Giving the Lowbyer Manor Website a Complete Refresh
Lowbyer Manor Country House approached GIK Media to update and improve their existing website, bringing the design and content up to date while making it easier for visitors to find information about their accommodation and the local area.
Rather than simply replacing the existing design, the project involved working through the website from a technical, design and SEO perspective. The aim was to retain the useful information already on the site while creating a clearer structure and making the website easier to navigate, particularly for visitors looking for self-catering accommodation, group holidays and things to do around Alston and the North Pennines.
Here’s an overview of the work carried out.
1. Reviewing the Existing Website
The first stage was to look at the existing website and identify areas that needed updating.
The original site had accumulated content and functionality over a number of years, so part of the project involved identifying outdated information, reviewing the existing pages and deciding what could be retained, rewritten or removed.
This included reviewing:
- Existing page layouts and navigation
- Outdated accommodation information
- Existing images and galleries
- WordPress plugins and functionality
- Existing SEO and page content
- Mobile responsiveness
- Hosting, PHP and WordPress versions
This provided a starting point for deciding what needed to be changed and what could be retained.
2. Updating WordPress and PHP
One of the more technical parts of the project was bringing the website’s underlying technology up to date.
The site was running an older version of WordPress and PHP, so the upgrade was carried out carefully rather than simply updating everything at once.
Plugins were temporarily disabled where necessary and the existing theme was tested separately on a development server running newer versions of PHP and WordPress.
Once the theme had been checked, the live website was updated to PHP 8.2 and the latest WordPress version.
This also involved testing the site’s existing plugins and identifying older functionality that was no longer compatible.
3. Creating a New Self-Catering Structure
One of the main areas of the project was restructuring the self-catering accommodation information.
The accommodation was divided into clearer sections:
- Self Catering Holidays – an overview of the accommodation
- The Coach House – aimed at smaller groups and families
- Lowbyer Manor Country House – exclusive-use accommodation for larger groups
This gives visitors a much clearer route to the type of accommodation they are looking for.
The pages were also rewritten to make the information easier to scan, with clearer headings, shorter sections, feature lists and prominent calls to action.
4. Creating a Custom Country House Page
The Lowbyer Manor Country House page was developed specifically around the property’s ability to accommodate larger groups.
The page highlights the property’s 11 en-suite bedrooms and capacity for up to 22 guests, alongside facilities such as the kitchen, dining room, lounge, bar, gardens and outdoor areas.
A dedicated Corporate Gatherings & Retreats section was also added to highlight the property’s potential for business retreats, team-building breaks, creative workshops and other small group events.
5. Developing a New What’s On Page
Another major part of the project was creating a new What’s On in Alston page.
The original page was primarily a collection of text and links, so a new custom layout was created to make the local information much easier to explore.
The new page includes sections covering:
- Walking & Cycling
- History & Heritage
- Family Holidays
- Golf Breaks
- Waterfalls & Outdoor Adventures
- Stargazing
- Local attractions
- A map of the surrounding area
- Local events and information
- Facebook updates
The alternating image and text layout was designed to break up the content and make the page more visually engaging while remaining responsive on mobile devices.
6. Image Preparation
A large amount of work also went into preparing the imagery for the new layouts.
Existing photographs were resized, sharpened and adjusted where necessary to make them work better within the new design.
Some images required additional preparation, including removing unwanted elements, adjusting brightness and creating alternative versions suitable for backgrounds and page dividers.
The aim was to make better use of the client’s existing photography rather than relying on a large collection of new stock imagery.
7. Improving the SEO Structure
SEO was considered throughout the project rather than being added as an afterthought.
The accommodation pages were given more focused search terms based on what potential visitors might be looking for.
Examples included:
- Self catering accommodation in Alston
- Holiday cottage in Alston
- Self catering holidays in Alston
- Holiday house sleeping 22
- Exclusive use country house
- Self catering for large groups
- Things to do in Alston
- North Pennines attractions
The content was rewritten around these subjects while keeping it natural and useful for visitors.
Page titles, meta descriptions, headings and image alt text were also reviewed as part of the final SEO work.
8. Improving Mobile Usability
The new layouts were designed with mobile visitors in mind.
The accommodation and What’s On pages use responsive layouts where images and text alternate on desktop but stack vertically on smaller screens.
This means visitors using a phone can view the photographs first followed by the relevant information without having to navigate a complicated layout.
The site was tested across different screen sizes during development and changes were made where necessary to ensure the content remained easy to read.
9. Hosting, SSL and Cloudflare
The project also involved work behind the scenes to improve the website’s hosting and security setup.
The website was moved onto the client’s current hosting arrangement and Cloudflare was configured for the domain.
The SSL configuration was also updated, providing a secure HTTPS connection for visitors to the website.
This technical work was particularly important because the site was being upgraded from an older WordPress/PHP environment at the same time.
10. Homepage Updates
The homepage was also given a series of smaller improvements.
Outdated information was removed and the existing image slider was updated.
A new area was created to provide space for latest news, offers and events, giving Lowbyer Manor the opportunity to regularly update visitors without having to redesign the page.
11. Testing and Final Updates
Before the changes were made live, the new layouts and theme were tested separately to identify potential problems with the updated WordPress and PHP environment.
Once the main changes were complete, the site was checked across desktop and mobile devices.
The final stage involved:
- Checking page layouts
- Reviewing mobile responsiveness
- Updating SEO titles and meta descriptions
- Adding image alt text
- Checking links and calls to action
- Testing existing functionality
- Removing outdated content
- Adding the client’s final amendments
- Checking the finished website after going live
The Result
The finished Lowbyer Manor website provides a much clearer way for visitors to explore the accommodation and discover the surrounding area.
The project has retained the character and photography of the existing website while introducing a more modern structure, clearer content and improved mobile usability.
Behind the scenes, the website has also been brought up to date with newer WordPress and PHP technology, improved security and a more flexible content structure that allows the client to continue updating the site themselves.
Most importantly, the website now has a stronger foundation for future SEO and content development, allowing Lowbyer Manor to continue adding events, local information, news and accommodation updates as the business develops.
Looking for a Website Refresh?
If your existing website is starting to look dated, has accumulated outdated content or isn’t performing as well as it could, a complete rebuild isn’t always necessary. A carefully planned website refresh can improve the design, usability, content and SEO while retaining the parts of your existing website that still work.
If you’d like to find out more about GIK Media’s website design services, visit our Website Design page to see how we can help improve your website.
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