Enabling Survey & Ballot Systems’ Marketing Team to Focus on Strategy, Not Technical Headaches

The Challenge: Distracting Technical Website Issues

The SBS marketing team is tech-savvy and very capable with the WordPress dashboard, but they were frequently pulled into troubleshooting technical issues on the website that distracted them from their core responsibilities. The WordPress site they inherited was custom-built by a long-gone developer and hosted on LiquidWeb, where a tangle of outdated “must-use” plugins and blocked theme updates were quietly causing performance issues, plugin conflicts, and mounting technical debt.

The marketing team regularly flagged minor annoyances (jerky jumplinks, inconsistent behavior on landing pages, and degraded accessibility) but lacked a partner who could help them connect the dots and surface root causes.

Meanwhile, they also wanted to introduce new marketing features (like a tooltip glossary to educate site visitors and boost SEO) but needed hands-on technical help to implement and maintain these improvements.

Our Approach: Tackle Technical Debt & Empower the Marketing Team

BIPi’s work with SBS has grown steadily from those first few days of ad hoc Zapier troubleshooting into a full-spectrum support partnership. Over time, we’ve tackled everything from individual feature requests to big-picture infrastructure planning, all while staying focused on SBS’s core goal: freeing up the marketing team to focus on strategy.

Here’s how we’ve supported SBS so far:

1. Glossary Implementation:
   SBS wanted to add a site-wide glossary of election-related terms to improve educational content and user experience. BIPi helped evaluate plugin options, implemented the Tooltip Glossary Expert plugin by Creative Minds, styled it to match the site’s existing brand, and provided a video walkthrough so the SBS team could manage entries in-house.
2. Comprehensive Technical Audit:
   While implementing the glossary, our developers flagged deeper concerns with plugin stability and performance. SBS agreed to a full technical audit that surfaced a long list of issues: security vulnerabilities, outdated plugins, broken accessibility features, and problems with overall UX. We triaged the list and developed a phased remediation plan that aligned with SBS’s budget and internal capacity.
   According to Tony:
   

   “Thank you so much for the detailed report and all of your team’s great work. Your recommendations were very helpful. We really appreciate your knowledge and guidance from beginning to end.”

3. Hosting Migration from LiquidWeb to SiteDistrict:
   During onboarding to our ongoing support plan, SBS asked us to resolve several persistent functionality issues, like visual bugs, form behaviors, and inaccessible navigation features. But as we dug in, we discovered the source of many of these bugs: the WordPress theme was woefully outdated due to server-level restrictions imposed by their host, LiquidWeb. Core theme updates had been blocked without notice, creating serious security risks and compatibility issues.
   In addition to no staging environment or one-click restore functionality, LiquidWeb’s required plugins were directly responsible for keeping the site frozen in time. Once we explained the root causes and quantified the risk, SBS agreed to migrate their site to our preferred host, SiteDistrict.
   We supported SBS in building a strong business case for internal approval, then executed the migration with zero downtime. SBS now has direct access to SiteDistrict, while BIPi maintains full admin access to manage support and development. The new environment gives us the tools we need, like staging sites, rollback options, and real-time performance monitoring, to work quickly and confidently on their behalf.
4. Ongoing Accessibility Remediation:
   Accessibility has always been a concern for SBS’s marketing team, particularly given their work with public sector and nonprofit clients. Before onboarding to our support plan, we had completed some hourly accessibility remediation, but there were lingering issues that required sustained effort.
   As part of our ongoing support, BIPi now performs monthly accessibility scans and incremental remediation. During onboarding, we removed the UserWay overlay plugin and closed the gaps it had been masking. Since then, we’ve made structured improvements, like replacing ambiguous anchor text and adding alt text to theme-based images. When fixes require input from the SBS team, we collaborate directly with them—just like we do with other support tasks.
   We also update SBS’s accessibility policy quarterly to reflect improvements and maintain transparency for all site visitors.
5. Ongoing Technical Support:
   With BIPi in their corner, the SBS marketing team can now raise issues as they arise and trust that we’ll resolve them quickly. Our proactive stance means less downtime, fewer distractions, and a smoother workflow. Even with multiple marketing specialists reaching out, BIPi ensures consistent, documented processes and keeps the entire team aligned on technical priorities.

Results & Impact: Marketing Strategists Free to Focus

• Fewer Roadblocks, More Focus: SBS’s marketing team is no longer bogged down by plugin errors, broken functionality, or hosting limitations. They can focus on content strategy, lead generation, and client education, knowing that their site is secure and stable.
• Incremental, Cost-Conscious Improvements: Instead of facing a massive overhaul, SBS is steadily improving the accessibility, usability, and security of their site within a predictable monthly budget.
• Modern Hosting = Smoother Workflow: SiteDistrict’s powerful tools enable us to develop, test, and deploy changes without risking live functionality, saving time and money for SBS.
• Increased Confidence: Marketing and leadership alike now have peace of mind that their website is being actively monitored, maintained, and improved by a team that understands their goals.

Ready to offload your technical website tasks so your marketing team can stay focused on growth? With BIPi’s structured support, SBS gets more than just troubleshooting; they get a proactive partner who plans ahead, prioritizes wisely, and documents everything. From plugin headaches to strategic hosting moves, BIPi helps marketing teams stay focused on what they do best, without worrying about what’s happening “under the hood.”

If your website is slowing you down, let’s talk. Drop us a line or schedule a consultation directly with our fearless leader, D’nelle. You can also sign up to get emails from Berry Interesting, and we’ll keep you in the loop about what’s new, what’s next, and how we can help you bring your vision to life.

You might be interested to know that this post was created with the help of generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Find out more here.