Unifying Bentley Licensing and Ecommerce in One Platform
- WordPress
- SEO/GEO/AEO
- AI Discoverability
- OpenAI Chat Agents
- Tech Stack Strategy
- UX/UI Design
- API Integration
Industry
Engineering Software & Services (Bentley Channel Partner)
Platform
WordPress & WooCommerce (Custom ACF Build)
Region
Canada
About the Client
Engineering Software & Services (Bentley Channel Partner)
CAD Journey is a specialist Bentley partner. It supplies Bentley software licensing, training and project delivery services to architecture, engineering and construction firms and government agencies across North America, the UK and Europe. The company has more than 25 years of Bentley experience and has served over 800 clients. It was named Bentley Partner of the Year in both 2025 and 2026.
CAD Journey engaged Madcraft to replace its existing WordPress and WooCommerce setup. The goal was a single platform combining a modern marketing website with a fully rebuilt ecommerce environment, built to support the company’s sales-led growth across industries and regions.
Clients Challenges
The Challenge
Bentley licensing is complicated and their existing WordPress and WooCommerce environment relied heavily on plugins. That hurt speed, security and scalability at the point CAD Journey was expanding into new markets. Other issues:
- Complex buying decisions. Bentley licensing involves choosing between product suites, individual applications, license types and subscription terms, and many buyers don’t know where to start.
- Strict sector requirements. A large share of CAD Journey’s customers are Departments of Transportation and prime contractors with specific licensing requirements the site needed to explain clearly.
- Disconnected marketing and ecommerce. Marketing content and the store were separate, so it was hard for buyers to move from research to purchase.
- Weak lead capture. The previous site gave the sales team few routes to capture and qualify enquiries from buyers who weren’t ready to buy online.
- Plugin-heavy platform. The existing WordPress and WooCommerce setup relied heavily on plugins, which hurt speed, security and scalability.
- Growth across regions. CAD Journey was expanding across North America, the UK and Europe and needed a platform that could grow with it.
Let’s get started! Contact us today to discover how we can help.
Project Goals
What We Set Out to Deliver
CAD Journey needed a platform that combined trusted Bentley expertise with seamless self-service purchasing. The brief brought together several intersecting goals:
- Unify marketing content and ecommerce into one coherent platform and site architecture
- Organize the full Bentley portfolio, including Civil WorkSuite, MicroStation, ProjectWise, OpenRoads, STAAD.Pro and SYNCHRO, into clear, discipline-led navigation
- Deliver a License Calculator that shows license options and estimated costs by product, seat count and timeframe
- Build a licensing education hub covering DOT license requirements and Bentley licensing explained
- Give existing customers self-service accounts to place orders and manage subscriptions and payments
- Integrate HubSpot consultation booking and quote requests at key decision points
- Establish a strong technical SEO foundation, including site structure, schema, accessibility and Core Web Vitals, with an SEO-safe migration
- Deliver a faster, more secure, mobile-first experience with reduced plugin reliance
Our Approach
Discovery & Research
- Audited the existing WordPress and WooCommerce environment for speed, security and scalability issues
- Mapped the buyer journeys for both new buyers researching options and existing customers renewing or adding seats
- Reviewed CAD Journey’s sales workflows to identify where the website should hand off to the sales team
- Defined the licensing information buyers need to make a decision, including DOT requirements
- Set project objectives, success metrics and a refined information architecture for the unified platform
UX & Design
- Redesigned the website with a fresh structure, UX and visual identity befitting an award-winning Bentley partner
- Organized the full Bentley portfolio into a single, discipline-led product menu
- Designed a journey where buyers can understand their license options, see estimated costs and buy or book a consultation without leaving the site
- Built trust into every page with client logos, DOT and industry partner marks, Partner of the Year recognition and customer reviews
- Designed self-service account pages so customers can manage orders, subscriptions and payments
Dev & Functionality
- Custom ACF-based WordPress build with a fully rebuilt WooCommerce store
- Interactive License Calculator showing license options and estimated costs by product, seat count and timeframe
- Customer accounts for placing orders and managing subscriptions and payments
- HubSpot integration for consultation booking and quote requests at key decision points
- Reduced plugin reliance for faster performance and a more secure stack
- Technical SEO foundation covering site structure, metadata, schema, accessibility and Core Web Vitals
- SEO-safe migration of existing content and the product catalog
- Cross-device QA, security configuration and team training ahead of launch
Key Functionality
License Calculator
Buyers enter a product, seat count and usage timeframe and see their license options and estimated costs immediately, before they talk to sales.
Unified product catalog and store
The full Bentley range is organized by solution: Civil WorkSuite, MicroStation, ProjectWise, OpenRoads, STAAD.Pro, SYNCHRO and more. Each product is available to buy directly.
Licensing education hub
Dedicated pages on DOT license requirements and Bentley licensing explained guide buyers through complex decisions
Integrated lead capture
“Book a Consultation” and “Get a Quote” pathways through HubSpot appear at every key decision point.
Why WordPress
WordPress and WooCommerce, paired with a custom ACF-driven build, let CAD Journey keep the ecommerce engine its customers already relied on and rebuild it properly underneath. The custom framework replaced plugin-heavy functionality with purpose-built templates. This improved speed, strengthened security and gave the in-house team full control over products, content and licensing guidance without developer dependency. It’s a foundation that can grow with CAD Journey as it expands into new markets and adds products and services.
