Benbow Historic Inn · Project Case Study

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Project Brief

Background + Objectives

The Benbow Historic Inn located in Garberville, Northern California, was undergoing renovations to their property. New suites were created, each themed after one of the original Benbow family members. The resort needed an updated design to reflect the new changes, and to address lacking website content. I designed and developed the original WordPress theme; re-mapped and curated the website content; and, implemented new features which would optimize website functionality. The existing websites' problem areas included:

New renovations not reflected
Design and imagery were untruthful of experience
Poor site map and content organization

My Role + Stakeholders

I managed this project, designed and developed the website, and developed the content for it.

Content development was supported by a photographer and marketing manager.

I worked directly with the business owner and associates.

Skills Applied

Web Design

Web Development

Technology Used

Photoshop

CSS

HTML

JavaScript

WordPress

Materialize CSS

Master Slider

Business Context

Final Design

The final website contained over 100 pages of website content and a dozen different page templates. The primary content pages included the guest rooms, local area, amenities, restaurant, and venue spaces. The home page immediately creates an experience in the redwoods of Humboldt County, CA. A page template was developed to query custom post types for attractions and amenities.

A page template was developed to query custom post type for various hotel rooms and suites. Once the user selects a room, a new page displays photos, descriptions, and lists in-room amenities with helpful iconography.

On various pages a request for proposal form captures potential customer’s interests. Very important to the business. A page highlighting the properties various venues was created and shows each location with different set ups and floor plans. Specs are listed out in a table below each of these.

Creative Process

The following slides display design research that was conducted to gauge and target various elements of the project such as color, typography, and layout.

Image & Mood Boards

Remnants of 1920s Americana
English Tudor Architecture
Redwood Forest & Eel River
Historic Artifacts
Full Restaurant & Bar

Design Iteration

A wireframe was filled with content and the branding elements were laid into place. Then a few options were compared and iterated on until a strong design took form.

Business Outcomes

After the website launched metrics showed:

Revenue from online reservations increased 37%

30 Days Before vs 30 Days After

Pageviews went from 14k to 36k
Bounce Rate went from 41% to 31%
Average Duration went from 2:10 to 3:15
Organic Search Traffic improved 143.76%

Website performance after the new website launched

Conclusion

The final website design shifted a bit from what the mockups intended. This was mostly due to the sudden introduction of high-quality photography that pushed the design into a higher fidelity. Colors became more flavorful to correspond with Benbow’s indoor and outdoor environments. Typography also shifted to more accurately match the original brand.