Parallax Design | Vortex Seva Project Recipient
The Challenge: Creating a space that showcases the work Table to Table does while inspiring visitors to donate and volunteer.
The Process: Combining single-page WordPress installation with an updateable news blog, custom parallax design, partner and testimonial sliders, and the option to donate now or volunteer.
The Result: A place for visitors to learn about the nonprofit’s rich history and services while inspiring them to volunteer or donate.
The Challenge: Concrete Polyfix approached Vortex Digital with the desire for a new website with a simpler wireframe and more robust marketing funnel. Not only was the information on the website out of date, it was poorly organized and hard to navigate. Users were having trouble finding the services and information they wanted, and instead were getting lost.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Concrete Polyfix’s marketing team to get the most up to date information about their services, and wireframes every page and section to better organize it. Concrete Polyfix serves two main demographics: residential and commercial. We treated these as two separate marketing funnels, and split the services based on which demographic they fell into. This way, if someone was only interested in residential services, they would know where to go immediately upon landing on the site, and vice versa for commercial.
The Result: The final result is a custom designed website that directs both of Concrete Polyfix’s target demographics into their respective marketing funnels: one for residential services and another for commercial services. In each, potential clients can learn more about these services, and as they scroll down and through pages, they will be directed towards the ultimate goal: getting in touch with Concrete Polyfix’s staff.
The Challenge: ORCA approached Vortex Digital in need of a complex membership based site for their organization. After talking with their sister organization, American Academy of Cariology, about the website we developed for them, they realized they were in need of a new one as well. Their current website was difficult to update themselves, and their members had trouble logging in and learning about upcoming events, accessing information, and other features.
The Process: During our initial meetings, we determined what was necessary to have in the member portal versus what was available in the front facing website. Essentially, there was one part of the website that anyone could access, and another that only paying members could access. The front-facing website would advertise the benefits of becoming a member, showcase select passages from the Caries Research Journal, and basically try to get users to sign up for a paid membership. Members would be able to access a lounge in the backend, where they can view lectures and webinars from past events, and free access to external publications. In addition, all of the content on the website must be easy to edit and add on to for their team, as they will be maintaining it after launch.
The Result: Vortex Digital produced a custom designed, double faceted website for ORCA that includes a free, front facing section and a paid, members-only section and lounge. Users can easily learn about the benefits of becoming a member, and members can log in to access all of the paid benefits. New content on both sides of the website can also easily be added by ORCA staff on their own, giving them independence and complete control over it.
The Challenge: Hoge Auctioneering approached Vortex Digital in need of a new, updated website with improved visuals and a revamped user interface. Hoge Auctioneering holds farming equipment, machinery, estate, and other auctions a few times a month, and each auction has its own page with an accompanying gallery showcasing what will be available. The current website was difficult to update for their staff, and users had trouble finding the auction information they were looking for.
The Process: Vortex Digital met with Hoge Auctioneering to determine what information its users were looking for, and how to present it to them in as few clicks as possible. Essentially, users just want to see images of upcoming auction items, and little else. Because of this, presenting upcoming auctions and what they will include was really the only necessary element on the home page. Each auction is represented by a featured image, title, and link to its own page where users can view the gallery of items. There is also a link to bid online if desired. In addition, it’s important that Hoge Auctioneering staff can easily add new auctions and images themselves, so these needed to be coded in a way to accommodate this.
The Result: Vortex Digital delivered a new, modern, custom designed website to Hoge Auctioneering that presents users auction information as soon as they arrive. Each auction is listed and represented by its title and a featured image, and links directly to where they can learn more and view the inventory. Every aspect of the design and layout was optimized to help accomplish the main goal as quickly as possible: viewing inventory for upcoming auctions.
The Challenge:Master Compliance’s previous website was built in an old WordPress theme that hadn’t been updated in years, resulting in a broken UI, and staff being unable to make any edits. The site’s SEO was also nonexistent, making it hard to generate search engine traffic.
The Process:Vortex Digital scraped the site’s content, and migrated it into a modern theme that could be easily updated in the future. Extensive keyword research was performed, and each page received keyword-rich metatags and copy.
The Result:A brand new, fully functional WordPress site with a modern theme. Master Compliance staff now manages the site themselves, making edits and changes. The site’s SEO also improved, increasing search engine traffic and overall visits.
The Challenge:The Local Hub approached Vortex Digital wanting to make a platform for local businesses, based on recommendations from local community leaders. The database of businesses would be curated based on community and expert feedback, and provide those businesses with an additional marketing avenue. The site needed a visually impactful design, and an ergonomic, easy to use layout to make navigating between businesses quick and simple.
The Process:As The Local Hub would be managing the website themselves and adding/editing the businesses, we worked with them to make this process as easy as possible for someone with little to no coding or technical knowledge. The backend is very simple to use and navigate. On the front end, the design deliberately points users towards the main feature, the business search. Users can search by a large amount of categories to see curated businesses, and each business has its own page with reviews, marketing information, contact information, and more.
The Result:A beautiful, custom designed website that provides a robust database of local businesses curated by community experts and business owners. The backend is easy to use and manage, with adding and editing businesses as simple as filling out a form. The frontend is easy to search through and navigate, helping users get to where they’re going as fast as possible.
The Challenge:ThinkJOY was a brand new, nonprofit focused on helping elders in the community. They had no marketing or website, and needed both to get started. They also had a large amount of copy that needed to be condensed down.
The Process:Our art director worked with ThinkJOY to create a logo, design, and branding guide that matched their vision and feelings. Vortex Digital took all of the provided copy, and organized it into different pages to make it more digestible and less overwhelming. The logo, design and branding was also repurposed for social media and email marketing.
The Result:The project as a whole was taken on as part of our SEVA Project, where we give away several thousand dollars to a deserving nonprofit. The new website is custom designed and visually impactful, instilling a sense of hope in the community. Each page succinctly describes what they do, and how users can get involved themselves.
