For Maynard Property Group, credibility and visibility were non-negotiable. Wave Digital Design delivered both – with a website that’s protected, maintained, and built to convert.
Craig and Emma Maynard, from Maynard Property Group, knew it was time to upgrade their DIY website and invest in SEO. In a competitive market like the Gold Coast, showing up online is vital.
With a professional background in IT, Craig didn’t want to hand over that responsibility to an offshore unknown. The risks of a poorly maintained website – data breaches, plugin conflicts, dodgy updates – were far too great.
The husband-and-wife team were determined to find a local expert they could trust. Someone who could help them build a site that reflected the empathetic, transparent and human approach they brought to the property game. JJ Purton Jones, from Wave Digital Design, came highly recommended. And even better? She’s based right on the Gold Coast.
JJ helped the Maynards show up online prominently, securely, and in a way that captured both their voice and their values. And as a result, the Maynards’ business has gone from strength to strength.
The business has doubled year-on-year for the last two years; that level of growth has accelerated since we got the website done about 18 months ago. We’re now on page one of the Google search results.
The challenge
A good website doesn’t just look the part – it brings more clients through the door.
And Craig Maynard knew that for a people-first business built on relationships, empathy, and trust, a generic, off-brand website wasn’t going to cut it.
“We created our first website. It looked okay. But it certainly wasn’t optimised – if I typed ‘buyer’s agent Gold Coast’ into Google, I think we showed up on page 50. In other words, we didn’t show up,” said Craig.
With his career background in IT, Craig knew he could technically learn SEO. But in reality? He simply didn’t have the time.
“SEO (to me) is a dark art all in its own right. I could spend the time learning SEO and then do a half-assed job, or I could pay somebody who’s an expert in it and just get it done right the first time.
“The other side is, I’m very analytical by nature, not artistic. So having a website that had the right look and feel – as well as the right tone in terms of the content – is something that I would have struggled with on my own.”
While many small businesses default to budget-friendly overseas suppliers, that wasn’t an option for Craig and Emma.
They weren’t new to tech, and they knew exactly what could go wrong behind the scenes – data breaches, outdated plugins, unpatched vulnerabilities.
“If you get it wrong, then you’re vulnerable to bad actors and cyber attacks,” says Craig.
They wanted a local expert – a trusted partner they could work with for the long haul – who would take the time to understand them, their market, their values. Someone who cared about the risks of getting it wrong.
Being able to reach out to somebody locally was important to us. If we wanted to add a page or make a change to content, JJ is in our time zone. She’s incredibly responsive, and we can get it done very quickly.
The solution
The process began with deep brand discovery, and JJ’s unique, customer-centric approach impressed Craig immediately.
“She went straight into who we are, what our business value proposition is and how we’d like to be portrayed on the website. It wasn’t straight to keywords and how we get up into the top search results.“’
“It was more about how JJ could work with us to reflect who we are on the website accurately. There was a whole lot of time spent just understanding our business, how we go about things, and what our differentiation is.
“And then she was able to translate that into the look, feel and vibe of the website.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with a lot of marketing agencies where the focus has been on marketing metrics that don’t necessarily reflect business growth or business value. JJ’s wasn’t like that. And her unique approach really resonated with us.
“We’re a human business. It is about emotions, what we do, and having somebody who wanted to understand that – and how we go about things – was important for us.
“Anybody can jump on ChatGPT or one of the AI tools and come up with content that reads well and sounds good – but it doesn’t necessarily reflect who you are.
“I don’t think third-party overseas providers would be able to do that.
“And being able to reach out to somebody locally was important to us. If we wanted to add a page or make a change to content, JJ is in our time zone. She’s incredibly responsive, and we can get it done very quickly.
“The other part is just peace of mind.
“We know that our website is being backed up regularly.
“There’s a whole heap of different components that go into making up a website. All of them are third-party tools. They all have software updates
“A lot of those updates are security-related, and just knowing that all those components are being patched and updated and any security vulnerabilities are being ticked off or corrected early in the piece, gives us huge peace of mind.
“If you get it wrong, then you’re vulnerable to bad actors and cyber attacks. So it’s absolutely critical that it’s backed up, it’s recoverable and it’s secure.”
The results
“I wouldn’t attribute all of our growth purely to showing up on Google and the website. But I know that we wouldn’t be seeing the same level of growth if we hadn’t engaged JJ.
“We’re getting online inquiries via the website, saying ‘we’d like more information on your tailored fit package.’
That terminology… is part of the packaging that JJ did. So we know the content is resonating.”
And it’s not just the results that Craig appreciated – he enjoyed the process of working with JJ too.
“We get incredible satisfaction working with clients to help them achieve their property goals – and working with JJ was equally rewarding.
“She is very approachable and genuinely wanted to help us, that was very apparent. It was never about just getting another tick on the board.”
“If you want to show up and show up in a way that reflects who you are, then chat with JJ.”
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