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Case Study

A Luxury Pool Builder, Built to Match the Work

How we moved Hearthstone off an aging WordPress template onto a fast, AI-ready custom site that finally reads like the high-end backyards Brad Renken designs.

Client
Hearthstone Pools
Industry
Luxury Pool Builder
Location
Marietta, GA
Scope
Platform Migration + Local SEO
The Build

A Site as Considered as the Backyards

Hearthstone designs custom pools and full outdoor-living environments for the Atlanta metro, led by a builder with an architectural background. We rebuilt the website to match that craft: a clean, custom site with a luxury feel, real project storytelling, and a foundation engineered to show up across Google and AI search.

Hearthstone Luxury Pool and Outdoors website homepage with the headline Custom pools, designed for how you live
hslpools.com (Local Howl Build)
The Challenge

High-End Work on a Generic Template

Hearthstone has built luxury pools and outdoor living spaces since 2009, with an APSP award to show for it and an owner whose architectural background drives hand-drawn concepts and photo-realistic 3D renderings. The work is genuinely high-end. The old website was not. It ran on a dated WordPress and Elementor template under a different brand name, with keyword-stuffed copy that read more like a generic contractor than a design studio.

To win design-minded buyers across Marietta, East Cobb, and the wider Atlanta metro, Hearthstone needed a site that felt as premium as its renderings: fast, clean, and structured so both Google and AI assistants could find and recommend it.

  • Aging WordPress and Elementor template, slow and dated
  • Old "Hearthstone Environments" brand name, not the current identity
  • Keyword-stuffed copy that read generic, not luxury
  • Design-studio process buried instead of led with
  • Thin service-area coverage for the Atlanta metro
  • APSP award and architectural credentials underplayed
  • No structured data tuned for AI search engines
  • Look and feel did not match the renderings buyers see
The Solution

A Custom Build for a Custom Builder

We rebuilt Hearthstone on a fast custom platform, then wired it for local search. Every page leads with the design-first story and points toward one action: requesting a quote for a custom outdoor space.

Design-First Brand

The new site leads with "Custom pools, designed for how you live" and the studio process, hand-drawn concepts, photo-realistic 3D renderings, and an in-house construction team, so the brand finally reads as the luxury design firm it is.

Full Outdoor-Living Story

Dedicated coverage for luxury pools, pool renovations, outdoor kitchens, decks and pergolas, and landscaping and lighting, framing Hearthstone as a single source for a complete, cohesive backyard environment.

Atlanta-Metro Service Area

Service-area coverage for Marietta, East Cobb, Roswell, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Kennesaw, Acworth, Woodstock, Dallas, and Atlanta, targeting how affluent homeowners actually search for a pool builder near them.

AI-Ready Architecture

Built as a fast custom site with structured data and a dedicated llms.txt file, so Google, ChatGPT, and other assistants can read Hearthstone's services and service area and recommend the firm accurately.

The Results

Ranking Across the Metro

#6
Luxury Pool Builder Near Me
#8
Custom Pool Builder Marietta
5
Service Categories
11
Cities Targeted

Average map-rank positions for tracked keywords across the Atlanta metro, following the platform migration and local SEO rebuild.

What Changed

Before Local Howl vs. After

Before: WordPress Template

  • Dated WordPress and Elementor build, slow to load
  • Old "Hearthstone Environments" brand identity
  • Keyword-stuffed copy that read generic
  • Design process and renderings buried
  • Thin service-area coverage
  • No AI-search structure

After: Hearthstone Online

  • Fast custom site with a luxury, design-first feel
  • Current "Hearthstone Luxury Pool + Outdoors" identity
  • "Custom pools, designed for how you live" front and center
  • Studio process and 3D renderings showcased
  • 11 Atlanta-metro cities covered
  • Structured data plus llms.txt for AI search
Built With

Engineered for Local and AI Search

A luxury builder needs a site that loads fast and reads premium. Custom, structured, and built so every search engine and AI assistant can find and recommend it.

Local Howl WIABCustom BuildCloudflareSchema.orgllms.txtResponsive DesignCore Web VitalsLocal SEO
"Brad is a creative genius. He transformed our backyard into a sanctuary we never want to leave. The design, the craftsmanship, the attention to detail, all of it exceeded what we imagined."
Greg Carpenter, Hearthstone client

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