Current status – Operational Integration and Enhancement of Apprenticeship Portal project

May 2005 February 2005

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May 2005 - Current Status

Yearly summary of apprenticeship portal visitation statistics

From July 2004 through March 2005 visitor statistics for the inventory portal at www.apprenticetrades.ca / www.apprendsunmetier.ca were tracked. A definite trend in the statistics indicates that there is an increase in visitation to the site which coincides with the fall 2004 and spring 2005 airing of the Promotion Project “Skilled Trades: A Career You Can Build On” campaign ads (television and print), and a decrease in visitation which coincides with the hiatus in the airing of campaign ads. In addition, marketing of the inventory portal at various educator-focused trade shows/conferences has also had an impact on visitation to the portal.

Approximately three quarters (75%) of all visitors to the portal are referred by third party sites and one quarter log (25%) directly onto the site. Of the referred visitors approximately 35% (or more) English visitors and approximately 25% (or more) French visitors are referred to the site by the Promotion project sites (www.careersintrades.ca / www.metiersspecialises.ca).

Portal evaluation update

In January 2005 the Operational Integration and Enhancement Steering Committee decided to seek the expertise of an evaluation consultant who would assess the effectiveness of the apprenticeship portal and suggest some strategies to further enhance it. In March 2005 CAF-FCA commissioned a company who specializes in web performance measurement for public and non-profit sectors to assess the web portal. In March 2005 the consulting company presented to CAF-FCA a report which itemizes a list of low-cost actionable items which would increase traffic to and improve the usability of the portal.

New links added to the portal

At its inception CAF-FCA’s apprenticeship portal contained over 6,000 web links to over 300 Canadian apprenticeship-related web sites. Over the past year, more links have been gradually added to the site to enhance its content.

February 2005 - Current Status

Overview of Inventory portal visitation statistics

From July 2004 to January 2005 visitor statistics for the inventory portal (www.apprenticetrades.ca / www.apprendsunmetier.ca) were tracked. A definite trend in the statistics indicates that there is an increase in visitation to the site which coincides with the airing of the Promotion Project campaign ads (television and print) and a decrease in visitation which coincides with the hiatus in the airing of campaign ads. Based on this trend, we expect to see another spike in visitation statistics as the Promotion Project campaign television and print ads resume in the spring of 2005.

On-line portal survey update

From October 2004 to February 2005 an on-line survey was conducted on the inventory portal to evaluate its effectiveness with end users. As of January 6, 2005 only 71 English and 29 French responses to the survey were received. These numbers represent only a mere fraction of visitors to the portal and therefore may not accurately represent the views of visitors to the site.

Inventory / information portal promotional materials

To further the marketing efforts of the inventory / information portal two distinct products have been created: a high-quality metallic blue carabiner-style key chain, and a business card-sized magnet (for fridge or lockers) which bear the English and French URLs of the portal. CAF-FCA will make these products available free of charge to CAF-FCA Board Members who request them for promotional use (conference, trade show, in-school presentation etc).

Next Steps

The Operational Integration and Enhancement Steering Committee agreed to seek the expertise of an evaluation consultant who would assess the effectiveness of the portal and suggest some strategies to further enhance it. Terms of Reference were developed and sent to three evaluation consulting firms. The successful bidder will begin evaluation work in March. Preliminary findings of this evaluation will be available at the end of March.

Visit: www.apprenticetrades.ca