Client Case Study

Samson & Sophie

Industry: Hospitality / Café

Project Duration: July - August 2024

After being burned by a flaky local website developer and left without a functioning website, Chloe came to Kylie looking for help. The Samson & Sophie website had been taken down, and they were relying purely on social media.

Her goals were to:

  1. Refresh the Samson & Sophie brand identity - build it out beyond their pixellated logo

  2. Launch a fresh website that they actually own and can update themselves

  3. Get found on Google and look good doing it

  4. Capture bookings and build an email list

  5. Build a website capable of growing with the café’s future event plans

  6. Highlight their stunning food photography

  7. Feature an online menu that customers can open on mobile (no scanned PDF flyers here).

Old website

Challenges

  • No website or online presence beyond social media

  • Previous site was built on WordPress and unusable

  • No SEO structure or local search visibility

  • Customers couldn’t book a table or view the menu online (without hunting for a PDF on Facebook)

  • No place to build a mailing list, run promos or plan events.

Services Provided:

  • Brand Refresh

  • Website Design & Development (Squarespace)

  • Local SEO Strategy

  • Online Booking System

  • Mobile-Responsive Menu

  • Loyalty Program Sign-Up Integration

  • Mailing List Capture

  • Analytics.

Strategy & Execution

Month One:
Brand Discovery + Brand Identity + Website

Brand refresh

Before we could start building out the website, Kylie recreated Samson & Sophie’s logo into a vector format (meaning now we can scale it up to any size without losing quality). This is important for when they go to print new uniforms, cafe signage or coffee cups etc. Your brand isn’t giving premium if your logo’s pixellated. They didn’t have a landscape logo for the website, so we fixed that.

We also rolled out Brand Guidelines, including a refined colour palette, fonts and logo rules for consistency.

Website Design & Development

We started by identifying what mattered most: local visibility, user-friendly access to the menu, seamless bookings, and leveraging their excellent café photography.

Using Squarespace (for scalability, ease of use, and better control), we built a clean, mobile-first website focused on three things: conversion, content, and coffee.

Design Priorities:

  • Integrated social media feed to showcase their strong Instagram photography + food options in real-time

  • Clear CTA buttons: Book a Table, See Menu, Join the Mailing List.

  • A mobile-friendly menu - no more clunky PDFs.

  • Mailing list capture baked into the site flow.

local seo strategy

We implemented a local Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy targeting “New Farm café” and nearby suburbs. We structured the site for search intent, cleaned up metadata, and ensured structured data for proper indexing.

We also optimised their website with the important info that Google looks for - opening hours, location and phone number - to drive discovery and foot traffic.

By refining on-page elements like metadata, headings & internal linking to improve website crawlability, we’ve positioned Samson & Sophie for long-term local search success.

Custom Instagram Landing Page

To make the most of Samson & Sophie’s strong Instagram following, we built a branded, mobile-optimised landing page specifically for their bio link.

It houses all the essentials - View Menu, Book a Table, Directions - so followers can go from scrolling to sipping in seconds. Unlike third-party link tools, this custom page keeps users on the site, improves SEO, and makes the brand experience feel seamless.

Menu Design

Chloe updates her menu with new dishes, drinks and offers frequently. We created a digital menu, built directly into the Samson & Sophie website, but also a Google Doc template, so the team are able to update and print in-house - savings time & costs outsourcing this task.

Results

Samson & Sophie went from no website and zero visibility to a high-performing digital platform that drives bookings, builds community, and grows with their brand.

Their loyal locals? Now booking tables online.

Their space? Prepped for events and promos.

Their vibe? Front and centre.

From ghosted to Google-found.
That’s what happens when you’ve got the right team behind you.

🔎 Dominating Local Search

Nearly 50% of all website visits came from Google searches, proving the local SEO strategy is working. People are literally Googling “New Farm café” and finding them.

📆 Online Bookings Are Booming

The new booking form did exactly what it was designed to do - convert.

With 245 table bookings in 8 months, that’s averaging just over 30 bookings per month, or 1 a day directly from the website - something they had zero access to before.

📧 Growing Their Community

Their mailing list is no longer a “maybe someday” idea. With 49 new signups since launch, they now have a reliable channel to share promotions, events, and updates directly with loyal locals.

🔥 High Engagement, Low Bounce

Visitors are sticking around - spending an average of 87 seconds per page, with a bounce rate of just 47%.

For context, the average bounce rate for hospitality websites typically sits between 50-70%, so Samson & Sophie is already ahead of the curve. That means people aren’t just landing and leaving - they’re browsing, booking, and coming back for more.

📍 Increased Website Visibility

The café went from zero website presence to averaging 660+ visitors per month, peaking at 916 in January - right in the middle of peak holiday season.

That’s over 5,300 total sessions in just eight months, with 93% of traffic coming from within Australia, and most of that hyper-local to Brisbane’s inner suburbs.

3 core pillars.
3 focused months.

Are you ready for real results that compound over time?

Book your free 15 minute chat with Dan