PRWD

In this issue

• Jobs at PRWD
• Financial Sector Training
• Retail Sector Training
• All Sectors Usability Training
• Google Analytics Training
• SME Masterclass
• Usability Testing

Developer and Designer Required

We are still currently advertising for the following positions. Take a look to view details and please pass on if you know anyone who might be interested.

• PHP Developer
• User Experience Designer

Financial Sector – Usability and User Experience Training

This intensive course is aimed at financial companies and banking institutions who are looking to identify opportunties where they can improve the conversion rates of their websites. This can include account application processes, credit card application processes, loans, mortgages and savings accounts.

View full details of the training course and how to book

Retail Sector – Usability and E-commerce Best Practice Training

Usability for e-commerce sites is one of the largest contributors to customer conversion and retention rates. Can you afford not to be following best practice?

The course objective is to expose and explain a wide range of vital best practice techniques taken from SME and blue chip retailers which you can implement into your organizations’ own e-commerce platform in order to drive improvements of conversion rates.

Focusing on 3 key stages of the buying journey, Product Page, Shopping Basket and the Checkout Process, this training course will provide you with a wealth of knowledge and industry-leading insights that can be utilised to make iterative usability improvements to your e-commerce platform.

View full details of the training course and how to book

All Sectors – Usability and User Experience Training

Many website owners are identifying usability as a primary way for them to improve online revenue. In particular businesses are looking at ways to improve the ROI they get from their acquisition spend.

This training course aims to give a solid foundation to this wide-ranging subject through case studies taken from ecommerce and non-commercial websites as well as hands-on experience through workshops on the key principles of usability and user experience. This full day in-house training course is also delivered for Econsultancy.

View full details of the training course and how to book

All Sectors – Advanced Google Analytics Training

This training provides you and your team with the knowledge of how best to use Google Analytics on an on-going basis to gain the most valuable visitor insights and commercial value

View full details of the training course and how to book

SME Masterclass – Generating More Leads and More Sales from your Website

Paul delivers this masterclass aimed at SME’s looking at ways in which they can improve the performance of their websites and online marketing activities.

We have a Masterclass page onto our website which:

• Explains what the masterclass is about
• Provides a range of testimonials from people that have attended so far
• Provides some sample slides
• Provides details of what you will learn
• Provides examples of who should attend

View full details of the masterclass and how to book

E-commerce Usability Testing Case Study

We have recently published the case study of the usability testing project we carried out for online fashion retailer Isabella Oliver.

View full details of the usability testing case study.

In this issue

• Recruiting
• E-commerce Usability Training
• Paul Rouke’s Masterclass
• Benchmarking Application
• Client testimonials
• Apple iPad

We Are Recruiting!

We have just started advertising for 2 new positions. Take a look to view details and please pass on if you know anyone who might be interested.

• User Experience Designer
• PHP Developer

Upcoming E-commerce Training for Econsultancy

Details of Paul’s next training course for Econsultancy are below:

• Course – E-commerce Usability and Best Practice for Online Retailers
• Time – 9.00 – 4.30pm
• When – 29th April 2010
• Where – BSG House in London
• Cost – £545 + vat (cheaper for Econsultancy members)

If you are interested view full details of the training course and how to book online.

Masterclass – Generating More Leads and More Sales from your Website

You may recall that last month we explained about a new masterclass that Paul is delivering, aimed at SME’s looking at ways in which they can improve the performance of their websites and online marketing activities.

We have now added a new Masterclass page onto our website which:

• Explains what the masterclass is about
• Provides a range of testimonials from people that have attended so far
• Provides some sample slides
• Provides details of what you will learn
• Provides examples of who should attend

Take a look at the new masterclass page:

http://www.prwd.co.uk/masterclass

Usability Benchmarking Application

Next month we will be officially launching an alpha version of our usability benchmarking application. To get an idea of what this is all about take a look at a screenshot of the homepage that is currently in the works:

Screenshot of our Benchmarking Application homepage

Client Testimonials

Over the past few years we have made a big effort to ask our clients for testimonials. We usually use the excellent Google Docs forms facility to create online feedback and testimonial forms, and this has ensured we have captured a range of really valuable feedback on the work we have done.

This is all well and good, but apart from featuring different testimonials on our case studies, we didn’t (up until a few weeks ago) have a central location where you can view all our client testimonials.

This has now been tackled with another new page on our website featuring a wide range of our client testimonials.

Take a look at the new testimonials page:

http://www.prwd.co.uk/clients/testimonials

Apple iPad

And finally, in case you have so far missed seeing the fanfare of Apple’s new product iPad, take a look at the iPad guided tours (note you need Quicktime to view the videos)…

As with the iPhone Apple is once again delivering one of the most intuitive user experiences available, and my word its here to stay…

Enjoy the rest of your week!

