To achieve their goal of increasing donations, while raising awareness about Vancouver Foundation’s philanthropic work, we established two distinct groups: one for paid advertising on Google and Microsoft, and another for Google Grants. Additionally, to continually optimize targeting, we implemented Google Analytics strategies to track website traffic to further understand the dynamic needs of donors. 

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Social Media Community Building Success Story – Neptune Terminals

Neptune Terminals is a bulk shipping terminal situated on Vancouver’s North Shore. As a critical link in the supply chain, they facilitate the transportation of Canadian resources to global markets. Committed to environmental preservation, Neptune prioritizes minimizing the impact of its operations on the ecosystem.

Moreover, Neptune has a longstanding dedication to bolstering the North Shore community’s strength and vitality, by supporting the well-being of its residents and workers. They collaborate with numerous community partners, supporting initiatives ranging from youth team sports to programs for seniors, environmental projects, and more.

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Screenshot of Vericatch's responsive website on desktop, tablet,ipad and mobile.

Website Redesign Success Story – Vericatch

About Vericatch

Vericatch is an organization at the forefront of revolutionizing fishery management through cutting-edge catch reporting and seafood traceability software. Their mission is centred around crafting profitable and sustainable fishing practices solutions.

However, despite their groundbreaking software, Vericatch found themselves with an outdated website and sought our expertise for a transformative upgrade.

About this website redesign project

We strategically divided this project into two distinct phases: design and preparation, and web development. The design and preparation phase encompassed comprehensive discovery sessions, defining the scope of work, conducting an SEO audit, building an SEO strategy, and crafting custom website design and wireframe development. The subsequent web development phase involved the actual website development, and implementation of SEO strategies, culminating in the launch of their new site.

Design and Preparation Phase

In alignment with our approach to all website redesign projects, we began the process with a thorough website discovery session. During this session, Vericatch shared their company story, goals and envisioned outcomes for the website. This step laid the foundation for an in-depth understanding of the project, guiding our next steps. From the discovery session, we identified that their target audience, fishermen, tended to be busy and on the go. Therefore, easy navigation for users was a top priority for Vericatch’s new site.

Following the discovery session, we started a comprehensive SEO requirements audit for Vericatch, delving into an examination of their current website to gauge its adherence to SEO best practices. This included a detailed analysis of on-page, off-page, and technical SEO aspects. To ensure we retained as much of the link juice as possible, we also audited their current content to determine the pages that had the most traffic and those that had backlinks from external sites.

Crafting custom-designed websites is our forte. Our process involves creating custom designs, strategically placed call-to-action buttons, and seamlessly embedded photos and videos to ensure a visually appealing site.

To make sure the newly designed site was not only visually captivating, but also delivered an exceptional user experience, we collaborated closely with Vericatch to craft site page navigation and menu user flow. The objective was to enable visitors to effortlessly navigate the revamped site, intuitively guiding them to their desired destinations.

The new site had to cater, not only to new clients but also to existing clients using Vericatch’s software. To provide support to existing users, we designed a client portal and a support centre section which includes an FAQ page, Canadian ELOG support, and software release details information for clients to find information quickly.

With design and preparation completed, we were ready to present our detailed scope of work and eager to get started with the development phase.

Web Development Phase

During this phase, we developed a unique, fully responsive website optimized for seamless performance across major devices and browsers. Vericatch wanted to host their new site on their own servers, rather than on a hosting firm. Our initial step was to work with their development team to establish hosting. Following that, we integrated Vericatch’s WordPress with the content management system. Our expert web developers crafted samples of their new website, outlining the necessary page hierarchy.

The website development process adhered to the latest standards, meticulously incorporating best practices and technical requirements. This approach ensures that their website not only meets but exceeds all technical standards and legal regulations.

SEO

To elevate Vericatch’s SEO performance, we worked with Vericatch’s in-house skilled copywriter by providing SEO direction and optimized keyword suggestions to enhance visibility on Google search results. Additionally, we crafted META titles and descriptions using those high-performing keywords. Our SEO strategy included the integration of Google Analytics and Search Console, ensuring a wide-ranging approach to optimizing their online presence.

Lastly, we enhanced Vericatch’s website accessibility by updating alt tags on all photos on their site. This process involved providing detailed photo descriptions and ensuring accessibility for individuals of all abilities and visitors using screen readers.

From there, we were ready to launch Vericatch’s brand-new site. The launch included testing on all devices to make sure the website provided an optimal experience on all screen types and sizes and checking the site for any broken links or errors. Next, we set up Google Analytics and Search Console and submitted the site to Bing and Google. Finally, we conducted client training so that going forward, they had the autonomy to update the site using the Gutenberg block. 

Results

This project not only led to the creation of a modern and visually appealing website but also significantly enhanced user-friendliness and navigation ease. Since its launch in October, these improvements have translated into an 11.4% increase in average engagement time on the site, a 7.6% rise in new users, and an overall 11.3% growth in the site’s user base.

A word from the client

“Working with Mhairi and her team at Out-Smarts made our web redesign process super low-stress for us. Their approach was thorough, they were very responsive, and they really understood what we were looking for and delivered! Our new site only launched recently, but we’re already seeing an uptick in traffic thanks to their SEO magic.”

  • Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit – Senior Marketing and Content Strategist – Vericatch

Why we loved this project

Vericatch actively works toward creating a more sustainable future for the fishing industry; and at Out-Smarts, there’s nothing we love more than helping organizations that do good in the world, do better online. If your organization is struggling to get attention online or has an outdated website, we’re here to help. Book a free consultation today to finally get the results you’ve been looking for.


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Website Redesign Success – Acne and Rosacea Society of Canada: Acne Action

About ARSC – Acne Action 

Acne Action is a website created by The Acne and Rosacea Society of Canada (ARSC), a national, not-for-profit organization led by Canadian dermatologists. They share reputable information to help people dealing with acne. This site delivers articles to help users understand their skin conditions and provides support by sharing personal stories of people’s experiences with acne.

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Screenshot of Vancouver International Childrens Festival website in desktop, laptop, mobile and tablet form.

Accessible And Inclusive Website Redesign Success Story – Vancouver International Children’s Festival

Vancouver International Children’s Festival (VICF) is an institution in BC. As the longest-running professional performing arts festival for young audiences in North America, it has been operating for close to half a century. Many of the city’s residents, parents and children alike (including our team!) have happy memories of attending performances.

We jumped at the chance to work with them in 2019. At first, we supported their website with maintenance and update services like integrating forms into their operational processes. When it came time to redesign their website in 2020, we were honoured to be invited to work on the project.

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