The problem
Where it started.
The owner assumed she needed a new website. The audit scored the site F, 59 out of 100, but only because of what Lighthouse does not test. Speed, accessibility and mobile layout were already excellent.
The real gap was operational. Leads were tracked on a shared spreadsheet, and the firm's growth ran on referral partners that nobody was managing. Most of the partners on her list had never been contacted.
Why this approach
The decision behind the work.
A diagnosis should limit what we sell. Every failed check was a tag, a file, a heading or a form on four pages that already worked, so a rebuild would have cost money and removed what was working.
Outreach to small-business owners and an ongoing SEO retainer were deferred at her request, so nothing was sold that she was not ready for.
The solution
What was built.
A CRM sized to the business with two boards, one for prospects and one for referral partners, every deal tagged by source so she can see which partner produced which client.
A five-touch email sequence over 22 days to CPAs and coaches, written in her voice, each with one checkable line about the partner. And a light fix on the same four pages: titles, descriptions, headings, business schema, sitemap, canonicals and a working contact form.
Design and psychology
Why it looks the way it does
No redesign
The design decision here was restraint. The site already loaded in under a second and passed accessibility, so the look stayed exactly as it was.
Added, not replaced
The fix added structure the audit found missing: schema, titles, a form and files. No page was replaced and none was added.
Plain outreach
The sequence says what the firm does and does not do, including that nobody on the team is a CPA, because honesty earns referral partners.
Stack of delivery
What it was built and measured with.
What changed
The numbers that moved.
Audit score at the start, out of 100
Critical audit fails before and after
Lighthouse mobile scores after the fix
CRM live checks passed
In their words
“I used to dread the first week of the month. Now the numbers are in my inbox before I think to ask for them.”
Owner, Meridian Ledger Co
Next project
Vshopper
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