PRWD

A very valuable morning’s work. A good balance of information that catered well for a mixed ability group. Money well spent!

Becky Jasper, Marketing Director

Company Background

Isabella Oliver was launched in 2003, and has since become home to two essential women’s wear collections; Isabella Oliver Maternity and Isabella Oliver 365.

The brand was founded by Baukjen de Swaan Arons, Vanessa Knox-Brien and Geoff van Sonsbeeck; three passionate individuals whom aspired to create a clothing brand that women would love to wear.

Isabella Oliver use Google Analytics to track visitor behaviour and overall website performance on their e-commerce website, but they were looking for ways in which they can improve how they use the system.

Objectives

Below are some of the primary objectives the Isabella Oliver team had before the training:

• “I’m looking to learn new techniques and improving on what I do now”
• “I’m looking for better ways of working, finding out more about Google Analytics, reducing time spent on reporting”
• “I’m looking how to utilise Google Analytics to make my reporting less time consuming and how to set up our goals correctly”

What We Did

PRWD delivered their 3 hour in-house Google Analytics training session for Isabella Oliver focussing on the most important areas of Google Analytics for retailers looking to get the most value from this powerful analytics system.

Training, expertise and recommendations were provided in the following areas:

• Personalisation
• Annotations
• Goals and Funnels
• Advanced Visitor Segmentation
• Event Tracking
• Custom Reporting
• Analytics Intelligence
• Marketing Activity Accountability
• Google Website Optimiser

Results and Next Steps

Following the training, all attendees from Isabella Oliver now have a much better understanding of how they can personalise Google Analytics to their own specific requirements and areas of responsibilities. Even more importantly, they have learnt a wide variety of advanced techniques which will save them time and effort on a regular basis, as well as using Google Analytics to obtain more valuable customer insights.

Based on the training course feedback, attendees are now using their new knowledge and understanding on a daily basis, which in turn is ensuring they can save valuable time and effort in understanding how visitors are using their website and where opportunities to improve the site exist.

Comments From Attendees

A very valuable morning’s work. A good balance of information that catered well for a mixed ability group. Money well spent!

Becky Jasper, Marketing Director

I found the training provided by PRWD very useful and extremely insightful. Learning how to set up customer reports and automating my reports will save me time and effort in the future.

It was really great to hear about the new features that have recently been released and to see how powerful a tool Google Analytics can be. The Goals and Funnels section really helped me to understand where we were going wrong in terms of tracking our conversions.

The further reading and extra resources at the end will really help me gain even more knowledge about Google Analytics as well.

Amy Jackson, Web Manager

The PRWD training course was well structured, easy to understand and worked for both google analytics beginners and more advanced colleagues within the group.

Claire McNulty, Senior Marketing Manager

The training course provided a fresh burst of excitment to Google Analytics that has helped to be able to go on and measure relavent information that will help to improve the company.

Hannah Barker, Online Marketing Executive

View More Information on our Google Analytics Training

Case Studies on our Google Analytics Training

I found the training both practical and useful in terms of expanding my understanding of Google Analytics, which will help me make solid recommendations to my clints for ways that they can improve their websites and marketing activity.

Angela Cromack, Account Manager

Training Background

Red C are an award winning agency based in Manchester, with clients including Bupa, JD Williams, Freemans Grattan Holdings, Swinton Insurance and Holiday Cotttages Group. With a series of recent client wins including ten of the AGA Rangemaster brands, Red C were looking for a training course which would equip their wider account handling teams with a much greater understanding of Google Analytics.

Prior to the training course some of the course attendees hadn’t previously used Google Analytics, whereas others had used the system but without fully understanding which areas can be of most benefit to them and their clients, in particular some of the more advanced areas of the system.

Objectives

PRWD were asked to deliver their in-house training session on Advanced Google Analytics. The training was to nine key team members, including account directors, account managers, client services director and managing director Adrian Rowe. The training was to be personalised to the individual needs of the Red C team and some of the key client accounts.

What We Did

PRWD delivered an intensive in-house training session for Red C focussing on the most important areas of Google Analytics for businesses looking to get the most value from the analytics system.

As with all Google Analytics training sessions, live demonstrations where provided throughout the course, and this included looking at specific use cases for Red C client accounts. This ensured that the course provided personalised advice and recommendations throughout which Red C could begin using immediately after the course.

During the training and consultancy session all nine attendees were encouraged to ask questions in order to maximise the amount of learning and insights they gained.

