Outcomes
13% increase in user visits to the site
25% increase in the time spent on the site by visitors
Harper Stone were engaged by Tocal College and the Department of Primary Industries in December 2018, to revitalise the website, promoting Tocal College as a national leader in education and training in agriculture, land management and agribusiness, to meet the changing needs of industry and the community.
Tocal College as part of the Department of Primary Industries Centre of Agricultural Excellence, offers part-time and full-time agricultural courses, short courses, distance and flexible learning for Year 10, 11 or 12 school leavers and adults interested in careers in agriculture or in gaining credit towards a university degree. Tocal’s campus includes a number of commercial farms, with the agricultural activities on these farms forming a key part of the skills development for students.
Tocal’s website was developed in 1998 and had evolved organically since that time. While the education and experiences offered at Tocal are market leading the digital experience offered to prospective and current students was not reflecting a similar level.
The project commenced on the 6 December with a full-day session facilitated by James working closely with Ruth Luckner, Project Officer and Michelle Smith, Team Leader Digital Delivery & Resources from Tocal College, Hannah Short from the Department of Primary Industries and Warren Andrews from the Department of Industry. During the session we were able to cover the core website objectives, to identify the key primary and secondary users of the website, define the measurable markers of success, document key journeys for the primary audience and also the first pass at the top level menu items.
The project had an aggressive timeline working towards a mid-year launch with a large number of design templates and content to be designed, developed and created.
“My sincere thanks for the work you have done for us on the Tocal website, we are all absolutely thrilled with the new site. As you know there are many stages where a project like this could have gone astray, but thanks to your willingness to work with us and commitment to meeting all of the milestones we have achieved everything on time and budget.”
Michelle Smith
Leader, Digital Delivery & Resources
Tocal College, Department of Primary Industries
With the key information defined the next stage was the development of the designs for the new site. A steering group of Tocal stakeholders was formed to ensure that the wide range of elements that comprise Tocal were well represented and part of the decision making process. A weekly meeting was used to ensure the pace of the project was maintained, in order to hit the project deadline.
The final design delivered has showcased the range of items that makes Tocal unique, with embedded video and dramatic imagery capturing the interest of the young target audience. The home page, while delivering a large amount of information, maintains a visually impressive experience for the site visitor.
The new site contained a large amount of content which would be a challenge for the content editors. Working closely with the Tocal team we were able to auto-migrate the entire catalogue of existing publications. We also assisted the internal Tocal team, to manually create a number of the pages within the site.
The website was launched on the 29 July after a great team effort from the team at Tocal College, DPI and Harper Stone. Since the website launch there has been a 13% increase in user visits to the site and a 25% increase in the time spent on the site by visitors.
It’s been a great project and one we are very proud of. The website is a huge step forward for the college, and now reflects Tocal as a national leader in education and training in agriculture, land management and agribusiness.
Technologies
Squiz Matrix CMS
Funnelback Search
Services
Business Analysis
Design
Matrix Implementation
Funnelback Implementation
IA Mapping
Content Automated Migration
Content Writing and Migration
Timeline
Website Design and Development - 6 December - 3 June
Content Migration and Testing - 3 June - 26 July
Site Launch - 29 July
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