The UK’s leading independent funeral plan provider has seen a huge increase in website revenue since its redesign by digital agency Spider Online Ltd.

Following a competitive tender, Spider Online was commissioned by Golden Charter Funeral Plans to redevelop their website and since re-launching online 3 months ago, the company has recorded a 600% increase in online purchases. The brief was to create a unique, accessible, technically succinct website that captured the over 50’s looking for peace of mind.

John Campbell, MD Spider Online said; The Golden Charter project was particularly challenging. The two major players who dominate the market spend large budgets online and this made our job harder, but all the more rewarding. It just goes to show that if you research your target audience, work closely with an informed client and create a user centric design, then you can have fantastic results."

The success of the redesign relied on overcoming two key challenges - how to position Golden Charter alongside two very well established national competitors (Dignity and Co-operative FuneralCare) and, due to the size of the online transaction value, convince the target audience to purchase the Funeral Plan online.

Spider Online researched what people typed into a search engine to find funeral products and then implemented the findings through extensive SEO. As a result, Golden Charter were placed far higher in the Google search list against their main competitors who spend £millions on online campaigns.

The buying process is the biggest frustration for any online consumer, with more than *80% admitting they would be dissuaded from buying online if the website performed badly. With a purchase price 30 times the **UK average online transaction value, Spider Online transformed the previous static “brochureware site” into an integrated, streamlined gateway for the client’s products and services.

User testing was crucial to the design process and subsequent performance of the new website and by working closely with specialists Bunnyfoot on the redesign, several key insights from the testing were found. Imagery, layout and design all had had a massive impact on purchase behaviour and persuasion toward the brand. Consumers needed to have all the detail of each package, product tailoring was essential for people to be able to pick the type of plan they wanted, which was something the business hadn’t previously managed effectively, with unclear language having a detrimental impact.

Gordon Swan, of Golden Charter said; “We are delighted by the results from this project, testing is an essential part of any web development project and the only way to ensure a high quality web site.  Spider Online have created a persuasive, engaging site which is delivering excellent business results for Golden Charter.”

In a competitive marketplace that still relies heavily on traditional methods to service the needs of its customers, Spider Online has created a flexible digital channel that is generating impressive return for Golden Charter and offers a comprehensive portal to advice, products and services in a sensitive, engaging and trusted manner.

*Consumer survey conducted by Hostway and Zeus Technology on www.internetretailing.net.

**The average value of online debit card and credit or charge card transactions were £72 and £83 respectively produced by The UK Cards Association.