An ipad with a website on it sitting on a table.

Case Study: Building a Strategy-Driven Website to Engage New Clients

Elliot Olson, founder of Studio Anansi, posing for a photo.

By Elliot Olson

Studio Anansi Founder & Website Designer

Strategy-Driven WordPress Website Design

A build and design team wanted a new website to attract and engage leads by showcasing their gorgeous portfolio and regional roots.

Drew Meade recently approached Studio Anansi for a new website. He’d reached the limits of Squarespace and was ready for a professional new site that could highlight his team’s regional designs and outstanding builds.

Drew wanted design flexibility for his new website. He was ready to move from Squarespace to WordPress, and to invest in an online home that truly felt like it represented his business.

Together, we envisioned a website that would attract well-matched clients, showcase the gorgeous Meade projects, and guide visitors to envision their dream home in the Puget Sound.

I was delighted to build a modern website that combines elegant design and strategic planning — all with regional Pacific Northwest flair.

From the beginning, I was excited to work with the Meade team through my Future Planning Website Design framework.

Right off the bat, I used the framework to identify several ways that the old website underutilized their resources.

They had gorgeous project photos, outstanding community ties, and extensive local experience — but you wouldn’t know it from the old website.

Their new site needed a clear portfolio, strategic homepage layout, and intuitive visitor flow.

| studio anansi

After delving deeply into the company’s goals and audience, I started by redesigning the homepage and portfolio.

Rather than presenting a few photos without context, I focused on storytelling. 

I didn’t want website visitors to just see information about the company and projects — I wanted them to envision themselves in the shoes of a new client and to feel the excitement of the projects.

The redesigned homepage develops that emotional connection with visitors through audience-centric language, content strategy, and layout.

| studio anansi

The portfolio features gorgeous, scroll-stopping photos. Plus, each portfolio item provides context by telling the story of the projects and showing visitors how custom builds answer specific needs.

Alongside storytelling and customer-centric language, I also developed a new strategy for enhanced user experience.

Potential clients can now find a clear process outlining the steps for working with Meade Building Company. The steps are laid out in a visual timeline, presenting an intuitive format.

When they’re ready to begin, clients can easily start the project process by completing the simple inquiry form. To reduce friction, the site presents visitors with multiple paths to the form, and the form itself is pared down to only the most essential questions.

| studio anansi

Behind the scenes, I also set the company up for ongoing success with a forward-looking SEO strategy. Rather than focusing exclusively on the current projects, keywords encompass their future plans. The SEO groundwork is already laid for Andrew and the team to expand in the future.

And of course, I also optimized the new website to perform well on mobile screens and meet Google’s ever-evolving web metrics.

| studio anansi

Their strategic, customer-forward new website has already produced measurable improvements in website traffic and activity.

11%
Visitor Increase
35%
Bounce Rate Decrease
90%
Pageview Increase

Since the website launch, the number of monthly visitors has increased by 11% compared to the old website. I wasn’t content with just knowing that the site attracts a larger audience. I wanted to be sure that it attracts the right audience.

For this information, I turned to the bounce rate and pageviews.

Bounce rate measures how many people leave a website after visiting a single page. A high bounce rate oftentimes means that either the site is attracting the wrong visitors or that content isn’t engaging. In this case, a 35% lower bounce rate indicates that visitors are finding the content more engaging and informative — aka they’re not bouncing after seeing a single page.

Pageviews measures how many times visitors view pages of the website. A person who visits the website and clicks on six pages will register as 1 visitor, 6 pageviews. The number of pageviews has increased 90%, indicating that people are finding the website engaging and worth exploring multiple pages.

In summary, the new website is attracting a larger audience of qualified visitors and strategically engaging them for Meade Building Company.

The Meade website is now live, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the results. Thank you for trusting us with your new website, Drew! It’s been an honor to support you.

Ready for your own strategic website?

Learn more about my website design services today.

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