Building Trust Through Design: A Case Study with Greg Merrilees

Website redesigns can make or break a business’s online presence, especially when a decades-long reputation hangs in the balance. Greg Merrilees, founder and managing director of Studio1 Design, returns to join me in a compelling transformation story, the 5th in the series of case studies. His design agency partnered with my SEO agency, Netconcepts, to completely overhaul Firefly Legal’s web presence—a 27-year-old civil process serving firm that needed its digital presence to match its professional standing. In our discussion, Greg and I break down the critical questionnaire process that will uncover a client’s true objectives and competitive positioning. Greg walks through the before-and-after transformation, revealing how generic stock photography and faceless branding were replaced with authentic team imagery and trust-building elements. We explore the strategic funnel design that guides visitors from initial curiosity to booked discovery calls, including the often-overlooked thank you page optimization. We cover essential trust signals and exit-intent pop-up strategies that capture departing visitors. Greg demonstrates competitive analysis tools and explains how hosting choices impact performance. We examine the impressive results, including a 4x increase in quote requests and substantial organic traffic growth. This value-packed episode reveals actionable strategies to transform your website into a conversion-focused sales machine that works around the clock, so without any further ado, on with the show!