Show Me How To... Showcase Our New Hospital Online
The Children's Hospital uses the Web to show off its new hospital
In their words...
"Our experience working with Geonetric on this project was great. They implemented our ideas and brought a number of great ideas to the table. Geonetric helped us ensure our virtual tour told our story in a way that allows families to quickly and easily understand what makes this hospital so special."
Jennifer Van Pelt
Web Marketing Manager
The Children's Hospital
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The challenge
The Children's Hospital (TCH) recently unveiled a new 1.4 million-square-foot hospital in Aurora, Colo. From the 6.6-acre park to the four-story Boettcher Atrium, every aspect of the facility incorporates the way art, light, color, scale, touch, sound and spirit can enhance patient care and create the most healing environment possible.
To help generate interest in the facility, TCH wanted to add value to a 250-page microsite with virtual floor plans provided by the architects. They turned to Geonetric to enhance the overall user experience and integrate the tour into their primary Web site.
The solution
Geonetric began by conducting extensive usability and content reviews to identify which aspects of the tour worked and which aspects presented opportunities to highlight the facility.
Starting with the existing tour, Geonetric and TCH collaborated to restructure the site navigation. Geonetric created a new and improved design that included:
- A more usable layout;
- Cleaner navigation;
- Clearer iconography;
- Interactive photo sliders;
- Flash-based interactive floor maps; and
- Printer-friendly takeaways.
The tour was seamlessly integrated into the main Web site's internal search, as well as into the administrative functions so changes to the tour could be easily made.
Geonetric also helped TCH develop an improved content strategy, which unified tone across the site, helped optimize the tour for search engines, and included messages for a welcome page to help guide visitors through the tour.
The results
Since its launch in January 2009, the new tour has generated:
- A 132 percent increase in visits from the previous quarter;
- A 55 percent increase in page views; and
- An 18 percent decline in bounce rates.
Searches for "Children's hospital virtual tour" brought the site up to #4 in Google (and climbing), above numerous children's hospital tours that had been higher just a few months prior. In addition, online usability studies identified that site visitors were utilizing the suggestions on the tour's welcome page.
The new hospital is just one of many reasons why TCH is consistently ranked one of the Top 10 Children's Hospitals in the county by U.S. News and World Report. The online tour showcases the design and aesthetics of the world-class pediatric facility, and shares the story of a hospital designed to be a very special place to help kids get better, faster.
Better safe than sorry...
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