| Client: |
Funjet Vacations |
| Duration: |
6 months |
| Systems: |
Trisept Solutions search
and booking engines, Collage CMS, Hitbox |
| Team: |
1 project leader, 2 technical
managers, 2 designers, 2 developers, 2 editors |
Background
Funjet Vacations, a leading provider of air and hotel packages,
wanted to update its Funjet.com
web site. Objectives included improving merchandising capability,
improving ease of navigation, increase SEO (search engine optimization)
value, increasing the speed of product searches, and improving
the presentation of search results to provide a better shopping
experience. Greater tracking of user activity and campaign performance
was also requested.
Solution
An analysis of the existing site was conducted to identify usability
issues, merchandising opportunities, SEO failures, and technical
problems. Based on the analysis, a project plan was developed
to fully modernize all top-level pages and introduce a new search
results function.
Top-level pages were redesigned to make the search tool persistent
throughout the site. Index-style navigation was added in the
top-right column to offer greater one-click access to popular
products and to increase SEO value.
The Flash merchandising block was reformatted to decrease its
size while offering greater control. This opened greater space
for new merchandising areas including a scrolling agate list
of offers.
Shopping tools that previously appeared scattered across the
site were redesigned to offer a consistent look and feel, as
well as consistent placement on the various pages, making them
easier to find and use.
The co-op advertising section was improved to provide greater
flexibility and multiple offers.
Special sections presenting Web 2.0 features were introduced
including links to virtual tours and a user-oriented vacation
picture exchange.
Sub-footer navigation to key destinations and products was introduced
to provide more one-click access and additional SEO value.
All content on top-level pages was made editable via the content
management system.
Hitbox
analytics tags were more thoroughly implemented across each
of the new pages to enable a higher level of reporting than
previous incarnations of the site.
The search results page was redesigned to take advantage of
a new engine from Trisept Solutions. New sort features were
introduced, as were an iconic shopping status bar, product
star ratings, added value indicators, and a new side-by-side
display format.
Results
Five top level pages were redesigned and rolled out within
three months. Development and implementation of the new search
results pages was coordinated with the role out of a new shopping
cart which took six months. The new SEO-friendly interface
and ability to edit and upate content via the CMS imporved
the site's search engine ranking almost immedia
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