Website redesign for BC Book Prizes

www.bcbookprizes.ca

Summary

The BC Book Prizes, established in 1985, celebrate the achievements of British Columbia writers and publishers. The seven Prizes, plus The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, are presented annually at the Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala in April.

The BC Book Prizes Society needed a website re-design that would feature the vast extent of archived information on previous years’ prize winners and finalists. In addition, the Society wanted a website that would allow for greater interaction between finalists and BC communities.

Client Quote

Liesl Jauk, Executive Director, BC Book Prizes says:
“You guys absolutely rock! I can’t believe how great our site looks. I keep going back to look at it. Gawd, I love it.”

Challenge

BC Book Prizes’ previous website lacked usability because it was a series of static HTML files with limited navigational aids, which hindered visitors’ ability to find new and archived content.

In addition to needing a robust site with better navigation and search functionality, the Society recognized the need to have a more interactive component to the site. BC Book Prize finalists tour the province meeting with community members and promoting BC writing but the previous website did not offer a way to gather feedback.

Approach

Boxcar Marketing spent time talking with the BC Book Prizes Society about the goals of the site and the operational side of managing the Prizes. Together, we prioritized our goals and determined our internet marketing strategy.

BC Book Prizes wanted to create a site that:

1. Celebrates the achievements of BC writers and publishers.
2. Highlights the great activities and tour destinations of the BC Book Prizes tour.
3. Allows for interaction between finalists on tour and members of the public.
4. Extends the promotional opportunities for BC Book Prize finalists by using social media tools, such as Flickr.com.
5. Reduces website administrative time.

By developing the site using Expression Engine, a great content management system for websites, we were able to design a content architecture that accommodated the vast amount of information on prizes from 1985 forward, as well as decrease the administrative time needed to maintain the website.

We created a blog for the Tour, allowing authors on tour to interact with libraries, schools, media and the general public in advance of their appearances and post-tour. Communities who are not on the tour route can also follow the tour virtually and interact with the finalists.

Because Expression Engine is a content management tool, we were also able to develop an online mechanism for gathering prize submissions (approximately 400 per year) and handling online event registration, all tasks that were previously done by mail and fax.

Design/Development: Custom Website Design, XHTML/CSS Coding, Content Management System.

Our Team: Joslin Green (Design) and Shadow Box Creative (ExpressionEngine Development).

 

Results

Boxcar Marketing improved the site navigation structure to make content easy to find. We used colour to break-up text-heavy content, while maintaining the corporate colours. We also developed back-end workflows to reduce manual work to maintain the site and integrated social media tools such as Flickr and ConstantContact.

The BC Book Prizes website is now a true showcase for BC Book Prizes’ authors and publishers. Information is clearly displayed and visitors to the site get a complete understanding of the extensive work the Society does to celebrate BC writing.

The website launch coincided with the March announcement of the 2008 Prize Finalists and the feedback from the community was incredibly positive:

“The new site looks amazing!”

“Congratulations on the new website. It is superb! While there’s lots of information, this site has ‘fun’ written all over it. Good going.”

“Love the new site design.”

“WOW”

In 1 month since the site launch, the BC Book Prizes’ combined online and event activities generated substantial interest in the site, especially the author On Tour blog.

Visitors to the On Tour blog left 50 comments on 70 articles.

Activity on the BC Book Prizes site is seasonal: interest increases during March and April when the finalists are announced, the author tour starts and the winners are announced.

Web statistics are not available for previous years for comparison, but we can see that traffic increased 450% from January (pre-announcement of finalists) to April (announcement of winners).

BC Book Prizes offered the following numbers:
How big was it? Here are a few quick stats.

• Total number of events: 64 (not including the Soiree and Gala)
• Number of communities visited: 27 in two weeks
• Number of events in schools: 47
• Number of schools that will receive a $500 library of BC Book Prize titles for their library: 24 (thanks to the support of donors)
• Participating finalists: 17
• Combined honoraria and per diems going directly to these artists: $18,040
• Estimated combined number of kms traveled, by air and by land: 8,300 (that’s about the equivalent of driving to Ottawa and back)
• Estimated total combined audience of all 64 events, plus the gala and soiree: 4,350
• Largest non-school audience: 96 at Books and Company in Prince George
• Combined number of books sold at 15 public events: 178 (not including Soiree and Gala)
• Treacherous white-out conditions encountered while traversing the Kootenay Pass: 1
• Magnetic van signs lost or stolen: 5
• Short stories, poems and blog entries inspired by this experience: an ever-growing figure, we’re sure.

Lessons: Creating a site for users with various security access and technical abilities requires creative thinking.

See the BC Book Prizes website.

 

Completed on March 2008
Internet Marketing Strategy | Web Site Design | Publishing & Media