Whit and Gabel Holder are true craftsmen in every sense of the word. They don't cut corners and they certainly don't lose any of the traditional woodworking skill in their work. The pair, brothers, utilize traditional timber framing techniques and often hand-converted building materials -- everything from hand hewn timbers and pit sawn lumber to riven pegs, shingles and clapboards. Their business specializes in the construction of residential, commercial and historic timber framed projects ranging from private homes to churches to reproductions and more.

While their work is strictly traditional, their new Web site is anything but.

The Holders came to Plexus in search of a site that would highlight their work and prove to be a functional tool for their business.

"We started with asthetics," says Plexus Creative Director Kim Landrum. "We knew the site had to have a sharp look and decided a stronger logo and identity was needed."

So Plexus went to work on creating a new identity for the company incorporating a fresh blend of colors and visual elements of their craft. "Once the logo was finalized and the stationary went to print, we started on the site design," added Kim.

Aside from the visual impact the Web site would need, the information presented would be key. "We wanted to postion the Holders as experts in the industry, which they are," said Director of Client Relations Natalie Rittle. "It was important to capture the information from the horse's mouth so to speak, so we decided to incorporate a blog for Whit and Gabel to communicate directlly with visitors. Also, the added benefits of a blog include helping to create pages on the site which in turn increases SEO."

The blog enables the Holders to post about a variety of topics related to their craft, the business, industry trends and more. A tagging feature allows visitors to search according to topic, not to mention helps the site capitalize on SEO, as tagging is a recognized url builder that gives the search engines more pages with relevant content to index, thereby increasing the site's ranking in the search engines.

Additional site capabilities include a news database and a project gallery. These features permit the Holders to update news and add projects with photos and documents to the gallery upon completion. "These functions allow for new and changing information to be added to the site which is a great feature for visitors as well as helping to increase the site's ranking in the search engines," added Natalie.

So while the work produced by Holder Brothers is a timeless craft, their Web site consists of the best technology has to offer.

Log on at http://www.holderbros.com.