Web design / Billings, MT
Before anyone gets in the truck
Somebody two hours out of Billings doesn’t drop by. They plan. Before a rancher near Roundup or a family in Sheridan sets off for parts, a specialist appointment or a new couch, they’ll want three or four answers: are you open on Saturday, do you have what they need, can it be done the same day, and where do they park a pickup with a trailer. If your site can’t answer, they’ll call. If nobody picks up, they’ll try the next place.
That makes a Billings website less a brochure than a set of answers. Hours belong at the top, with holiday closures updated before the holiday, not after. If you sell parts or equipment, a simple stock list you can update yourself (or a small online store) saves people a wasted trip, and our e-commerce guide explains the difference. Directions should assume someone is coming off I-90 or down from the Heights, not that they already know the town.
Medical trips and everything around them
Billings Clinic and St. Vincent draw patients from across eastern Montana and northern Wyoming, and those patients bring family members who need a hotel, a meal, a pharmacy and somewhere to wait. Specialists, physical therapists and medical equipment suppliers in town get searched by people who’ve never been to the West End and are already stressed.
A medical or dental practice here should spell out the things a local takes for granted: which entrance to use, where to park, how long a first visit takes, and what to bring. It sounds minor until you’ve driven three hours and can’t find the door.
Refineries, rail and the suppliers in between
Billings and Laurel are home to three oil refineries between them, and the rail yards and trucking companies tie the city to the rest of the region. Around them sits a layer of welders, machine shops, electrical contractors and industrial suppliers who sell to purchasing departments rather than the public.
Those companies tend to have websites that were built once and forgotten. Their buyers want to see capabilities, certifications and a straightforward way to request a quote, and they want to see that the company is still in business. A website redesign that keeps what works and rewrites the rest is usually the sensible move. If your logo was drawn on a napkin in 1994, though, brand identity might come first.
Laurel, Columbus and Red Lodge
The metro reaches past Yellowstone County into Stillwater County, where Columbus and Absarokee sit along the river and the Stillwater platinum and palladium mine employs people from across the area, and into Carbon County, home to Red Lodge, Joliet and Bridger. Red Lodge is a market of its own. Its year turns on the ski hill in winter and the Beartooth Highway in summer, which usually opens around Memorial Day and closes when the snow comes in fall. A lodge or outfitter there needs a site that changes with those seasons, and whoever runs the front desk ought to be the one making that change.
Working with a remote studio
There’s no Billings office, and we won’t pretend otherwise. We work remotely, a setup plenty of eastern Montana businesses already know from dealing with suppliers four hours away. Calls happen on Mountain Time, plans get approved in writing, and you can check each stage of the design from wherever you are, including a shop floor.
A question from Billings
Most of our customers are ranchers who barely go online. Do we need a site?
Probably more than you think. The rancher may not search, but a spouse, a son or a hired hand often does, and so do the newer arrivals around Columbus and Red Lodge. A short, clear site with your hours and phone number also gives Google something to show when someone looks you up by name.