My job was to design a responsive, user-centric website that promotes the member-base and is easily managed by internal staff.
FCIA is worldwide Trade Association of Firestop Contractors, Inspection Agencies, Manufacturers, Distributors, and more dedicated to the creation, installation, inspection, and maintenance of life-safety firestop systems and effective compartmentation barriers.
We had to transition from an antiquated content management system to the WordPress platform. In order to carry over functionality, we had to migrate data and create custom plugins.
I worked closely with the client to fully understand the end user and explore opportunities to add value to membership. The purpose of the website was two-fold. Provide information for fire stopping and elevate member visibility online for customers seeking firestop professionals.
Here are the changes we made to improve user experience:
- Moved the contractor search feature from an internal page and made it the key element on the home page.
- Prioritized home page sections to promote the organization and encourage users to join.
- Created category listing pages that include a dynamic Google map with pins for each contractor office.
- Reorganized navigation to include specialties and regions.
- Added specialty sorts and location filters that make it easier to find a business near the user.
- Designed website to be responsive to improve SEO rank and open the audience pool to mobile users.
- Utilized SEO tools within WordPress to improve rank.
Most importantly, by switching to WordPress our client was able to manage the website from any device, anywhere they had a WIFI connection. Previously, administrators would have to login to a remote desktop running Windows XP to use a program (Adobe Contribute) that was outdated and hadn’t been supported for several years. The simple move to WordPress as the content management systems made all the difference in day-to-day life for our client.
I’m proud of this project because the folks behind FCIA are good people.
They deserve a website that is easy-to-use and adds value to their member-base. Together I think we accomplished just that. There’s always more work to do but I think FCIA is heading in the right direction.
Before & After