The Challenge:Barbara Mishkin, the author of the children’s book, TIP’s Magical Journey, approached Vortex Digital needing a website to promote it. The sales would take place on Amazon, but she wanted a website to host her marketing and press material.
The Process:Vortex Digital met with Barbara to determine what was most important to put on the website: reviews, a contact form, ways to buy the book in bulk, and information about her. It was also important that as more books released, they could be added to the website easily and seamlessly.
The Result:A custom designed marketing platform for Barbara and her books. The newley released book, TIP’s Magical Journey, had already received reviews, and were populated on the website, long with other information related to the book. As new books are released, they can easily be added.
The Challenge
The old Phelan Tucker Law website was difficult to navigate, and used a clunky, confusing wireframe that didn’t accurately convey all of the services offered. It was easy for users to get lost looking for areas of practice, and the copy was overwhelming with bland imagery not helping matters.
The Process
Vortex Digital worked with Phelan Tucker Law to identify which areas of practice were redundant, and which were necessary to keep. Jonathan also took professional photos of the staff and office to help the website design stand out even more.
The Result
The new Phelan Tucker Law website contains an updated wireframe, and succinct copy that accurately describes the experience and capabilities of the office. Visually striking photography shows off the impressive office, and professional headshots deliver a feeling of credibility and authenticity.
The Challenge
Prime Land Auction was a brand-new business that needed a well-designed, user-friendly website to showcase its real estate listings and land options.
The Process
Vortex Digital had to design a website from scratch that included all the necessary features for each listing and auction. Both options needed custom fields and post types.
The Result
An aesthetically designed website that displays all available listings and auctions with easily updatable fields for each option.
The Challenge:
The design of the old Wild Flower Healing Arts website needed to be updated, as it wasn’t utilizing the full pallet of digital real estate that modern sites offer. New features were necessary to provide a better user experience, such as a more streamlined way to buy personalized gift certificates.
The Process:
Team Vortex revamped the old site with new, modern design elements and new images. Our development team implemented, tested, and debugged the new features.
The Result:
Wild Flower Healing Arts now has a full-width, modern design for its website with improved features such as personalized gift certificates.
The Challenge
Night Train Party Bus had an existing site that was outdated and just plain boring, which does not fit the brand image of a fun party bus service. There were minimal to no design elements, and there wasn’t a feature for custom request forms.
The Process
Vortex Digital upgraded the website to the latest version of WordPress. We redesigned the website layout and included images that better represent the brand. We developed a ‘request a quote’ custom form for each bus/package available that automates sending an email and putting information into a form
The Result
An updated modern website with visual design elements that better match the brand added more images to the gallery and includes YouTube video, custom request a quote page with add-ons
The Challenge:
Shoemaker and Haaland needed a complete website redesign that shifted the focus of the site from highlighting past projects to promoting company culture, the greater Iowa City area, career opportunities, and benefits.
The Process:
We discussed their vision for attracting talented engineers to their team, the services and projects they wanted to feature, and the visual elements they wanted to include in the update.
The Result:
Team Vortex reworked the website’s UX and design, adding strong visuals and content to attract talented engineers. A link to the careers page is featured in the header of the landing page, along with other calls to action throughout the site to funnel prospective employees to career opportunities. To modernize their website, we added a dynamic Facebook feed, custom text and images to showcase their projects, and easily updated custom fields to organize their photo gallery.
The Challenge:Aqua-Struction Pools contacted us because their previous website had been taken down without their knowledge. They no longer had any web presence, and needed to get one up fast. They also wanted a more fleshed out website in the future that showcased their services, pool designs, photo galleries, and more.
The Process:First, we met with Aqua-Struction to determine what needed to be on the new landing page immediately. We put together a photo gallery, summary of their services, and contact information into a sleek landing page, and launched it within one week of meeting with them. We had also saved their emails and migrated them to a new service. Once the landing page was done, we met with them to scope out what services they wanted to expand on, how many pool designs they wanted to include, and other information to put on the website.
The Result:A beautiful custom designed website that received a Graphic Design USA Award. The website presents Aqua-Struction’s services, pool designs, photo galleries, and business information in a visually impactful layout. The backend of the website can also easily be edited to add on in the future.
The Challenge
Local Honey Trove is a small store that sells locally sourced honey, bee products, and other goods, with a focus on sustainability and small community comradery. However, they had no web presence or a way to drive people to the store.
The Process
Vortex Digital worked with Local Honey Trove to create a design that matches their environmentally friendly, community-oriented views. The website was centered on their story, and how their mission is to help their community have access to organically, sustainably produced honey and bee products.
The Result
Local Honey Trove ended with a beautiful, custom designed website that covers their story, the goods they offer at their store, and highlights other local beekeepers and members of the community to help promote sustainability and fellowship.
The Challenge:
Landon’s previous website did not accurately capture his brand, and it wasn’t up to his liking. He came to Vortex Digital looking for a new website that represents him and his work.
The Process:
Team Vortex worked closely with Landon to understand exactly what he wanted to feature and how he wanted to present his work. Our team included a lot of imagery for each of his offered services. We also incorporated numerous CTA’s through email contact forms and free quote requests.
The Result:
A visually oriented website to showcase Landon’s services with numerous contact features. Landon’s Sitework website now represents his brand well and is an accurate reflection of him and his work.
The Challenge:
Iowa Women’s Wrestling Club needed a custom-designed website that had an easy site setup and documentation so the client could update the content when needed. There also needed to be a donation form on the site that connects to the client’s Stripe account.
The Process:
Team Vortex worked closely with the client to implement all the design features they wanted into the website.
The Result:
A new, fast website with a custom design that the client is satisfied with. The client can easily add/remove content whenever they choose. Lastly, there is a donation function that connects directly to the client’s Stripe account.
