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Doran Refuge

A new website for a magical place in the French Alps.

Project Type: Website development

Technology: WordPress + Elementor

The company

The Refuge de Doran is a mountain refuge located in the heart of the Aravis mountains in the French Alps.

A magical, peaceful place, surrounded by nature and mountains. The ideal place to disconnect from routine and enjoy a pleasant stay.

You'll also find traditional meals, made exclusively with local products.

Goals

1

Create a new website and a new visual identity.

2

Communiquer des valeurs importants : Respect avec la nature, local et partage

3

A different design, with a creative yet functional approach.

The existing website

Cropped image (click on the image to see it in full)

The existing site had been built with custom code.

Le problème : pour effectuer un simple changement sur le site, il fallait faire appel à un développeur.

Même pour changer un texte.

The challenge was to redo the website with a different design and the ability to modify the various elements intuitively.

We decided to redesign the site using WordPress and Elementor. 

Components supplied

The new logo + A presentation flyer to get an idea of what was intended in terms of colors.

The buying process

Before anything else, we need to understand how visitors will interact with your website.

On trouve 2 types d’utilisateurs :

Visitors who already know the Refuge

Those who don't know Refuge

This differentiation makes it easier to choose which information to display first, and how to structure the website's pages.

Visitor

Knows the Refuge

Does not know the Refuge

Need more information

Informations indispensables*

Check availability

Payment

Confirmation

Buying steps

Essential information :

– Prices
– Room photos
– Customer reviews
– Included services
– Accessibility

Others :

– Activities at the Refuge
– History
– Instagram posts
– Etc.

Website structure

En comprenant comment les visiteurs vont interagir avec le site internet, nous définissons les différents pages du site.

Home

The refuge / About

Activities at the Refuge

Booking

Step 0 of 3

Audio-visual content

Photo & video shoots

To create a quality website, you need beautiful photos and videos that highlight the location.

So we headed out to take photos and videos.

Step 1 of 3

Design

The Design

After determining the new website structure, it's time to work on the visual mock-ups.

Les maquettes donnent un aperçu visuel du résultat final.

Choice of colors

Inspired by the flyer and the values we wanted to convey, I defined a color palette.

Sober colors reminiscent of nature and the mountains:

Texts
Main
Secondary
Background

Choice of typography

The same goes for the fonts, which aim to convey the traditional, natural feel of the refuge.

Aa
Rochester
Headlines
Aa
Josefin Sans
Texts

With a graphic identity in place, it was time to create the various site mock-ups

Here are some examples:

Home

The Refuge

Activities

Always a creativity touch

Animations are used to engage the user and create a more interactive experience.

Showcasing local producers and traditional cuisine.

Clear and precise pricing.

One thing we noticed on the old website was that the rates weren't clear.

As a result, many people were calling to make reservations and asking the same questions.

Which was annoying because it wasted employees' time.

Step 2 of 3

Development

Mock-up integration

Once the mock-ups had been approved by the customer, we proceeded to create the website using WordPress and Elementor.

Features

Mise en place d’une extension multi-lingue et une autre extension pour réserver en ligne. 

Multilingual site

Website available in English and French.

Responsive website

The website's content adapts to different screens (computer, tablet and mobile)

Integration of a third-party booking system

The refuge's bookings are managed by a third-party system (https://www.monrefugepaysdumontblanc.com/).

So we've integrated this booking system into the website.

Step 3 of 3

Website launch

SEO redirects

To avoid losing the Google ranking linked to the old website, it's very important to carry out SEO redirects.

Site security and anti-spam

WordPress evolves rapidly, so it's important to secure the site to prevent it from being attacked and disabled.

A security layer is also added to protect the site from spam and dangerous links.

Project summary

Another great project.

Élodie (the refuge keeper) is very happy with the result of the website and all the photos and videos created.

Ready to see your company take off like a confetti rocket?

I enjoy working with ambitious entrepreneurs who want to stand out from the crowd.

Implementing different ideas and a "think out of the box" approach, we can work together to achieve your goals.