Elementor Showoff: Best Website of the Month – April 2023

Meet Marlena Cavanaugh: The Creative Force Behind Lion Tree Group

Marlena Cavanaugh, the CEO and creative director of Lion Tree Group, has an impressive background in digital marketing and web development.

When discussing her journey with WordPress, Marlena shared, “We started developing in WordPress about 10 years ago, and are 100% committed to the platform.” However, she found that the initial builder they used was rigid and required a lot of client training for updates. This led her to explore Elementor as an alternative. She recalled her first experience with Elementor, saying, “I remember coming back to the office to my team and saying I believe we have found our new solution” and that’s what we used moving forward.

“Our biggest challenge was marrying the influencer personality with a fully functioning real estate website, and blending modern influencer marketing with the traditional American Western culture of the ranching industry.”

Marlena Cavanaugh

A No-Code Approach: Harnessing the Full Potential of Elementor

Marlena faced a unique challenge when working on the James Bigley project: blending an influencer’s persona with a fully functioning real estate website that embodied the spirit of traditional American Western ranch culture. With a tight deadline looming, she knew she had to act fast and couldn’t rely on custom CSS or JavaScript. Instead, Marlena focused on leveraging Elementor’s built-in features, and the result was a stunning website that met the project’s distinctive requirements within the allotted time frame.

One of the standout features of the website is the visually striking hero section. Inspired by the breathtaking photography, Marlena wanted to capture James in the hero section while captivating the essence of life on a ranch. To achieve this, she used Photoshop to create separate layers with the background and James’ image, which allowed her to apply clever motion effects on mouseover and scrolling resulting in an engaging experience.

To create more visual interest, Marlena focused on typography, specifically the unique “A” in the typeface. She utilized a blend mode in Elementor for the heading, a technique she uses throughout the site, explaining, “I feel like it’s such an underutilized feature in Elementor and it does create a really interesting effect.” By harnessing this feature, Marlena was able to add a fascinating touch to the hero section.

In terms of capturing the essence of the project, Marlena mentioned, “I was so inspired by the value that James is bringing in all of his TikToks and really wanted just to capture that within the site.” To achieve this, she incorporated embedded videos from James’ TikTok, which added an interactive and engaging touch to the site.

Property details are managed using a custom post type. Marlena is able to easily and effectively feature properties on the homepage using JetEngine, ultimately driving traffic to the listing and increasing potential sales for James. 

Reflecting on the project, it’s evident that Marlena accomplished something truly special. The result is a visually stunning, fully functional real estate website that successfully merges James Bigley’s influencer style with the traditional ranch real estate industry, showcasing his unique value proposition. The fusion of these elements creates a seamless and engaging user experience that sets James Bigley’s website apart from others in the field, all without the need for custom coding.

Meeting clients’ needs with Elementor

Marlena is a huge fan of Elementor, appreciating its ease of use and flexibility. She shared, “We work with a lot of mid to large-size businesses, and a lot of them actually come to us asking if we have Elementor experience.” This reflects the growing popularity of the platform among clients. 

When asked if there were anything she would do differently for similar projects in the future, Marlena responded, “If we feel like something is going to be either better for our clients or overall better from a performance perspective. We definitely will.”

Marlena’s dedication to providing the best solutions for her clients through Elementor is a testament to her commitment to delivering exceptional results and continuous improvement.

Celebrating Lion Tree Group’s Achievement

Congratulations to Marlena Cavanaugh and Lion Tree Group for being selected as the April 2023 Elementor Showoff Website of the Month. Their exceptional work truly stands out, and we are excited to see more amazing creations from the talented team at Lion Tree Group. As they continue to build memorable designs and drive results for their clients, we look forward to following their journey and celebrating their accomplishments.

Visit the website of the month: https://jamesbigleyranches.com/

Lion Tree Group: https://www.liontreegroup.com/