In this previous post, we talked about some of the largest upgrades we made to Samtec.com in 2023. This post will give you a glimpse into some of the projects we have in store for the website for this year, including major upgrades to several of our core applications on the website.
Overhaul and Tech Upgrade to Pricing and Delivery Application
The current application that allows users to get real-time pricing and lead times, which we call “Pricing and Delivery” is the most popular application on Samtec.com, and is due for a technology and user interface update. It was originally built about 12 years ago and has undergone many small back-end updates in this time frame. Nearly every component of it has been updated and replaced with newer technology, however, the code and infrastructure have remained the same.
We’re already about halfway finished with this project and aim to release it later this year. Much of the application will remain the same in terms of what it does, but it will receive a nice user interface upgrade with a fresh look and lighter code. We’ll also upgrade the supporting infrastructure so it runs faster and more stable than ever before.
We expect those updates to roll out sometime in Q2 of this year.
On-Site Search Upgrade
When visiting Samtec.com, approximately 70% of users start with the search bar. This is the case with most websites these days, so we’ll be putting additional focus on the search experience this year as well. The current search has been upgraded several times in the last 5 or so years, but much like the P&D application, the core technology that drives it remains the same.
With the rapid updates in search technology in recent years, and users expecting new and innovative ways to search for products, this application is due for an upgrade as well.
We can’t give you too many details, but as we release these updates in phases later this year, this project will roll out an entirely new user interface that will better balance product results and website page results, an entirely new back-end that will increase speed and relevancy of searches, and likely new data sources to support the results. Many of the core features will remain, but it will eventually be a brand-new application.
Since we’ll deliver this project in phases, expect some small Phase 1 updates later in Q1, with the larger updates to follow later this year.
Brand New Navigation Structure and Core Product Pages
We’ve been running the current navigation structure and core product pages on the website for about 6 years now as I write this post. You may already be familiar with our Solution Blocks, which are seen in various places throughout the website, and break our products down in a different way than the current navigation does.
We’re about 80% completed with a project that will replace the current navigation with Solution Block-driven navigation, as well as dozens of new core pages in between at each level in the hierarchy. Each Solution Block will have its own page, followed by one for each Product Group, and then the product family pages that we’ve all come to know and love.
Part of this change is also a brand new CMS (content management system) that will drive all of this content dynamically, as well as several other website functions. This allows us to be more efficient with website updates and get them to you faster.
We’re also building all of these new pages on a new CSS framework which we’ll apply to all of the other areas of the website in the near future as well.
Needless to say, it’s a gigantic project. We are looking forward to rolling this out for you soon later this year.
An Order and Sample Status tracking upgrade
Similar to the technology of the Pricing and Delivery application mentioned above, the Order and Sample Status systems are also running on a tech stack that is around 12 years old. We’ll be upgrading the back-end of these two applications with a new tech stack later this year. Most elements of these will remain the same, and no features are currently planned to be removed. This update will pave the way for several new features we are looking to add for order tracking in the near future as well.
We’ll likely work on this one later in Q3 and Q4 once we get past some of these other large releases.
User Experience Updates Throughout the Site
We’re also exploring several other user experience updates throughout the website to continue to enhance the experience of existing applications and make your Samtec.com experience more pleasant.
- A user interface upgrade to the High-Speed Cable Builder
- Easier online quote requests
- An upgrade to the Sample Request form
- An upgrade to the Specs Kit area
- An upgrade to how we pull in Samtec Blog content
- A refreshed compliance center
- Better filtering for Reserve® products
- Performance improvements on all pages and applications
Since this post is about upcoming web projects, my normal signoff is a little bit redundant, but we’re going to do it anyway for the sake of consistency and review. Thanks for reading and see you next time!
Coming Soon to Samtec.com
That does it for now. Thanks for being a loyal reader of The Samtec Blog.
Here is what we’re currently working on, and a few other updates that are coming soon!
- A full overhaul and simplification of our navigation structure
- Continued improvements to our translated areas of the website
- An overhaul of our Pricing and Delivery system
- A major update to our on-site Search experience
- A major update to our Order Status system
- Several user-experience updates for major website applications
- Performance and speed improvements
- And more!
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