The Goodstone Inn & Estate : www.goodstone.com

Case Study

Goodstone Old SiteGoodstone Inn and Estate is a luxury property surrounded by 265 acres of Virginia hunt and wine country in Middleburg, Virginia. A new client this year, Goodstone is a great example of taking a strategic approach to developing and marketing a site. Goodstone came to us with a dated site, very poor usability, and limited photography. Site statistics showed that more than 80% of the people coming to the site left after one page view. Search engine rankings were low, with weak online booking. With little to start with, (the logo was tossed too) the Edgeworks team had their work cut out.

Godostone Inn

Goals

  • Update the logo to reflect the true image of this prestigious property and integrate it into the new site
  • Design should reflect the uniqueness and overall feel of the Estate
  • Support and extend the current marketing campaign,
    “Unlimited, Unique, Inspiring” with content and imagery within the site
  • Promote the new gourmet restaurant (Hilltoppers)
  • Increase site traffic through search marketing
  • Engage visitors to book online and or by phone
  • Create online tools to start building relationships with customers

Solutions

  • Created a new logo to reflect the luxurious and stately image of the property
  • Created a design that begins by communicating the breadth of the estate visually and the feel of the environment musically
  • Used the marketing theme throughout, but especially in the Galleries, where we tied photography to each of the themes
  • Created a flash-based interactive map of the estate to enable visitors to explore the property and show its uniqueness
  • Selected and incorporated new photos from photo shoot
  • Developed a site structure and content for the site that engaged visitors and moved them into action (making reservations)
  • Integrated an online reservation system
  • Implemented an aggressive search engine optimization strategy both on and off the site

Results

Goodstone couldn’t be happier with their new site and the results it’s bringing them. Online reservations are up sharply and the phones are ringing. The property is completely booked through the fall season and now we’re focusing on filling the rooms/houses for the winter. Search engine rankings are moving up and driving increased traffic to the site.