Background to the business
Based in Wareham, Dorset, Darglow Engineering is an innovator in the sailboat sector, manufacturing drag-reducing propellers for boat owners looking to improve the performance of their vessels. Established over 40 years ago, their range of FeatherStream propellers are hand-built in their workshop by a team of engineers ensuring each one is a perfect fit for each individual boat.
The business has seen considerable growth over the last few years; building a strong reputation and following and they regularly exhibit at some of the largest boat shows around the world.
The team approached us to evolve the Darglow Engineering brand to match their exclusive proposition. They needed a fresh website design that could turn their existing online presence into a powerful tool for showcasing their innovative marine engineering work, and drive leads and sales.
Our challenge
Darglow’s old website had been in place for over eight years – so one of the initial challenges we were tasked with was how to modernise the brand whilst retaining its long-standing traditional engineering values.
Their propellers are bought by discerning sailboat owners looking for performance improvements. Darglow were keen to improve the visibility of their products online, whilst clearly communicating the benefits and advantages of its propeller range.
Presenting a specialist and technically complex product range in a simple format can be difficult, so it was important to clearly define the benefits and differentiate their propellers from their competitors.
Our approach
We worked with the existing Darglow Engineering brand to create a more distinctive and modern online identity whilst retaining the character and heritage of the original logo.
The colour palette was refined and the new look and feel was carried through the whole of the new website. We majored on the visual aspect of this site – showcasing their products with lots of close up imagery and in-situ photographs. We simplified the navigation and user journey in order to make it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for quickly. The site is fully responsive so content is optimised across devices.
The site features:-
- Choose your boat and propeller selection tool
- Interactive product imagery
- Support material with specifications, fitting manuals and instruction videos
- E-commerce shop for spares and accessories
- Four native language landing pages for overseas visitors
Our results
The new Darglow website is polished, easy to navigate and showcases a company that is passionate about producing the best propellers in the world.
The new testimonials section provides a great way to connect with site visitors and highlight all the different types of work that the company does. The user experience has been refined, and actively drives leads through the custom contact form and e-commerce shop.
Key Project outcomes
- Increase in enquiries – up 50% year on year
- Page 1 Google listings for propeller related keyword
We approached Key Digital to completely redesign our website from the ground up. Their professionalism, expertise and attention to detail has been refreshing. We've already seen a reduction in bounce rates and increased conversions!
Nick Gifford