Team for Website Revamp (Copywriter, Designer, Dev - likely Wordpress)

The Abbey

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About The Abbey

The Abbey is an online yoga membership community and yoga training school who believes that walking in wholeness looks like tending to the whole person – body, mind, heart, and soul. 
As a diverse and inclusive Jesus-centered community we empower people all over the world to connect with the peace and presence of God in and around them. 

The Who

We are eager to find the right fit to implement this project so are open to agencies, individual contractors, etc. 
Please review the below information. Our team has strongly considered Wordpress and AccessAlly as the core to our digital membership platform but are open to considering other options that may better fit the needs of the project.

Project Background

The website is built in Squarespace and uses the Memberspace plugin for the membership portal. As it was built with these tools, there are limitations that impact functionality and user experience.
The homepage is currently written and styled as a long sales page, with content that was workshopped with coaches. It was last updated in January 2020.
After two years of running with this layout and tech, it needs a complete overhaul.

Project Goals

  • Improve member retention by enhancing digital experience
  • Acquire new members through a clear and compelling sales funnel

Project Requirements

(More detail available further in the process)
Homepage
  1. Update hero section of the homepage to better represent diversity of community (this could potentially lead to an expansion of our branding)
  2. Update the layout from a sales page for the members wing – our base level membership – to a landing page for the top of funnel for all programs
  3. Increase conversions: Currently the homepage is not a very strong part of the funnel. It can be confusing to understand the different membership options, how to join, etc.  
  4. Build out funnels and add opt-in CTAs to grow engagement
  • Homepage is technically at the top of the funnel so will need to capture warm leads for Members Wing via an email opt-in, but also allow for flexibility in helping users find their destination if the Members Wing is not the right fit. 
  • Build out funnel for Teacher Training programs 
  • Need to capture warm leads for yoga teacher training programs via an email opt-in, and keep them warm when registration is not yet open. 
  • Currently we run a launch model for our trainings, but want to create a more regular rhythm with trainings so that registration is always open for a future training 
  1. Navigation menu needs to be expanded to better show all products, offerings, etc. Due to a limitation with Squarespace, it is not possible to have multiple main navigation menus on the site. The site’s only expanded navigation menu is within the Member’s Wing. 
Current tech and existing limitations:
  • Squarespace/Memberspace limitation: can’t have multiple menus (hid on homepage)
  • The Squarespace/Memberspace integration makes it difficult for members to know which login they need to use to comment on certain content. At times they say “It won’t let me comment!” 
Current tech and functionality to keep: 
  • Live chat/drop us a note gets used all the time (Olark)
Members Wing (Existing Portal)
  1. Entering the portal needs to be easier to find. 
  2. Currently visitors must either 1) click on the The Abbey logo or 2) bookmark the portal
  3. Improve the user experience
  4. Enhance the user experience to be more engaging, interactive and dynamic. Currently the theme/content changes month to month and is updated manually by the team at the end of each month. The content shown should be tailored to the individual member, offering suggestions after they complete content, and offering CTAs like commenting, joining the FB group, coming to our live event, etc. “The video we want you to practice this week is here.”
  5. Content searchability: Currently members can search for content using 1) the navigation menu or 2) search through individual videos using a number of drop down search filters. This needs to be more streamlined and intuitive. 
  6. Content suggestions: When a member watches a video we want to prompt them with a recommendation for another piece of relevant content.
  7. New member onboarding
  8. Current process
  9. Google form (how long have you been practicing yoga, what injuries, etc.)
  10. Manually create a “custom” plan in Canva: includes video recommendations for them over a 2 week period with some encouragement (people love this)
  11. This is emailed to them and they go off on their own
  12. Ideally
  13. Ideally this would take place from start to finish in the platform, where they would fill out a short survey, get a custom 2 week plan, and then are able to track progress through the plan as they go.
  14. Once they’ve completed their plan, they can opt in for another one or have a “next video” recommendation. 
  15. Increase data visibility
  16. Traffic mainly comes from founder’s personal YouTube. FB ads are run every so often.
  17. Video and streamlining functionality - update to better experience and ensure security
  18. The greatest request from members is the ability to stream video from within the portal to TV; eventually we will want to build an OTT app or something similar.
  19. Improved management of access to videos.
Yoga Teacher Training (New Portal)
  1. Signing up for trainings needs to be clearer
  2. Currently the training sales process includes a sales pages and people sign up by purchasing the training as a product in the shop (hosted by Squarespace). 
  3. As we develop new trainings, we need a place to feature all of them along with the ability to learn more about each individual training and sign up.
  4. Streamline and secure program materials
  5. Currently the materials are all distributed via Google Drive. Trainees receive handouts and upload their homework assignments this way. If a trainee has never used Google Drive before, it’s yet another platform to learn/create an account for, etc. We want this to be in a portal in The Abbey. 
  6. [Scalability] Create ONE login for the entire platform (Members Wing, Teacher Training, future retreats, etc.) 
  7. Ideally this would also allow them to connect/chat with other members/teachers/trainees as well.
Online Store
  1. We offer some digital products (like gift cards) and physical merchandise, so functionality will need to serve both.
  2. Will need to connect to our distributor to ship physical merchandise.
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