Hugh James
Website redevelopment and CMS implementation
Hugh James are Wales’ largest independent law firm with 500
staff and offices in Canary Wharf, London and central Cardiff. For
a number of years they had maintained a static website but it was
not central to the firm’s strategy and was not delivering enough
new business compared to other channels.
Challenge
Managing Partner Matthew Tossell said: “Our
goal was to raise Hugh James into a nationwide player, enabling us
to work with more clients in more fields reaching across the whole
of the UK. In order to achieve this we had to reshape our internet
presence.”
Because the web had become central to company
strategy, speed to launch was all important and Hugh James had been
working towards this for some time. After a rigourous selection
process, Fusion Workshop were chosen to build a new website to
target business in niche vertical segments, UK wide. The new
website had to offer a better online visitor experience and
flexible content management.
Outcome
The team at Hugh James worked closely with
Fusion Workshop to deliver a state-of-the-art website in summer
2009. Fusion Workshop drew on experience in the Alterian content
management system (CMS), custom functionality and usability
services. As the project progressed, editors were trained in the
CMS, enabling migration of content. The site was launched in just
two months, ready to be at the heart of a series of digital
marketing campaigns, with emphasis on search, social networking, as
well as blogging, email and viral marketing.
Mr Tossell said: “I don’t think any other law
firm in the UK has a site with quite our scope. Yet despite being
so content-rich, it has been structured in an intuitive,
user-friendly way, making it easy for visitors to find the
information they need. Going forward, the new site allows us to be
totally transparent in what we’re offering and it helps us develop
Hugh James into a nationwide player.”
Results
Partners and staff at Hugh James have bought
into the idea of the web as a platform and seen a rapid return on
our investment. Hugh James’ Online & Communications Manager,
Wendy Bailey commented: "Page views and visits are up and we've
seen a substantial increase in enquiries since June, when the new
site was launched. Feedback has been very positive – for example on
the site navigation many people have commented how easy it is to
use and to find what they need. In line with the business strategy,
we are now able to run campaigns in our specialist niche areas such
as nursing care. The new form has already been completed by more
than 140 people in just two weeks. We are very proud of what we’ve
achieved and the tremendous response."