When the vacation property now known as Kouch Chalets first engaged with Enter Design, they had a different name, a hacked website, and a brand that wasn't reaching its full potential. Our mission was to execute a complete Brand Strategy and build a new, high-performing website from the ground up to solve critical technical issues, enhance user experience, and drive bookings from qualified visitors.
This case study details our strategic approach, from renaming and rebranding to a complete website overhaul that resulted in a 131% increase in site visits.
Relevant Services Used:
- Brand Strategy
- Website Design & Development
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Content Marketing
- Digital Marketing Strategy
The Challenge: A Hacked Website and a Need for a New Brand Identity
The project began with two major challenges:
First, the existing website, operating under the name "Xperience Kouchibouguac," was built on a bloated Elementor theme and hosted on a compromised server. This critical issue redirected potential customers to nefarious websites and caused all outgoing emails to land in spam folders due to poor mail record management.
Second, the brand itself needed a refresh to better reflect the property's identity and its owners' Francophone roots. The existing logo was dated did not scale well at smaller sizes, and the brand name was long and not memorable.
Our immediate tasks were twofold:
- Remediate the critical security and email deliverability issues.
- Develop a new, memorable brand that would resonate with their target audience.
The Solution: A Strategic Rebrand and a Custom Website Overhaul
Our senior team developed a comprehensive plan that addressed both the branding and technical challenges head-on.
1. Crafting a New Brand Strategy
A New Name with Purpose
Our first step was to choose a new name. While the original URL (kouch.com) was recognizable, the name for the business "Xperience Kouchibouquac" was not. We wanted to leverage this smart and short domain name with a simpler, more memorable brand name. After a thorough keyword analysis of search trends in the New Brunswick vacation rental market for terms like "cabins," "cottages," and "chalets," we found no significant difference in search volume between those three nouns. This data-driven insight allowed us to prioritize a new name based purely on what we thought our visitors would resonate with the most.
We chose Kouch Chalets as it best reflected the owners' Francophone background and the property's location in a French-speaking part of New Brunswick, near Kouchibouguac National Park.
A Unique and Memorable Logo
With the name solidified, Enter Design partnered with experienced Fredericton based designer Kirsten Stackhouse. The direction was simple: create a logo reminiscent of Canadian National Park branding. The result was a unique, traditional, and highly recognizable logo that works seamlessly across all devices and sizes, providing a significant upgrade over the previous design.
2. Complete Website Redesign & Development
Inherited Problems & Strategic Solutions
The old website was not only hacked but was also filled with over 1,000 pages of low-quality, spam suggestive content in an attempt to manipulate search rankings. This approach drove general search engine traffic but failed to attract actual visitors looking to book a vacation rental.
The Digital Marketing Strategy, proposed by co-founder Ross Merriam, was a complete overhaul. We made the bold decision to cull the website from over 1,000 pages down to just 50 highly targeted, content-rich pages. The goal was to pivot from being an "informational source" in Google's eyes to what they actually are: a premier vacation property provider.
Technical Development Highlights
- Custom Multi-Language WordPress Site: With a majority of customers being Francophone, a bilingual site was essential. We built a custom WordPress theme integrated with the WPML plugin, making French and English content management seamless for staff.
- Cloudbeds API Integration: To streamline the booking process, we integrated the website directly with Cloudbeds' booking API, creating an efficient and user-friendly experience for visitors.
- Seasonal Video Content: To showcase the property's year-round appeal, our team shot and produced stunning drone videos during the fall and winter, highlighting the beauty of each season while maintaining brand continuity.
3. The Results: A Resounding Success
The new website launch was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from regular and new clients, who praised the rebrand and the simplified booking process.
The performance metrics clearly demonstrated the success of our strategy:
- Site visits increased by 131%.
- Average time on site nearly doubled to one minute, indicating we were successfully attracting more engaged, qualified visitors.
- The strategic reduction of over 950 pages resulted in higher-quality traffic and improved search positioning as a vacation property provider.
4. Moving Forward
Following the launch, our ongoing SEO strategy, which included developing a new keyword list and a content plan for the blog, ensured that the site's authority and rankings continued to grow from a healthy, secure foundation.
This case study exemplifies Enter Design’s core philosophy: leveraging senior expertise and a strategy-first approach to solve complex problems and deliver measurable ROI for our clients.
Ready to discuss your own rebrand or website project? Contact us today for a free consultation.
