‍

Background.

‍

Mendel Plumbing & Heating is a trusted name in residential and commercial HVAC and plumbing services throughout the Chicagoland area. With decades of experience and thousands of satisfied customers, their reputation is built on professionalism, reliability, and expert service.

‍

When Mendel approached Square Waves, they were at a turning point. Their outdated website was no longer reflective of their high-quality work, and years of customer reviews—over 5,500 in total—were going unanalyzed, leaving untapped value on the table. Our team was brought in to address both challenges: to transform their web presence and to unlock strategic insights hidden within their customer feedback.

‍

‍

‍

‍

The problem.

‍

1. Website & Platform Challenges

• A bloated and confusing sitemap with redundant service pages.
• An outdated WordPress site design that felt clunky and difficult to navigate, especially on mobile.
• Risk of SEO loss due to dozens of indexed legacy URLs.
• Hosting and platform access were tied up in a legacy contract with limited control.

‍

2. Unused Review Data

• 5,561 reviews collected between 2022–2025 had never been meaningfully analyzed.
• No visibility into customer sentiment trends, operational pain points, or missed opportunities for upselling or retention.
• No clear process to translate feedback into business improvements.

‍

3. Outdated Visual Identity

• Mendel’s existing photography and video content no longer represented the quality, scale, or professionalism of their team.
• A lack of cohesive imagery made it difficult to connect their strong reputation with a modern, trustworthy digital presence.

‍

‍

‍

Square Waves’ strategic solution.

‍

Our work with Mendel centered around three core initiatives: a complete website overhaul, a brand story and headshot campaign, and an AI-powered review analysis project. Each component was designed to modernize their presence, highlight their people, and create long-term strategic value.

‍

Website Overhaul & Digital Transition

‍

Strategic Sitemap Simplification
We audited and restructured the sitemap, consolidating dozens of redundant pages into four clear categories: Plumbing, HVAC, Maintenance Plans, and About.
Low-value content was either merged or eliminated to reduce clutter and improve SEO focus.
301 redirects were implemented across all legacy URLs to preserve rankings and create a seamless experience.

‍

Modern Design & Content Hierarchy
We designed and built the new site in Webflow, prioritizing speed, mobile responsiveness, and clean visual hierarchy.
Conversion-focused CTAs (“Schedule Service,” “Get a Quote”) were strategically placed throughout.
Trust-building elements—like authentic customer reviews and new professional photography—were integrated into key touchpoints to humanize the brand and reinforce credibility.

‍

Brand Story & Visual Production
To align the visual identity with Mendel’s reputation, we sent out a professional production crew to film a brand story video that captures the company’s history, craftsmanship, and commitment to service excellence. The video gives visitors a transparent, emotional connection to the people behind the brand—bridging the gap between digital experience and real-world service.
‍

We also captured over 50 professional headshots, showcasing every department within the company. These images now appear across the website, social media, and internal communications, creating a unified and polished brand presence that reflects Mendel’s professionalism and pride.

‍

CMS-Driven Flexibility
A scalable backend was created to empower the Mendel team to manage service listings, testimonials, FAQs, and their new photo and video library—without needing a developer.

‍

Domain & Platform Transition
We managed the full transition off WordPress and away from their legacy hosting provider.
DNS, domain ownership, analytics, and tracking systems were reimplemented without any downtime or disruptions.

‍

AI-Powered Review Intelligence

‍

Natural Language Processing at Scale
Using NLP and custom Python tooling, we processed all 5,561 reviews into structured data, automatically classifying them by sentiment and key themes.

‍

Sentiment Categorization
Each review was bucketed into categories such as “Professional & Knowledgeable,” “Pricing Complaint,” and “Fast Service” to surface actionable trends.

‍

Strategic Business Recommendations
We identified pricing as a friction point and recommended clearer communication strategies—ultimately leading to fewer complaints and increased conversion rates.

‍
Cross-service gaps were addressed by building bundling playbooks and training technicians to upsell services in real time.

‍

Combined with the new visual content, these insights helped reshape Mendel’s messaging—ensuring that what customers said in reviews matched what they saw and felt across every touchpoint of the brand.

‍

Execution and results.

‍

• Bounce Rate Decrease: A cleaner, faster site improved mobile performance and cut bounce rates significantly.
• Page Speed: Transition to Webflow cut average page load time in half.
• Customer Satisfaction Score: Increased from 4.63 to 4.92 between 2022 and 2025.
• Review Sentiment: 98.04% of reviews were positive; key themes now guide marketing and operations.
• Complaint Reduction: Pricing complaints dropped by 40% thanks to transparency initiatives.
• Engagement: Visitors now spend more time on service pages and brand story content.
• Visual Consistency: 50+ new headshots and the brand story film unified Mendel’s image and improved customer trust.
• Revenue Growth: A data-driven upsell strategy contributed to an 11.2% increase in service bookings.
• New Initiatives: 3 new revenue programs were launched based on review insights.
• SEO Stability: All indexed URLs were successfully redirected, with no loss in organic traffic.

‍

Ongoing partnership.

‍

Our partnership with Mendel continues to evolve. The new site, photography, and brand film have become the foundation of an ongoing marketing strategy—one that puts real people at the center of every customer interaction. With the Webflow CMS, their team is empowered to manage content and visual assets in-house, while the review analytics dashboard provides ongoing insights to guide future business and communication decisions.

‍

‍

Conclusion.

‍

This wasn’t just a facelift. It was a full-scale modernization rooted in performance, storytelling, and long-term scalability. From redesigning Mendel’s digital home to producing a brand film and professional portraits, and mining thousands of reviews for business intelligence, Square Waves helped Mendel move from reactive to proactive—resulting in a smarter, faster, and more human digital presence.

‍

Mendel Plumbing & Heating now has the tools to grow with purpose—and a brand identity that finally reflects the excellence of their work.

‍

Check out Mendel's fresh new website here.

‍