Case Study: Complete Website Overhaul for Local Psychology Practice

See how AMST custom web design specialists revamped a client website and built in unique features.

The Goal

Our client is a local, Cleveland-area psychology practice that specializes in therapy and evidence-based care for mental health conditions, among other areas of expertise. Every day they combine clinical expertise with compassion to help their clients. Now they were coming to us to help them with a pretty gargantuan task–overhaul their website. They wanted to create something more user friendly, and a mobile friendly website was a must. We were also tasked with simplifying and condensing some while simultaneously highlighting other content–it should be easy for patients and other site users to find information about the founder and the services offered. It was also important to our client to maintain easy access to their client portal on the new site. Oh, and they wanted an early link to a beta version of the new site so that they could poke around and also get feedback from a trusted patient or two. We had plenty of content on hand and instructions from our clients–let’s do this!

The Strategy

Our client provided us with pages and pages (and pages!) of content to include on the new website. They generated and checked the accuracy, but wanted us to determine what should stay and go. That said, there were some nonnegotiables. For one, it was essential that we included ample information about the client’s practice and areas of expertise, along with available services and an easy way for potential patients to contact them. They acknowledged that their work is generally wordy and jargon heavy and they wanted to stick to easy-to-understand, concise language that would make the user experience smooth and streamlined. A lot of this would be achieved through our custom web design skills, graphic design abilities, and experience with creating websites for a wide range of companies in countless industries. Our client was very open to our design choices–in the end they just wanted a website that was easier to use. That’s something we have plenty of practice doing. In fact, we’ve trained all our lives for this moment! Let’s see how it panned out. 

The Results

The day finally came! After plenty of hard work migrating data to the newly designed site, altering layout and accounting for a smoother user experience, we were able to present our eager client with a finished, live website! They were thrilled, we were excited, and everything went off without a hitch. Even though there were some last-minute considerations, we were able to quickly include the client’s patient portal and a measure against spam prevention in the freshly launched site. Basically, we included everything agreed upon and more! They signed on for additional services and we’re so happy to keep working with them going forward.

The Takeaway

While on the surface this seems like any old website revamp, and in many ways it was, what really stands out are a few things: 1) the volume of material that needed to be updated; 2) the desire to present content that showed the client as being experienced and authoritative; 3) ensuring a degree of ease of usability and engagement; and 4) the trust that our client had in our custom web design skills.

We can’t diminish or overstate this–it took a lot of time and effort to include all the content sent our way while also keeping everything organized and well-displayed. But we were so up for that challenge. It also took some skill to render everything in a way that was true to our client’s message without overwhelming site users with wordiness or jargon. But since we’re used to working with a wide range of industries, we managed that too. Lastly, it did take some time and patience to communicate back and forth and ensure that all the requested changes were made to our client’s specifications whenever possible. But we do that everyday, so it wasn’t too much to handle.

In the end, everything went so smoothly, partially because at AMST we pride ourselves on being communicative and detail-oriented, but also because we have a great client who is always available when we reach out. When it comes time to think about redesigning your website, you want to be sure that you’re working with a professional team who can accommodate your needs and requests. It isn’t your job to handle every aspect of design–you’re busy running your business after all. Of course we’re happy to have clear direction, but if you can’t be bothered and want to trust that your website will be stellar, you need to work with custom web designers who know a thing or two about branding and the latest trends.

Yes, you should be available for questions, clarifications and approvals, but you should also be able to leave the design piece to your digital marketing agency. It’s also important to remember that your website is really just the start. To ensure that your new, shiny site gets noticed, you also want to work on SEO, among other things. Does your digital marketing partner have every service you need under one roof? And can they offer it all while also promising affordable website design in Cleveland? If not, it’s time to pivot. Contact Alt Media Studios today to learn more about our offerings and to how we can help you improve your online presence.