MCI Australia is an award-winning marketing and engagement agency known for creating meaningful, human-focused experiences that empower people to transform brands and organizations. As part of the MCI Group, MCI Australia delivers innovative solutions from a global toolbox to help clients tackle business challenges and connect with their audiences.

As MCI Australia’s client base grew, so did the complexity of their digital operations. Their websites, often the heartbeat of live and virtual events, needed to handle everything from major traffic spikes to instant updates. But traffic surges led to downtimes, solving site issues lagged due to slow support, and rigid systems made site management a headache. These issues threatened the seamless experiences their clients counted on.

MCI Australia's landing page
MCI Australia is a global engagement marketing agency that unleashes the power of people.

Determined to overcome these roadblocks, the team is set out to find a hosting partner that could keep up with MCI Australia’s expanding needs. In our conversation with Digital Designer Bridget Behan, she shared how her team transformed their digital operations and achieved impressive results with Kinsta. Read on for their full journey!

Company overview

  • Sector: Marketing & Engagement Agency
  • Company size: 70+ team members

The problem

MCI Australia’s decision to switch was driven by the need for a scalable, high-performance hosting solution with better customer support and value.

Their business started booming in 2020 when they experienced a surge in web traffic and a sharp increase in demand for event-related websites. This was particularly during the period when events transitioned from in-person to virtual and hybrid formats. But their biggest problem was from their previous hosting provider.

  • Scalability issues during rapid growth: Their host couldn’t keep up, and it showed. Slow load times and frequent downtimes during peak hours made it hard to give clients and event attendees the seamless online experience they expected.
An example of a slow-loading website.
An example of a slow-loading website.
  • Slow and unreliable support: For event websites, timely support is everything, especially as the big day gets closer. But their previous host made things frustrating. Every time they needed to update content or get help, they had to fill out a form and wait, sometimes up to 24 hours because of time zone differences. At first, they could work around it, but as the company grew and updates became more urgent, those delays turned into a real problem. Event sites often need changes in real-time, and the lag was slowing down their ability to respond to customers when it mattered most.
  • Poor value for pricing: Even though they were paying a premium, their previous host just wasn’t delivering what they needed. They couldn’t directly access key integrations, which made it harder to implement advanced tools that could boost their client sites and simplify their team’s workflows. This held them back from innovating and offering their clients more sophisticated digital solutions.

“We needed more than what our old web host could give us. We needed direct access to connect various integrations, but that wasn’t an option. When we switched to WordPress hosting with Kinsta, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities and made our services much more valuable to our clients.”

The solution

In 2018, after thorough research, MCI Australia chose Kinsta for its robust features and outstanding value. They needed a hosting solution that didn’t just address their pain points but also offered tools to boost efficiency. Kinsta stood out by providing practical solutions to their biggest challenges.

  • Fast, secure, and scalable hosting: Kinsta delivers fast, secure, and scalable hosting by leveraging Google Cloud’s premium network and C2 machines, optimized for speed and growth. With built-in tools like a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and advanced caching, websites load quickly, even during traffic spikes.
  • Live chat with developers: Bridget and her team used to be stuck waiting on a slow ticketing system with their previous host. But Kinsta’s live chat changed that with quick, hands-on support that helped keep their sites running smoothly.

“Being able to chat with real developers live was the best reason to switch over to Kinsta. The rich text chat allows us to share information, screenshots, and GIFs with each other to communicate issues we might have.”

MCI Australia is an award-winning agency that help their clients transform and promote a more sustainable and inclusive culture.
MCI Australia is an award-winning agency that help their clients transform and promote a more sustainable and inclusive culture.

“From short-form to long-form blog posts, Kinsta’s blogs and knowledgebase provide a really in-depth analysis of WordPress websites. These have been a huge help to us in becoming self-sufficient, as every article makes it easy to troubleshoot and solve problems on the spot.”

“We can develop websites without affecting or worrying about domain name providers until the website is ready to launch.”

“Kinsta offers a seamless experience with cute animations when setting up a new environment. We also appreciate the notifications when the environment is ready. This means we can use our time to focus on other tasks.”

Tools and features available on the MyKinsta dashboard
Tools and features available on the MyKinsta dashboard

According to Bridget, Kinsta saves the team valuable time. Instead of wasting hours setting up a new site, they can get it up and running in minutes which gives MCI Australia more time to focus on their clients.

These features worked together to give the MCI team exactly what they needed—a complete solution that lets them scale, innovate, and meet tight deadlines without sacrificing quality or reliability.

Results

Since moving to Kinsta, MCI Australia has noticed immediate improvements in security, speed, and customer service. Now, they can put their energy into creating outstanding digital experiences without the worry of technical hurdles getting in the way.

Peace of mind with solid security

With Kinsta, the team no longer worries about cyber threats. Kinsta’s advanced security features work quietly in the background to keep all Kinsta-hosted websites safe.

“Kinsta takes security seriously with firewalls, DDoS and malware protection, and regular daily backups built in. Its enhanced security protects our websites from various online threats and provides peace of mind to our company. The triaging, transparency, and discretion Kinsta’s Customer Support takes during security vulnerabilities is professional and seamless.”

MCI Australia's proven legacy by the numbers.
MCI Australia’s proven legacy by the numbers.

Support that feels like an extension of your team

Whether it’s the middle of the day or late at night, Bridget and her team could instantly reach out to Kinsta’s support team, especially during high-pressure periods.

We’ve seen firsthand that Kinsta’s customer support is top-notch. They’re always ready with timely help and expert advice. This kind of support is invaluable when dealing with technical issues or looking for ways to improve the performance of our website.

Now, their team feels more confident, knowing expert help is always available 24/7/365. This was a game-changer compared to their previous host’s ticket system, which required long waits.

Zero downtime, even during major traffic spikes

Previously, traffic surges would slow down or crash MCI’s client sites. Now, with Kinsta’s robust infrastructure and overage notification system, those same sites stay fast and reliable, no matter how much traffic comes their way.

Kinsta scales resources to handle sudden traffic spikes. When traffic surges before and during live events, MCI’s client sites stay rock-solid with 99.9% uptime. Visitors always have seamless access to event info and registration pages, even during the busiest moments.

“Since hiring a dedicated in-house digital designer to manage our client sites, Kinsta’s customer support has made it easy for our digital team to stay in sync. Their quick, effective communication helps us keep the sites running smoothly with little to no downtime.”

MCI Australia provides end-to-end solutions for associations.
MCI Australia provides end-to-end solutions for associations.

Significant speed improvements across all websites

We’ve experienced significant improvements in security, site speed, and customer support.

MCI Australia saw immediate improvements on its site. Faster websites keep visitors happy. They stick around longer, engage more, and are less likely to leave out of frustration. This is especially crucial for event sites, where every second counts.

Conclusion

Kinsta has completely transformed MCI Australia’s digital operations. By solving its biggest challenges—scalability, slow support, and poor hosting solutions—Kinsta empowered MCI to deliver smooth, reliable digital experiences.

With rock-solid security, lightning-fast performance, and support available 24/7/365 that feels like part of their own crew, the MCI team now has everything they need to focus on creating impactful, human-centric experiences for their clients. Their partnership with Kinsta has built a strong foundation for future growth, ensuring that their customers always receive world-class service, no matter how complex or large the project.