As your business expands and grows, don’t forget to refresh your website design and navigation. Here's our story of how we helped one growing business build better websites and make them all work together.
Here Come the Conns
LRS Web Solutions and Conn's Hospitality Group got together to rethink how their business products and services interact and complement each other to boost sales.
Springfieldians know the Conn family. Even if they don’t exactly recognize the name “Conn”, they know the popular hangouts the family has created in Springfield: Obed and Isaac’s, William Van’s Coffeehouse and the Inn at 835. The Conn properties are located walking distance from several downtown tourist sites.
Since 1948, the Conn family, as owners of Conn's Hospitality Group, has built a legacy of lovingly restoring historical properties as public gathering spaces. Two generations of Conns have continued the successes of Roy Conn, who first built a restaurant in 1948.
Seventy years later, the family has many new ideas to grow the family business. With a broad customer base of both tourists and locals, along with a wide array of venues, Conn’s Hospitality Group had a significant challenge designing a website.
Their group of successful businesses also includes an antique store and a thriving catering business. Each new venture had its own branded website. Even more new projects are in the works: The Historic Gillett Farm and the Land of Lincoln Brew Bus, as well as a not-for-profit venture. When LRS Web Solutions sat down with the Conn team in spring 2018, we realized there was a problem.
The Problem: An Overstuffed Website
As the business projects had grown, so had their website, stuffed with more details than one of their famous horseshoe sandwiches.
The recognizable brand names, such as Obed and Isaac’s, were buried in a general menu “Dine and Drink.” Obed’s is now very popular and well-branded in the area. In fact, “Obed and Isaac’s” is the top keyword for Conn’s Hospitality Group. Obed’s locations in Springfield and Peoria are both growing in popularity.
With nearly a dozen names and logos now part of the Conn business collection. Conn’s digital properties needed reorganization and redesign. They needed a more organized website that would let visitors know at a glance how extensive is their growing presence in Springfield and Peoria and create a site that would easily allow them to grow even more.
The Streamlined Website Solution
LRS Web Solutions worked with a dedicated team of marketers at Conn’s Hospitality Group to overhaul Conn’s many website properties, all using LRS Antilles Content Manager.
LRS Antilles’ List Builder feature created a gallery for the Conn collection of logos. This streamlined organization visually connects the separate businesses while still conveying them as separate entities.
With a new layout, the Conn family can continue to expand their business and grow their website in sync. At a glance, Springfield visitors can do a “Tour de Conn” and find a place to lodge, eat and shop, all within walking distance of Springfield’s most popular tourist destinations. A well-constructed collection of website properties complements a well-constructed business plan.
Another goal for the Conn family is to brand their name more prominently with their businesses. Many locals don’t know that all the Conn sites are part of the same group. A new url, connshg.com, succinctly puts a point on the ownership of the popular attractions for locals and tourists.
The project took 5 months from start to finish and was ready in time for the holiday season in late 2018. Take a look at connshg.com and plan your next visit to downtown Springfield.
If your business is growing and your website can't keep up, contact LRS Web Solutions to plan the next phase of your business's website.