Jill Konrath is a legend when it comes to sales, but very few people realize that Jill has been doing inbound Marketing since before it was cool.
In 2003, Jill Konrath was a small-time sales trainer looking to expand her business locally. After studying dozens of small business websites, she launched her first website and started an email newsletter. Her initial 35 subscribers soon turned into 100, and then a couple thousand.
As her email list grew, so did Jill's business. Then, a book publisher read an article and approached her about turning her newsletter into a book. Three bestselling books later, Jill Konrath was an established sales expert known around the world. It was time for her to take the next step.
My previous website positioned me nicely as a highly-qualified expert in sales. It was contemporary and clean—but it didn't have the energy and zing that you need to be a keynote speaker.
- Jill Konrath
When Jill approached Media Junction about refreshing her website and brand, we were incredibly excited to work with an inbound marketing pioneer. Even when she told us she needed it in 60 days because otherwise her hectic schedule would begin and she wouldn’t have the time to dedicate to the project.
To make things even more complicated, we had three major holidays to work around! But our team was committed: after all, it isn’t every day you get to develop a new brand for a bestselling author.
The Transformation
Jill's website was a perfect example of a growth driven website redesign. With only 60 days until launch, we worked with Jill to determine her highest priorities. Then we made it happen.
We started with the logo, selected a new typeface, shot new headshots and developed new collateral materials. Then we redesigned the homepage so it highlighted Jill as a speaker and used vivid imagery to convey her vivacious personality.
Then we headed to her blog and email newsletter, two key drivers of her inbound marketing success. We created a streamlined design that took into account the business audience's preference for minimalist design and focused the eye on her content.
Since her previous website was already live on the HubSpot COS, we had to consider her thousands of existing links to maintain the information architecture and backlinking. We had to modify her templates in preview mode and launch the stylesheet simultaneous with the website.
Post-launch, we've continued to improve Jill's website though growth driven design. We updated site navigation after watching users move through her website. We improved her Resources page to better highlight her expert content, and continued to include more dynamic speaking photos throughout her website.
Impact
Today, Jill Konrath has an incredibly well-optimized inbound marketing website that her audiences frequently referred to it as “beautiful."
Everyone goes WOW when they go to my new website. Everybody. Plus, it's already yielding additional inquiries about my services. I am not just 'satisfied' with their work. I am delighted.
- Jill Konrath
In the past six months, her subscribers have increased 22% from 125,000 to 153,000. She has had a 40% increase in web traffic and nearly all of her landing pages are converting at over 50%.
Even more importantly, she is experiencing higher demand for her speaking services than she did at the same time last year. Right now, Jill is being approached by bigger companies to speak to larger sales teams during their winter sales kickoffs. Her 2016 speaking schedule is already filling up!
Since Jill's goal was to reach larger audiences so she could impact more people, we consider this a huge win!
As the icing on the cake, Jill's website redesign was recently recognized with a Hermes Gold Award for Beautiful Web Design for Professional Services! And HubSpot recognized her website in 15 of the Best Website Homepage Design Examples.
Check out Jill's website redesign and let us know what you think!