Sitefinity CMS Delivers 200% Increase in Mobile Traffic Catapulting Dayton Superior Ahead of its Competition
Challenge
With an aging website that looked outdated and was difficult to navigate, 100 year-old Dayton Superior needed a new CMS that matched its leadership position in the non-residential concrete construction industry.
Solution
Involving 20 people from seven departments, Dayton Superior determined that Sitefinity CMS best suited the organization’s requirements for a .NET-based platform with responsive UI and was easy to use so business and marketing users could readily update content.
Result
- Mobile usage on the site is up at least 200%
- Sessions involving a social network share have doubled
- Marketing team now makes their changes immediately instead of putting in requests and waiting
Full Story
Challenge
“Our website not only looked outdated, but we were constantly getting complaints that it was difficult to navigate,” said Colin Leslie, a developer on the User Experience team at Dayton Superior. “And because the backend of the site was so difficult to use, IT had to be involved in every change, no matter how small.”
Just over a year ago Dayton Superior set out to rebuild its main customer-facing website. It had a long list of requirements ranging from simple navigation and a responsive UI to an easy-to-use CMS so marketing could readily update content. To ensure the site would meet the requirements of users across the organization, the User Experience team involved more than 20 people from seven departments in the decision.
“We got the marketing and specifications groups, the CFO and representatives from all our business lines involved in the process,” said Eric Moffitt, Dayton Superior’s User Experience project coordinator.
“From a development standpoint the solution needed to be on the.NET stack and from a marketing standpoint we wanted to stand out from our competition to reflect our leadership position,” said Jay Requarth, User Experience manager.
Solution
The decision made, Dayton Superior teamed up with certified Sitefinity CMS development partner Springthrough of Grand Rapids, MI. “We had a great experience with Springthrough,” Moffitt said. “They were there when we had questions and were always available to talk to–just overall an excellent organization to work with.”
Easily within Dayton Superior’s schedule and budget the new site launched in January, 2015.
“The Sitefinity CMS was the ideal platform for us to work with Dayton Superior in building a solid foundation for their digital presence and customizing features when needed,” said Eric Spencer, vice president of Architecture, Springthrough.
Result
Dayton Superior’s Sitefinity CMS website utilizes a sophisticated platform to support state-of-the-art navigation tailored to specific users. Intuitive capabilities adjust the flow of information based on whether a user is browsing or searching the site. Features include:
- Complete industry-segment solution packages
- A searchable, competitive cross reference function for chemical products
- A customizable product comparison function
- Expedited access to all Dayton Superior online resources including product literature, mobile applications and third party specification tools
“Our website has a lower bounce rate now and the time people are spending browsing has improved,” Leslie said. “It’s a lot easier for customers to navigate page to page and once they get to the content pages they are there longer, meaning they found what they are looking for. We used to get a lot of support tickets because people were not able to find the content they needed.”
With the construction industry being so mobile with people traveling from jobsite to jobsite, a responsive mobile experience was also at the top of Dayton Superior’s must-have list.
“On our previous site there was no mobile, just a handcrafted page we created that was not up to standards,” Requarth said. “With the responsive design, you can browse our site from a phone, tablet, anything–and the content is right there and looks great. This is a great asset since all of our sales people have iPads. Mobile usage on the site is up at least 200% and sessions involving a social network share have doubled as well.”
With IT involved in every change to its SharePoint site, the ability to easily update content was also a key consideration for Dayton Superior.
“Our ability to support the business has significantly improved since implementing the Sitefinity CMS,” Leslie said. “One of our biggest measures of success is just how quickly we got marketing involved in the site. With Sitefinity CMS' ease-of-use, the marketing team now makes their changes immediately instead of putting in requests and waiting, and development is freed up to work on projects that bring true value to the business.”