Audit and Mockup
Shawn came to me about his website. I audited it across eight areas, from booking and reviews to Google rankings and what AI tools said about him, and sent a home page mockup with it.
← All case studies
Case Study · WordPress Website Build · Local Home Services
Moving From GoDaddy to WordPress:
Moving From GoDaddy to WordPress:
A 31‑Page Lighting Website, Completed Early
Shawn Ribble runs Silent Lights, a Christmas and permanent lighting company in Pensacola, Florida. His website was a five-page GoDaddy builder site that ranked on page 3 of Google, and its Book Now button opened an email. I audited it, then designed, wrote, built and launched a new WordPress site before peak booking season. The deadline was October 31. It went live October 30.
ClientSilent Lights, Pensacola, FL
PlatformGoDaddy to WordPress
Kickoff to launch11 days, Oct 19 to 30
ServicesHoliday and permanent lights
Pages published31, up from 5
Town pages12, in Florida and Alabama
TeamJust me, plus the owner
HostingGoDaddy, in his account
In His Words
What the Owner Says
Edward took my existing website, critiqued it in an easy to read report. As he built out the new site, we were informed the whole time. His tools to keep everything moving forward made the transition a breeze! He did excellent, timely work.
Shawn RibbleOwner, Silent LightsBefore and After
The Old Site and the New One
Conversion
How I Designed the Site to Get Shawn More Qualified Leads and Customers
A conversion is a visitor taking the step you want. On this site, that step is asking for a free design. I designed every page around it and made three kinds of changes:
- Easy to start. Fewer steps and fewer questions before someone reaches out.
- Reasons to trust him. His rating and his own work, shown where people decide.
- A reason to book now. Install dates fill up, and the site says so.
On a Computer
1
2
3
4
5
6
Easy to Start
- 1I put the quote form on the first screen and cut the first step to a name and phone number. The questions about the house come next.
- 2I made Get My Free Design the main button, in bright yellow, so the next step is obvious.
- 3I added Text Us Photos for people who would rather send a picture than fill out a form.
- 4I kept the phone number and a Get a Free Quote button in the header on every page.
Reasons to Trust Him
- 5I put his 5.0 rating from Google and Yelp, “locally owned” and “insured” right next to the buttons.
A Reason to Book Now
- 6I added a bar to the top of every page that says install dates are filling up, with a link to the form.
On a Phone
Most people look up a lighting company on their phone, often after seeing lights on a neighbor’s house. On a phone, the steps are the same, but I changed the layout:
- 1I kept the booking bar and shortened it to fit: “Dates are filling up. Free design.”
- 2I turned the phone number into a call button next to the menu.
- 3I made the buttons full width so they’re easy to tap, with the main one first.
- 4I put Text Us Photos right under it, since sending a picture from a phone takes seconds.
1
2
3
4
Why It Matters
Every question you ask before someone hits send is a chance for them to quit. Asking only for a name and phone number first means Shawn can call back even if the rest of the form never gets filled in.
What Changed From the Audit
My audit on October 6 found these booking problems. Here is what I changed:
| What the audit found | What I changed |
|---|---|
| Book Now opened an email, and on many phones it did nothing | A quote form on the first screen of every page |
| The form asked only for a name and email, so every quote started with back-and-forth | Three forms that ask what Shawn needs to price the job, with an optional photo |
| No way to text | Call or text in the header and a Text Us Photos button on every page |
| No idea of price | Starting prices on the home page and a full pricing page |
| No booking deadline | A bar on every page saying install dates are filling up |
| Stock photos at the top of the page | His own install photos, starting with the first screen |
| One review, on a page where the menu covered the title | His rating next to the main buttons, and a reviews page |
| A shopping cart icon, though nothing is sold online | Removed |
Three Forms, Three Different Quotes
Step two of each form asks what Shawn needs to price that job: how tall the home is, what kind of property it is, or how long the dock is.
The Customer’s Path
From a Google Search to a Quote Request
Here is the path a homeowner in Gulf Breeze takes, one screen at a time.
-
1
They Search for Their Town
A homeowner searches for Christmas light installation in Gulf Breeze. The Gulf Breeze page is written for that search, with the town in its title and headline.
