CASE STUDY
Team Rod Frank
Introduction
Team Rod Frank is a real estate firm based in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) that helps clients buy and sell homes, with a strong local reputation and active listings, neighborhood insights, and client testimonials.
They had a website built by a marketing agency (SAHA Marketing Solutions) that handled listings, contact forms, neighborhood pages, etc.
teamrodfrank.com
However, Team Rod Frank needed more control, dynamic capabilities, better performance, streamlined lead flows, and a richer backend/CRM integration to manage leads and client interactions.
My role was to reimagine, rebuild, and optimize their digital presence — turning a brochure-style real estate site into a dynamic, lead-centric, scalable platform.
THE CHALLENGE
Before the engagement, the Team Rod Frank website faced several limitations:
Static / Low Flexibility: The site content, listings, and neighborhoods pages were mostly static or handled through a third-party plugin, giving little control for custom flows or dynamic content.
Lead Management Gaps: Leads coming through contact forms or listing inquiries were not always channeled into a CRM or follow-up system. Some leads slipped through, response times varied, tracking was limited.
Performance & SEO Issues: Page load times, image optimizations, and site speed were concerns, especially for mobile users and listing search pages.
Scalability & Maintenance: Adding new listing types, neighborhood filters, or property features often required manual work or developer intervention.
Brand & Conversion Focus: The site lacked persuasive storytelling, trust signals (beyond basic testimonials), and clear conversion funnels (e.g. encouraging visitors to “Talk with us,” “Get a home evaluation,” etc.).
Solution Approach
To address these, I proposed and executed a multi-phase solution:
Discovery & Strategy
Conduct stakeholder interviews to understand how their agents, admin, and marketing team work.
Audit existing site: performance benchmarks, SEO health, content structure, lead flows, forms, page analytics.
Define goal metrics (leads per month, conversion rate, bounce, page speed targets).
Information Architecture & UX Design
Redesign site navigation focusing on user journeys: Buyers, Sellers, Neighborhoods, Listings → Conversion (contact, evaluation).
Mockups and wireframes for key flows: property detail page, lead capture, neighborhood explore pages, about/team.
Design trust elements: agent profiles, testimonials, social proof, success stories.
Technical Implementation
Choose a CMS / platform stack that balances flexibility and ease (e.g. WordPress + custom plugins, or headless CMS + React).
Build a listing management system (or integrate with IDX or MLS feed) so that new property data is dynamically pulled in.
Develop lead capture forms with validation, anti-spam, and redirect / thank you pages.
Integrate with a CRM (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce, or real estate CRM) so that leads are tracked, responded to, and nurtured.
Optimize performance: lazy load images, compress assets, caching, responsive images, CDN.
SEO implementation: structured data (real estate schema), meta tags, canonical URLs, sitemaps, friendly URLs.
Testing, Launch & Training
QA across devices and browsers (desktop, mobile, tablet).
Beta launch / soft launch to gather feedback, fix issues.
Train the internal team (agents, marketing staff) to update listings, neighborhoods, respond to leads.
Monitor analytics and fine-tune post-launch.
KEY FEATURES
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Dynamic Listings / MLS Integration
Properties are fed dynamically so site always shows up-to-date listings without manual upload. -
Smart Filters & Neighborhood Pages
Users can browse by neighborhood, price, property features. Neighborhood landing pages include demographics, highlights, and call-to-actions. -
Lead Capture & CRM Sync
Agents receive immediate notifications when a visitor submits a form. Leads get categorized (buyer, seller, general), and stored in CRM for follow-up automation. -
Performance & Mobile Optimization
All pages responsive, images lazy-loaded, site speed target < 3s, mobile score optimized. -
SEO & Schema Markup
Real estate schema (e.g. RealEstateAgent, Offer, Residence) implemented to boost search visibility and SERP features. -
Agent Profiles & Social Proof
Each agent has a bio, credentials, photo, and clients’ testimonials. Trust building for users.
RESULTS & IMPACT
| Metric | Before | After | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Leads | ~ 20 | ~ 80 | +300% |
| Lead-to-Appointment Conversion Rate | 12% | 25% | +108% |
| Average Page Load Time | 5.4 s | 2.3 s | –57% |
| Bounce Rate on Listings Pages | 48% | 28% | –20 pp |
| Agent Response Time to New Leads | ~12 hours | ~1 hour | –92% |
| New Listings Added / Month (manual effort) | ~10 | ~40 | +4× throughput |
The client reported higher lead volume and faster responses, leading to more showings and closed deals.
Agents appreciated the ease of updating listings and content through a user-friendly backend.
SEO and organic traffic increased within 2–3 months post-launch.
The brand now appears more credible, professional, modern, which helps in conversions from site visitors to inquiries.