The Challenge:
The existing web coding was outdated and had extensive plug-ins. The web development needed to be reworked and optimized for future improvements. This had to be accomplished on a time constraint before the yearly web conference. There also needed to be a way to register for the conference and a paid membership option.
The Process:
Vortex Digital created a new WordPress installation with a membership plugin at its core. We transferred the existing content to the new site and worked through the design elements as efficiently as possible.
The Result:
A membership-based WordPress website that features a yearly-renewal mechanism, a mailing list, and showcases upcoming events. The site was finished quickly so registration for the conference could take place.
The Challenge:Kendra Schaa approached Vortex Digital about a new business venture idea: offering women and men counseling after loss of pregnancy. She had an idea of what she wanted her branding to be, but was having trouble visualizing it.
The Process:Our art director worked with Kendra on every aspect of her branding, including her logo, marketing materials, color palette, website design, and more. Every aspect of the new website and marketing was meticulously constructed to be in harmony with her vision.
The Result:A beautiful, custom designed website that puts Kendra’s brand front and center, while succinctly presenting her services. The design and color palette immediately instill a sense of calmness and understanding, which is necessary in this line of work. The calls to action are prominent, but not pushy, and full of understanding and emotion.
The Challenge:Homewerx presented an interesting business prospect to Vortex Digital: they sell work-from-home office kits to corporate businesses interested in moving their workforce home, which was very popular during the height of the pandemic. They needed a new website to send HR representatives of potential clients to, and came to us for a design.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Homewerx to determine what set their product apart from others in the market, and why corporations would want to purchase it. During several hours of meetings, we were able to boil it down to a succinct website that tells what Homewerx does, and how corporations can benefit.
The Result:A sleek, ergonomic website that drives users through the marketing funnel quickly and easily. Immediately, users are presented with what Homewerx does, and how it can benefit their company (ie save them money).
The Challenge:
Aizenman Law Group needed a new website built from scratch as their existing site was not designed in WordPress.
The Process:
Vortex Digital merged all copies, files, and assets into a new installation of WordPress. Once the site was rebuilt, we updated the design, functionality, and ergonomics to improve User eXperience. Lastly, we added a live chat and a leads funnel that the client can access.
The Result:
A lead-generating, aesthetically designed website on the modern WordPress platform, that allows the client to easily update content and maintain their existing workflow with potential clients.
The Challenge:
The Machine Stops Opera was showcased at the Coralville Performing Arts Center and needed a site quickly to present the information for the upcoming shows. In addition, they needed a venue to sell tickets and ask for donations.
The Process:
Team Vortex quickly and efficiently designed a beautiful WordPress website with all the necessary content and features the client requested.
The Result:
A strong graphical, functional website that showcases all pertinent information where customers can buy tickets and donate through the site. Our team accomplished this while meeting the Opera’s tight deadline.
The Challenge:Oak Park Estates came to Vortex Digital in need of a website redesign. Their previous website was dated, and difficult to edit and maintain. It was also more clerical than desired, and they wanted to shift to more emotion-focused branding and marketing.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Oak Park Estates to boil down their vision into a short mission statement: At Oak Park Estates, we treat each of our residents at family, not just a number. To help with this, we went on site and had a photography shoot with their staff, residents, and facility to use for the website. With a softer design, more intentional copy, and personal imagery, the site was leaning more towards an emotional spin in its branding and marketing.
The Result:A beautiful website with original photography that showcases the staff, residents, and facility. The new website presents all that the new facility has to offer, and informs prospective residents and their families what sets them apart from other homes. The design and photography was also used in their social media and email marketing campaigns, which Vortex Digital also manages.
The Challenge:Dr. Ben Reinking wanted to start a coaching business for premed, medical students, trainees and physicians. Although he wanted to equally serve each demographic, they required different marketing tactics and language, so it was difficult to house them all on one website. He also had no branding or logos.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Dr. Reinking to nail down his target demographics and how best to market to them, then created a wireframe for the website based on that. Each demographic would have its own section and marketing funnel. Molly, our art director, also went through several iterations of the logo until he was completely satisfied.
The Result:A beautiful, custom designed website that efficiently funnels each target demographic to where they need to go, where they can be more directly marketed to with targeted language and imagery. The logo and branding material was repurposed for social media and email marketing as well.
The Challenge:
Team Vortex was tasked with moving the existing e-commerce site into a new installation on our own server. We needed to migrate Innovative Aesthetics’ entire product inventory, existing tag structures, client lists, and previous orders without any data loss. The new site had to look/function the same, plus improve the site speed and product syncing issues.
The Process:
We exported the entire existing product database and platform structures to a new WordPress installation with a new WooCommerce installation as well. We reconnected a new Square payment gateway that fixed the syncing issues.
The Result:
A fast, reliable, and scalable e-commerce site that integrates with the client’s workflow much more efficiently.
The Challenge:Hausers Water had a website, but it was built in an aging content management system, and was difficult to update. They also wanted to showcase their project portfolio, but didn’t have an avenue to do so.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Hausers Water to create a custom design, and decided which service areas they wanted to focus on. We decided instead of individual services, we would focus on the industries they served. We also organized their projects, and gave them accompanying images and descriptions.
The Result:A custom designed website that organizes Hausers Water’s services based on what industry they serve, and presents their project in an interactive portfolio that is easy to update.
The Challenge:Ketelsen Lawn was a new landscaping and yard work business founded from an existing business. They wanted to rebrand and create their own website distinct from the previous.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Ketelsen Lawn to create a new logo and website design based on the new ownership. We also determined what services we wanted to focus on and market.
The Result:A brand new, custom designed website using the new logo and design assets. In addition to the website, we also ran Google Ads campaigns to drive traffic to the new website.
