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An effective new website to reflect the Ashtead of today

Ashtead Group wanted their corporate website to reflect their business today and not the business of the past. With limited budget and resources, they also needed a straightforward website solution. To maximise efficiency, it was built on our Website as a Service platform, making it the first FTSE 100 website on the platform.

Ashtead Group (Ashtead) is a large equipment rental company that’s been around for a long time, and so had their website. Like many corporate websites, their site didn't reflect the company today or the company they aspire to be. The technology and design had become outdated and they wanted a solid platform to support their corporate agenda.

Limited resources and outdated technology 

Ashtead had a small team and limited budget which meant our project process and technical solution had to be efficient.

Technology has moved on since the Ashtead website was last built and its design, user experience and platform were dated. With nearly 40% of investor traffic on mobile, Ashtead was missing out by not having a fully responsive website. The website was also built in an archaic Content Management System that was difficult to update and was no longer supported.

Using audience requirements to guide content decisions 

It’s always a challenge for companies to keep up with audience expectations and digital trends. The starting point of this project was understanding Ashtead's audience requirements and focusing on improving site usability. 

Our annual Webranking survey provides up-to-date insight into corporate audiences and their expectations. Combining our Webranking insights with web analytics, it became clear that much of the content could be stripped back for an improved user journey. Reducing the content helped Ashtead tell the company story that had been buried in the previous site. We created a new top-level navigation that provided an easy overview in a dropdown menu and updated messaging to more clearly communicate Ashtead's corporate agenda.

A solid website platform

To maximise efficiency, the website was built on our Website as a Service (WaaS) platform, a secure, GDPR compliant and scalable solution.

The flexibility of WaaS meant that when one of the Ashtead Group businesses went through a rebrand just before launch, we were quick to adapt content and layouts to accommodate. We believe flexibility and the ability to make updates quickly and regularly are vital, otherwise a site risks becoming a historical document and not forward-looking.

The result

Ashtead now have an efficient and flexible website that enables them to tell their story clearly and effectively. The website's strong focus on meeting audience needs has significantly improved the user experience and as it's built on WaaS, Ashtead finally have a website platform that's built to last. 

Related services

WaaS     Webranking

Cola Herrero-Driver

Cola Herrero-Driver

Head of Client Services

cola.herrero-driver@comprend.com

+44 (0)20 8609 4911

James Handslip

James Handslip

Agency Director London

james.handslip@comprend.com

+44 (0)20 8609 4908

How is your site performing?

We identify the content that investors, analysts, business journalists and jobseekers want from corporate websites to help you meet their expecations. 

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