Launching a New Website and Online Resource Center

Background:

WHIM was selected to build a new online experience for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC). More than just a website, the new experience needed to be visually appealing and thoughtfully organize hundreds of online resources. As part of the challenge, many of these resources would be high-traffic and time-sensitive, such as new COVID-19 resources, grant programs, and small business financial tools.

The DEGC identified WHIM as the best technology partner to enable their vision going forward.  WHIM’s methodology included extensive audience research, focused content strategy by audience journey, extended analytics, and marketing automation integration for web-to-lead funnel design.

Additionally, WHIM has a robust Web Hosting (WebOps) support model that enables rapid content deployments and detailed reporting to support the continuous development and deployment of new website features.

RESULTS:

WHIM launched a new site with over 130 pages of content and a new user-centric experience to connect four user types with the information, resources, and personal assistance they need to do business in Detroit. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were interwoven into visual and content design at each step.

New features were added, including a custom user-content mapping tool, which serves up resources and services core audiences based on self-identified interests. The new experience dramatically simplified navigation, included extensive full-site search, and multiple web-to-lead integrations with the customer resource management (CRM) solution. Advanced user roles and permissions and user training enabled key staff groups to make simple content updates and resources as needed.

Using an automated WEBOPS portal and rapid visual design work, WHIM quickly delivers multiple time-sensitive updates each week.  Additionally, expired content is removed to ensure that we have only current resources available for their respective visitor groups.