We are back with another amazing customer spotlight! And let me tell you – this was an amazing project from beginning to end! Charternet and Tuna Hunter have had a working relationship for the better part of 2 decades. Over the last few years, we all came to conclusion it was time to redesign and consolidate their dated website and mobile website as it was directly effecting their search engine rankings. Read what Tuna Hunter thought of the whole process:
Give us a little back story.
“I built our original website back in 1993, pure HTML & SEO did not even exist! That was great for a few years. We decided to upgrade again in 2000-ish to a “table-based site. That is when our relationship with Charternet began – they would upgrade and handle the SEO. Keeping up with SEO on my own, after my full-time-plus job, became too much for me to do as a side-job. Charternet obviously knew what they were talking about and as a result we have been happy with Charternet for years!”
In your opinion, what were the specific issues you wanted fixed with the redesign?
“As web design advanced, fishing regulations changed, and social media took off, our great “new” site was dated – and I knew it. It just did not look good on a phone. Another problem was that our website was totally separate from our social media accounts, even though we had the requisite links and buttons. Keeping up with site changes and social media was a chore. In a year or so, the combination of more charter boat sites out there, our site not being responsive, and all the work to maintain both site and social media was taking a toll on us and on our rankings. It became abundantly clear – we had to change to a responsive, integrated site, and sooner rather than later.
About the same time, we found we were getting dinged by Google for not having modern responsive pages – right at the beginning of our season. Ouch! Charternet was very sensitive to this and worked hard to get things done quickly. Because they know the business, they were able to incorporate features and effects that make sense for a fishing charter business.
We were able to get the new site finalized and turned on in a matter of weeks. The CWS Marketing team was onboard for SEO the whole time and we gave them the challenge of increasing rankings for keywords where we had slipped, as we launched. A big fear of launching the new site was a slip in rankings.”
How did the redesign process go?
The new site launched on a Monday. That week, we got 2 reservations via the new Reservations page – a new page where clients can securely enter their credit card info while requesting a date. No call, just direct reservations. The following week, 3 more. Now we direct persons to the Reservations page, to secure their reservation when they are ready. Plus, we have all the contact info in a database. Much simpler than doing everything by phone, and much more effective at closing a charter than we had anticipated.
There was no drop in rankings. In fact, we improved on those keywords we had dropped from, thanks to focused work from CWS Marketing team.
Our social media posts now appear on our page, as we post them. All I need do is blog posts which I can do on my phone or iPad or laptop!
Bottom line:
- We have ONE clean modern responsive site.
- All our social media are linked in.
- Ease of adding Fishing Reports
- Ease of updating the site when needed.
Most important:
- We have a site that says TUNA HUNTER!
- Our rankings in a short time are the same or better, and climbing.
- Ease of reservations means ease of closing a charter – and that’s what we want!”
Was the redesign process worth it?
“The CWS Design Team will tell you, this was NOT an easy job for them – the Captain was very picky and very leery of any changes. I actually went through everything in the first round page by page, line by line with adjustments and comments. This took time – if I wanted a certain result, I had to give Charternet every photo, text, comment, question, like or dislike, to get to a site that I really love. It was my responsibility to put in the time to give them detailed feedback.
We could not have done this without Charternet – I do not have the time, the WordPress design skills, or the SEO skills. There are some nice touches – features, transitions, hover states – that the Design Team dropped in that make a subtle, professional positive difference. I would never have thought of these.
While I could say I wish we got here sooner … the path we took got us to this site, and I am happy with the end result. More important, the Captain is happy!”
We cannot thank Tuna Hunter enough for teaming up with us again and taking the time to give us all the details of their design process!
Interested in increasing traffic to your site? Time to modernize your site and deliver the right 1st impression? At Charternet Web Solutions we deliver sites that offer easy navigation, making the redesigned websites both human and search engine friendly. We take pride in offering responsive design, a necessity for businesses to connect effectively to the smart phones and devices that are quickly replacing the desktop/laptop. Contact us today to get started!
Charternet Web Solutions
Dedicated to Keeping You on the Water
www.charternetwebsolutions.com
844.866.9283
