American Council on Exercise (ACE)
With BusinessOnLine, the American Council on Exercise® (ACE®) was able to transform their existing website into a successful sales tool and information resource – serving the unique needs of their various audiences and resulting in a 136% increase in search conversions, a 96% increase in returning customers, and a 21% increase in revenue.
Situation:
The American Council on Exercise® (ACE®) knew their website needed work but, with so many issues and problems, prioritizing the order of these “fixes” was a daunting task. As a non-profit, the challenge was identifying which items could justify the expense by way of increased revenue and continue to produce Return on Investment (ROI) over time.
By partnering with BusinessOnLine, ACE gained the perspective of a well-rounded team of professionals ranging in expertise from website usability and website design and development (user-experience) to organic search engine optimization. These facets of online marketing were blended into a custom web solution for ACE – one that fit the need of the company to justify each dollar spent through increased revenue, AND addressed the needs of their audiences using the site.
Solution:
The revitalization of ACE’s website occurred over several phases. These phases were executed in a strategic manner that took the project team from an assessment of the current needs of the website to a well thought out plan for implementing changes that would eventually lead to a full site redesign.
Phase 1 – Usability and SEO Diagnostic:
Accurately assessing the existing site and SEO Program through a Usability Diagnostic and an SEO Diagnostic enabled BusinessOnLine to pin-point critical errors and areas for optimization. When comparing the ACE site to the minimum standards, best-practices, and learned conventions of website development, BusinessOnLine uncovered 100’s of errors ranging from navigation (IA) and visual clutter through organization of information and the need to highlight compelling content.
Phase 2 – Immediate and Long-Term Roadmaps:
BusinessOnLine worked with ACE to identify their target users – fitness professionals seeking to purchase materials related to fitness training and certification. From there, we built a roadmap of corrections that would immediately impact site performance as well as outline the remaining corrections which would need to be repaired over time.
In an effort to prove results to management and build faith in the project, ACE implemented the immediate roadmap and monitored the results for a period of two months. The adjustment of just a few items significantly impacted the success of the site, specifically conversions, and was the justification ACE needed to launch in to a full site re-design.
Establishing Goals:
Establishing goals and metrics used to determine success of the project was critical. It ensures that while we built a solution with the users in mind, we never lost focus of the ultimate business goals. ACE identified the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Increase Material Sales by 20%
- Increase Average Sale by 10%
- Increase Online Course Registration by 20%
- Increase Online Renewals by 20%
Launch the Full Re-Design:
The new site introduced an intuitive Information Architecture (IA) which addressed two of the main hurdles for site users. The navigational elements were consolidated and organized in a logical manner, and the visual layout was arranged to remove clutter and present a polished and credible representation of ACE. This enabled site users to clearly identify the site and its purpose, as well as find the information they sought.
BusinessOnLine designed and developed functionality to better assist users in finding information and, more importantly, make purchases. This functionality included multi-faceted search, which enabled users to refine their search by various dimensions based on their objectives and needs. Additionally, BusinessOnLine developed and coded templates, which ACE uploaded into their existing content management system and populated with content.
Last, but not least, the new site introduced Search Engine Optimization, better enabling users to find ACE, ACE products, and ACE Certifications while searching the web for related keyword phrases. This focused effort would result in an increase in targeted site visitors, ultimately contributing to an increase in conversions and online revenue.
Results:
Within seven months of launching their new site, ACE experienced significant increases in traffic, conversions, and purchases. The website’s performance was elevated and produced the following results.
Exceeding Established Goals:
- 38% Increase in Material Sales; the goal was 20%.
- 11% Increase in Average Dollar Sale; the goal was 10%.
- 17% Increase in Online Course Registration; the goal was 20%.
- 75% Increase in Online Renewals; the goal was 20%.
Of the 5 marketing goals set by ACE, 4 were met within 7 months of the site re-launch and the last is within striking distance. The overall ROI for ACE’s investment in their new website was 617% over 7 months, 934% over 10 months, and 1003% over 12 months.
Measures of Success:
- 14% Increase in Conversion Rate
- 136% Increase in Search Conversions
- 21% Increase in Revenue
- 19% Increase in Sales volume (in orders)
- 3% Increase in Return Visitors (monthly)
- 96% Increase in Returning Customers
- 11% Reduction in Bounce Rate
About American Council on Exercise
Founded in 1985, ACE is one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world. Currently, they have more than 50,000 certified fitness professionals in 107 countries. ACE publications, study materials and courses have successfully prepared thousands of candidates to become certified including the ACE Personal Trainer, Advanced Health + Fitness Specialist, Group Fitness Instructor and Lifestyle + Weight Management Consultant.
