Cabins At Holly Creek

Introduction

We were tasked with developing a website for a client who owns cabins on a property that are available for short-term rentals. The client previously had a website on Wix that wasn’t converting as well and was in need of a refresh. 

Upon contacting us, we were able to quickly do an audit of their Wix website and overall business model to have a better understanding of their needs and how we might be of help. We understood that our client’s goal was to primarily book through their website as opposed to third-party platforms such as VRBO and Airbnb. Our idea was then to create a website using a CMS platform which would allow for better website management, analytics, and overall development. 

Discovery

We received the image content from our client to better understand their vision and what their branding would look like. We wanted to ensure that the guest experience is uniform; what they see on the website is what they are likely to experience on the properties. 

Once the content was received, we had a better understanding of our client’s needs. We did a full audit of the previous website as well to better understand what wasn’t working for the client and what features they would like to prioritize on their new website. We understood that our goal was to make the website not only aesthetically pleasing but it should also be functional. Potential visitors should able to login to the website, spend some time looking at the content and learning more about the property before booking their stay with our client. 

Define

Our client had a logo that they were very attached to and didn’t want to change since it was designed by a close family member. We were able to work with the logo our client had and define the website style around that element. We used the tone of blue presented above in order to match the colors of the roof, the surroundings, and the Native American heritage of the region.

The main font used on the website presented a modern and sophisticated look which is what our client was looking for on their website. We implemented the font throughout the website so it can have a uniform look throughout. From there, we were able to define the brand fully and begin our development and deployment phase.  

Development

We first built a lo-fi diagram of the customer journey for the website. We wanted our clients to have a clear understanding of our plan in order to provide the potential guests with the best user experience possible. The ruling idea was to make the CTA’s clear to the website visitors. The challenge, however, was to make sure we were able to include the “book now” Call to Action without hurting the User Experience by “spamming” the website.

Deployment

We ran smoke tests and deployed the website in July of 2022. Since then, our client has been able to shut down their old website on Wix and also receive organic traffic through search engines. Combining the top level design work done on the website with the Serch Engine Optimization, our client has been able to see an increase in booking rates and revenue. In addition, our client has ran successful marketing campaigns on Social Media to generate more traffic and therefore bookings. We are continuing to work with this client by providing monthly maintenance with content writing and their SEO efforts.