With new management, ballet studio says goodbye to static HTML website and inconsistent branding
Introducing Ottawa Dance Centre School
Ottawa Dance Centre School is one of Ottawa’s only non-competitive dance studios with a focus on classical ballet and contemporary dance. Training dancers since 1972, ODCS has a long history of prestige in the Ottawa dance community. Their new Artistic Director, Rebecca, made it her mandate to give the studio a well-deserved digital refresh.
The “Before”
Ottawa Dance Centre School was making do with a very outdated website based entirely from static HTML pages. A separate mobile version was created years after the initial design, however the ODCS staff understandably had a difficult time updating the website. They found they weren’t showing up in Google searches for the programs they offered, and were getting inquiries about outdated information that was still on the website but wasn’t easy to update. On the branding side, Ottawa Dance Centre School was using two logo variations simultaneously, and the dark colour palette wasn’t matching the new Artistic Director’s vision for the studio moving forward. Having done her research on other Ottawa dance studios’ websites, she found our client Greta Leeming Studio of Dance’s website and loved the design. She had found her marketing partner!
The “After”
We started with the new branding for Ottawa Dance Centre School. Rebecca provided an idea of the direction she wanted to go in with relaxing blues and a more modern font. We refined and expanded upon those ideas with a fuller blue-toned colour palette and logo variations in a similar but more legible font. After weighing her options for the additional blue tones, Rebecca chose the palette that suited her vision best and we were ready to get started on her new website.
Ottawa Dance Centre School moved their website to WordPress to give much better accessibility, mobile optimization, and SEO features, not to mention a content management system (CMS) that would let them update class schedules and other important information with ease. Having just switched their registration method earlier in the dance season, ODCS decided to forego an integrated registration form or CRM (customer relationship management) system but was happy to add an interactive schedule for their recreational, intensive, and adult classes. The new website now matches the calibre of dance training offered at Ottawa Dance Centre School, and is already ready to go for whatever technical upgrades Rebecca wants to make in the future to streamline her admin process even further!
