Work /
Ohio Valley Goodwill Website Rebuild
Strategy, Copywriting, UX, Development, SEO, Ongoing Support
Ohio Valley Goodwill is for shoppers, donors, service seekers, potential business partners, and community members. Before anything else, the website needs to be a landing place for each of them – without creating confusion or losing sight of the organization's overall mission.
Alongside the team at Cincinnati Goodwill, Ample redesigned and rebuilt the Ohio Valley Goodwill website to better serve its audience and convey Goodwill’s mission and impact. Starting with discovery stakeholder interviews, we worked from strategy to launch to build a website that better connects Goodwill to its community. It incorporates their new brand look and feel, represents the scope of their mission and community connection through voice and tone, and implements a user experience (UX) that takes customers and participants from mindless scroll to meaningful click.
From the outset, the Goodwill team had one major goal with the website redesign: Highlight the mission by tying actions (shopping and donating) to impact. Despite Goodwill’s impressive name recognition, many people still don’t understand their role – or what Goodwill actually does.
We needed to help shoppers and donors see how their actions matter, while also leading them to practical pages such as locations and events. We also needed to make sure that service seekers felt seen and guided to trusted pages where they can get the assistance they need, ask questions, and get registered.
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While the old homepage attempted to include “everything all at once,” the new homepage is designed with clear user pathways in mind. Based on several interviews with the Goodwill team, we discovered the paths each audience group needed to take – and created intentional journeys to get them there fast. Outcomes-based language, like “Need help finding a job?” helps guide seekers to the page or form they need. Shoppers and donors can immediately click into their respective pages and take action, or see how their actions matter. An interactive map helps users quickly find their closest store or Opportunity Center. Mission-interested visitors can scroll the homepage and understand what Goodwill does, who they support, and how they do it.
Incorporating Goodwill's rebrand took the site to the next level: providing a polished but welcoming look and feel that complements their new, cleaner content strategy.
By honing in on real lived experiences of Goodwill participants, shoppers, and team members, we tell stories in a way that people really resonate with. It isn’t content for content’s sake or information overload – it’s intentional, relatable experiences that highlight the humanity at the center of everything Goodwill does. This includes:
Each page tells the story of Goodwill’s mission. If you’re coming to Goodwill to find your closest store, you’ll also see how your simple decision to shop at Goodwill leads to positive community impact. If you’re coming to the site to seek employment services, you’ll see how Goodwill has already helped others find and retain work.
Comparing May 2025 with May 2026, the website has seen:
From location page to shopping page, from shopping page to impact. Everything is connected.
We show, not just tell, how every action is connected to Goodwill’s overall mission – while getting users where they want to be.
The net new Careers page is much more than available job listings: it’s a testament to the dedication of OVGI employees. The page utilizes team stories, quotes, and job spotlights to show users that Goodwill offers a variety of roles for every worker – and truly values and encourages individual and community growth.
A large part of this project included content overhaul: deciding what needs to stay and what needs to go. The new site provides a clean slate. No more outdated content, broken links, or page overwhelm on the backend.
We scaled down the navigation for a cleaner, outcomes-based user experience, with dropdown selections designed to guide, not overwhelm.
On the old site, programs like Medical Equipment Loans and Industrial Services tended to get lost within the array of content and CTAs. The new site utilizes a utility nav and strategic content sections to highlight these programs and their offerings.
Locations can now be found more quickly and dynamically, no matter how you search. Each store, donation center, and outlet location has its own page, featuring testimonials and an interactive map.
“The new site brings a refreshed look, updated content, and a cleaner experience that better reflects who we are, what we do, and how people connect with Goodwill across Greater Cincinnati.”
– The Goodwill team
Ohio Valley Goodwill has been uplifting Greater Cincinnati communities for over a hundred years. The challenge was to create a digital experience that reflected the organization's incredible past – and highlighted all of its current and future endeavors.
Today, the website makes it easier than ever for visitors to seek services, donate, shop, discover business opportunities, and find jobs. No matter who you are, no matter how you interact with Goodwill, you can see and understand the impact each action has on the mission.
Goodwill's mission was already creating ripple effects across the community. We simply helped make sure those ripples were impossible to miss.
