Web Connect
Nationwide Dealers. Local Websites. One Scalable System.
Project overview
During my time at Strategic America, I led design for a long-running program supports 150+ HVAC dealers nationwide with locally branded websites built from a shared WordPress system. Each site is customized with dealer-specific branding, imagery, and content while staying consistent, scalable and SEO-optimized.
Since 2018, I’ve led design across multiple platform iterations, helping evolve the work from individual layouts into a component-based system the team can efficiently launch, manage and grow at scale
Duration
• 2014 – 2025
Role
• Lead UX/UI Designer
• Design System
• User Research
Team
• 1 UX Designer
• 1 Project Manager
• 3 Client Managers
• 3 Web Advisors
• 3 Web Developers
• 2 Web Administrators
• 2 SEO Analysts
Tools
• Figma
• Adobe XD
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Lyssna
• Microsoft Excel
• WordPress
The Challenge
The core challenge was designing a scalable website system that allowed each HVAC dealer’s site to feel distinct—without sacrificing usability, SEO performance, or build efficiency.
Early designs were constrained by a proprietary CMS with limited editing capabilities and clients who often had minimal marketing assets of their own. The team supplied the majority of the content and imagery which increased the responsibility to design layouts that worked with sparse or inconsistent inputs. At the same time, sites needed to clearly elevate primary conversion actions—calling or scheduling service—while balancing frequent customization requests that sometimes conflicted with best practices.
As the program expanded to more than 150 sites and demands increased, the challenge evolved into designing a component-based system that enabled meaningful customization without increasing maintenance effort or undermining UX and SEO intent. The system needed to balance flexibility with guardrails, giving dealers a sense of ownership while remaining sustainable for the team long-term.
Discovery
As the program evolved and the design system became more established, research was incorporated to validate assumptions and guide refinement without disrupting existing sites. Rather than rethinking the foundation, discovery efforts focused on improving usability within the constraints of a large, SEO-driven multi-site system.
These insights helped inform design optimization, content hierarchy and customization guardrails as the system continued to scale.
usability testing
Prior to the 2020 redesign, a survey of current customers and follow-up preference tests were conducted to validate navigation, labeling, and homepage hierarchy across the program.
Key survey insights and recommendations:
Key survey insights and recommendations:
- Reinforced the importance of persistent, highly visible CTAs—particularly the phone number.
- Confirmed the need to simplify navigation by focusing on a smaller set of core service categories.
- Simplifying choices reduced friction and made it easier for users to identify next steps.
Preference testing results:
- In two comparative preference tests against competitor sites, users consistently found our site structure, content hierarchy and overall usability clearer and easier to navigate.
of participants preferred our design over a competitor’s due to clearer structure and visual hierarchy.
Competitor analysis
A competitive review of similar multi-site dealer programs was conducted to understand how other systems approach branding, customization, and usability at scale. The insights from this analysis informed design exploration and prioritization for 2025 updates, helping guide the evolution of the design system without requiring immediate or disruptive changes to the existing platform.
Key themes explored:
- How dealer programs use brand elements to create differentiation while maintaining consistency.
- Common patterns for handling lead-generation experiences across large site networks.
- Where customization appears to add value versus where it introduces complexity or inconsistency.
Design
Design efforts focused on creating a flexible, component-based system that could support long-term growth, ongoing SEO needs and meaningful customization across a large network of dealer sites. Instead of each redesign being a standalone effort, the work progressively evolved toward reusable patterns and guardrails that balanced consistency, usability and efficiency at scale.
The following highlights key phases in that evolution and how the system matured over time.
Foundational Templates
Early work focused on creating flexible page layouts that could support brand variation and conversion goals within tight CMS and content constraints.
Componentization
The system shifted from page-based design to a library of modular components designed to be mixed, matched, and branded consistently across a growing network of sites.
System Stabilization
The platform was rebuilt to support ongoing launches across many dealer sites, maintaining consistent structure while allowing for localized branding and content variation.
Ongoing Refinement
Rather than introducing wholesale changes, refinements focused on evolving individual components and layout patterns informed by research and ongoing program needs with little disruption to existing sites or workflows.
The Result
What began as individual site designs became a scalable platform that powers 150+ dealer websites nationwide. The system enables efficient growth while protecting usability, brand integrity, and SEO performance at scale.
Key outcomes
Scalable system
Powers 150+ dealer websites nationwide, built for long-term growth.
Efficiency gains
Launch, customize and update sites faster with reusable components.
Localized branding
Dealer sites feel unique while maintaining consistent UX and SEO.
SEO Performance
Structured content and clear conversion paths support sustained search visibility.
Reduced maintenance overhead
Clear design guardrails that simplify updates for the team.
Live Site Examples
