The company
xneelo (formerly Hetzner SA), is a leader in South African web hosting industry
Established in 1999, xneelo has grown significantly, delivering a reliable and consistent web hosting service. The company focuses on infrastructure stability, good value, and consistent service delivery, offering shared web hosting, managed and self-managed dedicated servers, and colocation rack hosting.
The challenges
Migrating from multisite to individual installations
The existing setup was a WordPress multisite, which presented challenges in management and performance. Migrating to individual WordPress installations was necessary to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Improving website performance and load times
The initial website had poor performance metrics, with desktop scoring 32/100 and mobile scoring 28/100. Enhancing these metrics was critical to providing a better user experience and improving site speed.
Improving performance and efficiency
Our first challenge was to improve website performance and code efficiency. The sites required comprehensive overhauls, while retaining existing look and feel. Our objectives were to boost performance metrics, migrate from a multisite setup, and ensure effective collaboration with xneelo’s internal team. Enhancing the website’s metrics was critical to providing a better user experience and improving site speed.
No code Help Centre content management
xneelo’s Help Centre required a dynamic content management system to regularly update and showcase important content. The challenge was to enable the xneelo marketing & support teams to manage content categories efficiently without needing software developers for coding requirements.
Evolving designs and user engagement
As xneelo evolved its brand and product offerings, they needed fresh designs incorporating effects and animations to keep users engaged. Implementing these designs without compromising performance was a key deliverable requirement .
The solutions
WordPress expertise aided improved performance and web design
We created a custom WordPress theme that significantly enhanced performance and user experience. Additionally, our team focused on optimising images, reducing unused code, and incorporating advanced A/B testing capabilities.
Remote collaboration and communication
Both teams use GitHub, Asana, Google Meet, Slack, and Figma for efficient project management and communication. These tools facilitated seamless collaboration, task tracking, and design iteration, while keeping all stakeholders on the same page.
Custom theme development and performance optimisation
We developed a custom WordPress theme using Underscores, integrated material design icons, optimised images, JS and CSS. Performance was also optimised by leveraging Cloudflare and implementing key strategies such as image compression using next-gen formats like WebP and AVIF. We also incorporated lazy-loading for offscreen and hidden images, minified CSS and JS, reduced unused JavaScript and third-party code impact, and removed Google Fonts. These measures ensure enhanced performance and an optimal user experience.
Help Centre enhancements
We created a custom template to manage Help Centre post categories without coding, using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for custom thumbnails, placement section checkboxes, and ordering numbers. This enabled the content team to efficiently manage and update the Help Centre, keeping it relevant and user-friendly.
Help Centre articles also include How to steps with accordions
The results
Improved performance metrics
The collaboration between LightSpeed and xneelo resulted in significant improvements in performance metrics. The PageSpeed scores saw a dramatic rise, with mobile performance reaching 95/100 and desktop performance achieving a perfect 100/100. These enhancements not only improved the overall speed and efficiency of xneelo’s websites but also contributed to a more seamless user experience.
Enhanced user experience
xneelo expressed high satisfaction with the streamlined user experience provided by the website updates. The improved performance and intuitive interface led to positive feedback. The enhancements made the site more responsive and engaging for xneelo’s website visitors and returning customers.
Improved SEO
The performance and design improvements, which included better load times, has had a direct impact on xneelo’s SEO, which has led to better search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to the website.
Empowered content management
The Help Centre improvements enabledxneelo’s content team to manage their layout and design without needing coding skills. Using custom templates and Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) options, the team could efficiently update and organise content, keeping the Help Centre fresh and relevant. This flexibility allowed xneelo to quickly respond to trends and user needs, enhancing the overall utility of their Help Centre.
Design and animation enhancements
The design updates that xneelo asked us to implement included the development of a responsive layout for xneelo’s product pages, based on their pixel-perfect Figma files. This new design, along with animated text and transitions on the home page, created a visually appealing and modern look. The responsive layout enhancements ensured optimal viewing across all devices, particularly tablets and larger mobile devices, enhancing the user experience further.
Conclusion
Overall, the partnership with xneelo highlights LightSpeed’s commitment to delivering high-quality, performance-driven web solutions.. We have an enjoyable working relationship with the xneelo marketing team and keep each other updated with our bi-weekly check-ins and the use of collaborative tools to stay aligned on work progress and requirements.
What did our client say?
“The LightSpeed team is helpful, diligent, and very supportive. We are grateful to have them as part of our extended team, assisting us in maintaining and evolving our WordPress website – which includes the overall health of our website as well as ongoing optimisation and web page development. We would recommend LightSpeed to other companies looking for expert knowledge and support with their WordPress websites.”
xneelo marketing team
Screenshots
Help Center
Product Site
