113 websites, 110 domains, hundreds of authors and editors, fragmented SEO, and an aging Drupal architecture. For The Public Interest Network (TPIN) and its network of well-known political and social change websites, the challenge wasn’t just updating their sites, it was totally rethinking the digital presentation of their network to make it easier to manage and more effective at driving action.
Teal and TPIN partnered to solve this challenge and make this powerful network greater than the sum of its parts. Our goal was simple: help TPIN reach a much larger audience, win more hearts and minds for TPIN’s vision and campaigns, and persuade more people to get involved in social action to make our world greener, safer, and healthier—for all.
Restructuring for Impact
At its core, TPIN is four unique brands: U.S. PIRG, Environment America, Frontier Group, and The Public Interest Network. Under each is a mix of state affiliates and c3 organizations, all working together to push for policy change from the local level up to the national level.
After a deep research phase including 23 interviews, workshops, user personas, surveys, and analytics reviews, we knew that a smart restructure could boost SEO, improve the visitor experience, ease the admin experience, and drive more positive and impactful action.
Top Redesign Priorities
Reduce the number of top-level domains
Move to one CMS with easy content sharing across the network
Build one essential architecture that’s then customized to each brand
Improve permissions and control so hundreds of authors can contribute successfully
The most important change, however, was a shift in TPIN’s content strategy. Instead of just creating a new report page with a pdf, TPIN can now tell a fuller and more persuasive story about how people are taking action on an issue—and then leverage that story across the whole TPIN network.
One Framework, Millions of Possibilities
Teal created a new shared architecture for TPIN’s network of sites. It’s customized to each brand, styled to match each organization’s look and feel, and all underpinned by a rich foundation of components and options so editors can let the content drive the design, not the other way around.
TPIN leverages a BYO-component builder to create bespoke article pages that tell the full story—from conservation efforts to energy policy and local efforts to change the politics of progress. The system makes it easy for an editor to embed photos, charts, and CTAs—so a visit becomes an action, and a visitor turns into a long-term member.
The ground-up rebuild of The Public Interest Network gives a powerful network of advocates a new platform to push for change. And as the SEO improvements and efficiencies continue to grow—including a 235% increase in search engine traffic to Environment America—the collective impact of TPIN’s work will expand as well. With the planet at stake, we’re grateful to support the TPIN team as they put their new plan, and platform, into action.
