Duncan & Dearmon Building Co.

Building a Website That Matched the Business

Duncan & Dearmon Building Company is a commercial construction firm based in Pelham, Alabama, founded by contracting leaders with more than 60 years of combined experience building across Alabama and the southern U.S.

Their previous website didn’t reflect that experience.

It had been built on Wix from a template with limited content and stock photography. The site had also been compromised in the past, leaving spam and remnants of placeholder content behind.

They needed more than a visual refresh. They needed a professional website that represented the caliber of their work and could become a long-term home for their growing portfolio.

Starting With Strategy

Duncan & Dearmon had very little existing web traffic, virtually no SEO presence, and a minimal digital footprint.

The project started with defining what a stronger website could realistically do for the business, researching comparable commercial construction firms, interviewing the owners and team, and working through the site’s information architecture.

Their existing brand consisted primarily of a logo and two colors, so the design process also expanded that foundation into a more complete visual system we could use throughout the website.

Designing Around Their Projects

The project portfolio became the centerpiece of the site.

Rather than building every project as another manually designed page, I created a structured WordPress system specifically for managing their work.

Projects can be populated through a user-friendly backend with predefined fields and content options. This gives the team enough flexibility to showcase very different types of construction work while maintaining consistent layouts, formatting, and presentation.

The system was intentionally built with guardrails so the portfolio can continue growing without becoming harder to manage.

I used a similar structured approach for team members, services, and markets throughout the site.

From Strategy Through Launch

My work included:

• Website strategy and planning
• Market and competitor research
• Information architecture
• UI/UX design
• Visual design and brand expansion
• Owner and employee interviews
• Custom WordPress development
• Project portfolio architecture
• Structured content for projects, team members, services, and markets
• Content population, testing, and launch
• Ongoing website management

The result is a custom website built around how Duncan & Dearmon actually operates and how prospective clients, vendors, subcontractors, and employees evaluate the company.

An Ever-Growing Portfolio

The website wasn’t designed to become a static brochure after launch.

New projects are added as the company grows, while ongoing projects are updated with new photography, video, construction progress, and project details.

Over the past year, the site has generated:

• 10,000+ page views
• 3,300 site visitors
• 16 project inquiries
• 12 subcontractor and vendor inquiries
• 5 career applicants

397 Digital continues to manage the website, including daily backups, security and spam protection, WordPress maintenance, monthly portfolio and media updates, and ongoing publishing support.