The Brief
Lancaster & Morecambe College
Lancaster & Morecambe College were in need of a new website in order to achieve their three core objectives: secure new students, generate new revenue opportunities and stand out from the competition. It was essential that the website actively promoted their unique selling points:
- Industry professionals teaching
- Academic & practical education
- Successful apprenticeships
- Great connections with the business community
The new site also had to serve the following functions:
- Appeal to students looking to further their education
- Provide a promotional platform for the public services
- Act as a communication tool bringing all college news and social media together
The Approach
Lancaster & Morecambe College
Lancaster & Morecambe College were initially interested in a Wordpress site, but were won over by our demonstration of Concrete5, a customisable platform that offers simple, intuitive and user-friendly functionality for administrators and visitors alike. Concrete5 also offers the flexibility and control that the college was seeking over the content on the website.
To ensure the website matched the aesthetic and practical requirements of Lancaster & Morecambe College, we hosted a ‘kick-off’ session to gather initial thoughts, followed by regular feedback sessions throughout the design process. The college was also connected to the I-COM team through their dedicated project manager, who was on hand to answer any and all questions.
What we did
Lancaster & Morecambe College
Using the Concrete5 platform as our foundations for the design, we created a responsive website that appealed to the target demographics, showcased their unique selling points and performed in a much more user-friendly way.
EBS was integrated by our web developers into the website, along with a blog, payment gateway and job-posting facility that is linked to Google for Jobs.
The Results
Lancaster & Morecambe College
The site was launched in December 2019, revealing a faster, sleeker and more user-friendly website for staff, students and prospective students. The responsive and intuitive design is more navigable, both on desktop and on mobile, and has become a central hub for the college's community.
Since the site was unveiled, the page load speed has increased - year-on-year - across the site by 45.24%. Assisted by these faster speeds, we also improved the bounce rate by 11.91%. This demonstrates that increasing numbers of users are engaging successfully with the site - finding what they want, and where they want it, quicker and more easily than ever before.
We also increased traffic to the following pages:
- 33.5% increase to Courses
- 23% increase to Home
- 23.3% increase to Students
- 85% increase to Staff
- 45.2%
- Increase to Page Load Speed
- 11.9%
- Improvement in Bounce Rate
- 34%
- Increase to Courses page
During the pitch process, what stood out for us was how well I-COM listened to us and to the initial brief that we gave them, which translated into an outstanding level of detail in their pitch. Coupled with their specialist knowledge and client portfolio, awarding I-COM the tender was an incredibly easy decision for us to make - they knocked the other digital marketing agencies we reviewed out of the water.
Valerie Osborne, Marketing and Student Services Manager at Lancaster & Morecambe College
Digital Marketing Specialists
We are I-COM
Formed in 2004, we have grown to be one of Manchester's largest independent digital marketing agencies.
With a large in-house team of specialists we provide a range of digital services including web design, web development, digital marketing, SEO, branding, content marketing, PR and outreach, social media marketing and paid search marketing, we cover every digital marketing need you may have. Call on 0161 402 3170 or use the contact form to get in touch.
