A full CMS migration and brand refresh across 110,000+ pages
Rocket Lab moved Webjet's 110,000+ Australian and New Zealand pages off two legacy content systems onto Directus, one headless CMS, and rebuilt every template to Webjet's refreshed design system on a modern, performant frontend.
- Travel / Online Travel Agency
- CMS migration
- Template rebuild
Overview
Webjet sells flights, hotels, holiday packages, car hire and travel insurance online in Australia and New Zealand, as the region's #1 online travel agency. Two groups depend on the site at once: travellers searching and booking under real-time pressure, and content teams pushing deals and campaigns into market on a constant cycle.
The Challenge
Behind both audiences sat a legacy ecosystem of 110,000+ pages spread across separate systems, with Flights on Boost CMS and Hotels, Packages and Cars on Umbraco. Every campaign meant working across two platforms and two sets of templates, with developers needed for changes the content team should have owned.
Webjet was also preparing a brand refresh, its first in 27 years, and the existing templates could not carry it. Any move had to protect organic search, a channel Webjet values highly, while the live site kept trading.
Their goals included:
- Bringing Flights, Hotels, Packages and Cars under one headless CMS for the first time
- Migrating 50,000+ Australian and 60,000+ New Zealand pages with content integrity intact
- Rebuilding templates to Webjet's refreshed design system rather than porting legacy layouts across
- Building SEO into the migration rather than retrofitting it afterwards
- Letting content teams publish deals and campaigns without developer involvement
- Delivering a fast, responsive frontend for travellers booking under time pressure
- Transitioning from the current platform while the existing site stayed live
The Solution
Rocket Lab delivered the full stack as a single engagement: CMS migration, template rebuild and frontend update, taking Webjet from two legacy systems to one headless platform without taking the live site offline.
CMS Migration to Directus
- Consolidated Flights from Boost CMS and Hotels, Packages and Cars from Umbraco into one Directus instance, putting all four product lines under a single headless CMS for the first time
- Moved 50,000+ Australian and 60,000+ New Zealand pages onto structured content models, so content migrated as reusable data rather than page-by-page copy
- Gave content teams a no-code editing layer with roles and permissions, so deals and campaigns go to market without developer involvement
Template Rebuild and Frontend
- Rebuilt every template in React and TypeScript to Webjet's refreshed design system, rather than porting legacy layouts across as they were
- Structured the build around a component library for consistency, reusability and maintainability across a large, frequently updated content surface
- Delivered content page templates and a dynamic, editable homepage the product team can manage with minimal ongoing development
- Decoupled the frontend from the CMS, so the site renders fast and responsively for travellers on any device
SEO and Migration Strategy
- Built SEO into the migration from day one, carrying URLs, page metadata and discoverability across instead of retrofitting them after launch
- Planned content migration, SEO preservation and frontend performance together, keeping content integrity across 110,000+ pages
- Ran the transition while the existing site stayed live, modernising the platform without disrupting travellers or business continuity
Outcome
Since launch, the new platform has delivered:
- All four product lines on one headless CMS, replacing two legacy systems
- 110,000+ AU and NZ pages live on templates rebuilt to Webjet's refreshed design system
- Content teams publishing deals and campaigns directly, without developer involvement
- A component library that scales with new pages, products and campaigns
- A modern, performant frontend serving travellers across desktop and mobile
We have a long standing partnership with Rocket Lab who provide Webjet with critical strategic and development services for our front-end websites.
David GaltCEO, Webjet AU/NZNext step
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Key Stats
- Pages migrated
- 110,000+ (50,000+ in Australia, 60,000+ in New Zealand)
- Product lines
- Flights, Hotels, Packages and Cars on one headless CMS
- In market
- 1 year+
- Technology
- React, TypeScript, Directus
