The challenge
The old Drupal website reflected the same rigid identity as the brand. Its structure had grown over the years, it was hard for members and partners to navigate, and it was difficult to maintain. At the same time it carried years of content and search rankings that the organisation could not afford to lose.
What I did
We rebuilt the site from the ground up: a new structure, a new back end and a move from Drupal to WordPress. I was involved in every step, from research and wireframes to the finished site, doing the research together with the team. A key part of the job was protecting the site's footprint in Google during the move: carrying over content, keeping important pages findable and limiting the loss of search rankings. Since launch I have managed the site's content, structure and SEO, and used Google Analytics and Hotjar to keep improving it.
Building on what worked
The data showed that one page, Share the Benefits, drew almost a third of all visits on the old site. I used that insight to build evergreen, search-friendly pages on related questions, such as Cooperative values and principles and What is the cooperative movement, and added pages that were missing: thematic pages on youth, education, gender equality and the triple transition, the Young European Cooperators Network, Contact and Statutes. I also linked the site together far more, with "learn more" and "more information" links that lead visitors from one page to the next, and made it more visual, with clear, responsive buttons and simple navigation.
The result
The proof is in the numbers below. Pages with a clear purpose for members and partners, such as news, events, governance and our approach, draw more views than on the old site. The new explainer pages took over from the single page the old site depended on, and real visitor numbers rose sharply in the new site's first full year and have held since, with more people coming back every year.
