Fortify Stock is a UK property business. After six months of trading, its first website no longer reflected the quality or focus of its work.
At a glance
- Client: Fortify Stock
- Sector: Property sourcing
- Business stage: Trading for around six months, with growing enquiry volume
- Challenge: DIY website copy didn't explain what the business does, and the design felt low quality
- Services: Strategy, messaging, UX structure, Webflow design and development
- Platform: Webflow
- Timeline: 8 weeks from kickoff to launch
- Headline result: "It speaks to the right people and gives them confidence to get in touch."
Client and starting position
Fortify Stock is a UK property business. Its main clients are property investors. It also serves guests booking serviced accommodation, and landlords who need help managing their properties.
After six months of trading, the business had a clear service offer for each of these groups. Its first website had been built quickly, using a site builder that came with the business bank account. That made sense at launch. But the site no longer reflected the quality or focus of Fortify Stock's work.
The problem
The website didn't explain what Fortify Stock did, or who it was for. Generic AI-written copy and stock photography hid the detail of its services.
UK property investment is a heavily regulated sector. Fortify Stock holds the right qualifications to advise clients properly. The website didn't show any of them.
Trust matters when people invest money. People buy from people. Yet Sarah Jamera, the person behind the business, didn't appear anywhere on the site.
All of this led to poor-quality leads. Sarah spent more time than she should have qualifying each first enquiry.
Where the old website fell short
These gaps are common for a site built quickly at an early stage. As the business grew, they started to hold it back.
- The homepage opened with unrelated stock photography and generic wording. It didn't state a clear service offer.
- Different types of visitor had no obvious next step.
- The blue and white colour scheme felt predictable and a little dated.
- Industry credentials and other proof were missing.
- Booking wasn't as simple as it looked. The "Book now" button led to a standard contact form.
The approach
The work started with the business: its audiences, its services and how it sells. The visual design came after that.
Discovery and positioning
Discovery covered Fortify Stock's audiences, services, sales process, competitors and goals. Here's what it showed.
- Audience: Property investors are the main audience, ahead of short-term landlords. For serviced accommodation, contractors are the ideal guests. They have bigger budgets and often book again.
- Sales process: There are three stages: an initial qualification call, a detailed requirements call, then onboarding.
- Positioning: Three pillars define the business. It is data-driven, strategic and committed to ethical practice.
- Growth plans: Over the next 12 to 24 months, Fortify Stock aims to work with around 10 investors on a consultancy basis. It also plans to manage more properties and build its own portfolio through investor finance.
- Website goals: Build trust, bring in pre-qualified leads and automate routine admin.
- Features needed: A Lodgify booking widget for serviced accommodation, and a lead magnet connected to Mailchimp.
- Design preferences: Clean and minimal, without busy layouts or bright colours.
Messaging and structure
Early meetings made one thing clear. The site couldn't speak to all three audiences at once.
So we began by mapping the questions each prospective client needed answered before they'd enquire. That gave us a clearer service hierarchy and a more direct homepage message. Each service got its own dedicated page.
Design direction
With three audiences to serve, the website could easily become cluttered and confusing. To keep it clear, I gave each audience its own colour:
- purple for investors, the main audience
- warm orange for serviced accommodation guests
- a complementary green for landlords
Each colour appears wherever the site speaks to that audience. It carries through hover states, homepage sections and the dedicated service pages.
Research into the industry and competitors showed that blue was the default choice. It's seen as the colour of stability and finance. It's also overused, especially now that so many AI-built sites rely on it. Fortify Stock needed the warmth and approachability of a small business. Purple does that. It feels warm, with a touch of luxury, which makes the brand appealing and aspirational.
The existing logo guided the font choices. Serif fonts signal trust and authority when used with restraint. All main headings use a serif. Body text uses a sans-serif, which keeps the site feeling modern.