Approach
Anglers Lodge is renowned for its serene location and exceptional fishing experiences. However, its previous online presence did not effectively capture its charm and appeal. After a few rough seasons and a change of ownership, it was time for a fresh look and digital presence. The objective was clear: to create a website that not only highlighted the lodge's natural beauty and amenities but also provided an intuitive user experience for prospective guests.
Virtual Marketers embarked on a comprehensive end-to-end website project that involved understanding the essence of Anglers Lodge and translating it into a compelling digital format. Our approach centred on aligning the website's design with the lodge's new brand identity while ensuring optimal functionality and accessibility.
Solution
We implemented a multi-faceted strategy to achieve our goals:
Website Planning and Design:
- Deep-dive into the world of Anglers Lodge to understand the target audience and their preferences.
- Developed a detailed sitemap to outline the website structure and user flow.
- Created a visually appealing design that incorporated the brand new visual identity, high-quality images, and engaging content to reflect the unique and truly spectacular lodge
User Experience (UX) Optimisation:
- Ensured the website was easy to navigate with clear call-to-actions (CTAs) to guide users through the booking process.
- Integrated interactive elements such as a booking calendar, fishing activity schedules, and local attraction highlights to enhance user engagement.
Responsive Design:
- Developed a responsive website that provided a seamless experience across all devices, ensuring accessibility for users on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Content Management System (CMS):
- Implemented an intuitive Webflow CMS to allow Anglers Lodge's team to easily update content, and add new features as needed.
SEO and Performance Optimisation:
- Applied best practices for search engine optimisation (SEO) to improve the website's visibility on search engines.
- Optimised website performance for faster load times and enhanced user experience.
Key Outcomes
The collaboration with Virtual Marketers resulted in significant improvements for Anglers Lodge, including:
Enhanced Online Presence:
- The new website effectively showcases the beauty and amenities of Anglers Lodge, giving it the ability to attract more visitors and potential guests.
- High-quality visuals and engaging content provided an immersive experience, encouraging longer site visits and higher engagement rates.
Improved Search Engine Rankings:
- SEO optimisation resulted in higher search engine rankings, driving more organic traffic to the website.
- The website's visibility on search engines improved, making it easier for potential guests to find and book their stay.
Positive User Feedback:
- Guests praised the website's design and functionality, appreciating the ease of use and the wealth of information available.
- The lodge's team found the CMS user-friendly, enabling them to manage and update the site effortlessly.
“Working with Virtual Marketers was super easy and professional – these guys really know their stuff and how to deliver a superb website. I’ve worked with similar companies in the past, and from day dot, it was clear VM knew what they were doing.
We had inherited the website when we purchased Anglers Lodge in February 2020 (Great time to buy a tourism business!) and the branding didn’t inspire us, and the website was very hard to update or change anything, it was often slow and not very mobile friendly. After a few years of Covid & road closures we were very fortunate to win a new website through Virtual Marketers. We took at the same time to upgrade our brand and used Vanilla Hayes to refresh our branding. We discussed our needs and the look we wanted to achieve, and they set off behind the scenes right away. Britta provided us with a timeline and steps for each stage of who was doing what. The first brief we got hit the nail on the head.
In our original concept chats, I explained that most of our guests booking holidays are on the road so mobile friendly was key.
When VM handed over the new website we were absolutely stoked to see the vision turn to real life with our new branding. The website looks great, loads super fast, easy to navigate, and for us easy to update and add too. We have noticed an increase in visitors and direct bookings to accompany it. Guests have said it's much easier to navigate versus the old site.
5-stars to Virtual Marketers for pulling it together and smashing out our new look! We love our new site, and highly recommend VM. Thanks Team!”
— Aaron McFarlane, Owner, Anglers Lodge
