The challenge
Metrotile first approached me back in 2013, looking for a fresh website design that better reflected their growing business. That initial site served them well for over four years, but by 2016, their branding, messaging and marketing had evolved significantly – including a new television advert and updated slogan. They came back to me for a major redesign and rebuild, and this time it was my biggest project to date.
Their previous site had grown organically over time, and the biggest challenge was restructuring the vast amount of content into a user-friendly, scalable architecture. With an already established visitor base, we couldn’t afford to get the hierarchy or flow wrong.
Project Snapshot
| Client Type: | Direct Business |
| Working together since: | 2013 |
| What we did: | UX Design, Front-End Development, WordPress |
| Additional Team: | Ed (Web Design) |
From audit to action
We kicked off the 2016 rebuild with a full UX audit and planning phase. This involved a deep dive into their existing content, identifying what to keep, what to streamline, and how to better support user journeys. This ranged from roofing professionals looking for CAD drawings to homeowners seeking inspiration. Working collaboratively with Metrotile’s internal team, we spent seven weeks mapping out a logical, expandable content structure.
A flexible, modern redesign
Once the new architecture was in place, I worked alongside designer Ed to bring the refreshed brand to life online. The site was rebuilt from scratch using HTML5, Sass, and JavaScript, before being integrated into a custom WordPress theme. We stripped away unnecessary plugins, added streamlined editing tools, and future-proofed the backend with clean, maintainable code.
Introducing a dedicated knowledge base
One of the most impactful changes was the creation of a full Knowledge Base on a subdomain. This housed technical documentation, certifications, installation guides, CAD drawings, and FAQs — all organised with powerful search functionality and clear categorisation. It turned what was once an overwhelming collection of PDFs into a structured, user-friendly hub of resources.
A site built to last
Launched in early 2018, the website has now been live for over 7 years, and still holds up. It’s a testament to the careful planning, solid development and collaborative effort behind it. While we’ve made updates along the way, the core of the site remains the same – a robust, high-performing platform that continues to serve Metrotile’s audience today.
The result
Since its relaunch in 2018, the Metrotile website has remained a reliable and effective platform, both for the marketing team and their audience. Even now, over seven years on, the site continues to deliver strong results: in a 30 day period, Google Analytics has shown over 20,000 tracked events, 4,200 active users, and 4,000 new users.
The long lifespan of the site is a testament to the solid foundation we built. From thoughtful UX planning to performance-first development – and it continues to support Metrotile’s marketing, technical, and customer service goals.
