Raising Expectations: How Hoist & Crane Elevated Its Digital Presence
As an agency, we spend a lot of time talking about elevation—elevating brands, leveling up digital experiences and boosting engagement.
But for Hoist & Crane Service Group, elevation isn’t a metaphor. It’s the job. Through inspections, maintenance, repair and more, Hoist & Crane has kept heavy industry moving upward for almost 50 years.
Hoist & Crane operates in more than 30 markets across the country. They answer service calls 24/7. They maintain one of the strongest safety records in their category. Their brand recognition drives significant direct traffic.
But even the most established companies reach a moment where their digital presence no longer reflects who they’ve become.
Pages from Hoist & Crane’s previous website
They came to Atomicdust because that moment had arrived.
Hoist & Crane had acquired another business, which wasn’t reflected on the site. Their recruiting and training weren’t positioned as a differentiator. And there was room to improve conversion rates across the site.
The website design reflected where Hoist & Crane had been, not where they were going. We couldn’t wait to help bring it forward.
Redefining the category.
Before touching the navigation or layout, we needed to understand the business beneath the brand.
Hoist & Crane is often thought of as a crane service company. But that framing limits the story. In reality, they modernize and maintain cranes that lift steel, elevators that move equipment, and dock doors that keep products flowing in and out of complex industrial environments.
They aren’t just servicing equipment. They are reducing risk, preserving uptime and supporting facilities that can’t afford failure.
That distinction shaped everything.
We were ready to help elevate the story to match the work.
Instead of stacking services under broad, overlapping categories, we rebuilt the site around clarity. Each specialty now lives within its own clear hierarchy, supported by focused service pages that guide users where they need to go. The navigation no longer looks like every other competitor’s website.
The visual design needed to work just as hard.
Early page concepts from the Hoist & Crane website design
Hoist & Crane already had a brand that suggested durability and strength, but their website didn’t fully reflect it. We brought that character forward through strategic pops of orange to emphasize critical information and calls to action. Weathered textures draw directly from those industrial settings, reinforcing authenticity and grit.
The Hoist & Crane team had another request: that we incorporate the “5 Marks” (the company’s core values) into the site. Instead of just listing them on the About page, we highlighted them in oversized type on the footer on every page: Safety. Integrity. Effectiveness. Respect. Legacy.
It’s a relatively minor detail. But it’s an easy way to show the brand personality, and demonstrates the company’s commitment to delivering on their promise.
The people are the product.
The most powerful part of the Hoist & Crane story isn’t the machinery they work on. It’s the people maintaining it.
Their culture is built on safety, accountability and long-term development. They’ve invested heavily in structured, internal training, helping teams progress from apprentice to expert. The company proudly recruits and employs military veterans (three members of their executive team, and almost a third of the company’s workforce are vets).
That story deserved more visibility.
We brought technicians front and center, touting their training as proof of quality. The Master Tech Program evolved from a recruiting tool into a signal of expertise.
And with testimonials and photos of employees in uniform, the military recruitment page transformed veteran hiring from a simple statistic to a key component of the brand’s character.
Instead of leading with equipment, the new site leads with the individuals who keep it running. Because when you’re servicing systems that operate overhead, trust isn’t built on machinery.
But something was still missing.
Designing a site that moves.
Hoist & Crane’s services are defined by motion. There is a physical rhythm to the work. We wanted the site to make it palpable for visitors.
Fortunately, Hoist & Crane had a library of photography and video of their team in action.
We used those videos to add movement to the site, but were careful about how it was applied. The motion needed to feel intentional and authentic, not cliche. From page to page, video showing real techs in action builds visitors’ confidence that their industrial facilities are in skilled, caring hands.
Here’s the thing though. Sometimes, when we’re having fun, we just can’t stop ourselves. So the motion didn’t stop there.
We built animation and interactivity throughout the site, guiding attention and reinforcing hierarchy. On the About page, an orange bar scrolls up and down with the user as they explore the timeline with company history. And across almost every page, a call to action slides in at the bottom like a well-oiled machine.
Going on location.
Everything Hoist & Crane does boils down to performance: making sure every crane, elevator and dock door performs as it should.
A performance-focused website was non-negotiable.
To maximize SEO performance, we created separate pages for each of the various services, instead of lumping them together on each main Solutions page. A page for every Hoist & Crane office supports local SEO, with an embedded Google Map, local services list, and the name and contact information of the local branch manager.
The efforts paid off. Within a month of launch, the site saw a 36% increase in total ranking keywords. Three months post-launch, top-3 keyword rankings increased by 26%.
Good design doesn’t just make something look better. It makes the business more legible. To customers, to recruits, to partners who need to trust you before they ever make a call.
In an industry built on lifting, Hoist & Crane has spent decades raising the standard and proving they can carry the weight.
Now their website does, too.
