Missoula on the Fly

The Problem: Locked Out With No Way Forward

When Missoula on the Fly came to us, they were in a frustrating position that's more common than most business owners realize: they had an existing website, but they had completely lost access to the hosting platform it lived on. No admin login, no support response, no way to make updates, and no clear path to getting control back.

For a guide service that depends on online booking inquiries during peak fishing season, a website you can't control is almost worse than no website at all. Any time something broke, they had no recourse. Any time they wanted to update their trip offerings or pricing, they were stuck. And because they didn't own the hosting, they couldn't simply move it somewhere else — the site was effectively held hostage.

Phase One: Rescue and Migration (2 Weeks)

The first priority was getting the site out of the locked hosting environment safely, without losing any content. We used UpdraftPlus to create a complete backup of the WordPress installation — all pages, posts, media, and database records — before touching anything else.

From there, we set up a fresh WordPress environment on WP Engine, a managed WordPress host that gives the client full, permanent access to their own infrastructure. WP Engine was the right choice here for several reasons: it's purpose-built for WordPress performance, includes automatic backups, and has a straightforward interface that the business owner can navigate without technical support.

The migration itself involved restoring the UpdraftPlus backup to the new host, verifying the database integrity, and then carefully updating the DNS records — migrating from Squarespace and Cloudflare to WP Engine's nameservers — while keeping the site live throughout the transition with zero downtime for visitors.

After two weeks, Missoula on the Fly had full ownership and access to their website for the first time. They could log in, make changes, and reach support directly. That alone was a significant win.

Phase Two: Rebuild (2 Weeks)

With the migration complete, we moved into a full site rebuild. The existing site had accumulated technical debt and design inconsistencies from years of piecemeal edits. Rather than patch it, we rebuilt from a clean slate using Elementor as the page builder, giving the client a visual editing environment they could use themselves going forward.

The booking inquiry workflow was a particular focus. The previous setup had unreliable email delivery — inquiries were being lost or landing in spam. We replaced it with Gravity Forms connected to Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) for transactional email delivery, ensuring every booking inquiry actually reaches the inbox reliably.

On the SEO side, we built out proper title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, image alt text, and schema markup across all pages — none of which had been configured previously. We also connected Google Analytics and Google Search Console, giving the business owner visibility into traffic and search performance for the first time.

The Result

Four weeks after we started, Missoula on the Fly had a website they fully own, can edit themselves, and that actually works the way it should. Booking inquiries reach the inbox. The site loads fast. It's optimized for search. And critically, the business owner has complete control — no third party standing between them and their own web presence.

We continue to manage the site on a monthly maintenance retainer, handling updates, backups, and ongoing SEO improvements as the business grows.