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ucked away in the heart of Colorado’s wilderness, The Home Ranch is a private retreat that thoughtfully pays homage to its Western heritage and the picturesque terrain it calls home. From the working cattle ranch to newly renovated guest cabins and sprawling event spaces, this ultra-exclusive property boasts several one-of-a-kind experiences — whether you’re looking to host your wedding under the ranch’s vast blue skies or plan the ultimate corporate retreat.
Hawthorn Creative was tasked with redesigning The Home Ranch’s existing website from scratch, dreaming up a new website experience that would better reflect the property’s exclusive, luxurious nature. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look into our process and a peek at the stunning end result!
The Goals
- Increase bookings for exclusive weddings and corporate events.
- Highlight the property’s recent renovation.
- Showcase the wide range of accommodations and custom experiences available.
The Strategy & Process
One of the biggest opportunities we identified to improve The Home Ranch’s website? Better imagery. To gather high-quality photos we could use throughout the website, our team coordinated a lifestyle photoshoot with New Hampshire-based photographer Will Zimmermann. After the site visit, we ended up with a folder full of gorgeous photos from every corner of the 580-acre ranch, from the scenic rolling prairies to authentic Western experiences like fishing and horseback riding.
“The scale of this ranch was so much more than I had anticipated,” said Michele Hazut, Hawthorn Creative’s vice president of client services. “The property itself is grand and wild, with access to what feels like hundreds of miles of wilderness. The passion and knowledge from their staff and owners truly make this a special place.”
In addition to gathering new imagery options, our design team got to work developing a basic website framework that would allow the client to showcase the property’s wide range of offerings and continue to expand the website as they finish construction on their lodge and event spaces.
When it came to search engine optimization and keyword research, our digital strategists focused on broader keywords related to the Steamboat Springs area of Colorado, sprinkling in a few relevant wedding and event terms — think “luxury ranch wedding” and “exclusive corporate retreat.”
Before & After
In our project kickoff, we collaborated with the client to better understand what worked and didn’t work with their existing website. Ultimately, we narrowed their concerns down to one overarching issue: the layout. The Home Ranch team wanted more seamless and intuitive navigation, with new pages added to better distinguish topics like accommodations, retreats, and weddings. And, since a primary project goal was increasing bookings for weddings and events, we needed to create an Events page that clearly laid out what potential clients should expect from their Home Ranch celebration or retreat.
The existing website’s color scheme was also identified as an opportunity for improvement — so, our designers prioritized a cohesive color palette when deciding on the site’s fresh look and feel.
Now, when you first arrive on The Home Ranch’s website, it’s immediately clear that you’re looking at an ultra-exclusive getaway — one that thoughtfully balances an authentically Western and luxurious aesthetic. Everything from the carefully selected photos to meticulously crafted copy reflects the ranch’s true exclusivity.
To achieve our goal of a smoother and more efficient layout, we landed on the following page navigation (in addition to the homepage and contact page):
- Accommodations: A main page with short-and-sweet summaries of the available stays, combined with dropdown pages that give a closer look at each of the nine cabins.
- Events: An overview of the types of events the ranch can host — separated by weddings, groups, and corporate retreats — and a list of the four event venues.
- Experiences: One page that scrolls down to reveal outdoor adventures, culinary experiences, and wellness-focused offerings.
- The Ranch: A detailed history of the ranch’s legacy, with dropdown pages for performance horse training, alpine farming, and a product page for grass-fed Wagyu beef.
Of course, we were eager to show off all the stunning new photography we gathered from our property visit, and the new site is full of rotating, horizontal image galleries that give users a glimpse into The Home Ranch experience. Our design team also incorporated an easy-on-the-eyes color palette with earthy and warm tones.
Hawthorn Creative’s director of content, Mariam Alexander, whipped up brand-new copy for the website, keeping the ranch’s Western charm top of mind throughout the copywriting stage. “Communicating the beauty of the region — the remoteness and ruggedness of the terrain — was a top priority,” Mariam said. “We did that through vivid descriptions, sensory details, and active language that immersed readers straight in the scene.”
Next Steps
We always caution clients to avoid a “set-it-and-forget-it” approach to their websites. After a new or redesigned website launches, it’s natural to want to check “website” off your marketing to-do list and move on to other priorities — but as anyone who’s ever been involved with a website project knows, the work doesn’t end there. There’ll always be additional content to add and changes to make in order to keep your site up-to-date.
Our team will continue to refresh The Home Ranch website, focusing on tasks like breaking out individual pages for event types and event spaces, weaving in additional SEO keywords, and producing sample itineraries.
Feeling inspired to elevate your digital marketing strategy? Learn more about Hawthorn Creative’s website redesign process here — and, of course, you can reach out to our team of website experts anytime!