About Invest WindsorEssex & Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre
Invest WindsorEssex (IWE) is the lead economic development agency for the Windsor-Essex region. They provide services to help attract and retain businesses, promote the region’s strategic advantages, and foster economic growth.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre (SBEC) supports local entrepreneurs and small businesses through various services, including consultations, workshops, and funding opportunities. They aim to nurture and grow the region’s small business community by providing essential resources and guidance.
Our Role
Elev8 Web Studio was tasked with converting the websites for Invest WindsorEssex and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre from a proprietary CMS to WordPress. Our team focused on implementing the existing designs using the WordPress platform, ensuring that the new sites addressed their existing challenges.
Project Goals
- Platform Modernization: Transition from an outdated, proprietary CMS to a more robust and user-friendly platform.
- Content Editing Experience: Improve the ease of use for content authors to update and manage website content efficiently.
- Integrated Event Management: Streamline event management to prevent duplication of efforts when promoting events across both websites.
- Enhanced Accessibility: Ensure the websites are accessible to a broader audience, including multilingual visitors and those requiring print-friendly access to content.
The Solution
Our approach focused on aligning the technical needs of both Invest WindsorEssex and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre with their strategic goals, ensuring an enhanced user experience and streamlined management processes.
- Re-implementation with WordPress CMS: Transitioned both websites to WordPress CMS to provide a stable and future-proof platform, improving the content editing experience.
- Google Translate Widget: Integrated Google Translate to allow users to translate website content into various languages, enhancing accessibility for non-English-speaking visitors.
- HubSpot Integration: Implemented HubSpot to support marketing efforts and enhance customer relationship management with powerful insights into user interactions.
- Print-friendly Stylesheet: Developed print-friendly stylesheets to ensure readability and layout consistency when printing website content.
- Advanced Event Management: Utilized The Events Calendar plugin to synchronize event listings across both platforms, reducing duplication of effort and ensuring consistent information.
Outcome
The newly launched websites for Invest WindsorEssex and the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre provide a robust and intuitive experience for both users and content authors. By addressing the limitations of the previous CMS and integrating powerful tools, we have equipped both organizations with the resources needed to continue driving economic growth and supporting small businesses in the Windsor-Essex region.
