Project - Forest Retreats
Hayley & Tom approached me asking about updating their existing website. Their business was fairly new at the time and they were looking to increase bookings on to their retreats as well as showcasing their centre’s facilities and picturesque location.
After speaking to them about their vision for the ideal retreat booking set-up, I went away and designed a process to match. Once this was signed off I developed a custom WordPress plugin which installed the system on the new site.
From accommodation selection, details capture, booking summary and payment processing to managing bookings and guests – Forest Retreats have a system designed and built for their needs.
Forest Retreats also offer venue hire, bespoke retreats, corporate wellness packages and shinrin yoku sessions (forest bathing), so I made sure that all of those offerings were well represented on the site and targeted keywords based on thorough keyword research for maximum SEO.
Each service page includes an enquiry form, and the total number of leads generated in two-and-a-half years is approaching 500 – all people looking to either hire the land and facilities or have a bespoke experience created for them and their group by Forest Retreats.
Hayley runs weekly yoga classes as an experienced teacher and wanted students to be able to book online. Incorporating Acuity Scheduling to the site allowed for not only easy booking, but the sale of packaged class bundles offering yogis a discount for regular attendance.
The site includes a newsletter opt-in form which signs the user up to the mailing list, incentivised by the promise of news and offers. This has generated nearly 300 subscribers in two-and-a-half years, many of whom have become repeat customers of the business.
Customer reviews can easily be added to the site – Hayley & Tom just need to fill out a form in the dashboard and the review appears on the relevant pages.
The client wanted to be able to display their retreats in a calendar format. I couldn’t find a suitable plugin to match their vision so I created a custom coded solution. Not only does this output their retreats group by year and month, it also includes retreats from other companies that are hosted at Forest Retreats.
As well as their own, Forest Retreats also host retreats organised by other companies on their land at Hill Farm, Tintern. They wanted to be able to list those retreats alongside their own on the website, so I set up a system that allowed them to input the details of retreats to be showcased on the site.
Macky has built our website and will now also build new one for our sister co. He is our main support for anything website related and words cannot express how amazingly helpful, patient and professional he is. Highly recommended by Forest Retreats and Hill Farm, Tintern.
