(Description)

As a specialized agency operating at the intersection of high-fidelity design and measurable algorithmic performance, our core mission is to transform a website from a static brochure into a 24/7 sales engine. This transformation requires rigorous technical execution and a strategic focus on future search dominance, specifically through Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

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Client: Sasol (Enterprise Web Design Division) Location: Sandton, South Africa Sector: Enterprise/Technology
Client: Sasol (Enterprise Web Design Division) Location: Sandton, South Africa Sector: Enterprise/Technology
Client: Sasol (Enterprise Web Design Division) Location: Sandton, South Africa Sector: Enterprise/Technology
Client: Sasol (Enterprise Web Design Division) Location: Sandton, South Africa Sector: Enterprise/Technology

Challenges & Objectives

/Before Designtalks

 

Client: Sasol (Enterprise Web Design Division) Location: Sandton, South Africa Sector: Enterprise/Technology.

 

The existing Sasol homepage, while visually professional, was suffering from a critical technical failure, directly impacting organic reach and user trust.

 

  • Technical Challenge (Speed Failure): The site was critically slow, taking over eight seconds to load. This performance deficit resulted in a dangerously low Google PageSpeed score of 45. In the age of Page Experience ranking signals, this level of speed failure leads to algorithmic de-prioritization and high bounce rates.

 

  • Algorithmic Challenge (Poor Page Experience): The low PageSpeed score indicated systemic failure in Google’s Core Web Vitals (CWV) assessment. This meant the site was consistently failing to meet the required benchmarks for Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).   

 

  • Business Objective: The previous technical foundation was preventing the site from achieving its mandate: driving quantifiable revenue and organic traffic growth.

/Our Core Objectives:

 

Our mandate was to stabilize the technical foundation and convert that stability into measurable business results.

 

1. Achieve the CWV Guarantee: Re-engineer the site’s architecture to achieve a “Good” rating on all Core Web Vitals (LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1).   

 

2. Maximize Technical E-E-A-T: Implement WCAG Level AA accessibility compliance and Hyper-Accurate Structured Data (Schema) to reinforce E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) signals.   

 

3. Drive ROI: Convert organic traffic growth into a verifiable revenue increase within the first three months post-launch.

/ Technology Stack & Strategic Execution

Our technical strategy focused on highly optimized architecture and performance-first development, ensuring the site was built to rank and scale.

 

  • High-Performance CMS: Custom, scalable WordPress development optimized for speed, security, and enterprise-level content management.
  • Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Implementing content architecture (Topic Clusters) and technical markup specifically designed to feed content to Google AI and secure AI citations.

 

  • Google Core Web Vitals Guarantee: Engineering the front-end code (CSS/JavaScript delivery) to ensure “Good” status on LCP, INP, and CLS for the first 90 days, eliminating algorithmic risk.

 

  • Hyper-Accurate Structured Data: Going beyond basic Schema markup to provide search engines with ultra-specific, machine-readable data, drastically increasing the likelihood of appearing in rich results.

 

  • Mobile-First Optimization: Rigorous adherence to mobile-first development to cater to South Africa’s mobile-dominant search market.

 

  • WCAG 2.1 Level AA: Compliance with global accessibility standards, fulfilling a critical, often-overlooked E-E-A-T signal for quality and inclusivity.

     

/Verifiable Results: Technical & Financial Outcomes.

After: The technical overhaul yielded immediate, dramatic, and measurable results, confirming the success of the performance-driven approach.

 

Before DT: PageSpeed Score 45 (Failing)

After DT (3 Months): PageSpeed Score 92 (Lightning Fast) +104% Improvement.

Revenue Growth: Significantly Increased +65% Revenue Increase.

Organic Traffic: Increased+48% Organic Traffic Growth.

As noted by the client, “The website is lightning-fast, improving their Google PageSpeed score from 45 to 92, and organic traffic has grown by 48%”. This success story provides undeniable, quantifiable proof of our technical Expertise (the first E in E-E-A-T).