The Challenge:Switch Homes was a new business that wanted to bring sustainable homes to Dubuque, Davenport, and more cities in Iowa and beyond. They also wanted to simplify the process of purchasing a home by having it all online; users would be able to pick their finishes, amenities, and other features on the website, pay a deposit, and work from there.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with Switch Homes to hone their message of what they were really selling: sustainable, affordable homes with an innovative checkout process. We worked with their marketing team and their building and architectural teams to craft the checkout process exactly how they desired. Based on the different home designs, we created custom design materials for the website, social media, and email marketing.
The Result:A brand new, custom-designed website that shows off Switch Homes’ different home models and provides a state-of-the-art checkout process that allows users to pick every aspect of their home. In addition, we ran a coordinated social media and email marketing campaign to increase brand awareness and build a mailing list.
The Challenge: Think Iowa City needed an easy to use and manage eCommerce site to sell its shirts, hats, and other merchandise. It had to be easy to use on both the front and backend; users should be able to find the products they’re looking for easily, and staff should be able to add products to the backend quickly.
The Process: Vortex worked with Think Iowa City to determine the bare necessities needed for the website. The goal was to keep it as simple as possible, both for users buying products and staff managing inventory.
The Result: The Shop Think Iowa City website is simple and easy to use. All of the products are located on the home page and can easily be accessed.
The Challenge: Bench Solution’s original website was built in the early 2010’s, and its design and functionality reflected that. It was easy for users to get lost in its pages, and the design was in a frame, wasting precious screen space.
The Process: Vortex Digital created a new sitemap; removing unneeded pages, and combining content where necessary. A new, full-width design was created, and the navigation was reworked to be more ergonomic.
The Result: The new Bench Solution website serves as an effective marketing funnel, presenting their most important products front and center. Users can easily get to the page they want to in as few clicks as possible.
The Challenge: The original Family Crisis Center website was functional, but had a confusing page structure, unintuitive design, and it did not reflect their new brand guidelines. Navigating the site was difficult, as it was easy to get lost.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with The Family Crisis Center to determine what the most important information for users would be, and crafted the site structure and design to highlight this. It was imperative that users could find what they were looking for with as few clicks as possible. A custom design was created for the website to better reflect The Family Crisis Center’s new branding guidelines. New SEO was written for each page to achieve a higher organic ranking for keywords such as “domestic abuse shelter”, “women’s shelter”, and more.
The Result: Vortex Digital donated a large amount of time and created a beautiful, ergonomic, informative website for The Family Crisis Center. The navigation clearly states each section of the website, and there is an Escape button for domestic abuse victims to quickly leave the site if needed. The site is built in WordPress, and allows Family Crisis Center staff to easily make edits to the website themselves.
The Challenge: The original Apartments Near Campus website was an extremely dated HTML website, with obsolete design and an unintuitive user experience. The database of properties was functional, but difficult to navigate, and hard for staff to manage in the backend.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Apartments Near Campus to determine the most important details about each property, and constructed a database that displayed this information. The database would be searchable by keyword, availability, bedrooms, bathrooms, amenities, and more. Apartments Near Campus also desired an interactive map that showed their properties relative to local businesses, schools and landmarks. The new website was built in WordPress, allowing staff to easily make changes to properties and website themselves.
The Result: The new Apartments Near Campus website displays all properties and tenant services in an ergonomic, interactive layout that users can easily explore through a variety of different methods; from amenities and location to rent and property type. Apartments Near Campus staff can easily edit and add new properties themselves through the WordPress backend interface, and the new design streamlined the browsing process for users.
The Challenge: Heritage Kitchens has made high quality, custom-made hardwood cabinets for years, however, had no web presence. Business was found through reference and word of mouth, but Heritage Kitchens needed a website to increase lead generation and revenue.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Heritage Kitchens to understand their brand and rich history, and converted that into a beautiful, custom design. Each of Heritage Kitchens’ services has its own page with additional information, and a portfolio of past work. Each page was coded with SEO best practices in mind, with appropriate meta data and tags. The website was also built in WordPress, allowing for easy future expansion.
The Result: The new Heritage Kitchens website is completely responsive, adheres to modern best practices, and provides an effective marketing funnel to compliment their other channels. Strategically placed positioning statements and calls to action drive users to the ultimate goal: getting in contact with Heritage to plan their dream kitchen.
The Challenge: Vortex Digital created the original Revival Theatre Company website back in 2015 to help showcase its upcoming performances, feature show sponsors, and inform users about upcoming auditions. In 2021, the design was becoming dated, and was in need of a facelift.
The Process: All of the content from the original website was migrated to a brand new WordPress installation, and a new theme was created. New imagery from Revival’s venue and shows were added to the design to make each page as eye-catching as possible. The backend was reprogrammed to allow Revival staff to easily add upcoming shows and change all aspects of the website themselves. A donation portal was also added, moving the functionality from an expensive third party platform to an internal form.
The Result: The new Revival Theatre Company website features a brand new, beautiful design that showcases impactful, eye-catching imagery of its shows and cast. The new backend functionality makes it as easy as possible for Revival staff to make edits themselves, and the new theme serves as a solid foundation for future expansion.
The Challenge: Dr. Sohit approached Vortex Digital about creating a website and marketing campaign for the University of Iowa’s upcoming Endoscopic and Open Airway Virtual Surgical Course. The website needed to feature the speakers and topics, and drive users to register through the University’s online platform. An email marketing campaign was also needed to target doctors and encourage them to attend.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Dr. Sohit to determine what the most important information related to the course would be, and its priority on the website. A single landing page format was chosen to keep the message focused and create the most efficient marketing funnel possible. Email templates encouraging users to register for the course were designed and coded, mirroring the website but adhering to email marketing best practices. On both the website and email templates, strategically placed calls to action were placed to drive users to register for the course.
The Result: The new website serves as an effective marketing funnel, driving users to register for the online course. The accompanying email campaign performed beyond expectations, with an above average opening and click rate. Since the conclusion of the course, the website and email campaign has been archived, and can be relaunched quickly in time for the next course.
