Project background

Hobbs were keen to relaunch their website in order to improve their online performance. Their previous website had a minimalist design yet with complex user journeys which meant that most pages on the site were getting little to no traffic.

The previous site has adopted an editorial look and feel, as opposed to being designed and built as a marketing tool. Calls to action were minimal which meant it was difficult for Hobbs to convert traffic into enquiries. What’s more, a lack of thorough analytics and tracking meant that the team found it difficult to draw insights and conclusions around performance or opportunities to improve.

The new website focused on introducing a clear but effective layout which offered simple user journeys. A more effective navigation was used to guide users through key steps to get in touch, with minimal clicks to key content,

Design

Before starting the website project we conducted a rebrand exercise for Hobbs to give them a fresh look and feel. This included the production of brand guidelines which were then used as the foundation for the design of the new website.

The revised colour palette was used to create effective contrasts – vibrant colours were used to draw the eye to buttons and calls to action, while bold block colours were used to create impactful page designs.

Content architecture was considered throughout the design process, with the focus on presenting users with small, manageable paragraphs, with the option to click through for more information as required.

Development

The website uses flexible templates in order to give Hobbs the ability to make regular changes without requiring agency support. The easy to update menus gives Hobbs the ability to quickly launch new products and services with minimal lead time.

Hobbs wanted the focus of the homepage to be video footage, so we built a large full width video panel. In order to maximise website performance, ensuring the video did not compromise website speed, we offered users a taster video with the option to watch the full video as required.

To promote user experience and create a memorable experience for web visitors, we utilised moving iconography throughout the website to bring interactivity to the forefront.

Calls to action were carefully planned, with forms being included on all pages to make it as easy as possible for their users to get in touch without navigating off the page.

SEO Optimisation

The new Hobbs website underwent a full SEO set up before launch to ensure that the migration from old website to new was handled carefully and correctly. As an established organisation with a long history, it was crucial that any existing SEO value was carried over to the new website.

301 redirects helped to capture any page changes, meanwhile fresh meta data was written and implemented across all new pages accordingly. This ensured that Google could quickly recognise what each page was about and index it appropriately.

As Hobbs were keen to manage as much as possible themselves post launch, we installed a number of useful SEO plugins to allow the team to easily identify any pages needing optimisations or attention.