Delta Sigma Pi

Sitefinity Development and Third-Party Integration


Delta Sigma Pi
  • Migrated content from Joomla to Sitefinity CMS
  • Performed content audit on more than 700 pages and PDF files
    • Created legacy sitemap for 301 redirect planning
  • Created new content
    • Redeveloped content to speak to five core audiences
    • Created 150 new SEO-rich content pages  
    • Rewrote 75 content pages to enhance SEO
    • Edited 75 content pages to enhance SEO
  • Inserted more than 300 consolidated content pages, 700 PDF files, and 200 images into new Sitefinity website
  • Created custom chapter locator and connected it to third-party database
  • Implemented Sitefinity eCommerce and migrated existing products
  • Created password-protected Members Area and migrated secure content
  • Implemented single sign-on with third-party user accounts
  • Implemented comprehensive 301 redirect strategy
  • Created and implemented new Sitefinity templates
  • Implemented responsive design
    • Used the Sitefinity Layout builder to allow client to manage layouts and responsive design capabilities

“After looking at numerous vendors, we were drawn to BoxCrush because of their experience with the Sitefinity CMS and their tell-it-like-it-is attitude.  We knew we needed not a vendor, but a partner, as we underwent a complete website overhaul.  New design, new features, and completely new content.  The BoxCrush team took the time to learn about our organizational structure, history, and operations so that they could write the content, build the integrations, and most importantly, guide us through a massive undertaking.”
- Jeremy Levine

Delta Sigma Pi is the premier co-ed business fraternity in the United States, with over 260,000 initiates in the U.S. and around the world. Members work together to build professional skills, leadership abilities, management potential, and character. The fraternity’s central office is in Oxford, Ohio, adjacent to the Miami University campus.

Challenge:

Delta Sigma Pi’s existing website had become unmanageable over the years, with thousands of files, images, and pages. Navigation was cumbersome and confusing, and staff members could not easily find or update content.

Fraternity leadership knew alumni and collegiate members expected a state-of-the-art, mobile-friendly website – members needed to be able to access information while on-the-go. And the existing mish-mash of content management systems supporting its website would not be able to provide the solution Delta Sigma Pi needed.


Solution

BoxCrush conducted a content audit of more than 700 pages and PDF files, finding the duplicates, the incomplete, and the irrelevant. Due to the limitations of the previous content management platform, BoxCrush had to create the (rather large) sitemap by hand as the organization of content both new and old was planned out.

The BoxCrush team worked closely with Delta Sigma Pi to define target audiences. BoxCrush then created five website-visitor personas, as a starting point content creation, and wrote content for each specific persona. Existing content was edited or restructured to align with the five personas.

One of the most important pieces of this project was creating a custom chapter locator for alumni members. BoxCrush built a custom interface with a pre-existing third-party database (Patriot) to populate map data that could be sorted by chapters, provinces, states, and status.

BoxCrush worked with the Patriot team to develop a single-user user interface for fraternity members. Members can log in to the Delta Sigma Pi website to access protected information and chapter management tools on Patriot’s system with no need to log in again.

 

“What impressed me the most about BoxCrush, was that they did not simply disappear once the site launched. Their staff is in regular contact with our people and they have continued to improve the site's features, look, and performance in the time since we went live. We do appreciate the efforts to overcome all the challenges.

Although, they did make me sit in the front row for Star Wars. Resulting in severe neck and spinal damage. Statute of limitations expires in 6 years.”

- Bill Schilling

 

BoxCrush developed several other custom Sitefinity modules for the website that interface with Patriot in real-time. Fraternity members who are logged in can:

  • Update their member profile

  • Submit achievements and life events

  • Buy jewelry and materials from the Deltasig shop (using integrated Sitefinity eCommerce)

  • Submit nominations for fraternity boards and committees

When tearing down a previous web property and replacing it with a new one, it is vital that no harm is done to an organization’s search rank positioning. Using the hand-created sitemap, BoxCrush mapped the URL path locations of all old content and redirected it to the new URL locations on a one-to-one basis. This strategy enabled every old URL to redirect to the corresponding page on the new website, preserving existing Google search results, user bookmarks, and thousands of links from third-party websites.

When the new Delta Sigma Pi website went live, it ranked just as high in organic search as the legacy site had been ranking, and within days of launching, it climbed higher and higher in rankings. The site works well on any device, and in any browser. The new site is easier to navigate, and each of the five personas can find their way around without confusion.

Delta Sigma Pi’s new Sitefinity website met each of the organization's goals. The new site successfully preserved what they wanted to keep and introduced new features and functionality for the best user experience.