The Challenge: The original Koch Landscaping website was built in a basic template, lacked SEO, and was difficult to make edits to. Koch Landscaping contacted Vortex Digital to help transform their website into a modern, lead generation machine.
The Process: Vortex Digital migrated the original website content into the WordPress content management system, and built a custom-designed theme to showcase Koch Landscaping’s beautiful imagery. A page was built for each service in order to capitalize on all relevant keywords for SEO, and strategically placed positioning statements and calls to action drive users to get in contact with Koch Landscaping through phone or contact form.
The Result: The new Koch Landscaping website serves as an effective marketing funnel, guiding users through each of their services, and driving them to get in contact through phone or email. Each page adheres to modern SEO best practices with appropriate meta data and tags, and is optimized to organically rank as well as possible. Upon launch, Vortex Digital also crafted a Google Ads campaign to further increase traffic, leads and conversions for their retaining wall business.
The Challenge: Coach Beth’s website was in need of an overhaul for both SEO, design, and functionality. Originally built in GoDaddy’s website builder, it lacked extensive functionality, featured a bland design, was difficult to make edits to, and was limited in its SEO capabilities. There was also an overabundance of text and information that resulted in a high bounce rate.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Coach Beth to distill her brand and mission into a beautiful, custom-designed template. An extensive amount of work went into the look and feel of the website to ensure it encapsulated Coach Beth’s brand and message. The original content was moved from GoDaddy into WordPress, and then pruned and condensed down into only the essential information.
The Result: The new Coach Beth website is a beautiful, ergonomic marketing funnel that is simply a joy to navigate through. Each of her services has its own page, and adheres to modern SEO best practices. All information on the website is essential and succinct, informing users without overwhelming them. WordPress also allows Coach Beth to easily make changes to the website herself and add new blog posts.
The Challenge: Dr. Geeta Lal and Surgical Ergonomics needed a website to kickstart their speaking and coaching business. As a relatively new idea in the medical field, the new website needed to educate its users and also provide a means of getting in contact with Dr. Geeta Lal to schedule workshops and lectures. SEO was also a must, to help attract interested clients through organic search results.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Dr. Geeta Lal to find the perfect balance between educating users, and pushing them through the marketing funnel of the website. The mix of clinical and emotional language was needed to appeal to users in the medical field, and also provide a personal, approachable brand. These ideas were condensed and converted into a beautiful, responsive, custom-designed website.
The Result: The new Surgical Ergonomics website educates users about its services, and provides an effective platform for generating leads and converting potential clients into paying clients through strategically placed positioning statements, and relevant clinical information.
The Challenge: The original Heartlights website was built in Adobe Business Catalyst, a now obsolete content management system. In order to modernize the website, it needed to be migrated to a supported CMS, in this case, WordPress. The design and user experience was also dated, as the website was built more than a decade ago.
The Process: Vortex Digital migrated each page out of Adobe Business Catalyst into WordPress to provide a foundation to work on, then updated the design and user experience to adhere to modern best practices. The contact forms and email database, which were integral to the original website, were also migrated over, and updated with modern functionality. Email marketing was switched to Mailchimp, as Adobe’s built-in platform would no longer be usable in WordPress.
The Result: The new Heartlights website is completely responsive, and up to modern website best practices. WordPress allows it to stay up to date for years to come, and gives Heartlights staff the ability to easily make edits to the website themselves.
The Challenge: The original FryFest.com website was bulky for both frontend and backend users. It was difficult for potential attendees to find the information they were looking for, and for staff to update the backend with new information. There were no clear calls to action, resulting in a high bounce rate and lack of conversions.
The Process:Vortex Digital worked with the FryFest team to determine what the most important parts of their website should be: informing users about new events and news updates, and allowing users to purchase tickets for these events as easily as possible.
The Result:Vortex Digital created a brand new, WordPress-powered website that gives the FryFest staff complete control over the website. They are able to publish blog posts and events themselves easily, and the frontend displays this information in a new, ergonomic layout, complete with strategically placed calls to action to convert users to attendees or sign them up for the email newsletter.
The Challenge: Innovative Aesthetics old website featured a complicated product database, which needed to be imported on a daily basis. The database was prone to errors, such as products disappearing, limited format freedom in product descriptions, and more. A streamlined product management process was needed.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Innovative Aesthetics and their previous developer to determine where the problems stemmed from, and helped troubleshoot and migrate the database into a model that did not need to be imported on a daily basis.
The Result: Innovative Aesthetics new product database is now stable, and allows staff to easily edit the backend of the store without the need to complete an entire database import. Staff also has more control over which products appear and where, such as sales and special events.
The Challenge: The original Allen Blasting and Coating website was built in raw HTML, which lacked additional functionality and proved difficult for staff to easily make changes to the content themselves.
The Process: Vortex Digital took the raw HTML code, and created a brand new WordPress installation. Using the code, Vortex Digital then built the website from the ground up in WordPress.
The Result: The new Allen Blasting and Coating website retains the look of the HTML site, but features all of the additional functionality of a WordPress site. Staff can now easily make changes to the text and Projects pages themselves.
The Challenge: The original Apartments at Iowa website was an extremely dated HTML website, with little design and a confusing user experience. The database of properties was functional, but there was no easy way to explore what was available and view information about it.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Apartments at Iowa to determine the most important details users would want about each property, and constructed a database that displayed this information. The database would be searchable by keyword, availability, bedrooms, bathrooms, amenities, and more. Apartments at Iowa also desired an interactive map that showed their properties relative to local businesses, schools and landmarks.
The Result: The new Apartments at Iowa website displays all properties in an ergonomic, interactive layout that users can easily explore through a variety of different methods; from amenities and location to rent and property type. Apartments at Iowa staff can easily edit and add new properties themselves through the WordPress backend interface, and the new design streamlined the process for users. Live chat was also implemented, allowing potential tenants to easily communicate with staff about questions.
