Case Study for Fairthorne Inn - Cape May, New Jersey

“Looks GREAT!!!” - Ed Hutchinson

“I booked, within a twenty-four hour period enough reservations to pay for the website! Wow! I would say 90% of our reservations that are new come directly from the site. We have a tremendous repeat business, but the new business is definitely thanks to your great work.” - Diane Hutchinson

Before I launch into yet another White Stone Marketing case study, I must say that working with Ed and Diane Hutchinson has been a pure delight! I could not have chosen nicer and more amenable innkeepers if I looked the world over! That said…as you can see from the snap shot image of their old site, we had quite a few hurdles to overcome. The old site was, in a word, OLD! Still in frames, the site was lacking in both visual appeal and effectiveness. Thus, our first challenge was to get a site done as quickly as possible while tailoring a look that suited the innkeepers. After gathering paint chips, fabric samples, and photos, we created the new logo you see at the top of the site. Ed and Diane wanted a stained glass type of logo to fit in with the historic architecture and stained glass windows found throughout the Inn. After enthusiastic approval from the innkeepers, our designer began to think a bit outside the box in the design style.

Taking a section of the roof and then using it for the background of the site created a dimension emphasizing the Colonial Revival style architecture while graphically enhancing the stunning imagery captured by the talents of Mark and Matthew of Jumping Rocks Photography. And. I must interject here again; working with the enormous talents of Jumping Rocks has produced the type of sites that have become the norm for White Stone Marketing. I simply cannot imagine our work without their talent as part of the winning formula. If you are reading this, THANKS Mark and Matthew!

Another aspect of our winning formula is the standard inclusion of a printable brochure. I’m particularly fond of the look and layout of the Fairthorne brochure – take a look as it is on the left side of the home page. We take the stunning photos and combine them in a print format for easy download or print so the innkeeper never has to lick a stamp again! Subtle elements throughout the site also aid in additional bookings – easy access to reservations, email gathering sign up form, and the ability to check availability from virtually anywhere on the site!

As we were nearing the end of this project, we delivered the rough draft to Ed and Diane. As is normally the case, I anxiously awaited the usual document from the client filled with notes upon notes of changes to be made before the final draft could be uploaded. I received a short email with only one sentence changed! I told our designer that she had merely one sentence to modify and she promptly decided that Ed and Diane deserved a medal. I couldn’t agree more!