Situation

Online content has become a go-to resource for informing opinions and aiding in our decision-making process when it comes to food and everyday essentials. Pew Research shows 100% of millennials use the internet daily. Illinois Farm Families, a trusted voice on food and farming information, wants to ensure it’s providing an optimal experience for young parents to find this information where they’re looking for it: online.

Objective

Create a comprehensive and easy-to-use web experience that helps millennial parents feel confident they can find trustworthy, relevant information about food and farming.

Approach

We layer timely and relevant food topics consumers are searching about with farmer perspectives in a user-friendly web experience.

• Annual editorial calendar and ongoing fresh blog content, based on trending Google keyword searches, is added to the Watch Us Grow website each month, with a home page content refresh conducted every other month.
• The Innovation Grows Here™ page features Illinois farmers’ commitment to sustainability solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges, like reducing plastic waste, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and protecting pollinators.
• A Dietitian Resources tab provides a one-stop shop for farm-to-fork information this influencer audience is searching for.
• Farmer profiles highlight the many Illinois farm families who are responsibly raising food and other everyday goods to enhance our lives

Results

A revamped user experience and well-defined SEO strategy position the IFF website as a trusted hub of food and farming information.

The Illinois Farm Families website saw a 53% increase in organic traffic 100K VISITORS to the Watch Us Grow website in the first year, surpassing our goal by 25%. The new Illinois Farm Families website saw a 152% increase in direct traffic