Training, expertise and personalised recommendations were provided in the following areas:

• Personalisation
• Goals and Funnels
• Advanced Visitor Segmentation
• Event Tracking
• Advanced Reporting
• Marketing Activity Accountability
• On-going Tips and Best Practice
• Google Website Optimiser

Results and Next Steps

All course attendees now have a much better understanding of how they can personalise Google Analytics to their own specific requirements and areas of responsibilities. Even more importantly, Red C now have a much greater appreciation of how powerful Google Analytics is and how it can be used much more strategically when planning and delivering site improvements and marketing campaigns for their clients.

Based on the training course feedback, attendees are now using their new knowledge and understanding on a daily basis, and in turn this is helping them to provide an even greater service to their clients.

Comments From Attendees

I found the course to be excellent, and what made it especially valuable was the degree to which it was personalised to our needs.

Adrian Rowe, Managing Director

Paul and Rob provided just the right type of training for Red C. It was interactive, informative and inspired us to use Google Analytics to aid our client’s web strategy.

Rachael Taylor, Business Development Manager

Paul and Rob were friendly and knowledgable. Any questions they couldn’t immediately answer they researched during the breaks and came back to us. The course was interesting and engaging and left me with lots to think about.

Leigh Whitnall, Account Manager

More Information

If so read more about our Advanced Google Analytics Training Course or call us on 0161 918 6729.

More Case Studies on Google Analytics Training

Within 30 minutes of our 3 hours session we were sure it’d paid for itself.

The trainers were very knowledgeable and showed flexibility to our training needs. I’ve no hesitation in recommending them.

Neil Ainsworth, Director

Training Background

VoucherSeeker, one of the UK’s leading voucher codes and offers websites, were intent on improving the effectiveness of both the VoucherSeeker website and other dedicated microsites, whilst gaining a better understanding of how to use Google Analytics to monitor visitor behaviour.

As with many businesses who use Google Analytics, prior to the training course not all the team members had a comprehensive understanding of Google Analytics and some of the more advanced areas of the system, and the Advanced Google Analytics training course was seen as the ideal way in which to begin using the system more regularly and more intelligently to make commercial decisions.

Objectives

PRWD were asked to deliver their in-house training session on Advanced Google Analytics. The training was to six key team members, including a senior affiliate marketing executive and a key account executive. Prior to the training course PRWD were asked to assess the current Google Analytics account for VoucherSeeker and make recommendations for improvements to how this is set-up and configured.

VoucherSeeker also wanted to gain a clear understanding of how they can begin using Google Website Optimiser to improve on-site conversion rates.

What We Did

Following an evaluation of the existing Google Analytics account and how this was set-up and being used, PRWD delivered an intensive in-house training session for VoucherSeeker focussing on the most important areas of Google Analytics for businesses looking to get the most value from the analytics system.

During the training and consultancy session all six attendees, each with varying levels of experience of using Google Analytics, were encouraged to ask questions in order to maximise the amount of learning and insights they gained.

Training, expertise and recommendations were provided in the following areas:

• Personalisation
• Goals and Funnels
• Advanced Visitor Segmentation
• Event Tracking
• Reporting
• Marketing Activity Accountability
• On-going Tips and Best Practice
• Google Website Optimiser

Results and Next Steps

All course attendees now have a much better understanding of how they can personalise Google Analytics to their own specific requirements and areas of responsibilities. Even more importantly, VoucherSeeker now have a much greater appreciation of how powerful Google Analytics is and how it can be used much more strategically when planning and delivering site improvements and marketing campaigns.

Carrying out continual testing to improve conversion rates using Google Website Optimiser is now firmly apart of the teams plans, and with improvements now being made to better monitor visitor behavior, VoucherSeeker are now beginning to improve their online performance.

Comments From Attendees

Provided us with very good summary of Google Analytics and how we could apply it as a business. Professional and practical approach.

Ariston Sutherland, Director

The training course on analytics provided by PRWD was excellent. It gave our team a good insight of analytics and the useful tools available. We’re more equipped with tools to analyse visitor behaviour than we were before

Duke Tanson, Director

More Information

If so read more about our Advanced Google Analytics Training Course or call us on 0161 918 6729.

I have been consistently impressed with Paul’s very practical approach to helping us improve our online offering. In the Google Analytics training session, Paul kept the training to the key areas which he felt we should focus on initially, according to our level of understanding and having taken the time to understand the needs of our business.

