Blue Hound Barbecue

BBQ, eCommerce, Restaurant Sites

Status:
Online
Client:
PopMenu
Established:
2022
URL:
bluehoundbarbecue.com
Location:
GA, USA
Project Scope:
Website Dev & Design, Brand Strategy, OLO & Catering Integration, Local SEO

Project Overview

Southern Smoke, Appalachian Soul

Founded in 2022, Blue Hound Barbecue brought the heat of mountain-smoked meats to Dillard, GA, but their digital presence was lukewarm. Despite a clear passion for Southern Appalachian roots, the existing website lacked the visual warmth and community spirit that defined the brand. It was a functional menu page that failed to tell the story of their craft or convert hungry visitors into loyal patrons.

The mission was to build a story-driven digital storefront. We needed to translate the authentic "Appalachian Soul" into a cohesive web experience, prioritizing distinct revenue streams—online ordering, catering, and merchandise—while wrapping it all in a design that felt as welcoming as a backyard smoker.

Challenges & Goals

The Challenges

Brand Disconnect: The previous site was visually generic, missing the earthy tones and personality required to convey the "mountain-smoked" craft.

Unclear Pathways: Critical calls-to-action for high-margin services like Catering and Online Ordering were buried, suppressing potential revenue.

SEO Invisibility: The site wasn't ranking for key local terms like "Appalachian BBQ in Dillard," limiting organic discovery by tourists and locals alike.

The Goals

Visual Personality: Implement a warm, earthy palette (Burnt Copper, Sage, Cream) and chunky serif typography (Shrikhand) to echo the friendly "hound" persona.

Revenue Optimization: Structure the navigation and homepage to prioritize "Order Online," "Catering," and "Shop," putting commerce at the user's fingertips.

Search Dominance: Infuse the site with geo-specific keywords and semantic HTML to secure page-one rankings for North Georgia BBQ searches.

Strategy & Approach

Phase 1: Authentic Branding

We pulled the palette directly from the landscape and logo—Burnt Copper, Sage Green, and Charcoal. We paired Shrikhand (headlines) for a playful, retro-friendly vibe with Karla (body) for clean readability. This seven-color CSS token set ensured consistency across every button and background.

Phase 2: Content & UX Architecture

We moved beyond a simple menu page by building out six distinct homepage sections, including "Welcome," "Events," and "Online Store." We crafted an engaging narrative for the About page, weaving in the 2022 founding story and sustainability ethos to build an emotional connection with the community.

Phase 3: Technical Performance

We optimized the site for speed and search. All images were compressed to WebP and lazy-loaded, contributing to a 100 Mobile PageSpeed score. We implemented robust Schema markup for menus and events, ensuring that Google rich snippets would display key information directly in search results.

Solutions Delivered

Area	Highlight
Visual Design	Created a custom "Appalachian Earth" theme using CSS variables and Shrikhand typography to match the brand's rustic roots.
Commerce Engine	Integrated Popmenu’s ordering widget for food and a dedicated product grid for the Online Store (merch & sauces).
Lead Generation	Deployed a "Become VIP" newsletter modal and a dynamic Events calendar to capture leads and drive repeat visits.
Local SEO	Structured content with keywords like "North Georgia smoked meats" and implemented semantic HTML to boost local visibility.
Navigation UX	Engineered a sticky footer on mobile and prioritized header links to ensure "Order Online" is always one click away.