SoilEssentials came to Due North Creatives looking for a website refresh ahead of their 25th anniversary. The Angus based organisation supports farmers, agronomists and land managers with soil analysis, agronomy expertise and precision agriculture technology, helping them farm more efficiently, sustainably and profitably.
We caught up with SoilEssentials Marketing Manager, Seonaid Ross to reflect on the team’s experience of working with us and find out how they’re getting on with their new website.
Project duration: Feb 2025 – August 2025
Celebrating a new chapter for SoilEssentials
With their existing website around eight years old, it had served SoilEssentials well but no longer reflected who they were or where they were heading. As Seonaid put it, the business had evolved, “we’re no longer that company” and the website needed to catch up.
The aim wasn’t just to modernise the design. SoilEssentials wanted a website that clearly explained what they do, showcased the people behind the business and could grow with them as their services and products continue to develop.
There was also a level of caution from the team with frustrating previous experiences with web design agencies that Seonaid was keen to avoid repeating.
The challenge
Defining who they are now
Before design or content could be created, there was a more fundamental question to answer: who is SoilEssentials today?
As Seonaid explained, even within the business this wasn’t always easy to articulate. The company moves quickly, and innovation is at the heart of everything they do, “where we were six months ago, we’ll be another three thousand miles away in another six months.”
The website needed to capture a clear, current snapshot of the business, while leaving room for change.
Making complex services easy to understand
As an agri-tech business, much of SoilEssentials’ work is technical and some of their key offerings aren’t tangible products.
One of the biggest challenges was finding the middle ground between technical accuracy and plain-English clarity. Seonaid described it as translating what the team knows instinctively into something customers can easily grasp, “somehow we need to make that work within our new website.”
Time, trust and momentum
With limited internal resources, the project needed to move forward in a structured way. It was also important that communication felt straightforward and human rather than slow, fragmented and impersonal which very much defined the previous poor experiences that SoilEssentials had experienced with other website agencies.
Our Approach
Strategy-Led Workshop
We began with our kick off workshop designed to step away from day-to-day detail and focus on the bigger picture, particularly focusing on where the business is going, what it wants to be known for and who the website is for.
For Seonaid, the value of the workshops was in bringing in a mix of voices together and creating a shared foundation: “The workshop was really worthwhile because it brought in varied aspects and different people, giving you the groundwork to then go away and make sense of it all.”
These sessions also acknowledged that clarity doesn’t happen instantly. Iteration was part of the process, particularly when translating highly technical knowledge into customer-focused messaging.
A Clear Process That Keeps things Moving
From the outset, we worked to a clear roadmap, outlining what would happen next, what input was needed from the team and how progress would be made.
This structure made all the difference to SoilEssentials as Seonaid noted, "Once the workshop is over, people naturally return to their day jobs - the weeks and months just pass so quickly" so having a defined process ensured the project kept moving and didn’t lose momentum.
customer-first approach
Rather than structuring the site around internal logic, we challenged the team to take a new approach, focusing on what would make sense to their customers.
As Seonaid reflected, “it isn’t always about what we think makes sense, it’s really about what the viewer is going to make sense of.”
This included careful thought around how services were grouped and positioned, particularly where offerings had previously felt unclear.
We also introduced buyer's guides around Weed Control, Data-Driven Farming and Crop/Soil Health to help those who may be less certain of exactly what they need to navigate to the right products and services.
bringing the team to the front
A major priority for the new website was showing the people behind SoilEssentials.
The business is built on relationships, expertise and trust and the website needed to reflect that. By putting people front and centre, the refreshed site better mirrors the long-term relationships that SoilEssentials builds with their customers and the level of support they provide.
Training, support and aftercare
Aftercare and ongoing support are something SoilEssentials prides itself on, and it’s a shared belief at Due North that long-term support is what makes the real difference.
We believe our clients should truly own their websites. Rather than locking knowledge away, we focus on giving people the skills and confidence to manage and update their site themselves with the knowledge that we're here to support them whenever they need us.
Alongside every website we build, we provide one-to-one training and a series of short, recorded tutorial videos that are bespoke to our client's new website.
While live training was useful, it was the ability to revisit the videos that made the biggest difference for Seonaid:
“The biggest bonus by far is the videos I can go back into… you’re not doing anything with the website every day, so being able to refer back at any point is just so helpful."
Responsive, Approachable & Supportive
Post-launch, ongoing support and regular check-ins ensured the website remained easy to manage and evolve, rather than becoming a source of frustration.
Seonaid highlighted how different this felt compared to previous experiences: “Your response times are excellent… it’s refreshing. I know there’s no issue with emailing you or getting in touch, and I will get a response.”
She also valued the consistency and transparency in communication:
“You’re not dealing with a random person every time, you’ve got one or two points of contact, and that makes a huge difference.”
Seonaid Ross
Marketing Manager, SoilEssentials Ltd
The Result
The finished website provides SoilEssentials with a responsive, modern platform that works seamlessly across desktop, tablet and mobile, making it easier for customers to find what they need, whether they’re in the office, at an exhibition or out on the farm.
Content is structured in clear, easy-to-understand language, helping customers quickly understand SoilEssentials’ services without needing deep technical knowledge. Complex offerings are explained simply, while still reflecting the expertise and credibility behind them.
To support changing priorities throughout the year, we also introduced a seasonal feature on the homepage. This allows the team to easily promote the most relevant service or offering for the upcoming farming season, keeping the website timely, useful and aligned with what customers need right now.
The website is now also a tool SoilEssentials can actively use to share what they’re up to. With the confidence to manage content in-house, Seonaid has already been making good use of the News (blog) and Events sections to keep the site fresh, relevant and regularly updated.
The finished website reflects SoilEssentials as they are today - a growing, innovative agri-tech business with strong values and a clear direction. With positive feedback both internally and externally, the team now has a website they feel confident using and building on.
Most importantly, the process of working with Due North Creatives itself changed how the website feels to manage day to day. Seonaid no longer feels worried about reaching out for help and hopes to continue working with the DNC team to refresh their website in the future.
“The website now is a pleasure. Not a pain. It now reflects who we are as a business, and it’s something we feel confident using and building on.”
Seonaid Ross
Marketing Manager, SoilEssentials Ltd
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