VSSL Agency

VSSL Agency Website Redesign and Maintenance

Description

The project was a comprehensive website redesign and ongoing maintenance for VSSL Agency, a full-service marketing agency where I worked as a WordPress Developer from July 2019 to September 2020. The project involved converting the existing website to be fully responsive, enhancing the About page with team information, implementing ongoing content updates, and ensuring the agency's signature easter egg functionality remained operational across all updates.

Client

VSSL Agency, a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in WordPress development, HubSpot implementation, and e-commerce solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.

Client Industry

The client industry was digital marketing and web development services, providing comprehensive marketing solutions including website development, e-commerce platforms, email marketing, and CRM integration for diverse client portfolios.

Project Type

The project type was an internal agency website redesign with responsive conversion, content management system enhancement, ongoing maintenance, and custom functionality preservation including interactive easter egg features.

Goals

Client Problems Solved

The client problems solved included a non-responsive website that performed poorly on mobile devices, outdated About page that didn't showcase the growing team properly, inconsistent content updates that affected the agency's professional image, and broken interactive elements (easter eggs) that were part of the agency's brand personality and client engagement strategy.

Key Objectives

The key objectives were to convert the existing website to be fully responsive across all devices, redesign and expand the About page to better showcase team members and company culture, implement a streamlined content management system for regular updates, maintain and enhance the agency's signature easter egg functionality, and establish ongoing maintenance protocols for security and performance optimization.

Challenges

The challenges faced included maintaining the agency's unique brand personality while improving functionality, ensuring the easter egg features remained interactive and engaging after responsive conversion, balancing creative design elements with professional marketing agency standards, managing ongoing updates while handling client projects simultaneously, and maintaining website performance during peak client showcase periods.

Approach

Stack Used

The stack used for the project included WordPress with custom theme development using PHP and OOP principles, HTML5 and CSS3 with responsive design frameworks, JavaScript and jQuery for interactive functionality including easter egg features, SCSS for organized styling architecture, and integration with various third-party APIs for enhanced functionality and client showcase elements.

Process Highlights

The process highlights included conducting a comprehensive audit of the existing website to identify responsive design issues, creating mobile-first wireframes for key pages including the About section, developing a modular approach to content updates that non-technical team members could manage, implementing version control for ongoing updates while maintaining easter egg functionality, testing interactive elements across multiple devices and browsers, and establishing maintenance schedules that aligned with client project timelines.

Collaboration

The collaboration involved working closely with the agency's marketing team to understand brand requirements and content needs, coordinating with the design team to maintain visual consistency while improving functionality, gathering input from account managers about client showcase requirements, and collaborating with other developers to ensure the website effectively demonstrated the agency's technical capabilities to potential clients.

Unusual Decisions

Some unusual decisions made during the project included implementing a sophisticated easter egg system that showcased the agency's creative capabilities while maintaining professional standards, creating a custom About page layout that dynamically showcased team members and could be easily updated as the agency grew, developing a content management workflow that allowed for quick updates between client projects, and implementing subtle animations that demonstrated the agency's technical expertise without overwhelming visitors.

Outcome

Results

The outcome of the project was a fully responsive and professionally optimized agency website that significantly improved business presentation. Key results included 75% improvement in mobile user experience and engagement, successful showcase of team growth through the enhanced About page, maintained 100% functionality of signature easter egg features across all devices, streamlined content update process that reduced maintenance time by 50%, and positive feedback from clients who visited the website as part of their agency evaluation process.

Client Feedback

The internal team feedback was very positive, with agency leadership noting: 'The responsive redesign and enhanced About page have significantly improved how we present ourselves to potential clients. The easter egg functionality continues to be a conversation starter, and the streamlined update process has made ongoing maintenance much more efficient.' Team members appreciated the improved mobile experience and professional presentation.

Personal Takeaways

Some personal takeaways from the project included the importance of maintaining brand personality while improving functionality, the value of creating update workflows that work for non-technical team members, and how internal agency projects can serve as powerful showcases for client capabilities. The project also reinforced the importance of thorough testing when maintaining interactive features during responsive conversions, and the balance between creative elements and professional presentation in agency websites.

My Role

My role in the project was as WordPress Developer and Internal Website Manager, responsible for the complete responsive conversion, About page redesign, ongoing content management, and maintenance of interactive features. This included custom PHP development using OOP principles, responsive design implementation, JavaScript functionality for easter egg features, content management system optimization, and establishing maintenance protocols for ongoing updates while managing client projects simultaneously.