Sasol Limited corporate website case study
Project overview
In 2023, Breeze Website Designers (BWD) partnered with Sasol to redesign, rebuild, and relaunch their corporate website, www.sasol.com, on Drupal. The goal was to deliver a modern, scalable, and secure platform that reflects Sasol’s global brand while providing stakeholders with fast, intuitive, and reliable access to information. The website is hosted on cPanel infrastructure with a managed services layer for security, backups, and performance optimization.
Website design UX/UI
- Discovery & Research: Conducted stakeholder workshops and audience mapping exercises to identify user needs—investors, employees, suppliers, media, and regulators.
- Information Architecture: Streamlined complex content into a logical, layered navigation structure.
- UX Wireframes & Prototypes: Built in Figma with a focus on accessibility (WCAG 2.1 standards) and responsiveness across mobile, tablet, and desktop.
- UI Design System: Developed a consistent visual language aligned with Sasol’s corporate identity—typography, color palette, iconography, and imagery guidelines.
- Outcome: A clean, modern interface with mega-menus, dynamic content blocks, and optimized readability.
Development
- CMS Platform: Drupal 9 was chosen for its enterprise-grade capabilities, flexibility, and multilingual support.
- Custom Modules: Built bespoke modules for investor relations, careers, and media center integration.
- Performance Optimization: Leveraged caching (Varnish, Memcached) and minification for speed.
- Integration: Connected with third-party systems (share price feeds, sustainability reporting data, and HR platforms).
- Outcome: A scalable and robust codebase ready for continuous improvement and future upgrades.
SEO (Search engine optimization)
- Technical SEO: Optimized site architecture, URL structures, canonical tags, and schema markup to improve crawlability.
- On-Page SEO: Content templates designed with headings, meta descriptions, and keyword hierarchy for maximum visibility.
- Performance SEO: Page speed optimization (<2.5s average load time) to meet Google Core Web Vitals standards.
- Multilingual SEO: Ensured language tags and region-specific meta data for global audiences.
- Ongoing Monitoring: Monthly reports on organic traffic, impressions, and keyword performance.
- Outcome: Improved search rankings across priority keywords, with consistent growth in organic traffic and investor-related queries.
Hosting & support
- Hosting Setup: Deployed on a high-availability cPanel environment, optimized for Drupal.
- Monitoring: Implemented uptime and performance monitoring (UptimeRobot, server-side logs).
- Support SLA: 24/7 availability with issue resolution processes.
- Backups & Recovery: Automated daily backups with disaster recovery tested quarterly.
- Outcome: Consistent uptime (>99.9%) and stable hosting environment.
Maintenance
- Regular Updates: Monthly Drupal core and module updates.
- Content Support: Assisted Sasol’s internal team with content publishing, media uploads, and training.
- Bug Fixes & Enhancements: Continuous improvements logged via timesheet-based retainer (50-hour cap per month).
- Outcome: A future-proofed website, regularly updated for performance, compliance, and user satisfaction.
Project manager
- Methodology: Agile-lite approach with clear phases—Discovery, UX/UI, Development, Alpha, Beta, Launch.
- Tools: Jira and Trello for task tracking; weekly status updates with Sasol project managers.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Workshops and review sessions to ensure alignment across departments (Investor Relations, Communications, IT, and HR).
- Outcome: A collaborative process that kept the project on budget and within agreed timelines.
Cybersecurity
- Firewall & DDoS Protection: Integrated Sucuri Web Application Firewall.
- Vulnerability Testing: Regular penetration tests and code audits (including reports from UltraRed).
- SSL & Encryption: Full HTTPS with HSTS enforcement.
- User Access Controls: Role-based permissions and multi-factor authentication for admins.
- Outcome: A hardened website infrastructure with zero critical security incidents post-launch.
Results
- Brand Presence: A digital platform that reflects Sasol’s global reputation.
- User Experience: Improved engagement with intuitive navigation and mobile-first design.
- Performance: Faster page load times (avg. <2.5 seconds).
- Security: Fully compliant with corporate IT and cybersecurity standards.
- Scalability: Ready for expansion into microsites, campaigns, and investor updates.