Frame to Finish was such a fun project for me to work on. I enjoy helping local businesses stand out amongst the competition. I completed a website design and SEO project for Frame to Finish, helping them attract their target audience.
Their website is officially up and running as of June 2024. You can check it out here! Keep reading to learn about their marketing challenges, why they came to me in the first place, and the website design and SEO work I did for them.
Frame to Finish Summary
Frame to Finish is a general residential contractor firm in Bellingham, Washington. They’re a small company doing high-end, quality work. Frame to Finish specializes in home additions, kitchen updates, bathroom remodels, and building custom decks.
Owner Ben Jones considers himself a partner with his clients in the construction journey. He and his team strive to create the least intrusive construction experience possible. Their goal is to be the contractor that communicates well, comes in on time and on budget, and gives you robust information upfront so you can make informed decisions.
“You’re doing your work in a way that I cannot say enough good things about my experience working with you. About 90% of my inquiries coming through my website convert into sales and I think it’s because the clients have already decided I’m the right contractor for them based on what you built. I don’t know anything about indexing, but I’m getting more and more inquiries, so I assume the work you’ve done is making me more visible as time goes on. And, overall, it’s just a really great website, built with exceptional customer service.”
Ben Jones
Business Challenges
Frame to Finish focuses on communicating clearly with its clients, but its digital infrastructure was very DIY. This is understandable for a newer business, when budgets are tight and the operational focus is on the area of expertise (in this case, construction!) However, with a DIY website, they didn’t feel like they were communicating well about their quality standards or reaching their target audience.
They aren’t the cheapest company in town so they need to clearly communicate their value proposition – the quality of their work outshines many competitors. They need to address cost objections on the website before people start the bid process.
The main challenge they were facing was communicating well with their target audience. They were finding it difficult to reach their target audience. The Frame to Finish Google Business Profile has seventeen 5-star reviews (and counting) so their value and reputation for high quality work was well documented. But in their current DIY infrastructure, they felt like they weren’t able to communicate that well.
Strategy and Implementation
Ben initially came to me to create a printed flier as a leave-behind for their potential customers. The problem is as soon as you print it, it’s probably out of date. That’s how we shifted focus to building a new website instead. He wanted something that could communicate their value well and would be easily accessible to people.
Ben and I chatted quite a bit about how we could improve his visibility in search with a new website and how people operate when they’re looking for services. I looked at their company holistically to understand his needs and end goals, so we could build the right plan to meet those needs and goals.
Budget was an item of concern, as it is for most small businesses with limited resources. So I asked myself, “How can we get the most out of his investment?” Upgrading the digital side of his business with my website design services was the solution.
Website Design and SEO Results
I wanted to understand their company even more in-depth before starting their website. I got on a Zoom call with Ben and his business partner, and we talked for two hours about their services, their values, quality, and what their process looked like. We dug into all of that. This interview was the source of all of the content creation.
My website design process focuses on the initial website design first and makes sure we were in alignment based on the conversations we’ve had. They had a specific draw to being in Bellingham and connected to the environment and the community, so we leaned into that in the design.
Once I got design approval for the homepage, I used that to build the rest of the subsequent pages. While I was doing the subsequent pages, I also conducted keyword and competitor research to start writing all of their copy. The copy focused on his specific core messaging points, such as the quality of their work.
Ben didn’t want to commit to a blog but I recommended at least having a few new keyword-rich pieces of content, which he agreed to. His entire website needed to be optimized for local SEO since he was competing with other contractors in the area. We built the website to be mobile-responsive and addressed the SEO issues he had on his previous website.
At the end of Phase 2, Ben and his business partner reviewed the draft of the website. All he had to do was edit the drafted content and make some comments. One of Ben’s biggest objections to engaging in a full website project was his fear that content creation would be difficult and time consuming. So I made sure to build that into our process, making it as seamless and easy for him as possible.
I also encouraged him to hire a professional photographer to take photos of their work after every project. To date, they’d only been taking cell phone photos sporadically. I helped him build a more robust workflow to keep marketing in mind. Now, when he finishes a job, he brings in a photographer and they take photos. Moving forward, we have a workflow to update with photos regularly.
Frame to Finish now has a form on the website to email and text him after a submission. He’s constantly on the go, so he can be informed of a new lead on his phone and get back to them quickly.
“Rachael was fantastic every step of the way with my company’s new website build. She listened to my needs in the process and found creative solutions to make it happen. I had interviewed several website designers before connecting with her and no one was able to offer a solution where I didn’t have to write most of my copy, which I was never going to make time for. Rachael and I had two interviews throughout the process and she took meticulous notes in a way that she pulled everything she needed from her transcripts. She was communicative every step of the way and continued to make sure she was building exactly what I wanted, despite my constant assurances that I deferred to her expertise. The website is gorgeous and perfectly captures what we want as a company. I cannot recommend her highly enough!”
-Ben Jones
Work with Woods MarCom on Website Design and SEO
We always say that a website is more than just a design. We build with SEO in mind. Web design and SEO have to go together to reach your business goals. If you’re ready to have a mobile-friendly, SEO-optimized, and visually appealing website, connect with me! I’d love to chat with you about your business goals, and if website design and SEO is best for you.
