customer project MrWork
A flexible website for a dynamic business
"It's a nice industry, nice and dynamic," says Annika van Leeuwen, Head of Marketing at MrWork.
"This is a cool company that wants to grow significantly in the coming years and make an impact. For that you need a good website."
Annika has been working at MrWork since April 2023. First as a marketing freelancer, but now in permanent employment. She should be, because she is quite ambitious. She has a clear plan for MrWork: build this year (check), scale next year, and dominate the year after that.
It started with her desire for a new website. That had been on MrWork's wish list for some time, but Annika got to work on it.
The assignment
Annika came to us through Anja den Hertog of Beyond Products. The design for a new site was created by Henry Handsome, who has been involved with MrWork from the beginning. Even while the website was being built, they were still working on the design, which made for a dynamic collaboration.
MrWork wanted a website that could grow with the company. They wanted an accessible system (WordPress) where they could easily make changes and test things themselves.
The lack of flexibility on the old site was a major annoyance. And they also wanted something that looked modern and pleasant. In just 3 months, Henry Handsome's design converted Buro Staal to a site that met all their needs.
"Buro Staal is a super nice organization to work with. They are a good fit for SMEs like ours."
Annika - MrWork
The situation
"We had already thought of doing a brand refresh in 2024. I wanted to give MrWork a boost. We had been running into the limitations of the old site for years. Everything had to be coded by the developers of the custom CMS so things took a long time, cost a lot and we couldn't test anything ourselves."
Annika articulates here one of the reasons we work with WordPress. We find it very important that our clients have control over their site after delivery. If they want, they can then modify things on the site themselves.
The goal
"We were looking for a website builder that suited us, also in terms of size and mindset. While MrWork is growing rapidly, it still feels like a small organization. So is Buro Staal. That's how they feel, anyway."
Annika reflects on our first meeting: "The first time I spoke to Rosanne online. I had spoken to 3 parties who all came with their own quote and plan. The offer from Buro Staal was just sharp and clear which way the site would go. To my mind, within that quote we could execute everything I wanted."
An appointment at MrWork's office followed. "What struck me immediately, which is why Buro Staal also felt like a smaller company, was that Rosanne didn't have a presentation at all, for example. She just talked about the company and the team. That was kind of typical."
The goal of the new site was clear. MrWork was looking for an organization that would think with them and build in WordPress so they could make changes themselves. They wanted a modern, secure, up-to-date site with good security.
The office appointment was on Feb. 13, 2024. Three months later, the site was live.
The approach
We built this site in FSE: Full Site Editing, the newest way within WordPress to build a site, as it is more forward-looking. Annika and the team at MrWork, combined with Henry Handsome, was very nice to work with. They were always well prepared and nicely ambitious.
"What I did find difficult about this collaboration is that one thing always had to wait for the other. That wasn't necessarily convenient," says Annika. "Sometimes the builders were waiting for the designers. But Buro Staal always remained positive that it was going to work."
Because of our weekly meetings, we had things well under control. Because the design was still being made and refined during construction, that was quite a challenge!
"The support bundle and videos with explanations are very nice. They respond quickly, which is nice for a flexible and dynamic organization like MrWork."
Annika - MrWork
Of course, there are always things that could be improved. For example, says Annika, "What was delivered sometimes lagged behind the latest design because communication was occasionally cluttered. The communication, also between Henry Handsome and Buro Staal, often went through me. In retrospect, it would have been more convenient if they had done that directly."
In addition to a lot of emails back and forth, we created a project management board in Asana to keep things under control. "That was handy," says Annika. "In that board, I was also assigned tasks. The one-on-one moments with Rosanne were very nice and important for the progress of the project."
The result
MrWork's new site went live in May 2024. We at Buro Staal are extremely proud of the result. I think it is really great how we all put this together.
"We are far from finished with Buro Staal!" says Annika. "The reactions are positive. Colleagues are enthusiastic about how it looks, what they can customize and test themselves and we have a nice place for customer stories."
The analysis of visitor figures is also something Annika is on top of. "We are analyzing the results on an ongoing basis. We are already seeing an increase in SEO performance. Everything is technically set up well by Buro Staal. Purely the unique visitors still have to go up, which has dropped significantly. But the number of sessions has increased by 15% and the average visitor duration is up from 1.5 to 3 minutes, so there is already more engagement."
"Everything is SEO set up well by Buro Staal. We are already seeing an increase in performance."
Annika - MrWork
Now it's time for MrWork to put the new site to work for their growth goals. "With a colleague added in the marketing department, I can more easily implement our further requirements, including for the website. With 40 colleagues, quite a lot happens. And I can now incorporate all that more easily into the site. For example, we have a survey out, which I am going to translate into a new page. But I still can't do everything myself on the site. Questions that I have to Buro Staal they do from the support bundle. I share input with them and they pick it up quickly. Or I get a clear video with explanation. Also nice."
Through intensive cooperation, and by all putting our shoulders to the wheel, we were able to produce a wonderful result. On to great developments!
