Website-Relaunch for hostettler moto: UX und smart content editing

Information Architecture & UX Design

Like most of our projects, this one started with a workshop: together with hostettler moto, we took a close look at target audiences, goals, expectations, and how we would work together. Combined with our earlier research, a clear picture emerged, and one insight stood out: the website’s existing structure had run its course.

On the old website, all content and pages were organized under individual locations. A vehicle or brand could therefore exist up to 8 times, once per location. Instead of complementing each other, these duplicates competed with one another: for visitors’ attention, and for visibility in search results.

That’s why the new information architecture had to win over three audiences at once:

• the editorial team, who want to maintain content efficiently and without much effort,
• the visitors, who should find content and contact people without detours,
• and search engines and AI assistants (LLMs), which analyze the content and surface it where it fits.

Locations: important, but no longer the primary organizing principle

One thing became clear quickly: locations were done as the top-level organizing principle, but for individual visitors they remain a key factor. That’s why the website asks for a favorite location early in the user journey. The choice is saved beyond the current session and reused in various places across the website.

Navigation: five items, clear priorities

The main navigation gets by with five items. “Vehicles & Brands” comes first because it matters to every audience, followed directly by the locations. The remaining offerings are grouped into “Services” and “Experiences”: the experiences include motorcycle rentals, test rides, events, and gift cards. Contact rounds out the navigation.

Wherever visitors get in touch with a location or the head office, the website pre-selects the branch the inquiry should go to, based on the favorite location. This noticeably relieves the head office: inquiries land in the right place straight away instead of having to be assigned manually.

On the test ride request, for example, the location is already pre-filled, so visitors don’t need to give it a second thought either. With one exception: if the desired brand isn’t available at the favorite location, the pre-selection stays empty and the other suitable locations are offered instead.

Navigation paths: two entry points, one destination

Our research told us that people respond strongly to brands when buying a motorcycle. The brand is therefore one of two entry points to the vehicles and models. The second is the categories: scooters, sport bikes, naked bikes, and more. Visitors don’t have to commit to one route; they choose whichever path gets them to their destination fastest.

Content evaluation: enough for a decision, and no more

From the concept phase through design, we kept asking ourselves the same question: what content do visitors need to make a good decision, without being overwhelmed by information?

One result is the newly structured vehicle data: specifications appear in meaningful groups instead of a long list of raw values. And every vehicle page contains elements that support buyers in their decision, such as the positive Google reviews of the respective location.

As so often, there’s no shortage of new and further ideas, and the collaboration continues. We look forward to supporting the hostettler moto ag team for the long term, and we’re excited to see what the future brings!