Growing the online reach of the UK's favourite National Park
Brand Strategy | Print | Web Design | Web Development
The project
We were appointed by Northumberland National Park to design and build a network of websites to support each of the strands of the Park’s operation. A primary website was to showcase the things to do and places to visit in the Park, with secondary websites facilitating the launch of The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre and the Northumberland National Park Foundation.
An overarching narrative and campaign was also to be developed to tell the story of the Park and the people and places in it.
The campaign
We wanted to move away from exclusively using landscape photography and show people interacting with the landscape. Whether it be families, younger people or older people, our goal was to show that the Park is for everyone.
We developed the campaign message “Get stuck in…” and, with photographer Ryan Edy, produced photography that showed the limitless possibilities available in the Park.
Online exploration
We created a clearly defined structure that made it easy for users to see the full range of things to do and places to go in the Park.
A custom Google Maps integration allowed content publishers to create context-sensitive maps and help users plan their visit and discover more places.
Flexible content
We built the website on a WordPress content management system that was customised to allow content publishers to create unique page layouts by selecting from a set of content types.
The result is content-rich pages that engage readers and showcase the best the Park has to offer.
Bespoke booking platform
A key motivation for the project was to extend the Park’s events offering. We integrated a new booking system and CRM with the websites that allows users to buy tickets online.
The same system is used at visitor centres meaning that a single integrated platform is used for all event ticketing across all of the Park’s offering.
Multi-site
The websites are part of a WordPress multi-site network, meaning that any number of sites can be powered by a single content management system.
User management is centrally controlled and only a single codebase requires maintenance. The result is a secure, robust environment that is capable of supporting future expansion.
