Summary
Ballston, Virginia is a vibrant, emerging business community and urban neighborhood just outside of Washington, D.C. It’s comprised of businesses and residential properties alike, and has exploded with shopping, restaurants, offices and housing in recent years. The Ballston Business Improvement District, also known as the BID, is responsible for the vision behind this amazing suburb through dynamic branding and programming. A major component of this is serving as an online resource center for the community, whether it be for business owners, employees, or residents.
In 2019, the BID found themselves undergoing a total rebrand, and recognized that they needed a new website to accompany it. Being that Knucklepuck is based in beloved-Ballston, we jumped at the opportunity to bring this vision to life for our neighbor.
The Challenge
The BID’s previous website was built on Drupal, a free, open-source content management framework, however it was not functional for the organization’s needs. With their prior site platform, the BID couldn’t add or edit content, nor could they even alter website colors or easily change images.
The old homepage of ballstonva.org
The new homepage of ballstonva.org
In a neighborhood that prides themselves for being versatile and engaging, the old website was anything but – to the degree that the BID stopped sending their audience to the website.
The poor user experience also prevented the BID from showing as authoritative on Google’s search engine results page (SERP).
The Solution
Knucklepuck started with an in-depth discovery process to help drive consensus from many different opinions for what the new website should look like. This included collaborating with an outside branding agency to ensure that the new website would balance design with an intuitive user experience for BID site admins and visitors alike.
Knucklepuck developed a custom WordPress website, complete with a homepage builder that allows the BID to create new pages using blocks specifically designed for the content and features specific to the BIDs needs. This was especially important during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the BID needed to communicate time-sensitive information quickly and clearly without having to go back and forth with a website management vendor.
When the pandemic hit, the BID used the Homepage Builder tool to Highlight a COVID-19 Neighborhood Updates page, communicating community needs, relief, safety measures, etc.
COVID-19 Updates page created using the custom homepage builder
Another core component that Knucklepuck created for the BID was a custom AMS integration for GrowthZone, an association management software with marketing automation features. Before this, the BID had been trying to integrate GrowthZone for nearly two years with little success.
Knucklepuck built a interactive business directory using GrowthZone in the form of a map, allowing users to search for businesses based on labels like Stay, Work, Transportation, Eat, etc. This allowed businesses to ensure they were visible to potential customers, and allowed users to find exactly what they were looking for.
Interactive map built to highlight businesses in Ballston
The Results
The BID finally had a website they wanted to push traffic towards and users could now easily find what they were looking for using the interactive map directory. Time-sensitive community update? No problem. The BID can spin up a landing page on their own, adding images and editing content as needed. The custom AMS integration allows them to enter information in one place, keeping it cohesive, coherent and up-to-date.
The cherry on top? SEO visibility has improved dramatically! Ballstonva.org is now more prominent on the SERP when users search for Ballston, now showing as a leading resource for the Ballston community.
“2020 presented challenges we may not have overcome without the new website and platform. The versatility, functionality, and ease in updating content has made all the difference in the world,” said Thomas Philibin, Communications Director at the BID. “Our site finally matches the smart, exciting, vibrant community of Ballston.”
