AshworthCreative

Two case studies that prove how an effective, customer-friendly website can fuel business growth.

Since the first of the pandemic-related shutdowns were instituted in March, many companies have been relying on their websites to communicate with customers and mitigate the loss of revenue due to mandatory closures.

Even when businesses remain open (or reopen), cautious customers have continued limiting face-to-face contact. The resulting impact on revenue, profit, and growth for both B2B and B2C businesses has the potential to be devastating.

This month, McKinsey reported that 73% of Americans are still not engaging with a normal level of out-of-home activity—and don’t plan to anytime soon. Instead, people are turning to digital channels to purchase goods, interact with businesses, and connect with friends and family.

Your website was important before March 2020, but now it’s essential, not only to stay connected with your customers and prospects but as a critical channel to generate revenue and fuel growth.

In this post, we’ll present two case studies that demonstrate how our hands-on approach to web design helped our clients grow (and sell) their businesses.

A great website helped a local realtor get noticed by Corcoran

The Challenge

Paula Redmond Real Estate (PRRE) was a local realtor in the Hudson Valley that came to us because they needed more functionality and usability from their website. They wanted the newly designed website to tap into the wealth of data provided by the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and give home buyers a sense of what it’s like living in the Hudson Valley.

The Solution

As a boutique website design agency, we were able to work with PRRE’s team to create a custom design that met their unique needs. Here is a breakdown of the components we incorporated into the redesign.

• Simplicity and flexibility: PRRE’s website needed to be mobile friendly and flexible enough to work well regardless of screen size, operating system, or device. We designed the website to be responsive, incorporated large images to showcase properties and listings, and created a hassle-free, intuitive layout that was modern, elegant, and, above all, easy to navigate.
  Paula Redmon Real Estate Website

• Functionality: An effective real-estate website must be highly functional. Visitors want to (quickly) grasp what homes are available in their desired areas, browse the newest listings, understand what’s in walking distance of a given property, and learn what attractions are located nearby.To address these specific needs, we enabled website visitors to draw a map to pinpoint the areas they were the most interested in. Other website features included a mortgage calculator and the ability to see what properties were for sale nearby.The added functionality offered site visitors a great way to virtually “shop” for a new home and envision what it might be like to live in the communities they were interested in.
• MLS Mobile Readiness: For the redesign, we ensured that the MLS IDX feed worked smoothly on mobile devices. Our programmers worked diligently to integrate the MLS feed into the responsive web design framework so users could navigate the listings regardless of what device they were using.

The Results

In July 2020, Paula Redmond Real Estate was acquired by Manhattan real estate company, Corcoran Group, LLC (of Shark Tank fame) and the name was changed to Corcoran Country Living. The success of PRRE’s website contributed to the growth of the business, enabling it to be noticed by Corcoran and subsequently acquired. Having one of the best (and easiest to use) websites in the Hudson Valley, truly made Paula Redmond stand out.

Local manufacturer makes big with a $54 million acquisition

The Challenge

As one of the leading providers of protein processing equipment in the world, Kingston, NY-based Wolf-tec needed a website that would showcase their complex machines. The redesign required that the website be available in multiple languages. It also needed to be responsive so that it worked well on mobile devices.

The Solution

• Streamlined Design: Ashworth Creative designed a clean, crisp mobile responsive website for Wolf-tec that documented their history, products, and innovative approach to the global markets they serve. The website is user-friendly while maintaining an industrial feel.
• Updated Navigation: We ditched the old hard-to-navigate layout of the Wolf-tec website and updated the sitemap using a thoughtful approach to information architecture. We ultimately created comprehensive and intuitive drop-down menus that worked well across multiple languages.
• Mobile Readiness: The Wolf-tec website was redesigned in 2014, when device-responsive sites were not standard. Even so, we designed a website with a modern feel that worked well on mobile and desktop devices.Part of the website’s success? The custom photography we provided to Wolf-tec which helped showcase their factory and equipment in a sleek, modern way. Thanks to this proactive approach to mobile design, Wolf-tec was well-positioned to outrank their competitors when, in February 2015, Google announced that mobile-friendly websites mandatory to assure good search engine positioning.

JBT Wolf-tec Equipment

The Results

Wolf-tec enjoyed continued growth and expansion after the website redesign in 2014. The company was bought for $54 million by JBT Corporation a global technology solutions provider in the food processing industry and renamed JBT Wolf-tec. Since the purchase, JBT Wolf-tec has continued to use the website we designed.

The boutique agency partner

Ashworth Creative is a small, boutique agency. We pride ourselves in our attention to detail, and our ability to offer value as expert consultants and partners to our clients.

While we provide many services in-house including website design, branding, digital advertising, and content creation (including photography, video, and writing), we realize that one of our best offerings is our experience.

Boutique agencies can’t compete on resources alone—which is why we learned long ago that expert consulting combined with customizing our services and deliverables to each client’s specific needs is where we stand out.

During a global pandemic, when more people are going online to shop, solve problems, and find new solutions, your website is more important than ever. Creating a web presence that’s focused on delivering the best possible customer experience will not only help you stand out, it will turn your online presence into a channel for growth.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule a free (virtual) consultation. We’d love to talk to you about taking your website to the next level.