Case study
NGA: A Modern Website for a Growing Membership Body
The National Governance Association (NGA) is the national membership body for governors, trustees and governance professionals in England's state schools and academy trusts. Formed in 2006 from the merger of the National Governors' Council and the National Association of School Governors, NGA now supports over 80,000 members with research, advice and professional development. As governance in the sector has grown more complex, NGA needed a digital presence that could keep pace with its expanding services.
Challenges
- A website that no longer matched NGA's growing ambition or breadth of services
- Members struggling to navigate and find content across a large library
- The need to encourage membership and clearly show the value of NGA's services
Outcomes
- A redesigned Umbraco 10 website with optimised journeys and a complex tagging, search and filtering system
- 60% year-on-year increase in organic visibility, and a 16% increase in sessions per user
- A successful SEO migration that protected visibility through launch
The Challenge
The National Governance Association, the membership body for governors, trustees and governance professionals in England's state schools and trusts, needed a website to reflect its growing ambition. After a competitive tender, NGA chose Mentor Digital to take their website forward into the new education landscape with a full redesign and build. The key aims were to display their breadth of services, encourage membership, and make content easy to find for all users.
The Solution
Mentor began with stakeholder workshops with NGA's senior team and trustees, plus user research interviews and a member questionnaire. That insight shaped improved information architecture, optimised user journeys, wireframes, design concepts and prototypes, before implementing Umbraco 10 with integration to a complex CRM.
"Mentor's staff provided expertise, understanding NGA's strategic objectives and ensuring a user-friendly website. They successfully overcame complex technical challenges, demonstrating expertise in the membership sector. Working with Mentor has been a really positive and rewarding experience."
— Michael Wilcox, Business Change Consultant, Hart Square
Results and Impact
The site delivers an exceptional member experience from onboarding to renewal, using personalisation and gated content to demonstrate the value of NGA's services. Built by Mentor's award-winning creative team with micro-animations and meticulous attention to detail, it is powered by a complex tagging, search and filtering system in Umbraco. Careful content migration and technical SEO monitoring ensured a successful migration with minimal post-launch impact, delivering a 60% year-on-year increase in organic visibility, a 54% improvement in organic search rankings, a 20% increase in engagement rate, and a 16% increase in sessions per user. Mentor also delivered a separate brand refresh for NGA, reflecting their role in shaping the practice and culture of school and trust governance.
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