Rebuilt Website and User Experience From Scratch for TEC Specialty, Their High Quality Surface Preparation Brand.
Industrial adhesives giant H.B. Fuller needed a new website for its brand of technologically advanced surface preparation products, TEC Specialty. The original site was old and difficult to navigate, leaving users frustrated and unable to find relevant information. The site also lacked alignment with the superior products and solutions provided by TEC Specialty. So we blew it up.
The Challenge
The original site was built on a content management system that was difficult to manage and even harder to customize. This led to a clunky user experience and roadblocks to conversion points on the website.
The site was also older, utilizing technology that matched its age. This meant slower load times and deprecated functionality.
When asking numerous stakeholders within the organization, the challenges varied. It really boiled down to a handful of issues:
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Hard to navigate
- Difficult to update
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Doesn't work as expected
- Doesn't match our brand
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Doesn't engage the customer
The Analysis
We started by understanding TEC Specialty’s current and prospective customers. We utilized research on internal team members and contractors in the field. We compiled data from Google Analytics and Hotjar, a heatmapping and user tracking software, to identify valuable pathways and visible roadblocks.
This data uncovered issues with the current site architecture and product layouts, providing startling evidence that customers couldn’t easily find information. So we rebuilt the Information Architecture to better guide users through the website. This led to new discussions around page layouts and related information, driving a comprehensive outline for the development of the new site.
We now had a strategy in place.
The Solution
With all of the research and data in-hand, we created ways to simplify the experience and give more control to the visitor. Our team compiled new wireframes for key pages that aligned with these new findings and came up with a whole new solution-forward design and layout.
The design had to work for prospective customers searching for products as well as existing customers looking to build out upcoming projects. Many of these customers accessed the website from remote job sites, so the mobile experience had to cater to their needs as their well.
Our team put together a comprehensive roadmap to capture all of the elements rolling up to the new site build. Through our agile process, we collaborated with the H.B. Fuller team regularly to incorporate feedback and to ensure our solution coincided with their expectations.
After months of planning, hard work, and implementation, the new website launched with accolades from customers and internal team members alike.
The Results
The new site experienced increased engagement almost immediately. Downloads of key product information skyrocketed and mobile phone calls increased. Compliments poured in from current customers delighted with the updated mobile experience and improved site speed.
Pages created specifically for target customer types put all of the relevant information directly at their fingertips. And the completely redesigned predictive search bar allowed users direct access to relevant products and product types.
Our team was also engaged to ensure the website experienced a seamless SEO and analytics transition upon launch. While most websites will typically see an average decrease of 30% following the launch of a new site, the new TEC Specialty website saw an increase in organic traffic and visibility.
Additionally, Google Analytics was enhanced to provide even more insights into user engagement on the site, and more accurate data for future decision-making.
The site continues to evolve with the help of multiple data sources and ongoing customer feedback. Our team continues to test enhancements to the website to ensure user experience improves over time.
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