Project detail
Designed and built a lightweight marketing website that gives a local welding company a professional online presence, improves local discoverability, and creates a clear conversion path from search to contact
Role
Product Design · Frontend Development · SEO · Content Architecture
Year
2026
Stack
Astro · React · Tailwind CSS · Decap CMS · Netlify Identity · Git Gateway · Google Analytics 4
The public-facing interface is designed to communicate services clearly and push users toward direct contact
Overview
Problem
The company had no effective online presence and relied almost entirely on word of mouth. The goal was to create a website that could increase local discoverability, communicate services clearly, and provide a simple path to contact
Constraints
Solution
A lightweight marketing website built for a local welding business that previously had no active web presence. The project focuses on clarity, discoverability, and a simple path from visit to contact
Impact
Automated
Deployment
Client-managed
Content management
Static-first
Architecture
Key decisions
The project prioritized performance, SEO, and low maintenance over complex client-side interactions. Astro's static-first architecture reduced unnecessary JavaScript while keeping the development experience familiar through React components
Trade-off: Less ecosystem maturity than Next.js, but the zero-JS-by-default approach was ideal for a content-heavy marketing site
The client needed editorial autonomy without introducing the complexity or cost of a traditional backend.
Trade-off: Git-based workflow is less intuitive than traditional CMS dashboards, but avoids hosting costs and vendor lock-in
Netlify Identity provided a simple authentication layer for the admin flow and integrated cleanly with the Git-based publishing pipeline
Trade-off: Tied to Netlify's platform, but the free tier covers the client's needs and simplifies the deployment pipeline significantly
Implementation
The implementation focused on three areas:
The frontend uses Astro for static rendering while React is used where interactivity is needed, keeping the shipped JavaScript minimal.
Workflow
The project was structured to reduce ongoing developer involvement in routine content edits
Admin edit
The client updates text content through the admin interface
→ No developer dependency for routine changes
Decap CMS save
The content change is saved through the CMS workflow
→ Version-controlled content with rollback capability
GitHub update
The change is committed to the repository
→ Full audit trail of every content change
Automatic deploy
A new production build is triggered automatically
→ Changes go live in under 60 seconds
Selected views
Lessons learned
Next steps
The core architecture is complete and ready for production. The remaining work focuses on final content validation, launch preparation, and post-launch monitoring
Future improvements