Shelley Kemp, Head of Marketing, Speedy Hire

Training Background

In April 2009 senior members of the Speedy marketing team attended a conference in Liverpool aimed at helping business owners identify opportunities where they can improve the profitability of their businesses. It was at this event that Paul Rouke, User Experience Director of PRWD, delivered a presentation entitled ‘Three Steps To Improving Online Performance’ and it was through this event that the objective of improving the online marketing strategy for Speedy was first discussed.
With a six figure sum of unique visitors arriving on the Speedy website each year, but with only a basic set-up up of Google Analytics configured for the website, it became clear that a priority for the business was to gain a much better understanding of how Google Analytics can be be personalised to gain much greater insights for the business.

Objectives

PRWD were asked to deliver their in-house training session on Using Google Analytics Effectively, to five key members of the Speedy marketing and IT teams, including the marketing director. Prior to the training course PRWD were asked to assess the current Google Analytics account for Speedy and make improvements to how this is set-up.

What We Did

Following an evaluation of the existing Google Analytics account and how this was set-up and being used, Paul Rouke delivered an intensive in-house training session for Speedy Hire focussing on the most important areas of Google Analytics for businesses looking to get the most value from the analytics system.

During the training and consultancy session all five attendees from both the marketing and IT divisions where encouraged to ask questions in order to maximise the amount of learning and insights they gained.
Training, expertise and recommendations were provided in the following areas:

• Personalisation
• Goals and Funnels
• Segmentation
• Reporting
• Marketing Activity Accountability
• On-going Tips and Best Practice

Results and Next Steps

All course attendees now have a much better understanding of how they can personalise Google Analytics to their own specific requirements and areas of responsibilities. Even more importantly, Speedy Hire now have a much greater appreciation of how powerful Google Analytics is and how it can be used much more strategically when planning and delivering site improvements and marketing campaigns.

During the training course Speedy Hire also had an introduction to how split testing can be used on their website in order to help improve the current conversion rate. This is now an area of focus for both PRWD and Speedy Hire.

Comments From Attendees

Well delivered, thought provoking, providing us with useful tools.

As we develop our campaigns, web content, digital marketing programmes etc it will be good to use what has
been learnt to ensure we are going out at the right times, to the right people, using the correct words and then being able to report back to the business.

Leanne Ferry, Marketing Communications Manager, Speedy Hire

Mandatory for anyone interested in or working with commercial websites.

Sue Raby, IT Project Manager, Speedy Hire

More Information

If so read more about our Advanced Google Analytics Training Course or call us on 0161 918 6729.

We’ve just sent out our September newsletter which focuses on conversion optimsation and improvement, our primary proposition.

The conversion optimisation newsletter features information and links on:

• PRWD training
• PRWD case studies
• PRWD presentations
• PRWD articles
• PRWD clients

If you aren’t on our subscriber list view the online version of our newsletter, and even better, sign-up to receive future editions of our monthly newsletter.

Alongside our other usability training courses, we provide training on Google Analytics. Full details and how to book are below. Alternatively there is a one page pdf that you can print out.

Objective

Provide you with the knowledge of how best to use Google Analytics on an on-going basis to gain the most valuable visitor insights and commercial value

What you will learn

• Personalisation – how to personalise your experience to enable you to access the most important areas for you in your specific role
• Goals and Funnels – how you should use these essential features to enable you to to track vital visitor behaviour and potential site issues
• Segmentation – how you can use segmentation to monitor specific visitor behaviour from highly targeted segments of your visitors
• Reporting – how you can create and manage reports most relevant to you and your business to help make genuine commercial decisions
• Marketing Activity Accountability – how you can best use Google Analytics to track all your marketing campaigns for full accountability
• Tips and Best Practice – essential tips and best practice on how to use your new found knowledge and expertise on an on-going basis

PLUS – Google Website Optimiser

An introduction to this essential tool and how you can use it to make continual improvements to your on-site conversion rates

Who is the training suitable for

• Offline Marketing Managers
• Online Marketing Managers
• Marketing Directors
• E-commerce Managers
• IT Managers
• Project Managers
• Marketing Assistants
• Business Analysts

Duration, delivery, location and cost

• Duration: 3 hours
• Delivery: training provided in-house for 1-10 employees
• Location: UK wide, and in particular Manchester and London
• Cost: £400 + vat (excludes reasonable expenses)

How to book

Easy, simply call us on 0161 918 6729

PRWD training clients

We have been privileged to train people working at the likes of Speedy Hire, The Scout Association, Mencap, Abbey, Yell and Pod1.

Further reading

• Case Study: In-house training for The Scout Association
• Econsultancy training course by Paul Rouke: E-commerce Usability and Best Practice

The Scout Association Choose PRWD For In-house E-commerce Usability Training

In order to deliver the system within budget, my objective was to build “usability” into the design of the new web stores, using industry best practices, rather than have to rework at a later stage as a result of usability testing.

