Full steam ahead with a new website

The GWSR is a heritage railway, offering a 28 mile trip between Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway, through spectacular scenery in the Cotswolds.

The approach to their online presence needed a complete rethink. The existing website had evolved over a number of years, resulting in a poor user experience. Events, timetables, ticket purchases and information about the organisation were all very poorly signposted.

With a Marketing Manager appointed for the first time in its 40-year history, it was time for a new approach to how they interact with their audience online.

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We needed to develop an online experience to cater for the varied audiences, age groups, and levels of knowledge, through assessing and reviewing the existing content. The content audit allowed us to create an intuitive site structure which presents the relevant content in a clear and concise manner.

As a visitor attraction competing for the attention of the ticket buying public, an easy-to-use website is a business critical component for success. First impressions and the ease with which information can be accessed is crucial, which is where our UX knowledge was key.

A 'heritage inspired' design concept presents clear pricing, timetables and a simple ticket buying process, which benefits hugely from the use of the impressive photographic library. All combining to deliver an online experience which will benefit the GWSR for years to come.

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The new site has been extremely well received with feedback from staff, stakeholders and customers being very positive.

The site enables the GWSR to promote themselves online far more than before and begin to increase revenue through a range of activities across the business. It also gives their brand a strong foundation that they can build from, their e-shot being the first of many touchpoints to take its lead from the visual style.