Plato Catering Hire website redevelopment
Plato Catering Hire is a multi-award-winning catering equipment hire company based in Warwickshire. Established in 1999, Plato Catering Hire has built a strong reputation for offering a comprehensive range of catering equipment, including crockery, glassware, cutlery, linen, furniture, and kitchen appliances. The company serves a wide array of clients, offering tailored solutions to meet the diverse needs of the catering industry.
The Project
Our partnership with Plato Catering Hire has been ongoing for several years, where we’ve been providing SEO and digital strategy services. In 2024, Plato approached us with the task of redeveloping their website. The main objective was to transition from a dated and unsupported platform to a more flexible and modern WordPress installation, elevating the brand’s digital presence.
The previous website design felt outdated and didn’t adequately reflect the personality or premium positioning of the brand. Our goal was to create a sleek, simple design that conveyed a boutique, high-quality service. We aimed to create a website that would not only be visually appealing but also functionally efficient for both users and content managers.
Key Features & Developments
- Platform migration
The website was migrated from an unsupported platform to WordPress to improve long-term sustainability, performance, and flexibility. - WooCommerce integration
We integrated WooCommerce to provide pre-commerce functionality, allowing users to submit items for a quote. This feature would make the process of obtaining a quote quicker and more streamlined. - Product database and category pages
Instead of relying on WooCommerce-generated pages, we created custom product category pages. This gave us full control over the format and content of each page, ensuring that each product category was presented in the most user-friendly and search engine friendly way. - Refined quoting process
The quoting process was fine-tuned to filter out customers who were outside of the target service area. This helped the team focus their efforts on more qualified leads and increased the chances of conversion. - Quick quote feature
We added a quick quote feature that enabled users to quickly compile a quote without needing to browse through an extensive list of category and product pages. This proves particularly helpful for the target audience who are looking to hire a large number of items repeatedly. - Integration with Ortto and AutopilotHQ
The platform was integrated with Ortto and AutopilotHQ tools that they use for automation and communication with potential clients. - New content development
We worked on creating new content for the website, including a Newsletter sign-up, and messaging around ‘The Plato Experience’. The blog content was audited to better align with the needs of businesses, rather than individuals, ensuring it resonated more with the target audience. Additionally, we implemented a theme pyramid structure to effectively categorise the content, improve user experience and also enhance ongoing SEO efforts, ensuring the site continues to rank well for relevant search terms.
The Results
Following the launch of the redesigned website, we’ve seen significant improvements in key performance metrics. Some of the key results include:
- Increased UK traffic to 71% of views compared to just 57% the previous year. The old platform was generating a lot of irrelevant traffic from the US, which skewed data. By refining and optimising content and structuring it more effectively, we were able to significantly filter out this irrelevant traffic.
- 30% uplift in user engagement as a result of the improved design and user experience. The streamlined content and quoting process made it easier for potential clients to engage with the website and request quotes.
- Effective filtration of customer enquiries from outside the target area, effectively streamlining internal processes. This improved the quality of enquiries, making the sales team’s job easier and allowing them to focus on high-value leads.
- The site health score improved dramatically, reaching 97 compared to just 50 on the old platform. This was a significant improvement, reflecting better performance, faster load times, and better overall user experience.
- The migration to WordPress has facilitated improved flexibility and management of both products and content. The new system allows content editors to update and manage content more easily compared to the previous platform, offering better control and efficiency in day-to-day operations.
These results are a direct result of careful planning, collaboration, strategic development, and the integration of powerful tools. With the website now performing at a higher level and better aligned with the brand’s premium service, Plato Catering Hire is in a strong position to continue growing its digital presence and attract high-quality leads.
