Sovereign Group

Sovereign Group is a complex company with many service offerings and each with its own personalised suite of products. They operate in many jurisdictions and each one has its own nuances both in terms of operations and messaging. So our first objective was to create a sitemap that would make locating information for users more easily, while still retaining the level of detail that each jurisdiction and line-of-business required. Secondly, their previous design was outdated and did not reflect their place in the market. So our next objective was to modernise their design to match their sophisticated branding as an industry-leading planning services provider.

We built their new website using WordPress. This is the same CMS as the client’s existing site, meaning their internal IT team was already familiar with the platform. To ensure their site was equipped with all needed functionalities we used multiple plugins, common for WordPress especially when it comes to added CMS interfaces like custom fields, and saving contact forms. Some plugins we used include Advanced Custom Fields, Yoast SEO, WP Job Openings, Gravity Forms, Custom Post Type UI, WordPress Multilingual Plugin, and more.

Sovereign Group’s previous website needed a lot of restructuring in terms of page layouts, navigation menus, and design. For instance, their navigation menu was unable to cater to the numerous services and jurisdictions they offer, and each of their jurisdictions used different page templates creating inconsistencies throughout.

We strategised and came up with a new logic in order to simplify the navigation process and recategorise their existing elements. By doing so we were able to ensure that the site’s variety of information would become easily accessible to its users. Additionally, we had to implement design concepts that would push forth their professionalism through modern design, while also standardising content blocks and creating long-term webpage designs.

In terms of development, we also had many things to consider to ensure the project flowed as smoothly as possible. For example, we had to work with our design team to figure out which elements should be hard-coded for precise visuals and which others had to be dynamic in size and content, reusable across pages. Handling imported data was a challenge for a content-heavy site, and we combed through 200 existing templates and nearly 2000 pages to fit them into the new template and block system. Lastly, a few plugin configurations proved tricky due to occasional conflicts between them and compatibility issues. Additionally, some plugins installed on the original site were discontinued or outdated, requiring alternatives.

(images on the left are from Sovereign Group's old website designs)

Butter created a highly professional new site, fitted with custom animations, sleek functionality, and a restructured back-end, for Sovereign Group Foundation to match their new elevated brand identity. This new site has let Sovereign Group’s services speak for themselves due to its custom user experience and interface. Overall, the site’s usability has greatly improved with previous navigation complications being addressed by a filtered search.