Background
The main priority for this project was to create a simple, easy-to-use website that highlights the key elements of the NPA: membership benefits, events, knowledge and education, and insurance.
We wanted to create a site that is navigable for a range of potential users, including members and non-members (which includes various user groups including students, press, government etc.) allowing non-members access to educational courses, and insurance options that are open to all. We aimed to create clear user journeys for both member and non-member user types to direct them to the relevant sources of information.
The issue with the client’s previous site was the use of multiple locked pages or sections that would “break” the flow of navigation through the site for a non-member. Instead, we prioritised an open-access journey of the NPA’s resources with no blocks or dead ends, while allowing for consistent “sign up” messaging highlighting the bonuses and benefits of joining the NPA as a member.
Solution
The aim was to create a separation between two sections of the site: the NPA Members Salesforce portal, which would handle any booking or registration processes, and the NPA Umbraco website, which would be the repository for all information and resources.
For the front end of the site, we created a clearly signposted user journey for existing members to navigate between the NPA website, and the members’ portal.
For the back end of the site, we made a distinction between the data being logged by Salesforce, which was related to any bookings (for courses and events), and content that was open-access to users and readily editable by NPA team members in the CMS.
In order to achieve this, we set up a Salesforce API that would push content specific to courses and events to the CMS, where it would display on the front end (with a link back to the members portal for bookings) and the back end (in raw JSON format). This would allow content editors to visualise how much content was on the website, while maintaining a database on Salesforce tracking bookings and reservations.
All other content that was not specific to members – news articles, blog posts, job postings, etc. – was added to Umbraco, keeping the CMS as the central editing hub for the website.
Impact
With the new solution in place, NPA now has a centralised platform for editing website content which is easy to build and manage. Editing time has been significantly reduced, and editors now have a clean, functional and intuitive CMS to work from.
The website now receives a WCAG accessibility rating of AA and a 100% lighthouse accessibility score. We have also improved site performance, with 1.3 seconds to LCP, and a B rating for carbon footprint. While user behaviour metrics are impacted by the switch between the Umbraco site and the member portal which is a separate site in Salesforce, we have significantly improved page views per active users and handle over 6,000 visitor sessions a month.
Results
"We were delighted to work with the Crumpled Dog team on our website update, which has integrated our public site with content on Salesforce. The Crumpled Dogs are good colleagues to work with and part of our team. They're flexible and responsive, understand what we need and translate the technical into language the rest of us understand. They have always been keen to get the best result for us and our users."
