The traditional approach to building websites for arts and culture venues is broken. Every 3-5 years, venues invest heavily in rebuilding their websites, often because their current site has become outdated and cumbersome to manage. This cycle creates a significant financial and technological burden on the sector, particularly when many organisations are already facing funding pressures.
The problem with traditional website development
Many venues come to us with familiar challenges:
- Their website feels outdated and lacks essential features
- Content updates require costly agency intervention
- Making changes through their web agency is too slow for this fast-moving sector
- Their current platform has become sluggish as content has grown
- Technical limitations create missed opportunities for audience engagement
The root cause? Most website platforms and content management systems (CMS) aren't designed to handle the unique needs of arts and culture venues and the demands of critical onsales periods. Generic platforms like WordPress, Drupal or Craft require significant customisation to integrate with ticketing systems, handle event management, and provide the specialised features venues need.
This customisation comes at a cost – both initially and over time. When venues switch platforms or need updates, these modifications often need to be rebuilt at considerable expense.
This is also a burden on agencies and it's created a cycle that's becoming increasingly unsustainable. As our digital carbon footprint grows, why are we rebuilding the same tools over and over again?
Enter CultureSuite: a CMS built for arts and culture
After 20 years of building websites for venues worldwide, from the Honolulu Museum of Art to Lowry in Manchester, we realised there had to be a better way. That's why we developed a CMS specifically designed for arts and culture organisations.
CultureSuite CMS provides a comprehensive platform with all the essential tools venues need, right out of the box:
- Seamless integration with ticketing and event management systems
- Automated content updates based on synced event data
- Flexible building blocks that marketing teams can customise without technical expertise
- Built-in accessibility compliance and improves with every new release
- Powerful personalisation tools to enable audience engagement strategies
- Regular security, SEO and performance upgrades
- Built-in digital signage solution that pulls content from your website
A new model for digital sustainability
What sets CultureSuite CMS apart isn't just its features. It's the fundamental shift in how websites are maintained and improved.
Continuous Innovation
Instead of major rebuilds every few years, CultureSuite CMS pushes updates every three weeks. This ensures your website stays current with the latest security standards, SEO best practices, and new features without additional cost – it's simply part of the service.
We recently undertook a comprehensive accessibility audit across the platform to ensure we meet the latest standards, which has been rolled out to all CultureSuite websites at zero cost to the venues.
Community-Led Development
When one venue suggests an improvement, every CultureSuite user benefits. For example, when Nationale Opera & Ballet identified the need for better ticket sharing capabilities, we developed a feature that now helps all our venues track and engage with their full audience, not just primary ticket buyers. Now, all CultureSuite-powered venues can take advantage of ticket sharing or even build upon the feature to suit their specific needs.
Predictable Investment
Rather than large upfront costs and unexpected maintenance fees, CultureSuite operates on a subscription model. This makes digital investment more predictable while providing ongoing support and regular updates. No features are locked behind a paywall and any newly-developed features are automatically available for your website.
Real results from real venues
The impact of this approach is already evident. As Jay Walton, Director of Audiences at HOME Manchester, explains: "Working with CultureSuite has been a transformational investment for HOME. We're now delivering a significantly improved user experience for our audiences, and we've seen a clear increase in web sales as a result."
Similarly, Sue Elliott, General Director and CEO at Calgary Opera, notes: "Our CultureSuite-powered website has achieved the right balance of inspired and inspiring: Calgary Opera's website visitors benefit from streamlined and personalised journeys, and our team members spend more time on value-added customer service and audience development."
A future-proof solution
In today's challenging economic climate, arts and culture organisations need digital solutions that are both powerful and sustainable. CultureSuite offers exactly that – a platform that evolves with your needs, supported by a community of cultural venues all contributing to its development.
Paul Callaghan, Chair of Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture Trust, also delivers a suite of technlogy platforms with Leighton said this about our model:
"What I like about CultureSuite is the approach – the learnings they get from lots and lots of cultural organisations, bringing that into a central platform so they can make the changes that we all benefit from, rather than everything being customised and bespoke."
Whether you're a venue looking to escape the cycle of rebuilds or a design agency seeking a more sustainable solution for your clients, CultureSuite provides a path forward that makes digital more accessible and sustainable for the entire sector.
Your next website rebuild might be your last
If you're ready to explore a different approach to your website, here's where to start.
- See CultureSuite CMS in action
Book a personalised demo to discover how CultureSuite helps arts, culture and entertainment venues treat their website as infrastructure, not a project. - Keep exploring
Dive into more thinking on digital strategy through our articles, events and webinars, Spotify, YouTube channel or our newsletter.
