When Valpo Web Design & Marketing (VWD) first opened its doors, it consisted of a few passionate people with the determination to provide individualized website and marketing solutions to hardworking businesspeople in the Region. Now, 10 years later, the business has grown into a collaborative effort among professionals in every aspect of the field and serves companies both in the Region and beyond.
Managing Director Alistair Dowds started VWD in 2013. The first couple of years consisted of a small staff and a lot of reputation-building, but Dowds has begun to reap the benefits of his hard work in more recent years.
“For the first few years, it was just me some part time employees. Over the last few years, we've really grown. We've added specialized full-time roles to our team, and it's exciting to see the rapid growth that’s happening,” Dowds said.
Though business is especially booming now, VWD has been curating specialized websites for businesses from the start and takes pride in its commitment to making a unique website for every client.
“We don’t use cookie-cutter templates; every website is tailored to the individual business. Our goal is to provide a unique and effective online presence for every client we work with,” Content Marketing Manager Alyssa Mettenburg said. “We have a local team who meets with each new client to understand their needs and create a website that perfectly represents their business. Together, our designers, content writers, programmers, marketers and video/photographers collaborate to bring each client’s vision to life.”
To ensure every aspect of the design process exceeds expectations, VWD consists of professionals across many disciplines. When working with VWD, clients will work with a variety of experts throughout the partnership.
“Each project is an intricate collaboration of our entire team led by a dedicated project manager. We are fortunate to have grown over the past 10 years to have a specialized team, not just a one-person show,” Mettenburg said.
No matter the marketing need, VWD has a solution. While most clients start out with just a website design, many branch out into utilizing VWD’s other marketing tools, including photography, videography, content writing, and search engine optimization (SEO), which is often integrated into the initial website design process..
“Some business owners underestimate or misunderstand the necessity of SEO. Without SEO, your new or existing website can become buried in search results, with your competitors appearing before you,” Mettenburg said. “We emphasize SEO from the start of each website, creating sites that are easy to find and effective in converting visitors into paying customers. In addition to our initial website optimization, we offer a variety of marketing services to expand your business’s reach with powerful SEO strategies.”
VWD also became a Google Partner Agency in 2018, which means it is certifiably up-to-date about the best practices in making a competitive, marketable website. Local business Discount Roof saw this advantage firsthand when its website turned the small business into one of the most recognizable roofing companies in the Region.
“They have experienced rapid, year-over-year growth to become one of NWI’s premier roofing companies. If you ask, they attribute a great deal of the success to our collaborative digital marketing efforts,” Mettenburg said.
To the team at VWD, this is the best part of being in the business.
“The most fulfilling part for me is just helping our clients with their dreams and making that come to life,” Web Design Manager Melanie Montemayor said.
To learn more about Valpo Web Design & Marketing, visit valpowebdesign.com.