What makes a useful website case study?

Choose a project that answers a customer’s question

The most expensive job in your portfolio may be the wrong example for the service page. Someone considering a compact kitchen needs to understand how you handle that kind of space. A photograph of an enormous showroom leaves their practical questions open.

Start with a genuine enquiry you would like more of. What would that person need to know before contacting you? Your case study might explain how access constraints affected the work, why a particular material was selected or how the finished layout meets the brief. Choose the project that gives you something useful to say.

Google’s people-first content guidance asks whether a page offers original information and demonstrates first-hand knowledge. That supports a sensible editorial approach: describe work you actually understand and add detail a generic service description cannot provide. Publishing a case study doesn’t come with a ranking guarantee.

Source: Google Search Central: creating helpful, reliable, people-first content

Be clear about the work you did

Set out the starting point and what the customer commissioned. Then explain your contribution. If another company designed the space and your team installed the cabinetry, say so. A clear account lets the reader judge the relevant skill without being left to infer who did what.

Include a real constraint and the decision it led to. For a fictional landscaping example, a narrow side entrance might affect how materials are brought into the garden. An actual case study would need the real project details and images, rather than borrowing this illustration as a story about your business.

Give the photographs something to explain

An opening image can show the finished work, followed by details that support the explanation. A close view of a junction or a sequence showing an installation may tell the reader more than several near-identical wide shots. Keep captions specific to what is visible.

If you show a before-and-after pair, identify when each image was taken and explain any meaningful differences in the view. A flattering crop or different lighting can make a comparison look more dramatic than the underlying work. Keep the comparison understandable and fair.

W3C’s guidance says an informative image’s text alternative should convey its meaning in context. Describe the relevant feature for someone who cannot see the photograph. Essential project information should also be readable in the page, rather than existing only as tiny lettering inside an image.

Source: W3C WAI: informative images

Use results you can explain and support

A finished piece of work is already something you can document. You don’t need to attach an impressive business result that nobody measured. Where the evidence supports only a completed installation or a clearer booking process, explain that outcome accurately.

If you include a measured change, identify the source, the period and what was counted. A claim about enquiries needs a definition of an enquiry. Comparing a quiet week with a busy month tells a different story from comparing equivalent periods using the same measurement.

CAP Code rule 3.7 requires documentary support before publishing objective marketing claims that can be substantiated. Keep the evidence behind a result and make important limitations visible. Where advertising, seasonal demand or another supplier’s work changed at the same time, don’t attribute the entire difference to your contribution.

A single project also has limits. It can help a reader understand a particular job; it doesn’t establish what every future customer will achieve.

Source: CAP Code, section 3: substantiation and testimonials

Read what counts as a qualified enquiry

Check what you can publish

Confirm permission to use the photographs and the agreed project description. Explain where the material will appear. Check visible details for private information, including paperwork in the background, and agree whether the customer can be named. A logo appearing in a folder doesn’t tell you whether it is approved for public use.

Keep any customer quotation genuine and accurate. CAP’s testimonial rules address evidence of authenticity and permission, subject to stated exceptions. Retain the original wording and approval rather than polishing a compliment into a claim the customer never made.

A concept can still demonstrate a design direction, provided it is clearly labelled as a concept. Keep fictional examples separate from paid-client work, and never use generated imagery as evidence that a real project happened.

Source: CAP Code, section 3: substantiation and testimonials

Put the case study where it helps someone decide

Link the project from the relevant service page and give the case study a clear route back to that service or its enquiry form. A visitor who recognises their own situation should be able to ask about similar work without searching the navigation again.

Read the page on a phone before publishing. Check whether the captions are legible, photographs show the details discussed and the next step is easy to find. Keep the introduction short enough that the project itself arrives promptly.

Bring us the real project material

Pointed builds bespoke websites around your business and agreed specification. If you have completed work worth showing, bring the permitted photographs and a short account of what happened. We can discuss how project pages should support the services you want to promote, with any writing, image work and ongoing updates scoped explicitly.

For the first conversation, tell us which service the project demonstrates and what material is ready. You can remove identifying customer details before sharing an example. We will establish what the agreed website needs before work starts.

Enquire by email, WhatsApp or our short enquiry form. We agree the scope and price with you before you pay by Stripe invoice.