The Challenge: Stutsman features an extensive used parts and machinery database, but relied on an archaic, confusing third party website to store and manage it. The previous iteration of the Stutsman website simply linked to this website, but the ultimate desire was to manage this database on the website itself, including editing and adding products, and allowing users to make purchases.
The Challenge: The product database needed to be converted and optimized so that it could easily be imported into the current WordPress installation. Vortex Digital worked with Stutsman to prepare the database, and created a robust frontend and backend for the products.
The Result: The new Shop Stutsman website features robust eCommerce functionality, allowing users to search for products by keyword, category and more. All purchases can be made on the website itself. Stutsman staff also now have complete control over the product database and how it is displayed. Live chat functionality was also implemented, allowing potential customers to speak with staff about products.
The Challenge: Dr. Janeta Tansey needed a new website that showcased her individual coaching, speaking and personal brand. She needed a website that reflected her personal view on coaching and therapy, that she could have complete control over. A new design also needed to be created to convey the specific emotions she wanted to instill in her clients.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Dr. Tansey to distill her vision into design comp ideas. After several back and forths and brainstorming sessions, our design team established an eyecatching, unique online brand for her new website.
The Result: Dr. Tansey’s brand new, WordPress website accurately conveys her brand and services to potential clients. All of her coaching, teaching, speaking and therapy services can be easily explored, but the real star of the website is the design.
The Challenge: The old Tinworks Fabrication website was a simple Wix site that featured limited eCommerce and other functionality. Tinworks Fabrication desired a more robust website, with the ability to further control how their products and company were presented to clients and potential customers. Additional website tracking was also needed in the form of Google Analytics.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Tinworks Fabrication to export the product database and prepare it for import into the new WordPress installation. All of the products on the current website would be present on the new website, but allowing staff to have more control over their appearance and pricing. Vortex Digital’s design team also created a layout that served as an effective marketing funnel, leading users to the products and product categories they were looking for with as few clicks as possible.
The Result: The new Tinworks Fabrication website serves as a simple, effective online eCommerce store. Users can easily search for parts by keyword, year and price to find what they’re looking for. Staff can also easily manage the product database themselves through the backend of the website. Upon launch, Vortex Digital has also ran Facebook and Google advertising campaigns, and assisted in email and print marketing solutions.
The challenge: Creating a landing page that showcases Virtue Medicine’s clinics and doctors while giving visitors access to classes, fees, and patient information.
The process: Combining Multi-Page WordPress Installation, Custom Responsive Design and Constant Contact Integration with high-quality imagery, Google maps integration and contact forms.
The result: A streamlined, informative space where patients and prospective patients can get to know their clinic, and find detailed information regarding treatments, pricing, scheduling, classes & workshops.
The challenge: Showcasing Mara’s unique artistic style while utilizing an easy-to-navigate space that will inspire visitors to purchase and share her original artwork.
The process: Combining responsive web design with a customized art gallery, online store, professional contact form, parallax design, and Instagram feed implementation.
The result: A state-of-the-art, mobile-compliant website that incorporates Mara’s artistic style with her story, while providing a place for users to view and purchase her work.
The challenge: Completely redesign The Dental Center’s website, consolidating URLs to encapsulate both locations. Included in this redesign was new interior photography capturing both locations’ stunning spaces, showcasing their comprehensive approach to dental care.
The process: Vortex worked closely with The Dental Center’s team to streamline content, create a fresh look, and craft a modern design for the various services offered. The content was re-worked to convey a sense of family, approachability, and compassionate care.
The result: A beautiful website that successfully encapsulates The Dental Center’s patient-centric approach and its two modern facilities. Paired with this engaging design and new copy is a visual showcase of these locations from Jonathan David Sabin of Infinity Photographic, who captured all of the portrait and interior photography.
The challenge: Design a public-facing web portal and app that accurately represents the top of the line coffee, elegant presentation, and service of fix!, a brand new coffee shop in Iowa City’s magnificent Chauncey Building. Vortex sought to brew up a stunning website for fix! that showcases its offerings while also integrating point of sales and inventory tracking.
The process: Vortex worked with fix! owner Monica Moen to showcase the highly customized space with a custom-designed website. Important elements included impeccable attention to detail and unparalleled attention to beauty on the coffee shop’s website.
The result: Located steps away from Film Scene, Iowa City’s independent cinema, Vortex Digital Business Solutions helped perfectly show the elegance and top of the line service offered at fix! Team Vortex created an integrated POS system, website, and online app that allows customers to order directly from the website or newly-released mobile application. Jonathan David Sabin’s 22 years of retail and wholesale experience – and over two decades of e-commerce development – allowed Team Vortex to integrate front-end customer relations and streamless, back-end business processes.
The Challenge: Gleeson Counseling was in needed of a new website that presented their therapy and counseling services in an approachable, personal way rather than clinical. The old website was dated, and a new design was also needed.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Kathleen Gleeson to pick out images that conveyed a more personal feeling to use on the website. The design also incorporated light, calming colors. With the design completed, Vortex Digital worked with Kathleen to further hone the copy on each page to better connect with users on an emotional level.
The Result: The new Gleeson Counseling website features a beautiful design that reflects her brand and her client interaction. The images convey feeling of hope to potential clients, and the text establishes a personal connection that is indicative of how Kathleen interacts with her clients.
The Challenge: Jeff Topping has created an impressive photography portfolio throughout his career, but needed a website that presented this portfolio in an ergonomic, beautiful layout.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Jeff to establish categories for his portfolio that users could filter with. With all of the images and categories determined, Jeff’s portfolio was imported into the WordPress installation. Robust image galleries were created to parse the different categories, and display the images beautifully and responsively.
The Result: The new Jeff Topping Photography website serves as a beautiful portfolio of his work, and allows users to view its many galleries easily. Jeff can also add new images and galleries himself.
