Case Study
Montana Christian College
A college rebuild across site, social, and enrollment systems
Montana Christian College had a 7-page site, about 50 Instagram followers, and no one owning enrollment follow-up. We grew the site to roughly 27 pages. We ran Google and Meta campaigns and posted to social on a fixed schedule. We built staged enrollment pipelines so admissions had something real to work with.
Proof at a glance
The numbers that mattered
- 7 → ~27site pagesafter rebuild
- ~50 → 1,000+Instagram followerssix-month sprint
- ~$0.18Meta CPCaccount average
- ~100Google tracked callsApr to Oct 2023
- Staged enrollment pipelinesautomation, templates, transcripts
Client context
Who they are and what they needed
Montana Christian College is a private Christian school in Northwest Montana for students who want a faith-based education. Busic Digital started in 2022 under Pro Website Upgrade (same team) and took on hosting, maintenance, social, and enrollment work in 2023. The college was sold near the end of the contract, and the work closed cleanly with the prior owners.
The challenge
What was holding growth back
The specific problems you may recognize from your own business.
Brochure-style site
Seven pages could not carry program detail, giving, or a path into pre-admissions.
Almost no social following
About 50 Instagram followers made the school look smaller than it was, and made paid social cost more.
Nobody owned enrollment follow-up
There was no named owner and no written stages, so people who asked about a program often heard nothing back.
Compliance had to be visible
The privacy policy, disclosures, and outreach rules had to be real and easy to find, not boilerplate.
A sale was coming
Late in the work the college was sold, so anything we built had to survive a change of leadership.
The strategy
What we focused on
Three things we set out to do, and why each one mattered here.
Ads all year, and someone to answer
What we didGoogle and Meta campaigns paired with a site that answers questions fast.
Why it matteredDemand only counts if admissions can act on it.
Social that matches the mission
What we didLocal churches, schools, and families, with faith-centered posts.
Why it matteredThis audience rewards showing up every week, not one big post.
Enrollment systems that survive a sale
What we didStaged pipelines, reminders, transcripts, and written instructions.
Why it matteredWritten instructions outlast the people who wrote them.
What we changed
What we actually changed
Each one pairs the change with the reason it mattered.
Site expanded from 7 to about 27 pages
Navigation people could follow, donations on the site, and a clear path into pre-admissions. More pages on the right topics answer more questions and pick up more search traffic.
Direct giving without third-party fees
Donations route through the site instead of a third-party platform. Fewer fees on every donation matters in higher-ed budgets.
Live chat in defined hours
Coverage windows so prospects get answers when they ask. Synchronous answers shorten the path from interest to inquiry.
60-day Bible verse and devotion sprint
A consistent posting rhythm aligned to the mission. Faith-forward audiences reward predictable presence.
Google and Meta campaigns
Search, Performance Max, local, plus Meta performance and remarketing. New ad creative and weekly tuning, timed to enrollment seasons.
Enrollment automation
Pre-admissions forms, automated reminders, email and SMS templates by stage, and Parchment for transcripts. Stages cut drop-off. Templates keep replies fast.
Written instructions and training
A training document for admissions staff. What gets written down survives. What does not, does not.
Local SEO and review work
New five-star Google reviews and a review-generation system. Local trust compounds across years.
Evidence
A closer look at the work
Screenshots and recordings, each with a note on what to look at.
Previous website walkthrough
Pre-redesign site, recorded September 2023.
What to noticeTime how long it takes to find a program page or a way to apply. Navigation you cannot follow puts a ceiling on inquiries.
Redesigned website walkthrough
Post-redesign site, live September 2023 onward.
What to noticeCompare the program pages, the menu, and the way giving works. Each new page answers a real question and picks up search traffic.
Comparison
Before and after
What changed, side by side.
7-page brochure site
About 27-page platform with pre-admissions and giving
About 50 Instagram followers
1,000+ Instagram followers in a six-month sprint
Inconsistent enrollment follow-up
Staged pipeline with automation and SOPs
Donations through a third-party platform
Direct giving with fewer fees per donation
No live chat coverage
Defined-hour live chat for prospective students
Outcomes
Outcomes after launch
Headline numbers from the period we worked together. Meta delivered nearly 1M impressions across the same window. The staged pipelines and the written instructions both survived the sale.
- 7 → ~27site pagesafter rebuild
- ~50 → 1,000+Instagram followerssix-month sprint
- ~$0.18Meta CPCaccount average
- ~100Google tracked callsApr to Oct 2023
Proof note
Six months of organic Instagram growth from about 50 to 1,000+ followers. A six-month Google Ads window with nearly 100 tracked phone calls. A Meta rollup near 1M impressions at about $0.18 CPC. Inquiry volume went up on the marketing side. How fast those become enrolled students still depends on staffing, aid packaging, and fit.
Takeaways
What this project shows
Enrollment is a team sport
Ads create demand. Someone in admissions still has to own the stages, reply fast, and talk about aid, or the inquiries go nowhere.
Written instructions outlast owners
Documented steps, email templates, and training material are what survive a staff change or a sale.
Posting every week beats one big post
A steady devotion series reached further than any single viral post would have.
Want to find the same kinds of gaps in your website?
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