In 2021 Carlow Tourism asked us to rebuild its website: a new look, a new brand, and a site that worked properly on a phone. We built it to be extended cheaply rather than replaced expensively, and we have looked after it ever since.
The challenge
The existing site no longer matched how Carlow Tourism worked or who it was trying to reach. A new county brand had been developed and the site needed to carry it, while sitting comfortably alongside the Ireland’s Ancient East marketing campaign. Core content and services were hard to find. The site had to work well on mobile, load quickly, and be easy for a small team to keep current without calling us every time.
The budget was tight, and it had to cover the build, ongoing maintenance and a short advertising campaign. That shaped everything. We needed to build something that could be extended cheaply later, rather than something that would cost Carlow Tourism money every time its priorities shifted.
What we did
We rebuilt the site from the ground up: a clearer structure, a brighter and more dynamic look, and the new Carlow branding applied throughout. Every decision was weighed against how much it would cost to maintain.
- A new interface organised around what visitors actually come looking for, with core content and services reachable from anywhere on the site
- The Carlow brand applied consistently across every template, aligned with Ireland’s Ancient East
- A responsive build that reads well on phones, tablets and desktops
- A content management system that lets staff drop video, podcasts, webinars and live streams into any section of the site themselves
- Social sharing built in throughout, so content earns referrals from social channels
- Google Analytics, plus automated reporting built into the site so performance updates arrive without anyone having to ask for them
- Speed and search engine optimisation work, so pages load fast and hold their position over the long term
- A secure environment with malware protection and regular off-site backups
- A short Google Ads campaign promoting key seasonal offers
Looking after it since
The relationship did not end at launch. Carlow Tourism staff raise support requests through our online ticketing system, and we answer every one within four hours regardless of severity. When something needs a faster conversation, the team can email or phone our support staff directly.
Training has been provided as and when it is needed. New staff are shown how to use the CMS, and written documentation and session recordings are available online for anyone who wants to check something later.
We have hosted the site throughout. Server software and security, application software, plugins and core patching have all been kept current. Reporting on visitor numbers, top pages and site performance goes to Carlow Tourism on request as part of the service level agreement, on top of the automated reports.
The result
The site met every objective in the brief, and it is still the site Carlow Tourism runs today. It has been extended in place rather than replaced, which was the whole point of building it the way we did.
- Uninterrupted uptime and no security incidents over the last three years
- A short Google Ads campaign that brought thousands of additional visits and views at low cost