Key Takeaway
This case story describes our process for working with Woodard & Curran to build a new website that integrates thought leadership, corporate capabilities and experience, and firm values.
Woodard & Curran, a top 75 ENR 500 firm, is a privately held and steadily growing integrated engineering, science, and operations company with offices across the country. In 2015, the firm engaged Rattleback to address its website woes created by complicated technology and two separate sites. The objective, to design a new, inclusive site that was easier for the firm to manage and more intuitive for clients to navigate. After launching the new site, Woodard & Curran experienced:
The Obstacle
Content Marketing Manager
Woodard & Curran
The Constraints of the Previous Website
Woodard & Curran’s legacy website was based on an overpowered, overcomplicated technology the team no longer trusted. So, when the firm decided to renew its commitment to content marketing, it created a new, separate microsite built on WordPress, a more contemporary, easier-to-work-with platform. This solved the problem of where to publish the company’s growing library of thought leadership content but simultaneously created a new batch of issues for both the firm and its clients. The internal marketing team found itself managing two sites that didn’t speak to each other. And site visitors were running into a major chasm in the buying journey with no easy way to navigate between the thought leadership and marketing content they needed to vet the firm’s services, people, and experience.
The Solution
Creating Seamless Connections Between Content
Rattleback and Woodard & Curran saw eye to eye regarding the need to create automated, dynamic connections between different types of content. Both parties were equally committed to creating a site designed to move visitors seamlessly through the process of discovering the firm’s unique point of view, understanding its service offerings and project experience, vetting its experts, and ultimately contacting the firm to start a conversation. To achieve this, Rattleback helped Woodard & Curran:
Design a new site on a modern, integrated platform with a focus on the client’s buying journey
The new Woodard & Curran site designed and developed by Rattleback integrates virtually every best-in-class recommendation for interlinking content and seamlessly driving web visitors through the process of learning, vetting, and conversation. Rattleback recommended, and Woodard & Curran ultimately adopted, a sophisticated platform that dynamically links different types of associated content. Visitors who come to the site to read a blog are presented with an intuitive pathway to learn about the firm’s related services, view associated project examples, and connect with the experts who worked on the project.
Creative Director
Rattleback
Integrate and highlight the firm’s core values and culture
During the site redesign process, the Woodard & Curran team identified some critical messaging that had been missing from its previous website. One of the ways in which the firm differentiates itself is through its core values, commitment to social and environmental responsibility, and dedication to the communities it serves. To surface these values, Rattleback recommended creating a Purpose section within the website to better market these beliefs.
Refresh and extend the brand to have a greater impact online
As part of the process, Rattleback worked with the Woodard & Curran team to bring a renewed sense of energy to the brand. By modernizing the color pallet and adjusting the font families, we created and updated a set of branding guidelines and standards to complement the new design and maximize its impact.
The Result
More Visitors, Greater Engagement
In the months following the launch of the site, the Woodard & Curran team saw all core visitor metrics improve:
