Project
Estate Agent Website Design & Build
Client
WellingtonWise
Neil Wise, Founder and Director of WellingtonWise approached us with ambitious plans to re-launch and develop their website to reflect the growing business. The website needed to take centre stage at the heart of the business and be flexible and scalable in order to grow with the business.
The brief incorporated a brand new website, built from scratch to meet the company’s increasing requirements, and a design refresh, extending WellingtonWise’s existing branding with a lighter, fresher feel. In addition we were required to undertake the development of an SEM strategy that underpinned the new structure of the website content and shaped the new copy.
The website required a wide variety of content, including property details, new home developments, details of the services offered, numerous forms and also a blog. Within each property detail view there were also a host of different elements required, from embedded YouTube videos, to downloadable PDF brochures and EPC reports, property images and floor plans.
As a well established business WellingtonWise have deeply embedded systems and processes that meant it wasn’t suitable to use the website as a central point for managing property data. Any requirement for team members to manually enter property details would be considered duplication of existing processes, so we needed to integrate with their existing setup, avoiding the creation of any additional work.
We needed to establish a workflow where we could import a regularly updated property feed via XML. The website automatically updates based on new data supplied by this feed, making sure that visitors are seeing an up to date list of properties.
By extending Drupal with a series of existing and bespoke modules we were able to finely tune the update process, making sure we could still leverage the power of the open source CMS without needing to perform data processes outside of the web application.
The search functionality was arguably the most important part of the build, and as such needed to be quick and easy to use. We used bespoke Drupal development in order to maximise the Google Maps API and location based services, enabling us to position every property on precise geographical co-ordinates. This allows visitors to search for properties within a certain distance of a specified location.
Next, we had to address the issue of multiple locations, whereby searches for Cambridge were defaulting to Cambridge, Massachusetts. We overcame this by using the auto-complete web services from the Google Places API, as well as determining the current user location which ensures users pick a full, UK based location and therefore returning relevant results.
Another important part of the project brief was that the site required a full CMS behind it, allowing WellingtonWise to update specific areas of the site with complete flexibility. Once again we opted for Drupal as a powerful and versatile system that would allow us the fine grained control required, as well as managing some of the complex data feed processing.
“Rifle have proven a valuable partner who have added value across the board. Our new website not only looks great but out performs the old on every level, from organic search performance to retaining users on the page. Rifle have exhibited a depth of knowledge in many areas and we have seen tangible business results.”
In parallel to the development of the project we undertook an SEO audit and competitor SEO analysis to determine opportunities, key phrases and words to maximise organic search traffic to the new site and target the right audience. We then worked with WellingtonWise to develop brand new copy for the site that clearly communicated all of the services, maximising use of relevant keywords under each section, in particular the names of local areas, towns and villages presented a significant organic search opportunity. Primarily, the copy aimed to equip all visitors to the site with all of the information they might require to sell, buy, rent or let a property, and included a blog with helpful, impartial advice.
Since it’s launch, the new website has already seen a notable increase in organic search traffic versus the old site, with the new structure and copy working hard to deliver this.
Alongside the organic SEO strategy, we worked with WellingtonWise to create a remarketing ad campaign via GoogleAds, designing the ads and developing the strategy for retargeting visitors to the site and increasing repeat visits. This was a further opportunity to reinforce the brand and remind users of the key services offered.
