How do you modernise the digital user journey of a building society to engage a younger audience?

Hanley Economic

Website, SEO, UX design, Graphic Design

Background

We began our relationship with The Hanley in early 2023, originally tasked with a digital modernisation project to rebuild their website. We now work collaboratively across their commercial, product, and marketing teams, focusing on continuous performance optimisation, SEO/GEO strategy, and improving the end-to-end user journey to support their long-term growth.

The aim

Their fundamental purpose is making people's lives better in Stoke. Their vision for 2027 is to grow from local roots into a trusted specialist mutual, making more possible through personal lending, valued savings, and meaningful community investment.

Young man and woman smiling and looking at a laptop within a circular frame with blue and green borders on a blue background.

GEO and SEO

We developed an SEO and GEO strategy to improve The Hanley’s visibility across search engines and AI platforms. Following positive feedback from the Marketing, Product and Commercial Directors, we completed the technical enhancements in August 2026. The internal marketing team is now rolling out our content recommendations, with ongoing support from Starbots.

Building the website

To build a modern web experience, we prioritised customer expectations – getting the result they want as fast as possible. This intuitive, streamlined user experience was created using green call-to-action (CTA) buttons that guide the user through each step of their desired journey, without having to navigate elsewhere on the website.

It was essential for the client to manage the website content following the launch. So, we built a custom content management system (CMS) in Sanity that allows the Hanley Economic team to easily update content while maintaining the design and layout principles of the website.

Icons set featuring a blue and green trophy, balance scale, chain links and puzzle pieces, symbolising achievement, balance, connection and problem-solving.

Making complex calculations simple

We transformed The Hanley’s complex lending spreadsheets into a suite of intuitive online calculators covering residential, buy-to-let, retirement interest-only and rent-to-own mortgages. Behind the simple, mobile-friendly experience is sophisticated logic that reflects The Hanley’s lending criteria and helps users understand their options more easily. For The Hanley, the calculators provide a valuable pre-qualification tool, helping generate better-informed enquiries while reducing manual processes.

Creative support

As The Hanley’s brand guardians, we provide ongoing creative support that keeps every customer touchpoint clear, consistent and recognisably theirs. From shaping the creative direction to developing campaign assets, we help bring new initiatives to market, including the Jet Setter mortgage and foreign national mortgage product launches. This gives The Hanley a trusted creative partner who understands the brand and can respond quickly as new opportunities emerge.

Testimonial

"Starbots made our website redesign easy and efficient. Their professional, responsive team truly understands our brand, offered valuable insights, and went beyond the brief. We highly recommend them for their outstanding service and support."

Mason Youngs,
Marketing Specialist, Hanley Economic

Testimonial

"Moving from WordPress to the custom CMS that Starbots developed for us has transformed how we manage our site. Now, everything is built into one streamlined system that works consistently. It felt like a big step at first, but it’s been a huge improvement in flexibility, scalability, and value — and we wouldn’t go back.”

Mason Young,
Marketing Specialist, Hanley Economic

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Our Work