Elevated Pub Dining Website & Email Marketing | The Red Lion West Deeping

The Red Lion is a beautifully restored country pub in West Deeping, Lincolnshire, known for its elevated dining and focus on fresh, local ingredients. They approached us to refresh their website and introduce email marketing as a way to connect more closely with their loyal customers.

The goal was to create a site that captured their warmth and sophistication somewhere that felt as inviting as walking through the pub door, while also making it easy for visitors to explore menus, book a table, and join Club RL, their new monthly newsletter.

Summary

Client: The Red Lion West Deeping

Project: Website redesign that conveyed the personality of a country pub that offers an elevated dining experience with fresh, local ingredients. Introduction of Club RL, their monthly email newsletter to grow their list email marketing.

Goal: Distill the client's web content into a visual appealing and navigable site. Drive traffic towards booking software to reduce over-the-phone bookings. Create an email sign-up process that encourages restaurant bookings.

The Challenge

The existing site didn’t quite reflect the quality of The Red Lion’s dining experience. While their food and atmosphere were exceptional, the website lacked structure and visual impact.

Key information like menus and booking options were hard to find.

Most bookings came through phone calls rather than online.

They had no central way to grow or communicate with their audience digitally.

Our challenge was to design a digital experience that mirrored the character of the pub and guided visitors naturally toward booking and joining the mailing list.

The Approach

I sat down in the pub one day with co-owner and front-of-house manager, Emma, over a flat white to better understand The Red Lion’s story, audience, and goals. From there, we distilled their messaging into a clear and intuitive site structure, using clean layouts and subtle textures inspired by the pub’s atmosphere, food and culture.

Design: A warm, refined aesthetic with plenty of breathing space, balancing rustic charm with modern design cues.

User Experience: Simplified navigation with clear calls to action, particularly around bookings and menus.

Codeless Build: Developed using our codeless approach, allowing the team at The Red Lion to easily update menus, events, and newsletters without relying on an agency.

Email Marketing: We launched Club RL, a simple sign-up process integrated directly into the site. The first campaign focused on introducing the club, a sign-up competition, seasonal dishes and exclusive event previews - this helped to warm-up prexisiting opt-ins and encourage new ones.

The Outcome

The redesigned site now reflects the elevated yet welcoming nature of The Red Lion experience. Guests can browse menus, make a reservation, and join Club RL in just a few clicks.

Since launch:

Website traffic has increased significantly through organic search and email referrals.

The majority of bookings now flow through the online system, reducing phone enquiries for staff.

The Club RL newsletter continues to grow steadily, building a community of engaged, returning diners.

Thinking about refreshing your website or starting an email newsletter for your business?

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