Project deep dive
Schade Brothers - building our company website from scratch
I built this site from scratch for my brother and me as we were building our commercial insulation company. The goal was a clear, trustworthy website with a low-friction path to request a quote.
Context
We serve Cleveland and Northeast Ohio commercial customers and needed a trustworthy website that clearly explained our services, made the company feel credible, and drove quote requests without extra friction.
Problem
- We needed a web presence that clearly explained what we do and gave people an easy way to reach out.
- Content had to be scannable for busy decision-makers who want the answer fast.
- Mobile had to work cleanly because many leads come from phones and quick visits.
What I delivered
- Wrote and structured the content around services, trust, and customer outcomes instead of generic filler copy.
- Built a prominent quote path and repeated it at moments where a visitor is most likely to take action.
- Designed a layout with readable sections, stronger value props, and faster mobile scanning.
- Put basic SEO foundations in place so the site is easier to understand, crawl, and iterate on over time.
Technical approach
Information architecture
I kept the navigation simple, trimmed fluff, and made sure core actions stayed visible across the page instead of hiding behind overly clever layout decisions.
Mobile-first design
Short sections, readable typography, large tap targets, and strong CTA placement made the site easier to use on phones without sacrificing desktop clarity.
Performance + trust
I kept the build lightweight, avoided heavy client-side dependencies, and leaned on visible trust cues to make the business feel more established quickly.
Measurement
The site structure is ready for tracking quote requests, call clicks, and search visibility so the team can improve pages based on real traffic instead of guesswork.
Measurement and early outcomes
The most immediate win was a clearer quote-first experience. These are the signals the site is designed to track as it matures.
| Focus area | How it is measured | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Quote requests | Form submissions and lead intent over time | Site inbox and form tracking |
| Call clicks | Mobile CTA engagement near high-intent sections | Click tracking |
| Organic visibility | Impressions and clicks for service-based searches | Search Console |
| Conversion rate | Landing-page visits compared with contact actions and quote requests | Analytics events |
The useful lesson here was simple: the best small business sites are mostly about trust cues and friction removal, not visual gimmicks.
What I learned and what I would do next
- Small businesses benefit most from direct messaging and very obvious next steps.
- Mobile clarity matters more than decorative complexity.
- Repeating the CTA near natural decision points helps more than hiding it in one perfect hero section.
- Next step: add targeted service and location pages, then compare lead quality and conversion rate across them.