Mark Selwyn, E-commerce and ERP Project Manager

The Scout Association E-commerce & Project Background

Scout Shops Limited (SSL) is the trading subsidiary of The Scout Association (TSA). Scouting’s aim is to give it’s 500,000 Members a taste of everyday adventure. To support this aim Scouting supplies a wide range of outdoor activity products to both retail and wholesale customers via online and telesales/mail-order channels.

www.scoutshops.com is the leading website for Scouting merchandise in the UK, and www.outdoors.co.uk is a more recent venture, targeting the outdoor activity and camping markets.

Both sites, although functional, have been limited by the underlying technology upon which the websites have been developed, and this has constrained the business in a number of areas. Additionally, a significant amount of effort is involved on an ongoing basis in keeping both the content and the data current and correct.

Having made a decision to replace a ten year old retail ERP system, it made sense for Scout Shops to also seek a replacement for their websites, and incorporate the currently unfulfilled and planned functional requirements into the new systems.

After looking at a number of potential suppliers, Scout Shops chose a Multi Channel Retail solution from Omnica, comprising a web store integrated with a back end ERP based on Microsoft Dynamics AX. These new systems are planned to go live towards the end of 2009.

The Scout Association Objectives for the Training

Having a strong in-house design capability, along with a relatively new corporate branding for The Scout Association, the decision was taken to bring the design of the new web stores in house, and a small cross-functional group was formed to own the design.

E-commerce and ERP Project Manager, Mark Selwyn, recognised that this group had a variety of skills, ranging from retail to marketing to design, but that each person had differing levels of knowledge of best practice in E-commerce and web store design, and he asked Paul Rouke at PRWD to deliver a tailored version of his “E-commerce Best Practice” training onsite. In order to deliver the system within budget, Mark’s objective was to build “usability” into the design of the new web stores, using industry best practices, rather than have to rework at a later stage as a result of usability testing.

Having set some challenging deadlines, and having to work around staff holidays, there were a limited number of dates that the training could take place on. Despite busy schedules, the whole group committed to the training date as an essential part of the development process.

Using some recommendations from his network, Mark contacted a few suppliers of similar training courses and consultancy, but PRWD were the only consultancy able to deliver the training course on Mark’s timescales. Paul’s ability to tailor the course to meet the specific requirements of TSA re-inforced the decision to go with PRWD.

What did PRWD and Paul Rouke do

Paul developed a bespoke 1 day training course and training manual to fit with The Scout Associations objectives for the training.
Usability and best practice recommendations where provided in the following areas:

• Homepage
• Search
• Navigation
• Category page
• Product page
• Persuasion architecture
• Cross-selling and up-selling
• Shopping basket
• Checkout process
• Web forms

Paul provided a full day of in-house training and consultancy, where all 7 attendees where encouraged to ask questions throughout the day in order to maximise the amount of learning and insights they gained.

At the end of the training day each attendee took with them the comprehensive 100 page training manual for on-going reference and support.

Benefits and Impact for The Scout Association

The effectiveness of the session can be judged so far by the limited number of changes being suggested to the designs being produced, and the speed that any proposed changes are being resolved – both the designer and the team refer back to Paul Rouke’s “Best Practice” training manual and a consensus is quickly reached.

The primary benefit of the course is that it has created a “level playing field” across departments in terms of E-commerce design. Requirements are now based on “best practice” rather than “gut feel” or “I know what works best”. The interesting discussions now revolve around where we recognise what the “best practice” is, but some compromise is needed, for example for reasons of technology or cost.

Testimonials from The Scout Association

The course content was excellent, and the delivery showed that he “knew his stuff”, and I would have no hesitation in using Paul again in the future.

Mark Selwyn, E-commerce and ERP Project Manager

What aspects of the course did you find most beneficial and why?

Clear examples of good and bad approaches. Made impact of decisions very apparent.

Scott Phillips, Head of IT

Re-enforcement of opinions previously held in respect of product and customer focus. Pointers as to best practice and pitfalls to avoid.

David Markwell, Managing Director

Best and worst practice print outs. Thought this was great having them at hand to point out the best/worst practices. Thought it was neatly structured and was good for all levels of knowledge.

I thought the course was very good, and I thought it was presented excellently as I think Paul had quite a tough audience.

Richard Chambers, Senior Graphic Designer

Training Course Feedback

Overall quality of the training

Quality of the course material

Trainers knowledge of the subject

Effectiveness and practicality of the course

Company Contact

The Scout Association
Mark Selwyn – E-commerce and ERP Project Manager
020 8433 7240