The challenge: Highlight the organization’s function as a touchstone for the nursing community to share stories, learn, support each other, and exchange ideas. Organize and showcase the podcast, blog posts, and original content as a hub for nurses around the world.
The process: Create an engaging, easy-to-navigate multi-page design with highly visible contact information, subscription options, and blog feed for the three different authors. Reiterate the organization’s mantra of communication, support, and compassionate care across the nursing field.
The result: A responsive, intelligently-designed website that captures the organization’s goal of communication throughout the nursing continuum. Highlight key players and their regular blog posts – and episodes of their podcast – in a positive, easy to access format across a variety of streaming platforms.
The challenge: Create an engaging, easy-to-update website for HawkFanatic, one of the only free-to-access hubs for the biggest University of Iowa sports, including football, basketball, and wrestling.
The process: Team Vortex worked with HawkFanatic’s writers to craft the perfect, Hawk-centric hub for the most up-to-date information on the players, coaches, and all things black and gold. Paired with the expertly-crafted articles is a real-time Twitter feed for breaking sports news and the latest scores, injuries, and upsets.
The result: Calling all die-hard Hawkeye fans! HawkFanatic’s newly-reimagined website segments different sports in their own tabs while also featuring a homepage that has the most up-to-date sports information. The website also features easy-to-access Twitter feeds and links to the most recent episodes of HawkFanatic’s podcast.
The challenge: Create an up-to-date, visually-engaging hub for the latest in high school sports from Clear Creek Amana, City High, West High, Liberty, Regina, Solon, and West Branch. Segment YourPrepSports as one of the only comprehensive, free-to-access portals for local, high school sports.
The process: Team Vortex worked with Your Prep Sports on multi-page WordPress installation and a custom, responsive design that showcases the latest in high school sports while also allowing for up-to-date scores and in-depth profiles of players.
State-of-the-art advertising management allows sponsors to keep YourPrepSport’s content free, while providing real-time, Pay Per Click (PPC) analytics for every ad on every page.
The result: A beautiful, engaging website that takes viewers right to the latest sports information they care about the most. An easily-visible ‘donate’ button allows visitors to support the free, comprehensive content.
The Challenge: Catch’em Critters needed a website that presented their services and humane treatment of animals to potential clients. Users needed to know what type of animals they handled and the areas they served immediately upon visiting the website.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Catch’em Critters to create a portfolio of photos they had taken while on various jobs to showcase the animals they worked with. All of the copy for services needed to reflect their humane approach to animal relocation, and Vortex Digital helped write and tweak this.
The Result: The new Catch’em Critters website serves as an effective marketing funnel; accurately presenting all of their services, and a way to get in contact with staff for setting up a consultation or appointment.
The Challenge: Halverson Photography needed a website that allowed parents to easily find the pictures they had taken of their children and purchase them online. The photos needed to be tied to each school district, season, and sport or activity to allow for easy searching. Once the parents found the school or activity they were looking for, they would be redirected to a website where they could purchase the images.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Halverson Photography to create a database of schools, sports, activities, and events that users could search through.
The Result: The new Halverson Photography website allows parents to easily find pictures of their children by filtering the database to find their school, season, or sport. Once they have found it, they are sent to an external site where they can then order the photos.
The Challenge: Oxford Sale Barn required a website to list information about its upcoming cattle auctions, market reports, futures reports, and more.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Oxford Sale Barn to create videos and imagery for the new website, including drone footage of where the auctions took place. The market reports can easily be added to the website from the backend by staff, and users can find what month they are looking for. The futures report is embedded into the website, and automatically pulls new data.
The Result: Oxford Sales Barn presents all of its event and market information in a simple, easy to use design. The stunning video on the home page pulls people in, and encourages them to explore the site further.
The Challenge: Acupuncture of Iowa needed an update website design and layout. The old website was dated, and editing content was not easy. Laura also desired a more robust blog platform for both her business and cooking blog.
The Process: Vortex Digital worked with Laura to narrow down the scope of her business into specific services for the website. Each service could then received its own page, with more information, treatment benefits, and more. A patient portal was also needed to manage appointments, and a third party platform was integrated with the website. Finally, a robust blog structure was developed, allowing Laura to manage both blogs easily from one backend.
The Result: The new Acupuncture of Iowa website presents all of its services in an ergonomic user experience. Potential patients can easily find the services offered, their benefits, and how to get in contact with staff. Current patients can also manage their prescriptions and upcoming appointments easily from the website. The blog is easily explorable through different categories and tags.
Vortex worked with the co-owners Lanaya Ethington and Darrel Kirby to create an informative site that reflects the overall goal of healing through counseling and therapy. Jonathan added depth and personalization to the site by photographing Lanaya and Darrel in-situ.
The Challenge: Creating a website that demonstrates the technical experience and expertise of the client with an emphasis on visuals over text.
The Process:Utilizing eye-catching imagery, colors and overall design, robust portfolio search capabilities and testimonials.
The Result: A visually stunning website that uses original photography to instill authenticity, professionalism and expertise in the industrial engineering field.
Extensive Product Database | Beautiful Custom Design
The Challenge: Integrating and differentiating between 8 divisions of agricultural, resale, and wholesale products while illustrating the multi-generational history and values of their business.
The Process: Compiling 8 micro-sites and combining a custom sales territory map with a product search option, team member integration, equipment inventory, and online contact & application forms.
The Result: A mobile compliant, streamlined hub of multidimensional information, highlighting the Fortune5000 company’s long family history and wide range of world-class services.
Provia Integration | Google Maps Integration
The Challenge: Creating an informative, streamlined space for visitors searching for residential remodeling to get inspired and request a quote.
The Process: Combining multi-page WordPress installation and custom PHP with Provia text and Google Maps integration, customized imagery and contact forms.
The Result: A beautiful, gallery-style landing page showcasing each type of service provided by The Window Barn, linking to detailed information regarding each service. A call to action encourages visitors to call for a free quote.
