Case study
RTPI: A Digital Home for the UK's Leading Planning Body
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the UK's chartered body for town planners, representing over 27,000 members across 88 countries. Founded in 1914 and granted a royal charter in 1970, the RTPI sets the standards for planning education and professional conduct, and shapes planning policy in the long-term public interest. With a growing international membership and a rebuilt digital brand to match, the organisation needed a website equal to its scale and ambition.
Challenges
- An ageing website no longer reflecting RTPI's modern brand or growing international ambition
- Complex membership, event booking and content needs across 27,000+ members
- Maintaining accessibility and search visibility through a full rebuild
Outcomes
- A contemporary Umbraco 13 website powered by a Dynamics 365 CRM member portal
- A fully accessible site, independently audited by Scope to WCAG AA
- 44% year-on-year increase in organic visibility, and a 100/100 Google accessibility rating
The Challenge
Mentor Digital has been the RTPI's digital partner since 2011. For the third iteration of their website, the RTPI, the UK's leading planning body representing over 27,000 members internationally, needed more than a refresh. They needed a site that brought their new branding to life, handled sophisticated membership and event functionality, and preserved the accessibility and search performance they had worked hard to build.
The Solution
Following planning workshops, Mentor delivered a design phase, first creating flat designs, then developing the frontend in a Pattern Library to bring RTPI's new digital brand to life. We implemented Umbraco 13 alongside a Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM-powered membership portal, event management and booking systems, and bespoke membership functionality.
The Process
Through focused sprints, we completed bespoke development including complex Dynamics 365 integrations, e-commerce and intuitive membership functionality. Accessibility was built in from the start: we worked closely with disability charity Scope throughout the build, and Scope audited the finished site to ensure it reached an AA WCAG rating prior to launch.
Results and Impact
The result is a robust, secure and sophisticated website that seamlessly reflects RTPI's modern brand and will continue to support the organisation's growth for years to come. The new site delivered a 44% year-on-year increase in organic visibility, a 53% improvement in organic search rankings, a 10% year-on-year increase in engagement rate, and a 100/100 Google accessibility rating.
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