-
2
They Land on Their Town’s Page
The headline names their town, the first lines mention nearby areas like Tiger Point and Midway, and the quote form is already on the screen.
-
3
They Check What It Costs
Starting prices and what each package includes are one tap away, so they know it fits their budget before they ask.
-
4
They Ask for a Free Design
Name and phone first, then a few questions about the house and an optional photo. The request goes straight to Shawn’s business email, tagged with the page it came from.
Getting Found
A Page for Every Town He Serves
The old site gave Google five pages and no towns. I built a page for each of the 12 towns Shawn serves, plus pages for each service and three guides that answer the questions people ask before they book.
Why It Matters
Many local sites copy one town page and swap the name. Google treats those pages as duplicates and shows few of them. Each of Shawn’s town pages has its own local details, so each one has a real reason to show up.
Where He Started
From my October 6 audit, using Semrush estimates and Google, compared with the two strongest local Christmas light specialists:
| Before the rebuild | Silent Lights | Pensacola Christmas Lights | First City Lights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google reviews | 1 | 36 | 14 |
| Searches it ranked for | 2 | 22 | 95 |
| Monthly visits from Google | 0 | 144 | 46 |
| Google for “christmas light installation pensacola” | Page 3, not on the map | Top 3 on the map | Top 3 on the map |
What I Built to Close the Gap
| What | How it’s set up |
|---|---|
| Service pages | Seasonal installation, permanent lights, commercial lights and dock lights, each with its own photos and starting price |
| Town pages | 12 towns from Pensacola to Baldwin County, Alabama, each with local notes, not one page copied 12 times |
| Guides | Cost, permanent vs. seasonal and palm tree lights: the questions people ask before they book |
| Titles and descriptions | Written for each page, like “Christmas Lights Installed in Pensacola, FL” |
Design
Keeping His Brand, Rebuilding Everything Else
Shawn already had a look customers knew: a gold script logo, a warm yellow and bold headlines. I kept all of it and changed what wasn’t working:
- Dark backgrounds, so night photos of his installs look the way the lights look in person.
- His own install photos in place of the stock images.
- The same layout on every page: the offer, the call and text buttons and the quote form in the same places, so nobody has to hunt for them.
- Where he works, in the first line. The towns he serves sit right above the headline, so people know right away that he comes to them.
- What’s included, at a glance. A row under the first screen shows the free design, lights, repairs all season, takedown and storage, so nobody wonders what they’re paying for.
- Yellow saved for actions. The buttons and the most important words in each headline are yellow, so the eye goes to the next step.
How the Project Ran
Audit to Launch in 25 Days
Shawn started Silent Lights in 2024 and lit 19 homes and businesses in his first season. Most of his bookings come in late October and early November, so I set October 31 as a hard launch date. The line below is drawn to scale.
Audit and mockupOct 6
KickoffOct 19
17-page previewOct 22
Real site for reviewOct 25
LaunchOct 30
DeadlineOct 31
Kickoff and Plan
A 15-minute call set the plan: move to WordPress, keep the old site live until launch, and keep every account in Shawn’s name. He gave me access to his accounts without sharing a password.
Content and Build
Shawn wasn’t going to write the pages, so I wrote all of them. I studied 25 local competitors, turned every fact only he knew into a short question, and sent a 17-page preview with every gap marked.
Review and Testing
Shawn and Britany reviewed the real site on a temporary address. I made their changes, then tested the whole site, page by page, before it went live. Everything I checked is listed in the next section.
Launch and Handoff
The site went live at silentlights850.com. Quote requests go to his business email, a test request arrived complete with a house photo, and his after-launch tasks sit on the same punch list he used during the build.
Website punch listReal items from the build
Get started
Give me access to your GoDaddy account
ShawnDoneAccess without sharing a password
Add me as a manager on your Google profile
ShawnDoneBusiness Profile, People and access
Business details
Starting prices for each package
ShawnDoneShown on the Pricing page and home page
After launch
Text your review link after every install
ShawnSentThe biggest thing that will move you up on Google
Send photos of every install
EdwardSentAdded to the site and the Google profile
Before Launch
What I Set Up and Tested
The work customers don’t see: the Google tools, the setup for AI search and a full test of the site before it went live.
