When I started working with a regulated education provider last month, they had a classic problem: a website that worked fine as a brochure but was actively sabotaging their sales. The symptoms were familiar - declining conversion rates, customer complaints about navigation, and a purchasing process that required Olympic-level patience.
Sound familiar? The website starts as a simple information hub, then gradually accumulates courses, resources, and functionality until it becomes a digital labyrinth.
Let me walk you through what we discovered, how we approached fixing it, and the frameworks that will help you avoid the same expensive mistakes.
The client's website required users to click through 4-6 pages before they could actually purchase a course. Each click represented a decision point where potential customers could (and did) abandon the process.
We mapped the user journey and found these critical issues:
It's "death by a thousand clicks" - no single problem was catastrophic, but collectively they created enough friction to kill conversions.
The client was using a drag-n-drop site provider, which limited certain customization options but offered stability and ease of management. We faced the classic dilemma: rebuild from scratch or try to optimize the existing setup?
Here's how we approached the decision:
Rebuild Pros:
- Could design the optimal user experience from scratch
- Would eliminate technical debt and workarounds
- Could implement a more sophisticated CRM integration
Rebuild Cons:
- 3-4 month timeline (minimum)
- $30-50K investment
- Risk of new, unforeseen issues
- Training requirements for staff
Retrofit Pros:
- Could implement changes incrementally
- Significantly lower cost ($5-10K)
- Faster time to market (weeks vs. months)
- No retraining required for staff
Retrofit Cons:
- Would still have some UX limitations
- Might need workarounds for certain functionality
- Could be putting "lipstick on a pig"
For this client, we chose the retrofit approach for three reasons:
Instead of a complete overhaul, we implemented these specific changes:
Rather than sending users to separate pages for course information, we created lightbox popups that displayed all relevant details without navigation. This kept users in the purchase flow and reduced abandonment.
Before: User clicks course → Goes to new page → Reads details → Clicks back → Finds registration button → Goes to registration page
After: User clicks course → Lightbox appears with details + registration button → User registers directly
This single change reduced the click path by 50% and improved mobile conversion by 32%.
The original setup required users to add courses to a cart, then navigate to a separate checkout process. We implemented a simplified cart that appeared as an overlay when courses were added, with a direct path to checkout.
This reduced cart abandonment by 28% in the first month.
For related courses, we created dedicated landing pages that explained the value of taking multiple courses together, with a single "Register for Bundle" button.
This not only improved UX but increased average order value by 22%.
The website improvements were only part of the solution. The client also needed a content strategy that would drive traffic and engagement without requiring massive production resources.
We implemented a multi-channel approach:
The key insight was focusing on content that could be created once but used multiple times across different channels.
If you're facing similar challenges with your website and marketing operations, here are the key takeaways:
The most important lesson? Perfect is the enemy of better. In regulated industries, we often get caught up in trying to build the perfect solution, when incremental improvements would deliver immediate value.
Start with the changes that directly impact conversion, measure relentlessly, and build on your successes. Your website doesn't need to win design awards - it needs to efficiently move users from interest to action while maintaining compliance.
That's a goal worth pursuing, even if you have to take it one click at a time.
Have more questions or need some help getting started? Contact us to start your journey towards a more strategic and aligned marketing approach