Dance Studio Website Redesign for Elite Ballroom Dance Studio

Case Study

Elite Ballroom is a family-owned ballroom dance studio located in Morrisville, NC. They offer a variety of dance programs including wedding dance, competition dance, social dance, and kids’ programs.

When we took on their redesign, the studio was nearing its 10th anniversary. They had recently expanded, hiring two new instructors and adding more kids’ programs. They needed to make some basic updates to their website content to highlight the changes, but were running into challenges.

The Problem

Elite Ballroom’s website had been developed by a small web design agency almost 10 years ago. The agency wasn’t on retainer - contacting them for a minor project would have led to a massive bill. Like many studios, they operate with a small staff. They knew enough to update their calendar and blog, but weren’t comfortable with ongoing updates and security.
The lack of ongoing security eventually led to their site getting hacked. While their site was holding in the Google search rankings, clicking on a sitelink under their main link would lead to a spam website completely unaliated with the studio.
Through no fault of their own, the studio’s reputation was at risk. We knew we had to deal with the hacking as soon as possible.
In addition, the site’s outdated backend was painfully slow to use. It took the owners hours each month to update the online calendar – each class had to be added in manually every week!

The Process

Consultation

Elite Ballroom was referred to us by a past client, so when they noticed their website had been hacked they called us to see what could be done to fix it. We typically don’t offer services like this outside of a {web Lakeland} plan, but we wanted to see if we could help them out as a favor to our past client.

Web troubleshooting

Unfortunately, we soon realized the issue was the calendar plugin the owners were using to display weekly classes. As the studio grew, the calendar plugin became more and more outdated, unsafe, and unstable.

After realizing multiple plugins on the site could be compromised and needed to be removed, the owners decided it was time for a major upgrade. They asked if we could redesign their site from scratch instead.

Design

Next, we got on a 30 min call with the dance studio employee who handles day to day marketing. Then we got to work on the mockups.

When we say changes to the mockups are unlimited, we really mean it. And Elite Ballroom certainly took us up on the offer! After deciding our first set of designs was too modern for the studio’s brand, we created an entirely new mockup that suited them perfectly.

New website goes LIVE

With the owners’ seal of approval, we designed a fast, mobile-responsive, SEO-friendly website in just two weeks. Thanks to our comprehensive security features, we were able to remove all ill-effects of the hack.

The entire process was hands-off and stress-free for the studio owners, who were thrilled they could solve so many of their website challenges at such an affordable price point.

Elite Ballroom Reviews Web Lakeland

Robertas Maleckis

Owner
Elite Ballroom Studio

 5/5

“Web Lakeland redesigned our dance studio website after we were hacked due to an unsafe calendar plugin. Our new website is amazing and a big hit with our students. It used to take me over 2 hours a week to individually enter each class into our calendar plugin, but now with the new website calendar I can add everything into Google calendar from my phone and it instantly comes online. I can also add blog posts and new pages to our website easily if I need, although knowing I can call someone to help is a big reassurance. Web Lakeland is also extremely responsive and helped us adjust our site as soon as we made the decision to temporarily close due to COVID-19.”

The Results

A Secure Class Calendar
Plugin for Dance Studios

We replaced the slow, unsecure calendar plugin with a custom-styled Google calendar integration. Now, the owner can easily add and change classes directly from his phone. Not only does this save him hours every week, it provides a better experience for his website visitors.

Professional Email Account Setup

The dance studio had been operating under multiple Gmail and personal email addresses, which was confusing to clients. We setup a new, professional company email for the dance studio.

Mobile-Friendly Dance
Studio Web Design

On average, 51% of Elite Ballroom’s website traffic comes from a mobile device or tablet. It’s critical that every part of their website look flawless no matter what the device.

Our technology automatically adapts your web content to the size of any device. Because this mobile responsiveness is included in all {web Lakeland} plans, Elite Ballroom as a beautiful website on any platform (without paying extra fees).

Dance Studio SEO for Better Google Rankings

As part of the project, Elite Ballroom worked with our writer to refresh their content and improve SEO.

The redesign dramatically increased the number of keywords the site ranked for in just one month. The studio owners have reported noticeably more leads and first lesson sign ups within the first month. Within two months, they had started showing up in local search results for cities adjacent to their own, giving them a major advantage over their competitors.

Quickly Adapting to the
COVID-19 Pandemic

Less than 6 months after we completed the Elite Ballroom redesign, the studio was forced to pivot suddenly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To better support our clients during this time, we installed free alert banners at the top of sites to notify visitors of important changes. We implemented this free service for Elite, adding the banner within hours of them deciding to halt in-person studio classes.

Because the backend of Web Lakeland sites is simple to use, their employee was able to swap out the previous calendar for an embedded online registration system in minutes.

The support of our team and the ease of use of their website helped Elite Ballroom successfully pivot to online classes.

The Science

A Navigation Bar that Drives Conversions

Elite Ballroom’s main strategy for converting visitors into new students is to have them sign up for a free orientation lesson. During the free lesson, instructors explain the different levels and classes available, referring new students to the best classes for their needs.

Students can sign up for a free intro lesson in two ways: an online form or a phone call.

Custom Website Photo
Gallery for a Dance Studio

Dance is very visual, and Elite Ballroom attracts new clients through the glamor and fun associated with partner dancing. To emphasize this (and drive new student sign ups), we developed a custom photo gallery.

Photos can be sorted by the different studio programs (competition, kids’, showcase, social dance, and wedding). This allows potential clients to see exactly what they’re about to learn. It’s a huge recruitment tool, and thanks to our lightning-fast hosting and content delivery network, it doesn’t slow their site down at all.

Local SEO for Dance Studios

The entire Elite Ballroom website is built with local SEO in mind. Location keywords are included in content headings, boosting Google rankings without coming across as spammy or poorly written.

We were also sure to include the studio’s address in the footer of the site. You wouldn’t believe how many businesses forget to do this crucial step!

This significantly improves your local SEO, as it signals to Google exactly where your business is. This address should match up with the one in your Google My Business and social media profiles.