Case Study in effective web technology:

The Huntsville Museum of Art increases online revenues by more than 300%

Website History

Known for its quality of Art, the Huntsville Museum of Art (HMA) realized the need for a website that would showcase their art exhibits and museum services.  HMA approached longtime partner Interweave Technologies to provide a website that would be refined yet fun, attractive yet educational – a site that would benefit both the community and HMA employees.

Results of the Redesign

Launched in April of 2011, the new site has provided numerous benefits.  For example, in addition to providing information to the community, the new site has enabled HMA employees to be more productive. “Having the class registration online saves me so much time,” says Museum Academy Director Laura Smith, “I will occasionally have people call in to pay, but I point them to the website whenever possible. It frees me up to do so much more.”

HMA employees also have the capability to update the site – a very useful feature, due to the dynamic nature of HMA’s programs.  They now can add/edit/delete pages, adminis­ter promotions and operate the e-commerce system that manages payment for donations, memberships and classes.

The implementation allows website administrators the freedom to customize the check­out process according to what information is desired. For HMA, this means the checkout forms for honorariums and preschool art classes can be completely different.

Click on the inset above to see full-size graphic.

“The ability for patrons to be able to give online has provided us with an advantage that our previous website did not,” says museum CFO Debbie Higdon, “and I recommend Interweave to anyone looking to realize true ROI from their website.”

In only nine months, HMA has seen a 300+% increase in online giving over the previous year. The graphs below are plotted with the monthly and combined incomes from the website from 2010 and 2011.

Key Points for website success

• Websites that allow rapid change enable companies to respond quickly to stay competitive.
• Technology can streamline process and improve employee productivity.
• A new look can increase (or renew) customer interest in your website.
• The rules of the web are:
  1. Get content additions and design changes out there as fast as possible.
  2. Track to see what works.
  3. Change it to make it better.
  4. Add content.
  5. (See success).
  6. Repeat.