Rivers To Peaks sells land, residential and commercial properties throughout Gallatin County in Montana. They required a web platform that would have an attractive, easy to use layout, be search engine friendly and would allow them to update properties on a regular basis. We also helped them to develop several tools that would encourage visitors to request additional information, thereby generating sales leads.

The real estate market in the ski resort town of Big Sky, MT is very competitive. Understanding this, we developed several site features that encourage user loyalty and increase the site’s ease-of-use. One of our favorites is the ability for users to add chosen properties to a list of “favorites”. Each individual agent can see which of their properties have been added to a list and reach out to the potential client to begin establishing a relationship.

Since the launch of the website, we’ve performed several upgrades including a revised home page design.

Visit www.RiversToPeaks.com

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Partial Site Features

• Ability to feature properties on the home page and other site sections.
• List of upcoming open houses with several management tools.
• Ability to add, remove and edit all properties.
• Users can sort properties by price, number of bedrooms, location and many other metrics.
• Photo slideshows of each property.
• Support for printer friendly views, PDF file downloads, virtual tours, send to a friend, mortgage calculator and many other user-centric features.
• Drag-and-drop Google Maps features.
• Properties from the Montana MLS are automatically updated every 24 hrs.
• Ability to write articles targeted to buyers and sellers of Montana real estate.
• Basic and advanced site search modes.
• Informational section for community information, maps, activities, etc.
• News, weather and ski reports updated automatically.
• Ability to send customer satisfaction surveys from within the website.
• Staff profiles of each team member with links to personal websites.
• Support for multiple office locations.
• Complete administrative control panel allows client to administer all aspects of the website.

Services Provided

• In-depth consultation and planning phases.
• Information architecture, wireframing and flowcharting.
• Web design and layout.
• Custom content management system (CMS).
• Custom Google Maps application.
• Extensive PHP and MySQL (database) scripting.
• HTML, CSS and JavaScript programming.
• Advanced search engine optimization (SEO).
• Copywriting.
• Stock photography research and purchasing.
• Marketing consulting.

Other services we’ve provided Rivers To Peaks Big Sky Real Estate include:

• Marketing research assistance.
• Pay-Per-Click marketing campaign management.
• Internet marketing assistance with a strong focus on ROI.

When Dillon, Montana fly fishing outfitter, Justin Hartman needed a cost-effective website, we immediately thought of the benefits a WordPress powered website could offer him. Our involvement with this project stemmed from logo, business cards and other identity work we had completed for him.

We already knew Justin has style and is fun to work with, so when he gave us the go-ahead on his web project, the creative wheels just started spinning! Throughout his years of fishing some of the most spectacular trout waters in Montana, Justin has collected many great photographs. We knew that these images had to be the star of his website.

To accomplish this, we ensured that each section of the website would have a different header image displayed behind his logo and the site’s primary navigation bar. Not only would this offer a great, high-impact visual element, it also serves to help the visitor know which section they’re currently reading.

Justin has the ability to update nearly every aspect of his website without having to write a single line of code! He can add special promotions, photographs and seasonal updates as they happen. As web developers, it’s been really neat to watch Justin add information to his website as soon as he returns from the river.

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Website Features

• Ability for client to update nearly every aspect of the website.
• Special promotion is displayed near website navigation for greatest visibility and impact.
• Automatic thumbnailing of post photographs.
• Ability to search entire website.
• RSS and email signup features create leads and encourage return visits.
• Ability for readers to leave comments as Client allows.
• Links to share blog posts using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Full Gravatar support.
• Strong search engine optimization provided automatically.

Services Provided

• Website consultation to determine needs, goals and strategy.
• WordPress theme creation.
• PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript programming.
• Research and identify plugins to extend capability while reducing cost.
• Research keywords and provide optimization.
• Google Analytics installation.
• Website hosting and email setup.
• Basic training and instruction on using the WordPress platform.

Other services we’ve performed for Tight Line Adventures include:

• Logo, business card, letterhead and envelope business identity package.
• Printed brochure.
• Truck graphics.
• Apparel graphics.
• Other miscellaneous printed materials.

