A search-first website that brings information, leads and control together

Client challenge

Stahl is a global leader in chemical solutions for leather, textiles, plastics and coatings. The brand serves a wide range of markets, each with different information needs. Their goal: an international corporate website where users can quickly and purposefully find the right information, while Stahl retains full control over content, generates leads and shapes the user experience on their own terms.

Process

We started by analyzing the existing site structure, content architecture and search behavior. It quickly became clear that classic navigation was not enough to support the complex range of products, markets and use cases. Together with our content and SEO experts, we laid the groundwork for a new structure built around search engine optimization, on-site search performance and content flexibility.

The mindset: move from navigation to findability, and from an informative site to a conversion-focused funnel. Every layer of the platform, from URL structure to CMS blocks, was designed with searchability, scalability and results in mind.

Solution

The new Stahl website combines a fully SEO-optimized backend with smart on-page search functionality and a conversion-driven setup:

• Custom SEO structure
  Navigation and URLs were decoupled and rebuilt for maximum visibility in search engines. Everything is modular within October CMS, giving content teams full flexibility.

• Elasticsearch integration
  Users can quickly find relevant content using a powerful search that filters by tags rather than page content. Outdated or irrelevant results are automatically filtered, and Stahl stays fully in control of what is shown and how.

• Marketing automation
  All contact and download forms are directly linked to ActiveCampaign, ensuring that new leads are instantly routed to the sales team.

• Smart image handling
  A custom compression tool automatically reduces image sizes at upload without compromising quality. This boosts site speed and improves SEO performance.

• Custom design
  Thanks to modular content blocks, content teams can easily create new pages that are visually strong, technically solid and optimized for both desktop and mobile.

Results

The new Stahl platform is built for global growth and smart lead generation:

• Users find relevant content faster through integrated search

• Contact moments have increased thanks to streamlined user flow

• Content management is flexible and scalable with full control over layout and structure

• Page speed and SEO rankings have improved through technical optimization