Client: Kate Porte Cards
Industry: Independent Retail, Greeting Cards & Stationery
Website: https://kportecards.co.uk/
The Challenge
When Kate reached out, her website had been set up back in 2023 and hadn't really moved on since. As a wholesale agent for Lilac Tree Designs, Kate sells unique UK-designed greeting cards, stationery and craft kits that you genuinely won't find on any supermarket shelf - but her website wasn't reflecting that uniqueness or working hard enough to convert visitors into buyers.
Kate had been managing inconsistent orders, a quiet online shop, and a growing sense that her business had more potential than her digital presence suggested. She wanted a website that could become a real income stream - with a goal of generating a minimum amount of money in line with her business goals - and a clearer brand identity to carry across everything she does.
Her website needed to:
- Present her products beautifully and make buying easy, both for individual customers and bulk buyers
- Showcase her full range - greeting cards, stationery, craft kits and colour-in products - clearly and consistently
- Reflect her warm, welcoming brand personality rather than feeling like a generic shop
- Support her email marketing so she could build and maintain relationships with customers between orders
- Work seamlessly across desktop, tablet and mobile
- Highlight her charity partnerships and her presence at local South East London craft fairs
Before Website Upgrade
After Website Upgrade
What We Did
We treated this as a full Phase 1 website upgrade and brand refresh, focusing on conversion, consistency and clarity.
Using WordPress, WooCommerce and Divi, I:
- Redesigned the entire website from scratch with a warm, boutique aesthetic that reflects Kate's brand personality
- Created a new logo, brand board and favicon - establishing a consistent colour palette, typography and visual identity she can use across everything from social media to packaging
- Built a dual navigation structure - an admin links row and a product category row - so customers can find what they need quickly on any device
- Set up WooCommerce shipping with multiple delivery options including Standard Tracked, Express, Special Delivery, Free Delivery over £30 and Click & Collect at local craft fairs
- Configured bulk discount pricing so customers buying 10 or more cards automatically pay £2.50 each at checkout
- Migrated email marketing to a new provider and set up a three-email welcome sequence, including a first order incentive of 10% off plus free gift wrap
- Installed and configured SEO across all pages and all product categories - meta titles, descriptions and focus keyphrases throughout
- Set up analytics so both Sarah and Kate can track traffic, orders and performance clearly
- Added a charity section highlighting Kate's support for Together for Short Lives, Medical Detection Dogs and Macmillan Cancer Support
- Built an Events & Fairs page as a Divi Global Module so updates appear automatically across the whole site
The Result
Kate's new website is now a warm, professional and conversion-focused online shop that properly represents her products and her personality. It brings together her full range - cards, stationery, craft kits and seasonal collections - under one cohesive brand.
She now has:
- A modern, mobile-responsive website that works smoothly across all devices
- A clear, consistent brand identity with logos, colours and fonts ready to use everywhere
- A fully configured WooCommerce shop with flexible delivery options and automatic bulk pricing
- An email marketing system with a welcome sequence already running
- SEO foundations in place across every page and product category
- Analytics she can actually understand and use
Sarah has been amazing throughout the process of creating a new website for me.
I love it.
Would highly recommend
What I Learned
This project was a brilliant reminder that a website upgrade is rarely just about design. Kate's business had real potential that wasn't being realised - not because the products weren't good enough, but because the systems, structure and presentation weren't working together.
Taking the time at the start to understand her revenue goals, her pricing, her audience and her day-to-day process meant that every decision we made during the build had a purpose.
From the bulk discount configuration to the email sequence timing to the SEO keyphrases, everything was built around helping Kate sell more cards - not just making the site look nicer.
It was a privilege to work with someone so warm and committed to her business, and I'm genuinely excited to see what Phase 2 brings.
Are you looking to upgrade your website to help with SEO, online visibility and to grow your email list? Then get in touch using the button below or email sarah@simpleonlinesolutions.co.uk
