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The Old Rooming House has offered tourist lodging in New Harmony,
Indiana, since 1947. Run by proprietor Jim Stinson, it’s a
Victorian house with a 1940s-themed interior.
The Old Rooming House’s original site had a variety of problems:
The home page took over two minutes to load on a 56k modem (optimum
load time is 6 - 10 seconds), navigation was placed at the bottom
of the page so it wasn’t immediately clear there was any navigation,
there was no copy on the home page so it didn’t get indexed
by search engines, and the design was inappropriate for the brand.
The result: Very little traffic and no way to recoup the investment
Jim made in the site.
See
and learn more
Brand: The Old Rooming House experience is unique
and unforgettable. Each room features comfy antique furniture and
is crammed to the gills with 1940s travel memorabilia, Brownie cameras,
checkerboards, and Viewmasters®, inspiring pleasant nostalgia.
Our approach was to make that experience central to the site design.
Most of the visual elements come from 1940s travel signs and menus.
A 1947 roadmap was used for the background. Our photography focused
on communicating the feel of the house.
Content: We developed the copy for the site based
on stories Jim shared with us, comments from the guestbook, and
our own experience. Combined with the design and photography, the
result is a site that communicates the emotional heart of the brand.
Site visits quadrupled and the phone started ringing off the hook!
Jim eventually discontinued all print advertising and now relies
only on referrals and the website to generate business, which is
better than it’s ever been. He also appreciates being able
to refer callers to the site so they can tour the house online while
he talks with them about the features of the different rooms. Most
telling of all, many of his guests comment that the site “really
captures the feeling of staying here.”
View
the live site
Cairril’s years of experience
paid off on the website she did for me. It turned out to be the
best thing to happen to my business in the last three years. Every
business should get an introduction to Cairril.
Jim Stinson, Proprietor, Old Rooming House
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