BrixStone Farms is an established orchard located in northern lower Michigan that was recently bought by a new owner, Keaton Foster. Keaton was looking to bring BrixStone Farms into the future and first thing he needed to do was launch a website. I was happy to help!
We communicated primarily over email as Keaton is located in Michigan and I’m in Wisconsin – this was not a concern as it is so easy to communicate with anybody across the country (or world) nowadays! There are so many tools like email, video chat and the plain old phone or email. After some initial consultation, we outlined the handful of pages needed for BrixStone’s website, and settled on a timeline.
Our process looked something like this:
- Consultation and information gathering
- This is where we discussed what Keaton’s vision was, gathered copy, and I researched other similar websites
- Install WordPress
- Set up SSL (secure server)
- Point domains
- Select design/theme/layout
- Ensure mobile-friendly
- Set up pages
- Search engine optimize all copy and images
- Review
- Install site map – last step and the “Go Live” for this particular project
- This was saved for last, as the site was techincally “live” from the initial install of WordPress, unlike other existing sites. We wanted to ensure the site was 100% SEO ready before submitting the site map
After locking down the domains needed, I set up WordPress on the main domain, and pointed the others to that domain and set about installation. From there, I gathered a number of themes/designs/layouts in WordPress to try to identify the final design. After a bit of back and forth, we landed on one that worked perfect for BrixStone. If you are curious, we utilized the Avada Theme from ThemeForest which is nearly 100% customizable and I love to use!
The logo and photography was provided by Keaton, and I set about importing and setting up the pages. Most important with this initial website launch was to ensure all the pages and images were SEO friendly. We were very careful with all of the copy and images to ensure top SEO quality. Another important factor was to ensure the site was mobile friendly, and of course, secure. One of the best parts about WordPress is that these two items are easily addrssed and implemented!
We had some back and forth with copy edits and images, all of which are easy to implement and address with WordPress. In the end it took about 2 weeks to get the site set up and approved by all. Last step on this project was to submit the site map to Google Analytics to ensure we had everything nailed down before too much search engine activity began. We also, at this point, submitted BrixStone location to both Google and Bing maps, which is important for local search traffic.
I’m happy to say BrixStone Farms website is popping up #1 or #2 on applicable searches, and the site looks amazing! Keaton was great to work with.
Recommendation from Keaton:
“Working with Melissa was a pleasure, we built our full site in only a few short weeks. Throughout the buildout Melissa was very responsive and informative when dealing with my questions and concerns. Together, we were able to create a beautiful site that conveyed wonderful experiences. I would suggest Melissa to anyone looking to build a site from scratch or revamp an existing platform, she is proficient in web marketing and SEO optimization. 10/10! ” – Keaton Foster, Owner BrixStone Farms
About Digital-Melissa: I am a veteran of all things internet, located in Rhinelander, WI. 20 years in eCommerce with everything from design to copy, social media, marketing, project management, website help & management plus more. Contact me today if you’d like to talk about how I could help your business.