Now that it’s finished, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief. The new site boasts incredible functionality, fun navigation, and enhanced engagement that is already impacting conversions. The best part of the site, besides the fact that it launched on time and on budget, is that within the first few days of launch, analytics were reporting a 200% increase in applications from writers around the world. And as managing partner of Vital, Zac Gregg said, “these results are what it’s all about.”

“Our process-driven and analytical approach to making architectural improvements, balanced with a creative and engaging user experience, are at the heart of these successful metrics. At Vital, our ultimate goal is to seamlessly blend form and functionality to achieve real ROI for our customers. With Scripted’s insights and objectives and our process and website development team, we were able to accomplish something very special here,” said Gregg.

Upon launching the website, Scripted saw immediate results and increases in their website analytics and conversion rates. They saw statistical improvements like:

These measurements were taken just weeks after launch. Months later, these increases continue to grow and conversion rate optimization continues to be refined.

Managing the project was no small task, either.

From its inception, this website development project was given top priority and approached with realistic expectations. Scripted’s co-founders, Sunil Rajaraman (CEO) and Ryan Buckley (COO), were at every meeting, they were engaged and they were willing to resource this project with whatever it took. At the same time, they were realistic. They knew that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Their goal for launch was a site that was innovative and functional, one that would serve as platform for the company’s future growth. However, they were not so naïve to think they could achieve perfection without user experience. They understood that perfecting this website would come post launch and budgeted time and resources to continue the website development process even after we went live.

Looking back, the project served as a model for how a client-agency relationship should be approached. Under the guidance of Delanoy, the project was not only healthy from a client-agency standpoint, but it was a screaming success because we were able to ship the site on time and on budget. And as anyone who has ever read Seth Godin’s “The Truth About Shipping” (or watch this video, start about 5 mins in to learn the difference between shipping and thrashing ), projects are often marred with resistance.

“The resistance leads people to make suggestions that slow you down, suggestions that water down your idea, suggestions that lead to compromises that lead to design death.”
— Seth Godin

It was Scripted’s  and Vital’s collective recognition of this resistance that allowed us to overcome these stumbling blocks and turn over a project that not only met the demands of Scripted, but also exceeded even our own expectations.

“The relationship made this build a lot of fun for the Vital team,” said Delanoy. “Scripted asked informed questions, gave clear feedback and kept up with us in every phase of the project. Having that great dynamic helped us win their trust and allowed us to lead the process without much push back. The end result was one of the cleanest, most strategic websites we’ve ever produced. It looks great and continues to perform, generating leads and sales at a significantly higher conversion rate. That being said, we know we aren’t done yet. Scripted continues to analyze and request updates on a daily basis to this day. We continue to learn a lot about the design and the performance of the user interface, which not only makes us better at our job, but gives our client a product that only gets better with time.”

But the true success story for this website came at its very inception, when Scripted chose an outsider of a website development agency like Vital to lead their most important corporate initiative.

When Scripted chose Vital, they had just closed a multi-million dollar Series A round of funding. With investors like Redpoint Ventures and Crosslink Capital, the bar was set high. They wanted to see a website and a digital marketing strategy capable getting the job done. They wanted growth. And in order to do this, it was clear that Scripted needed a best-in-class website capable of converting at an exponential rate.

After interviewing and rejecting 25+ firms from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York — some of the best web design agencies in the country — Scripted realized their strongest talent pool was likely right underneath their noses. By looking within the pool of their own clients, they could churn up someone more capable of telling the Scripted story, rather than getting lost in some mega agency that had no idea what Scripted was all about. Even though Vital had used them before, a familiarity with Scripted’s products wasn’t enough. Company leaders were unwilling to sacrifice quality and talent for an understanding of their product. They wanted an agency that could push the envelope of website design and functionality while accurately depicting their competitive distinctions. They wanted the best of both worlds, and like all clients, they needed the agency to deliver on time and on budget.

“We evaluated 30 design firms before we decided to go with Vital, they’ve done an absolutely amazing job — they earn my highest possible recommendation.” — Sunil Rajaraman, CEO, Scripted

The interview process with Scripted was grueling. It involved close scrutiny of Vital’s proposal, process and past clients — not to mention evaluation of everyone within the agency.

For Gregg, it was clear from the beginning that Scripted was a sophisticated client with loads of potential — meaning getting their business would be a tall task. Even as one of the best web design companies north of New York City, Gregg said he knew getting the job would be a true test of Vital’s discipline and fortitude.

“Even when we had passed all their tests, it seemed like they were still reluctant to give it to us,” said Gregg. “I’m not sure they could come to terms with using an East Coast / Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Boston, MA-based company with so much talent around them.”