CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Personalized service is the pillar of St. George Design, a website and marketing company that launched in 2008.
“What sets us apart is the one-to-one interaction,” Adam Rue, owner of St. George Design, said. “Most web design and a lot of marketing companies are huge, so you’re going to be sold something by one person. You’re going to be fulfilled by another person. You’re just shuffled down the line.”
Rue graduated from Southern Utah University in communications and marketing in the 1990s. Following graduation, he returned to his home city of Los Angeles and was employed at a court reporting firm where he started doing web design. Rue taught himself how to manage their website.
After working as the marketing director for several other large companies, he moved back to Southern Utah and has since put his years of experience in marketing, web and graphic design into serving the clients of St. George Design.
In 2019, Burkett joined the team as Rue’s partner. Also a graduate of Southern Utah University, Burkett has a Master in Professional Communication degree and spent 20 years working as an award-winning professional photojournalist, reporter and an editor before going into marketing.
Rue handles websites and marketing, and Burkett focuses on social media management and advertising and Google. Clients know the person working on their account and who’s working on their fulfillment.
St. George Design was established to provide web design and digital marketing for small, local businesses. They offer an affordable way to maintain a business’s online presence.
“I think websites have become more important than ever,” Rue said. “A business without a website might as well not even be open.”
St. George Design has its own server to host customer websites. Clients have access to the backend of their website, and if they make a change to their website, they’re able to do that themselves whenever they want. However, for those who need a little more assistance, Rue offers to do minor changes for free under the “five-minute rule.”
“I don’t want people to ever be afraid to call me. Like, ‘Oh my gosh, I gotta call him, but it’s going to cost me $50 or something like that.’ I don’t want people ever to be afraid to call me with questions about their website,” he said.
Rue said the most significant change he has witnessed recently was how the pandemic affected business. Before COVID, most companies relied upon foot traffic. When things went on lockdown, businesses started realizing they needed a website.
“We worked with so many restaurants and different businesses that didn’t have that web presence, and all of a sudden needed it right away,” he said. “I think technology has come to the point where you have to have a website to go along with your business. No matter how big or how small you are, you have to have some online presence so people can find you.”
The company’s web design options combine custom-tailored digital marketing strategies. This combination allows small business owners the freedom to choose the level of service that suits their needs.
“St. George Design is the ‘sweet spot’ between handing your digital reputation to a teenager who knows his way around SnapChat and a high-priced advertising agency costing you tens of thousands of dollars a month to have on retainer,” Rue said. “We provide you the opportunity to focus on growing your small business and serving your clients while we handle your online presence.”
Another thing that sets St. George Design apart from other web design companies is that the owners are marketing experts.
“I think a lot of website designers are strictly coder people; they don’t want to talk to you,” Rue said. “They don’t want to deal with you. They just want to code the website. Our background is marketing. So when we look at a website, we are looking at it from strictly a strategy of, ‘How are we going to get you people in your door and for people to give you a call?‘”
Rue explains that Search Engine Optimization rules have changed over the years. Previous to the last five to 10 years, people could do a lot of tricks in SEO, he said, but things have changed from the days when someone threw a website up and search engines would find it. And currently, Google frowns upon SEO tricks.
Rue said it comes down to creating “really good content on your website.”
“If you’re a plumber in St. George, you have to make sure the word St. George plumber is on your website,” he said “You’d be surprised how many websites we come across where you know they’re selling this particular widget in this city. And those words aren’t on their website anywhere.”
For more information on St. George Design, call 435-275-7689 or visit the company website.
Written by STEPHANIE DEGRAW for St. George News.
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- St. George Design | Address: 289 E. Munich Drive, St. George | Telephone: 435-275-7689 | Email: [email protected] | Website.
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