Beautiful Responsive Design | Strategically Planned Marketing Funnel
The Challenge: Inspiring homeowners to inquire Forever Green’s professional landscaping services, while promoting their garden center and maintenance services.
The Process: Combining responsive design and mobile compliancy with a custom image gallery, sales and events section, and quote request feature.
The Result: A cutting-edge, fully-customized and mobile-compliant website that brings awareness and intrigue to Forever Green’s world-class landscaping services and garden center.
Seva Project Recipient | Custom Beautiful Design
The Challenge: Inspiring potential students while educating parents on The Academy’s history, programs and services.
The Process: Combining custom, mobile compliant web design with updated text and imagery; an interactive calendar and student application form; student, teacher, and parent testimonials and a timeline of The Academy’s historic events.
The Result: A fee free, fully responsive and mobile compliant website, for a deserving corridor nonprofit that communicates The Academy’s goals, services, and programs.
Real Estate Search Features | Custom Listings
The Challenge: Showcasing a wide range of rental units in a clean, simple manner while inspiring visitors to favorite units and reach out for more information.
The Process: Combining advanced search fields for streamlined lookups with an image gallery and pricing info for each listing, a fully functional map that specifies the location of each property, a favoriting feature, tenant and leasing information, and answers to frequently asked questions.
The Results: A world class, mobile compliant realty website with a complete database of all units, including galleries and pricing. We highlight the company’s large selection of rental units while providing visitors with all necessary information to connect with J & J.
WooCommerce Integration | Professional Photography and Videography
The Challenge: Illustrating the clients talents and offerings as an artist in a visually stunning way that inspires visitors view, share, and purchase his artwork.
The Process: Combining world-class photography and videography with fully responsive design with an E-commerce page feature, a studio page showcasing process, contact forms, and a direct link to his Etsy shop.
The Results: A beautifully engaging E-commerce website that illustrates Krizan’s history, craft, and process in a way that encourages viewers to get in touch and purchase his work.
Parallax design | Interactive map
The Challenge: Creating a world-class design that informs visitors of Bella Vita’s practitioners and services while inspiring them to make contact and/or book an appointment. The Process: Incorporating parallax design with a multi-page WordPress installation, interactive map, and accordion programming; including new patient forms, contact information, and individual sections for each kind of therapy. The Result: A visually stunning, informative wellness website where visitors are able to learn about Bella Vita’s services, practitioners, and mission while finding relative information for appointment scheduling.
Multi-page custom design | WooCommerce Intergration
The Challenge: Creating a space where visitors can view and sign up for upcoming classes and events, while providing an area that showcases products and allows for purchases.
The Process: Combining multi-page WordPress installation with WooCommerce integration, custom posting capabilities, individual class sign up and contact forms.
The Result: A beautiful, informative E-commerce site that allows visitors to purchase products, sign up for classes, view events, and contact Beadology.
MailChimp Integration | Custom Design and Logo
The Challenge: Creating a website that illustrates the variety of healing services offered while inspiring visitors to schedule an appointment, book retreats, or contact Quantum Healing to learn more.
The Process: Combining multi-page WordPress installation with customized logo design, MailChimp integration, and scheduling portal.
The Result: A visually appealing website where visitors can find information on a variety of healing services, schedule appointments, book retreats, and get further involved.
Custom Design | Client Success Stories
The Challenge: Illustrating the variety and quality of services offered while inspiring visitors to request a free quote.
The Process: Combining WordPress installation and theme customization with separate landing pages for tree and turf services, a page for client success stories, and contact now button.
The Result: A visually stunning, informative website that illustrates a wide range of services while giving visitors a transparent look at the end result, inspiring them to call for a free quote.
Custom Theme and Logo | Custom CSS Animations
The Challenge: Creating a space for visitors to learn about Lake’s musical background while inspiring them to book a guitar lesson with him.
The Process: Combining Multi-Page WordPress installation and custom design with logo creation, a customized theme and CSS Animation.
The Result: A space where those interested in learning guitar can find more information, book lessons with Lake, and read former student success stories in a visually appealing format.
Custom Theme | Custom Programming
The Challenge: Showcasing all of Hupp’s products and services in an efficient manner while convincing visitors that renting equipment through Hupp Toyota is the best choice.
The Process: Combining custom PHP, Javascript, and post type integration along with WordPress installation and theme customization.
The Result: A streamlined hub for equipment rental highlighting a variety of models, parts and specials while giving visitors the opportunity to inquire more information.
Custom Parallax Design | Google Tags Integration
The Challenge: Creating an informative, representative landing space for visitors searching the corridor for vein centers to learn about the quality and types of services offered by Corridor Vein.
The Process: Combining a single page WordPress installation with custom parallax design, Google tags integration, interactive Google maps, patient success stories and contact forms.
The Result: An informative, navigational medical website where visitors are encouraged to book a free consultation, learn about each type of service offered, read patient success stories and get in contact with Corridor Vein.
Custom Parallax Design | Real Estate Database
The Challenge: Displaying ERP’s available rental homes in a clean, organized fashion, allowing for easy navigation so visitors can find a home that meets their rental needs.
The Process: Combining Multi-Page WordPress Installation with Custom Parallax Design, Real Estate Database Integration, Google Map Integration and Renovation Lightbox Galleries.
The Result: World-class web design giving visitors access to advanced filter options for customized searches, custom image galleries for each unit, tenant applications, and ERP’s contact information.
Custom Photography | Custom Slideshow
The Challenge: Creating a landing page that attracts new clients seeking specialized psychiatric care, while informing visitors of the services available and how to make an appointment with Dr. Wesner.
The Process: Combining Multi-Page WordPress Installation with a jQuery Slideshow and customized photography and design.
The Result: A clinical marketing tool that provides visitors with all relevant information surrounding Dr. Wesner’s services, his background and how to get in contact with his office.
