The Verderers
The Verderers of the New Forest are a statutory body responsible for protecting and regulating the traditional rights and natural environment of the New Forest.
Website
Verderers of The New Forest
Industry
Conservation & Land Management
Discovery & strategy
Content evaluation & writing
Web development
Hosting & support
Giraffe has helped turn the website into a clearer and more valuable resource — one that better explains the role of the Verderers
The Verderers of the New Forest is an historic organisation with responsibilities covering commoning, livestock, land management and the protection of the New Forest.
Their existing website had evolved over many years without a clear structure and was becoming increasingly difficult for visitors to navigate. Important information was hard to find, content didn’t always clearly explain the organisation’s different responsibilities and the underlying WordPress setup made managing and developing the website unnecessarily complicated.
Giraffe’s challenge was to take a complex organisation with a wealth of information and create a website that made sense to the people who actually use it.Objectives
Unlike many websites, the Verderers needed to cater for several very different audiences.
Commoners and livestock owners need access to practical information and updates. Members of the public may want to understand the role of the Verderers or find guidance relating to animals in the New Forest. Solicitors and other professionals may be looking for property or boundary information, while others need access to Court Minutes, byelaws and official documents.
The challenge wasn’t simply redesigning the website. It was understanding all these requirements and creating a structure that made a substantial amount of information easier to find and understand.
At the same time, the website needed to reflect the heritage and authority of one of the country’s oldest governing bodies without feeling dated or difficult to use.
The Solution
Website that forms important marketing tool for the Verderers of the New Forest
We started with discovery and planning, looking carefully at the existing website, its content and the different reasons people visit it.
This allowed us to step back from the organisation’s internal structure and consider the website from the user’s point of view — identifying what people are looking for, where information should sit and how visitors could move naturally between related subjects.
We reorganised the website around clearly defined areas including Commoning, the Verderers, Agisters, Court Minutes, Education and supporting resources, creating a much more logical information architecture.
Content was reviewed and rewritten where required, helping explain complex subjects in a clearer and more approachable way while retaining the authority and accuracy expected from the organisation.
We also redesigned the way important resources are presented. Court Minutes, byelaw information, animal health and welfare guidance and other documents can now be located much more easily, making the website a more useful resource for both regular and occasional visitors.
Behind the scenes, we replaced the unconventional existing WordPress setup with a robust and flexible platform that’s considerably easier to manage. This gives the Verderers greater control over day-to-day content while providing a solid foundation for future additions and development.
Client Feedback
We are so pleased with the new website, it is easy to use and explains the various parts in a user-focussed manner.
Justine Bayley
Assistant to the Clerk
Post-launch website results
Increase in web traffic
increase of monthly page visits
Increase in online bookings