Forschungsmittel: R&D Funding Platform for…

Client: Forschungsmittel.com — R&D funding advisory in Germany. Industry: B2B consulting, grants, innovation. Scope: relaunch, architecture, performance, SEO, security, content. We rebuilt a brochure-style site into a fast funding platform. It behaves like a SaaS product: structured, secure, and built for the full funding journey of enterprises, research teams, and startups.

Decision Context

This project addressed a trust and complexity gap typical for regulated consulting domains.

Advisory services around public R&D funding involve high financial stakes, long decision cycles, and strict regulatory expectations. A traditional brochure-style website is often insufficient to communicate this level of complexity, credibility, and process maturity — especially for enterprise and research stakeholders.

Key considerations at the decision stage:

Complex funding programmes must be explained clearly without oversimplification or misleading claims.
Trust needed to be established through structure, performance, and transparency — not marketing language.
GDPR and German data-protection principles required privacy-by-design at both technical and UX levels.
SEO visibility had to be built on semantic architecture and intent clarity, not isolated keywords.
The platform needed to support the full funding journey, from initial research to advisory contact.

The objective was therefore to transform a static consulting website into a product-like digital platform — structured, secure, and designed to guide users through complex decisions in a reliable and compliant way.

Challenge

Forschungsmittel advises on six- and seven-figure funding. The old site did not match that level of trust. The new platform had to:

Translate complex funding programmes into clear, approachable content
Build authority and trust for decision-makers in enterprises and research institutions
Be designed in alignment with GDPR principles and German data-protection requirements
Engineered with a focus on achieving strong Core Web Vitals performance under typical mobile network conditions
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: it had to feel like a real product, not a PDF.

Our Approach

1. Modern Architecture & Stack

We rebuilt the platform on a modern, type-safe stack: • Framework: Next.js 16 (App Router, Server Components, Turbopack) • Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS • Rendering: Hybrid SSR + static generation with ISR • Animations: Framer Motion • Hosting: Vercel Edge + global CDN • CI/CD: Automated pipeline with previews, linting, and Lighthouse gates Outcome: • predictable releases • fast cold starts • a stack any React/Next.js team can extend

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

The UX is closer to fintech/SaaS than a typical consulting site. 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, and spacing focus on clarity and authority.

3. Performance & Core Web Vitals

Speed builds trust. We optimized for 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

Result: fast and stable even on mid-range Android devices on slow 4G.

Forschungsmittel Compliance & Performance

4. Security, Compliance & GDPR

The platform represents a regulated advisory brand. We built it with a security-first mindset: • Hosting & infra: Vercel, isolated environments, HTTPS-only, HSTS • Secrets: client/server separation, no secrets in the browser • App security: CSP-ready, COOP/COEP, server-side escaping by default • Forms: encrypted transport, server validation, honeypot spam protection • Privacy & GDPR: minimal data, explicit opt-ins, EU-only storage

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

5. SEO Architecture & Content Strategy

The goal was topical authority, not just rankings. We built a topic-first, intent-driven system. Key elements:

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 consistently 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

The result is a focused semantic system around Fördermittel.

Results

Measured increase in user inquiries via contact forms and the Fördermittel-Check during the initial post-launch phase
Improved organic visibility for key funding-related search queries, including advisory and application-focused terms
Core Web Vitals within the recommended ranges under standardized Lighthouse mobile test conditions
A flexible architecture ready for: deeper marketing automation, CRM integrations (e.g. HubSpot), expanded program and content clusters
A platform that better reflects the scope and positioning of the consultancy

Results depend on market conditions, user behavior, and ongoing optimization. Past outcomes do not guarantee future results.

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.