Sweet Pea Landscaping is a landscape contractor in Bozeman, Montana. The retail side of the business is Sweet Pea’s Nursery and Garden Center. The companies required a web solution that could portray both sides of the business equally, without a feeling of disconnect between the two.

The client wanted to ensure that visitors understood that there were two sides to the business. It was equally important that visitors understand that because of their experience in landscaping in high-altitude climates, they were very well equipped to offer local gardening advice and purchasing knowledge.

We chose to create a design that would clearly indicate what area of the website you were in through visual means. Whenever a visitor is in the landscape side of the website, they are shown different navigational options that they receive in the nursery side of the website. The web visitor can switch to the other side of the business by clicking tabs that are always highly-visible on every page.

Since the nursery’s content is primarily retail and marketing in nature, the content encapsulated within the landscape sections are primarily informational. We developed several methods to generate leads for the landscape business, and focused most of our attention in the nursery toward encouraging users to sign up for their e-mail DealFlyer.

Landscape contractors (and especially nurseries) are a very competitive market in Bozeman, Montana, so it was imperative that the website rank well in search engines. Much of our search optimization was focused on local keywords such as “garden center in Bozeman, MT” or “irrigation installer in Bozeman, MT“. By doing our homework and identifying desireable, high-value keywords, we were able to ensure that the Sweet Pea Landscaping website would never be without visitors interested in their products and services.

Visit www.SweetPeaLandscaping.com

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Website Features

• Strong focus on search engine optimization.
• Sliding navigation keeps pages from becoming “busy” or “cluttered” while allowing the user to focus his/her attention on the information at hand.
• Promotional text on each page shows current sale in nursery.
• Photography throughout the site supports the sales message.
• Contact information and telephone number on every page.
• Ability to update key sections of the website without programming knowledge.
• “Modules” of high-value information encourage the user to click deep into the website.
• Several lead-generation tools convert anonymous web users into actionable leads.
• Complete overviews of all products and services offered by the businesses.
• Areas for photo galleries, testimonials, staff bios, driving directions and much more.

Services Provided

• In-depth consultation of client’s needs and goals.
• Consultation to determine materials available from client.
• Stock photography research and purchasing.
• Copywriting assistance.
• Website design.
• HTML Newsletter design.
• One-on-one instruction on using Constant Contact email marketing software.
• Integration of 3rd party CMS for updates to special offers, hours and class schedule.
• PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript programming.
• Advanced search engine optimization.
• Extended monitoring of search results, with certain modifications made for improvements.

Nordic Hot Tubs is a long-established pool and spa dealer located in Big Sky, Montana. They required a simple, one-page website that would tell visitors about their maintenance services and retail location. The site links to Dimension One spas to ensure that the list of spa models is consistently up-to-date and requires no maintenance from the client.

Visit www.BigSkyHotTubs.com

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Services Provided

• Consulted with client to determine what materials were available to them as an authorized dealer of Dimension One spas.
• Edited video provided by Dimension One to include client’s logo and branding.
• Website design and layout.
• Copywriting
• HTML, CSS and Javascript programming
• Google Analytics installation
• Basic search engine optimization
• Search engine submission

Other work we’ve performed for Nordic Hot Tubs

• Print advertising design

Have you ever wondered what other computer users see when they visit your website? As a web designer, it is very important to us to know that everyone who visits our sites sees the message that we wish to convey.

I’ve come upon a useful tool that will help you to ensure that each of your web visitors sees your design correctly. When you type in your web address, BrowserShots creates screenshots of your web design in different browsers. The entire process only takes a few minutes. Visit BrowserShots to test your site now.

Web 2.0 may be an industry buzz-word these days, but the concept is changing how we interact with the internet and where we get information. This short video titled Web 2.0… The Machine is Us/ing Us was created by Michael Wesch, Professor of Cultural Anthropology. This article was originally posted on Rikki Arundel’s blogsite.

For a more cultural definition of Web 2.0, look it up on Wikipedia.

We will delve into Web 2.0 in upcoming posts to explore how concepts of social-networking and collaboration can help your business.