MANUFACTURING
Ensuring Business Continuity
800-page Website Migration from SilverStripe to WordPress with Complete Redesign
The Client
An established company manufacturing custom material handling equipment and infrastructure for over 60 years. All things digital are not their forte, but it is essential for their ongoing success and engagement in modern markets. With one marketing manager tasked with the entirety of their online and promotional activities, maintaining an expansive and complex website was becoming increasingly challenging. Hence, the partnership with GoTo Marketers.
The Problem
The untimely passing of the original website designer/developer left the company without vital tribal knowledge, and sourcing quality SilverStripe content management system (CMS) developers in the market made future updates and ongoing maintenance complicated and costly. The current website, developed over seven years ago on the SilverStripe CMS, contains around 800 custom pages of detailed product, solution, and industry vertical information. The website was visually dated, increasingly difficult to update and manage and posed a significant risk in terms of business continuity.
The Solution
GoTo Marketers, their trusted agency of record, was approached to advise on potential solutions and the business case for building and managing the migration and redesign project without impacting website traffic. It was decided to transition to WordPress, known for its robust CMS capabilities, extensive support community, and adaptability. The move aimed to address the immediate concerns of business continuity and offer a more stable, scalable, and SEO-friendly platform, ensuring the website’s long-term viability and effectiveness even if GoTo Marketers was not involved.
Execution by GoTo Marketers
Project Planning:
Detailed planning ensured that every step, from design to launch, was methodically scheduled and executed. This included in-depth research, defining the information architecture, and thorough mapping of content migration to the new site.
Detailed Content Migration:
Each of the nearly 800 pages was carefully evaluated and manually migrated to ensure no data loss or disruption to the website’s extensive product catalogue. This critical step was managed with exceptional attention to detail, ensuring each page of content was optimally placed within the new structure.
Comprehensive Oversight and Coordination:
GoTo Marketers managed all aspects of the project, from technical development, SEO optimization and post-launch adjustments. This all-inclusive management approach ensured the project remained on time and within budget, with no downtime.
SEO Risk Mitigation:
Recognizing the risks posed by ongoing Google algorithm updates during the migration, GoTo Marketers developed and implemented an extensive SEO plan to minimize traffic loss and accelerate recovery post-launch. Their proactive measures ensured the client’s market position was maintained and strengthened.
Client Results
The client’s new WordPress website is a modern, mobile-optimized, and user-friendly platform. Post-migration results included improved site speed performance, improved SEO rankings, and increased user engagement. The meticulous planning and execution by the GoTo Marketers team meant that business continuity was top of mind and maintained throughout the transition, with no interruption to the client’s sales and marketing operations.
Conclusions
This critical website’s successful redesign and migration underscored the importance of having a trusted digital partner. GoTo Marketers’ expertise in managing complex digital transformations demonstrated their ability to navigate high-stakes projects, ensuring their clients survive and thrive in the digital landscape. This project highlighted their commitment to strategic foresight, technical proficiency, and client-centric solutions in the face of significant business and technical challenges.
