South London Gallery
21/Jun/2010
South London Gallery is nationally and internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in the provision of contemporary visual art exhibitions and live art events, with integrated education and outreach programmes. It is distinguished by its beautifully proportioned, high-ceilinged exhibition space, its location in the heart of a residential area with a culturally diverse population and relatively high levels of social and economic exclusion, and its proximity to two of London’s key art schools.
The website redesign was timed to coincide with a major expansion of the physical gallery site. We were asked to create a new website which presented a distinct identity for the gallery and provide a clear overview of their exhibition and events programme, including a searchable archive.
Objectives
We were asked to create a distinct and articulate website that would extend South London Gallery's reach to a broader audience and engage people who showed even a passing interest with the gallery.
We had to capture fleeting website visitors with a professional, warm and inviting online space and keep them on the site for long enough for that web visit to convert into a visitor to the gallery, a subscriber or a fan.
Our Solution
Our solution was to create minimal yet strong aesthetic which would give the visitor a sense of the feel and attitude of the space as contemporary, professional and inviting. The content was reworked to facilitate an easier read yet enabling users to ask for more information when they wanted it. This would nurture interest and promote a long visit to the site, and a deeper relationship with South London Gallery.
Navigation was rethought to become easy and intuitive, with breadcrumbs strategically placed throughout the site. The website makes recommendations to visitors and advertises different parts of the site, leading visitors through the content like a tour guide. We incorporated twitter and facebook sharing features to build a community of supporters and ambassadors for the gallery. This promotes visits and advertises the gallery's growing online popularity through peer group recommendations.
Results
Within just six weeks of the launch, the South London Gallery were reporting a 79% increase in website visitors as passing visitors were stopping to take an interest in the gallery. The website is now keeping existing visitors, attracting relevant new visitors and capturing passing visitors. There was also a 30% decrease in the website's bounce rate, which shows that not only are South London Gallery getting a steady increase of new visitors, they are also keeping those visitors. The gallery is now also the proud host to over 1,500 facebook fans, which is a 78% rise since our redesign.
(Figures correct as of September 2010)
What we did:
- Design
- Content Management
- Mailing List Manager
- E-marketing
- Social Networking Integration
