Hardwaresleutel.nl
Webshop development
In this case study, I take you through the development of Hardwaresleutel.nl and the associated challenges, solutions, and positive outcomes.
Hardwaresleutel.nl is a webshop and informative platform for hardware authentication keys. These are physical devices you can use as an extra step for two-factor authentication to secure your online accounts.
Type
- Webshop
Role
- Owner
- Software architect
- Software developer
- Maintenance
- CI/CD
Timeline
- 2021 - 2023, temporarily inactive
Client
- Own project
Challenges and goals
The goal of this project is to convey knowledge about physical authentication keys to a broader, less technically inclined audience. Additionally, the aim is to sell such devices or related products.
Simply put, this goal is achieved in two steps: with an easy-to-use webshop and by providing information on the website. The latter is achieved through blog posts, videos, customer support, and other informational texts on the site.
Architecture
At the time of developing this project, there were no (suitable) e-commerce platforms that could offer the ability for customers to secure their accounts with such authentication keys. For this project, that is a must, so customers can test their purchased products via Hardwaresleutel.nl.
That was one of the reasons I decided to build a fully custom webshop. There were additional benefits, such as full customizability, external integrations without paying a third party (via plugins, etc.), and administration.
The only downside was that it took more time (and therefore money) to build.
Thanks to the custom-made webshop, it is easy to integrate with external systems. For example, automatically generating PostNL shipping labels or invoices.
Additionally, there is also a Website Finder Tool to search for websites that support security keys. The data for this gets automatically updated from an open-source dataset every day.
Techniques
The website is built with the Play Framework. Scala templates were used in combination with vanilla JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, and CSS.
Some of these technologies will be replaced with more modern alternatives in a future version.
Java
Scala
Play Framework
PostgreSQL
ES6 (Javascript)
CSS
HTML
jQuery
SBT
JUnit
Cucumber.js
Jenkins
Ubuntu
Apache HTTP Server
Monitorix
Mollie
PostNLSEO, SEA & marketing
One of the most important aspects of this project is marketing. After all — no customers, no revenue.
Initially, the focus was mainly on organic visitors, which are visitors who find the site via search results in search engines or other free methods. By optimizing the website for search engines, Search Engine Optimization, the website is shown to potential organic customers.
With technical SEO, all pages are optimized by default. Additionally, all texts are optimized as well. With the help of an external party, we wrote SEO texts. This helped us get Hardwaresleutel.nl into Google's top search results for relevant queries.
The blog covers various informative topics. These are also optimized (SEO).
Additionally, there is a YouTube channel where explanatory videos are uploaded.
An informative video I made for a blog post.
In addition to the organic strategy, I hired an external online marketing company for SEA: Search Engine Advertising. In other words, to run campaigns with online advertisements.
Continuous development & integration
In 2021, the first launch took place. Initially, the webshop went online with only the basic functionalities. This allowed products to be sold as quickly as possible. Since then, new features have been continuously developed.
Currently, Hardwaresleutel.nl is temporarily offline. A major maintenance update is underway, modernizing all technologies and implementing a full rebranding.
Screenshots
The webshop homepage.
The webshop homepage.