Forschungsmittel.com

Client: Forschungsmittel.com — specialised consultancy for R&D funding and innovation grants in Germany Industry: B2B consulting, R&D funding, innovation Scope: Website relaunch, technical architecture, performance, SEO, security, content & information architecture We helped Forschungsmittel.com transform a traditional brochure-style website into a modern, conversion-ready platform that looks and behaves like a SaaS product: fast, structured, secure, and built around the full funding journey of German enterprises, research institutions, and startups.

Challenge

Forschungsmittel operates in a high-trust, high-stakes environment: they advise on six- and seven-figure funding projects. Their old website no longer matched that reality. The new digital platform had to:

• Translate complex funding programmes into clear, approachable content
• Build authority and trust for decision-makers in enterprises and research institutions
• Be fully GDPR-compliant and technically robust by German standards
• Deliver Core Web Vitals in the green – even on slow mobile networks
• Support a scalable content & SEO strategy around Fördermittel, Förderprogramme, Zielgruppen and Whitepapers
• Act as a hub for future integrations (CRM, marketing automation, analytics)

In short: the client wanted a site that feels like a professional product, not a nice-looking PDF.

Our Approach

1. Modern Architecture & Stack

We rebuilt the platform on a modern, type-safe, performance-focused stack:

• Framework: Next.js 16 (App Router, Server Components, Turbopack)
• Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
• Rendering: Hybrid SSR + static generation with Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)
• Animations: Framer Motion for smooth, GPU-accelerated transitions
• Hosting: Vercel Edge infrastructure with global CDN
• CI/CD: Automated pipeline with preview deployments, linting, type-checking and Lighthouse gates

This gives Forschungsmittel: • predictable releases (no FTP, no manual deployment) • fast cold starts and stable performance • a stack that can be extended by any modern React / Next.js team

2. Design System & UX: Consulting That Feels Like SaaS

We designed the UX to feel closer to a fintech / SaaS product than a typical consulting website. Key patterns:

• Clear journeys for each ICP: Fördermittel-Check (lead magnet), Fördermittel-Beratung (service explanation), Förderprogramme (deep programme pages), Für wen? (target-group specific landing pages)
• Section patterns that lead users step by step: From "What is funding?" → to "Which program fits?" → to "How do we apply together?"
• Multi-step, validated contact forms with structured data capture
• Strong use of social proof via success stories, volumes, and expertise signals

Typography, contrast, spacing and icons were tuned for clarity and authority, not marketing buzz.

3. Performance & Core Web Vitals

For a consulting business, speed translates directly into trust and lead quality. We engineered the project around Core Web Vitals from day one. Latest Lighthouse audit (Mobile, Slow 4G, Lighthouse 13):

• Performance: 98 / 100
• LCP: 2.3 s
• FCP: 1.2 s
• TBT: 30 ms
• CLS: 0.003
• Speed Index: 3.3 s

How we achieved it: SSR with modern Next.js and minimal blocking JS, next/image everywhere with WebP/AVIF and responsive sizes, Lazy loading for non-critical media, preloading hero assets, Dynamic imports for 14+ components to keep bundle size low, Removal of legacy polyfills and unused JS (~45 KB saved), Explicit width/height on images → near-zero layout shifts, font-display: swap and preloaded core fonts to avoid invisible text

4. Security, Compliance & GDPR

Although the platform doesn't process confidential project data directly, it represents a professional advisory brand in a regulated space. The infrastructure and app were built with a security-first mindset:

• Hosting & infra: Deployed on Vercel with isolated environments (Preview / Production), HTTPS-only, HSTS enforced, No exposed SSH surface, no manual server access
• Environment & secrets: Strict separation of client/server data, No secrets exposed to the browser, API keys encrypted and used only server-side
• Application security: Prepared Content-Security-Policy with nonces / hashes, COOP / COEP for cross-origin isolation, Trusted Types-ready architecture, No unsafe dynamic script injection, server-side escaping by default
• Form security: Encrypted transport, server-side validation, Honeypot spam protection, No unnecessary PII stored on the client
• Privacy & GDPR: Minimal data collection (only what is needed for consulting), Explicit opt-ins and privacy policy confirmation, EU-only data storage, no non-EU analytics exports, Clear support for user rights (access, deletion, correction, withdrawal)

This gives Forschungsmittel a technically credible security posture that matches the expectations of German enterprises and research institutions.

5. SEO Architecture & Content Strategy

Forschungsmittel doesn't just need "a site that ranks" — it needs to own the topic of Fördermittel in its niche. We designed the entire domain as a topic-first, intent-driven system, not a collection of isolated pages.

• Clear intent clusters: Advisory & transactions (Fördermittel-Beratung, Fördermittel-Check, Kontakt), Programme cluster (ZIM, KMU-innovativ, EXIST, Digital Jetzt, WIPANO, Horizon Europe), ICP cluster (Unternehmen, Forschungseinrichtungen, Startups), Knowledge cluster (Whitepaper, Förderkompass, Leitfaden Mittelstand, Glossar), Case studies & authority content
• Information architecture as "funding journey": From first research → to understanding programmes → to ICP-specific guidance → to advisory & check
• Internal linking strategy: Minimum 6 internal links per important page, Strong central hub in /foerdermittel-beratung, Program pages interlinked and always leading back to advisory & check, Glossary and resources acting as authority feeders into commercial pages
• Structured data (Schema.org): Organization, WebSite, WebPage, BreadcrumbList globally, Service markup for advisory & program pages, FAQPage for Q&A-heavy sections, Article + ItemList for knowledge cluster and case studies

Together this creates a closed semantic system around Fördermittel – exactly the kind of topical authority Google rewards in 2024–2025.

Results

• Within the first months after launch: +42% increase in conversions from contact forms and the Fördermittel-Check
• Significant improvements in rankings for: Fördermittel Beratung, Fördermittel beantragen, Zuschuss Antrag, Förderung Startups
• Consistently green Core Web Vitals, even under strict mobile test conditions
• A flexible architecture ready for: deeper marketing automation, CRM integrations (e.g. HubSpot), expanded program and content clusters
• A platform that now reflects the actual scale, expertise and seriousness of the consultancy

Tech Stack (Summary)

Key Takeaways

• Traditional consulting can look and behave like SaaS – without losing its credibility.
• Investing in architecture, performance and security from day one pays off in both SEO and lead quality.
• A carefully designed topic & cluster strategy turns a website into a genuine knowledge platform, not just a digital brochure.
• With a modern stack (Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind) and CI/CD-first mindset, professional service firms can iterate as fast as startups – without accumulating technical debt.