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WSSI

Expertly Guiding an Industry Thought Leader Through the Complexities of a Website Redesign

Industry: ,

Scope: SEO audit and strategy, website planning, information architecture, content strategy and planning, content migration, visual/UX design, responsive design and development, WordPress CMS (Gutenberg) customization, marketing collateral redesign (to align with the new web design) and ongoing website support.

Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. (WSSI) has built a reputation for its unparalleled depth of knowledge and the ability to create solutions that balance environmental considerations and land use goals. Industry professionals from both private and public sectors turn to WSSI and its extensive library of thought leadership content and resources to stay current on developments in land use, environmental science and regulations.

The old website was outdated, difficult to navigate and manage for the site admins. What’s more, it no longer represented who WSSI had become and where it was headed in the future.

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WSSI responsive web design

Enhancing User Experience

Through rigorous research, planning and information architecture study, Substance151 developed a navigational structure and layout design that allow a high-level overview of the firm’s capabilities, as well as an in-depth look into WSSI’s specialized expertise and breadth of services.

The new UX design and customized advanced site search capabilities provide site visitors quick and easy access to relevant (to them) information – allowing WSSI to showcase its depth of specialized knowledge without the overwhelm.

Modernizing Design

Just like WSSI’s vision is rooted in the balance of environmental considerations and land use needs, the website’s design strikes a balance between the firm’s deep roots in science and research and its fun, people-centric culture and personality.

The use of “techy” linework, large numbers and structured grids is balanced by organic textures and dynamic treatment of the headshots, ensuring the site design equally represents the firm’s expertise and its brand.

The new modern design aesthetic was so well received by the firm’s leadership that WSSI engaged our team to redesign its collateral and proposal system, bringing visual consistency to all communications.

Improving Content Presentation

WSSI’s library has hundreds of articles, resources and other valuable content. Substance151 developed a custom migration tool to help WSSI migrate all relevant content from the old site while minimizing the required cleanup.

The new content hub houses all educational, thought leadership and regulatory content and company news and includes a video library – all organized by categories and topics, using robust taxonomies, filters and tagging infrastructure. A robust, customized search allows users to find relevant content quickly and efficiently.

The Project section utilizes filters to allow users quickly zero in on what’s relevant to them while still showcasing the breadth of WSSI’s expertise and its multidisciplinary capabilities.

WSSI web layout design

Achieving Results

The new website has outperformed the old one in every way! By putting WSSI’s brand, people, expertise and work in the spotlight, the new website celebrates all that the firm has accomplished and competitively positions it for future growth.

We continue to work with the WSSI on keeping the WordPress CMS up to date and secure and providing additional support and incremental improvements as needed.

Awards:

  • Horizon Interactive Awards – Silver, Professional Services and Corporate & B2B categories
  • MarCom Awards – Gold

Our experience working with Substance 151 was outstanding. The website redesign process is daunting and overwhelming in the best of circumstances but Ida and her team masterfully guided us through. They really listened to our unique needs and helped us develop the right solutions to meet them. Their knowledge and expertise in all aspects of design, technical development and SEO helped us feel confident in the decisions we made about our site’s functionality and design and we couldn’t be more excited about the end result

Beth Silverman, PWS, Manager – Marketing, WSSI