"Their communication, expertise, and recommendations were incredibly professional and their knowledge of SEO and design was top-notch."
- Douglas J Institute, Marketing Director

Redesign for a Better Website Experience

Full Website Redesign + Content Strategy

DouglasJ.edu

The Challenge:

Douglas J Institute—home to respected educational institutions within the fields of cosmetology, barbering, esthiology, and massage across Michigan, Tennessee, and Nebraska—came to us with a familiar challenge:“How do we connect more effectively with prospective students and drive better engagement and leads from our website?”

Their old site had a steady flow of traffic and plenty of information, but much of the content and user experience fell short in terms of communicating to potential students why Douglas J can be trusted to deliver a positive student experience, and put graduates on a path of career success in their chosen field. Common questions went unanswered, or were disconnected from the experience by a navigation lacking intuitiveness. In short, the site was not doing a good enough job of meeting the expectations of today’s students and converting web traffic into new student leads.


Our Approach: Audit First, Then Align Everything Else

We kicked things off with a full website audit—evaluating content, user flow, technical SEO, and site performance. We paired that with keyword and search behavior research to understand what real students are searching for and how they make decisions, like:

  • “Best cosmetology schools near me”
  • “How much does beauty school cost?”
  • “What is student life like at Douglas J?”
  • “What jobs can I expect to get? How much do they pay?”

Content That Converts

Before design even started, we worked closely with the Douglas J team to shape their messaging and organize what content mattered most. That included:

  • Leveraging student and graduate testimonials, visuals, and video content to better reflect student experience
  • Creating infographics and new content modules that efficiently addressed top questions
  • Organizing the site by program, location, and student goals to improve clarity and flow

We weren’t just creating new content—we were helping their team think differently about how to present what they already had.

The Design: Modern and Built for Conversions

Once strategy and content were aligned, we moved into design—delivering a modern layout that reflects the energy of the Douglas J brand and drives users toward action. The result:

  • Clear, student-first user flows
  • Simplified navigation across programs and locations
  • Strong local SEO performance with optimized location pages
  • A more visual experience that encourages deeper engagement

They were so thrilled with the outcome, we’ve already started on the redesign of the Douglas J salon site.

The Scholar House Difference

We don’t just make websites look better—we make them work smarter. By combining real data, collaboration, and thoughtful design, we helped Douglas J transform their site into a lead-generating platform that will continue to grow with them. Want to know what a smarter website could do for you?


Let’s get started today.

Our SEO Best Practices

Keyword Research

Identifying the words and phrases your potential customers are using to search for businesses like yours.

Optimization

Making sure your website is structured and written in a way that search engines can easily understand and rank.

Content Creation

Crafting valuable and engaging content that not only resonates with your audience but also performs well in search results.

Technical SEO

Ensuring your website's technical aspects are optimized for search engines, so they can crawl and index your site effectively.