The UK’s leading solar energy association needed a fresh identity and website relaunch to charge ahead with the clean energy movement.
The brief
Solar Energy UK, the country’s leading non-profit solar energy association, is a key adviser to the UK government, which was setting out its strategy for net-zero carbon by 2050. Solar Energy UK needed a bold new identity and digital platform to reflect its prominent position in the renewable energy sector and to convey a sense of optimism in the role of solar technology to address climate change.
The challenge
To improve the user experience for members to sign up to the association, as the previous site prevented an important revenue stream from being transacted with ease and the check out process did not integrate with a CRM.
The phased launch of the new site also required a bespoke build-and-launch timeline to fit around key dates, with much of the site being coded independently to enable us to hide and later reveal parts of pages with ease.
Our role
Together with our experienced branding and design partner, Brand Ethos, we were tasked with improving the online experience and positioning of the association. Our role was to build a brand new website from scratch. We started by auditing the existing website and discovered that it was unfit for purpose. We then ran a series of stakeholder workshops to understand the requirements for a new members-only area and oversaw consultations with internal stakeholders to develop a new content strategy, and to understand if any existing content could be migrated.
The outcome
A beautifully designed website, featuring custom, interactive illustrations that animate continuously and are built to grow with the association. Content like information, news, research and reports is more prominent with a searchable, comprehensive directory of their 230+ UK members. Back end development provided improved search capabilities to ensure visitors can find information easily and the user journey is simpler and more enjoyable. The checkoutprocess for membership signup now integrates with a customised CRM.
Since launch, membership conversions have increased dramatically and bounce rates have fallen, with engagement across the website up by 35% thanks to visitors’ deeper engagement with the content.