10Services Listed on Google
His Google Business Profile also got new categories, a full description, hours that match the site and replies to his reviews.
AISet Up for ChatGPT and Google AI
His business details and common questions are built into his pages, so AI tools describe him correctly.
2Google Tools Connected
Search Console and Google Analytics were connected and checked before launch, so data comes in from day one.
Tested Before Launch
- All three quote forms, start to finish
- Every call, text and quote button
- The layout on phones and computers
- Details match his Google profile
- Quote requests reach his email
- Technical errors behind the scenes
- How AI tools describe him
- A final keyword check
- Photo quality
- Image descriptions (alt text)
- Structured data for his business details
- Page titles and descriptions
Problem Solving
Challenges and How We Solved Them
Each of these would have caused trouble after launch if it had been missed.
SolvedOct 19
The Old Site Couldn’t Be Moved
- What happened
- GoDaddy’s website builder doesn’t let you export a site, so nothing could be carried over to WordPress.
- How we solved it
- I rebuilt every page from scratch in WordPress, using the audit to decide what to keep and what to fix.
SolvedOct 19
Keeping His Email Working
- What happened
- Pointing his domain at a new website can break email that runs on the same domain, often without anyone noticing for days.
- How we solved it
- On day one, I asked which email he uses and planned the switch around it. His email kept working through launch.
SolvedOct 22
Photos Still Coming In
- What happened
- Shawn’s install photos were still uploading when the pages needed them, and waiting would have held up the build.
- How we solved it
- Clearly labeled stand-in photos held each spot, so the design kept moving, and his real photos replaced them as they arrived.
SolvedOct 25
Prices Changed During Review
- What happened
- Starting prices changed after the site was built, then changed again when Britany asked to round one up.
- How we solved it
- I updated every page that shows a price and his Google profile together, so customers never saw two different prices.
Practical Takeaways
What I’d Do Again
Three things from this project that work for any local service business.
Show a Starting Price
Most people want a rough price before they reach out. A starting price answers that, and the first call begins with a real budget instead of a guess.
Make Google Match the Site
Hours, services and prices should read the same on the website and the Google profile. When they don’t, customers lose trust and so does Google.
Launch Before the Busy Season
Pick the launch date from when customers buy, not from when the build is done. Google needs time to find new pages before the calls start.
Tools
Tools Used
Build
WordPressElementor ProGoDaddy WordPress hostingResearch
SemrushPageSpeed InsightsChatGPT and Google AI ModeProject
Online punch listGoogle DriveWebsite previewFor Agencies and Hiring Managers
What This Means on a Team Project
I built this site alone, but most of my work is leading website projects with designers, developers, writers and SEO specialists. Having done each of those jobs makes me better at managing the people who do them.
Timelines I Can Keep
I know how long research, page writing and a WordPress build actually take, so the schedules I set are realistic.
Every Page Has a Reason
The audit came before the proposal, so every page on the site traces back to a problem it was built to fix.
The Same Process Works on a Team
The punch list, the marked preview and the review steps work the same with a team of fifteen.
Handoffs the Client Can Run
Owners leave with quote requests going to their email, a matching Google profile and a short list of what to do next.
After Launch
What We’ll Measure at 30 Days
This case study covers the build. The next update will cover results, using these numbers.
Email
Quote Requests
Free design requests, which pages they came from and how many became installs.
Analytics
Calls and Texts
Taps on the call and text buttons, and which pages lead to them.
Search Console
Google Search Results
How often his pages show up on Google, and where they rank in each town.
Google Profile
Google Profile Activity
Views, calls and website clicks from his Google Business Profile.
Google
Reviews
New reviews from this season’s customers, with a goal of 15 by January 15.
AI tools
AI Answers
Whether ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode get his details right and link to him.
Newsletter
Get Insights in Your Inbox
Real lessons from managing websites that have to make money: conversion, SEO, UX, and the project decisions behind them. No spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
Currently Available
Looking for a Website Project Manager Who Can Own It All?
Whether you’re building something new or keeping a site running, I’m currently taking on new work. Tell me about it, and I’ll tell you exactly how I’d manage it.