AWC PORTFOLIO //
how to stand out in a mega-crowded industry
Japan Powder Connection: ski + backcountry guiding co.
[website audit, brand messaging + SEO strategy]
Japan Powder Connection is a ski company, based on the island of Hokkaido in Japan.
Jen Veilleux built her business amidst a huge boom in popularity for the ski resort, so when I first met Jen and her team, they were concerned about the increasing competition.
(Most European ski resorts have 2 or 3 ski schools or guiding companies; in Niseko there were over 30!)
Taking a step back to grow.
When she reached out to me, Jen felt like her business was evolving into something that wasn’t her dream business. She started her business to be able to ski the most beautiful volcanoes and explore untouched terrain with her clients.
Yet she started to find herself spending her days on the bunny slope, picking up beginners of the ground (whilst dreaming of epic runs through the lightest snow) more and more often.
Jen asked me to support her so that she could pivot her business and regain control over how her business was growing.
At that point, she employed as many ski instructors as tour guides, but wanted to shift back to more of a focus on serving advanced and adventurous skiers.
Jen’s old website — she admits — was done in a rush. So we started working together to rectify that.
In order to reaffirm Jen’s position as the go-to company for backcountry touring we needed to:
Reconnect to JPC’s vision and values
Restructure their website to funnel clients through to their end goal (i.e. book a lesson)
Translate the experience and expertise, that has come from living in a remote corner of Japan for nearly a decade into the design
Connect with a higher calibre of clientele, whilst building trust in Jen and her team
Look at where Jen was getting her website traffic from and pivot to appeal to the more advanced skiers, also doing the research to come up higher on search engine results pages, to be more visible than competition
Processes led by a passion.
To start with, we discussed who her client base was. We needed to adapt her website to speak to this specific niche, instead of both experienced skiers and complete beginners.
Both the design and copy needed to work together to invoke a sense of awe and eagerness, stroking that wanderlust mentality in the potential client scrolling through the website, without seeming childish.
So to improve the website’s traction we combined:
✔️ Copy that was created to drive more conversions
✔️ A logical and easily-navigable website structure
✔️ More strategic calls-to-action to create a funnel
“I have been truly impressed with Alice’s talents for writing on many different platforms. Combined with her dedicated, goal-oriented, high-efficiency work ethic, Alice’s services have become a key, indispensable component of how we work and grow the company.
I can say without a doubt that Alice’s work has yielded direct results with increased traffic, SM engagement, and client inquiries, which have noticeably increased our volume, enabling us to share our passion with more and more adventurous people every day.
I could not recommend Alice’s services highly enough to those aiming to grow their business.”
— Jen Veilleux, head coach + owner of Japan Power Connection
The results.
HUGE audience GROWTH
In the space of 12 months, Jen’s website climbed an average of 40 places on Google search results after an SEO strategy was implemented, meaning she was getting found by a wider and broader range of potential clients, with the same Google searches.
More web traffic
When people saw JPC’s website listed on a Google search results page, the average click through rate from a Google search page increased by over 6% (so less people on Google were visiting our competitors’ website and more were heading to Jen’s site).
Increased revenue
There was a significant shift with more enquiries from high-paying, adventurous clients (and fewer enquiries for beginner on-piste lessons) giving Jen more opportunity to spend her time doing what she loves.
The average income per member of staff increased by 63%, compared to the previous season.
Your website is your digital front-door. And it’s likely you want leads queuing up outside, right?
If your website represents the ‘old you’ (before you grew and expanded) let’s work together to revitalise your online presence.
A stronger website can help your business grow, whether it’s through a website audit, improving your copy or reworking the design.
Let’s jump on a quick 20 minute to chat about how your business-baby has adapted to the current state of your industry and make a game-plan so your website is working harder for you.