Before and after: redesigning the Agence Expertise Incendie website

How do you evolve the website of a fire investigation agency while preserving its personality and history? For Agence Expertise Incendie, SDX Development rethought the visual identity, browsing journeys, and content management. Here’s a look at the project, before and after the redesign.

The starting point was a website with a highly distinctive look: flames, black, yellow, and hazard stripes. It already brought together professional service descriptions, team member profiles, news, and an extensive selection of media. The challenge was to preserve this material and organize it to suit today’s needs.

Before and after: a new way to present the agency

The original version favored side navigation and long presentation pages. The new version features a streamlined main menu, distinct service areas, and clearer calls to action. From the homepage, visitors are introduced to the investigative process: examining a scene, reading the evidence, and understanding the facts.

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The comparisons in this article use actual screenshots of both versions, captured on November 8, 2026. They show how the website’s presentation and organization have evolved.

A visual identity centered on fire investigation

The visual direction builds on the agency’s signature elements: yellow, black, hazard stripes, and field experience. The team member’s portrait becomes a central feature of the homepage, alongside a message that speaks directly to the work: “Every fire leaves clues. Our job is to make them speak.”

Dark backgrounds, animated embers, and drifting smoke evoke the scene after a fire. Typography, contrast, and spacing create a clearer information hierarchy. The project thus retains an identity connected to fire, while giving greater prominence to the investigation of the causes and circumstances of fires, or R.C.C.I.

Migrating the archives and building a manageable media library

Content migration was a major part of the redesign. 99 news items were migrated, along with their dates and publication context. Full texts and available illustrations were reinstated, with archive items clearly identified as such.

The catalogue brings together 172 media items across 12 categories. Articles, videos, photographs, and information sheets can be searched and filtered. Each item has a type, category, publication date, description, and thumbnail. A fallback image ensures a consistent presentation when no preview is available.

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Videos are viewed using an embedded player when supported by the provider, with access to the source. News items also include sharing features and visuals for shared links.

User journeys designed to help visitors find expertise and get in touch

The site structure distinguishes fire and explosion investigations, prevention, specialist consulting services, and mediation. Network profiles and areas of expertise remain accessible, while the presentations are now more clearly structured.

• Navigation and search: domain-specific submenus, a mobile-friendly menu, and site-wide search.
• Locations: a map and filters by team member type, city, and region to refine searches.
• Contact: access to phone calls, a manageable contact form, and confirmation messages in the agency’s branding.
• Reading: headings, dates, categories, and breadcrumbs to help visitors navigate pages and archives.

A CMS to manage content day to day

The new version is built on the SDX CMS. Pages, news items, media categories, forms, and navigation elements can all be managed from the client interface. Media descriptions have a rich-text editor, and images can be selected from the media library.

Headers and breadcrumbs use the CMS’s dedicated components. The form has its own settings and email templates. This setup makes it possible to publish news, add a video, or edit a presentation using the tools designed for each type of content.

A redesign that also covers migration and website configuration

The work also included migrating old URLs, page descriptions, structured data, and links between content. The agency’s areas of work — R.C.C.I., scientific and technical investigations into fires and explosions, prevention, and technical support — are presented according to each page’s subject.

The launch was accompanied by checks on desktop and mobile, form testing, and cookie preference configuration. The legal notice, privacy policy, and cookie information now each have their own page.