Golf – For some it’s the greatest of sports; relaxing and social yet technical and competitive. For others the most frustrating game there is, you can hit a beautiful drive on the 1st Tee and follow up with a slice into the course lake, ending the first hole wishing you had gone shopping with the wife/girlfriend instead.
For the majority of us a round of Golf combines both aspects and it was the same for The Golf College and their approach to the website.
Project Goal
Modernise site, increase Google ranking & increase student sign-ups.
Deliverables – New cutting edge website, bespoke SMS system, monthly SEO
The website is their primary source of advertising, yet the TLC shown to their pristine greens wasn’t reflected in their website, they had outgrown the design and the CMS wasn’t intuitive.
What they needed was modernising, and fast.
Social networking is vital for The Golf College as they enrol students from all over the UK and Ireland; Italy is also becoming one of their key student feeders and being able to reach all of their target markets was the goal we were set. We set up Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo accounts and trained The Golf College staff how to use the different systems in conjunction with their new CMS. We also introduced a Twitter feed of Denis Pugh onto their Homepage slider so there is a continuous connection between their world class coach and the college on their homepage that is updated in realtime.
Google Ranking – Search Engine Optimisation was an unknown quantity to the college having gone the route of Google AdWords. There is nothing wrong with this route and we did help streamline the approach, but our speciality and passion is Organic Rankings. We started them on our smallest package to show results and build trust. Before we started they were on the 4th page for their key term “Golf College” now they are number 1 in Google in 6 weeks, needless to say we are moving on to their next term.
Student Sign-up, this was the hardest part to quantify. We came to a decision that a modern design, easily visible key contact details and a cleaner navigation combined with the factors above would increase incoming communication and conversion rates. Initial impressions from the SEO alone suggest the increasing trend has started but this coming season will be the defining result…. Stay tuned for updates …
Backend – Bespoke SMS system
They needed the ability to send out multiple messages to students participating in their various tournaments. The information they needed to be entered was:
- Number of students participating
- First Tee off time
- Students per Tee time
- Minutes between Tee times
- Student Name
This information was inputted on one simple form that created the schedule for the competition. The student name was then linked to their corresponding mobile number automatically and a text message sent out with their relevant details, informing them of their Tee time for the tournament.