Built in 2014 on a highly restrictive custom CMS, the website was out of date in terms of technical SEO and accessibility standards, and had become bulky and difficult to maintain. The restraints of the CMS had resulted in a confusing structure, inconsistent design, and a vast quantity of duplicated pages and content.

My first step was to audit the website. I used UX best practices and conversion levers, plus Hotjar screen recordings and heatmaps, to make a list of concerns. Google Analytics had not been properly set up, but the BHS marketing team have impressive tenure and excellent customer service, and so were able to give me great insight on where users were having problems.

I uncovered several main concerns:
- information hierarchy: users were not being directed to important content
- usability and accessibility: poor colour contrast, text over imagery, stacked complex elements were all creating an overwhelming yet unhelpful user experience
- poor site maintenance: the site had sprawled excessively since being built, and had become impossible to maintain. This resulted in many duplicate pages and rabbit holes of information, that quickly went out of date

I completely redesigned the website, rewrote all the copy, restructured the navigation, and oversaw the external dev agency in updating the template to current technical requirements.

Starting with the homepage, I introduced above-the-fold copy and CTAs, grounding users and allowing them to immediately find the most important information.

The homepage design allows multiple, distinct blocks of content to be included in an easy-to-read way.

A revised navigation bar offers quick links to key parent pages and an apply button, along with the full menu burger button.

The project was initially intended as a quick fix - updating the back end to the latest requirements, an improved homepage, and a lightened navigation. However the further we delved into the website, the more issues we uncovered. A previous external agency had used link and keyword stuffing on multiple key pages; copy had been intentionally duplicated in a misguided attempt to improve SEO; key information was missing or buried deep in a complicated page structure.

With the help of the Senior Leadership Team, Admissions Team, and Heads of Department, I completely rewrote and restructured the website. All link and keyword stuffing was removed, all content updated. The page structure was simplified and a spreadsheet created that detailed where and when information would need to be updated (such as term dates, open event dates, staff members).

The changes to the website have resulted in an increased intake for the 23/24 academic year, and an increase in applications for the 24/25 academic year.

GA4 has been properly set up to track multiple conversions across the site such as tours booked, applications submitted, and prospectuses downloaded.

In October 2023 compared to October 2024:
- Organic sessions are up 27%
- Engagement is up 33%
- Dwell time is up 10%
- The website now far exceeds standard benchmarks for education metrics.