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The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents more than 150,000 civil engineers in 177 countries. As the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering content, ASCE struggled to quickly connect users with relevant content across their vast array of publications—in the face of a fast-approaching deadline for their website technology.
ASCE knew they needed to better serve specific audiences, such as engineering students and international members, but were seeking data insights to guide their strategy. We conducted extensive research on their users’ needs and website behavior, which we turned into detailed personas and user journeys to underpin the website strategy. These tools helped put our client in their users’ shoes, shaping key decisions throughout the project.
Our research made a strong case for integrating several ASCE websites, many of which had inconsistent content strategies, CMS platforms, and branding. Analytics insights revealed that some weren’t drawing much traffic and were even competing with each other for Google rankings. We integrated several of the sites and developed a single search destination to unify ASCE’s universe of content, which includes more than 200,000 publications and journals.
We developed a new architecture that puts users first—organizing content based on why users come to the site, rather than by the ASCE org chart. Our research found that many users want content relevant to their career stage, so we made relevant content easy to find for different career phases.
ASCE is the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering content, offering a wealth of relevant content that wasn’t easy to find. We created topic pages that collect content from across their network of professional journals, practice resources, email newsletters, and a robust news and information hub—all driven by a new, consistent taxonomy. So now a civil engineer looking for content about sustainability can find it all in one place.
Because content was written by so many ASCE teams, it lacked a consistent voice. We took cues from ASCE’s most effective marketing campaigns to create a single, unified voice, emphasizing optimism and engagement. As part of the new content strategy, we also met with stakeholders and content creators to inform a detailed governance plan that identified roles, created accountability, and outlined a clear CMS workflow. Content creators can now bring a consistent experience to life through a CMS that eases their administrative burden.
To power ASCE’s digital transformation, we put into place a strong technical foundation. The new Sitecore CMS seamlessly connects with ASCE’s AMS, Personify. The CMS also dynamically updates the latest publications, journals, committees, institutes, regions, sections, branches, and staff/committee members. We developed a phased personalization strategy that starts with users easily accessing their communities and surfacing curated content. The ASCE team now has the tools to create a powerful, personalized experience for their audiences.
