Visit California Full Site Redesign

Visit California is a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs that inspire travel to California.

Their website, VisitCalifornia.com, was in need of a complete redesign, due to outdated content and administration, poor navigation and slow performance on mobile.



Through user research, we learned that over 90% of users had already decided to visit California by the time they visited the website. They didn’t need to be sold on the idea - they needed tools to create their dream vacation.



The website combines high impact video and an elegant card-based page design that is easy to scan, maximizes simplicity and reduces cognitive load. The dynamic landing and campaign pages have increased content findability by more than 15%.



The interactive website includes a California Now blog and podcast, free Visitor’s Guides and recommendations on what to do, what to see and where to stay while there. Available in 17 languages, people from all over the world can create, save and share their dream California vacation.



The site launch comes in the midst of a global pandemic that has had an unprecedented impact on travel. While California continues to adjust its reopening guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19, the site serves as a resource letting visitors know how to travel responsibly and linking to local information regarding regulations and openings, as well as serving up inspiration for future travel.



The new website enables Visit California to adapt during these ever-changing times by showcasing communities that are open for business, promoting road trip content, supporting the needs of in-state travelers, and amplifying user-generated content that is produced and developed by other travelers.



In the month after its launch, organic traffic surged 37 percent, and page load times are now 2 times faster. For Visit California, it's all about building trust and delivering the best digital customer experience for users who are ready to travel again, and with their new user-first website, planning this year’s travel memories is easy.