Property Patrols

Property Patrols

OVERVIEW

Property Patrols is the brainchild of founder Richard Kelly, a retired police officer and detective. Since retiring from law enforcement, Richard hit upon a niche: translating police know-how into advising clients with home and business needs.

Those clients may be new homeowners with multiple projects to tackle, or busy parents who want a Patrol to oversee routine contractor work. Perhaps an older parent looking to age in place or a retiree who travels extensively. Or finally, a professional who regularly works outside the home or a landlord who needs monthly property checks.

Property Patrols is a reliable, trusted representative that provides tailored home and business property support.

DESIGN STARTS WITH STRATEGY

When Richard first came to us about his start-up business, we asked him A LOT of questions. He had an idea of what he wanted to do based on his organic experiences but wasn’t exactly sure how to package his business services.

He didn’t want to position his business as a General Contractor who hires and pays workers or pulls permits. Nor did he want to be perceived as a security company or detective agency. However, he wanted to imply that his advisory consultancy would include those skills from prior career experience.

It’s tricky because this is an entirely new business category offering many custom services to a broad audience. We needed to write SEO-friendly headlines that convey precisely what he does. He aims to create a business that can scale to include other retired law enforcement officers and possibly be franchised.

GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE

After Richard decided on his business name and purchased their URL, we connected the custom domain to their new Google Workspace account. We then set up and verified their Google Business Profile listing, added the most relevant category of Property Maintenance, and advised on how to fill out the profile and get reviews.

After the website went live, we added the website link to the profile, per usual, but Google would not approve the edit—we resolved the issue via contact with their support team, and it was fixed but removed again due to their algorithm or user feedback. Google Business Profiles are essential for generating website traffic from Search and Maps, and we’re not giving up until they list the website link! It is frustrating when tech companies don’t approve valid edits and users only have so much control, primarily because we depend upon their profiles for site traffic.

CUSTOM PHOTOGRAPHY

Since the business is brand new and Richard is the face of the company, a professional headshot, at a minimum, was a must. It’s important to see who you’re entrusting your family member, home, and/or business property with. We created an iStock board with examples of location and posing ideas.

Richard worked with their photographer to schedule the shoot, and we assisted with fashion guidance, selecting the best shots, photo composing, and optimizing the images for the web.

CONTENT WRITING

Richard worked with their content writer to craft the primary messaging, differentiators, list of services, bio, and frequently asked questions/answers. We reviewed all the content, made many wording and phrasing suggestions, incorporated emotional language, and highlighted the positives of hiring them. Understanding what the business does to effectively communicate this on the website and across all their marketing materials was crucial.

Dialing in the language took multiple rounds of edits, but it was worth the time. We then spliced the content into a we-friendly format—into pages, sections, headlines, and body copy. Additional copy edits were made to finalize after the content was incorporated into the website. We also wrote SEO page titles and meta descriptions focusing on their local service area for geographical relevance.

BRAND IDENTITY AND LOGO DESIGN

We started with varied logo concepts using two “P” letters for a monogram design, an owl representing a watchful eye, a padlock/house to communicate security, a home inside a rainbow bubble, and a badge with a house roofline bisecting it. For context, we presented the two most substantial logo designs with two different home page mockups, each with its own creative direction, different fonts, and color palettes.

The badge concept resonated the most as the shape acts as a protective border encircling the house. The bottom of the badge is also a checkmark that communicates trust, verification, and task completion.

After seeing the brand photography, we refined brand color options and decided on a sophisticated neutral palette with a rust and yellow pop. Richard was sure he didn’t want to use any colors associated with law enforcement, like blue or black. Read the logo case study for more info on the brand and logo.

WEB DESIGN, BUILD, AND COMMERCE

Our focus for the web design was readability, comprehension, building trust, and evoking a sense of calmness. Since one of the ideal clients is seniors, easy-to-read typography is a must with a lot of white space. We limited the number of typefaces using a serif font for headlines and a sans serif font for body text and sized them appropriately. We used all caps sparingly and limited line lengths.

We used colors carefully and intentionally, choosing a calm, neutral palette and pops of accent color to highlight important words and make the icons stand out. The colors are high contrast, complimentary, and pass accessibility standards.

Once we established typography and color foundations that helped define the visual hierarchy, we got to work laying out the written content and adding additional stock imagery to support it. It was an organic process because we were “designing the plane as we built it,” as they say.

In the last stages of content and design edits, we actively strategized the commerce functionality for their hourly support, Priority Patrol Service annual subscription, and gift cards to make it a positive customer experience.

Commerce setup involves setting up an online store, creating products, enabling customer accounts, connecting payment processors, editing and understanding legal (data and privacy) policies and taxes, customizing and styling additional pages, checkout pages and auto emails, and testing to ensure everything works. We also helped write the FAQs for the customer accounts, subscriptions, and tech questions they might get asked or need to refer to.

Commerce set up for their particular offerings of a service-based subscription (commerce), hourly support (appointment scheduler) and gift cards (commerce) was problematic due to Squarespace not allowing subscription products and gift cards to be purchased in one checkout experience, but not unsolvable as long as the process was delineated.

We love the final results, as do Richard and his team. We’re excited to see how his business scales and look forward to helping him reach his goals.

ONLINE APPOINTMENT SCHEDULING

We utilized Squarespace’s appointment scheduler add-on, Acuity, for easy online booking. We created specific appointment types, set scheduling page limits, customized scheduling page links, synced third-party calendars, customized the scheduler appearance, created custom intake forms per appointment type, connected payment processors, and customized the email templates.

Because they have different hourly rates for subscribers and non-subscribers we needed to set up the same, but different appointment types. We also set up coupon codes for special offers and gift card recipients to use when scheduling their gifted meeting.

The initial setup of an appointment scheduler is time-intensive but worth it because now customers can schedule appointments, pay, and complete intake forms online 24/7, and Richard can manage his time and calendar without ever needing to email back and forth “What time works for you?” ever again. Clients will also get auto-reminder emails to reduce no-shows.

Along with website training, we provide scheduling training to empower clients to manage their site and scheduler from their computer and/or within the app.

GRAPHIC DESIGN COLLATERAL

We designed branded business cards, social media profile banner graphics, and rack cards. Coming soon is a lead magnet with valuable content to offer users in exchange for joining their email mailing list!