Project Overview
SmokinTex is a Texas-based manufacturer of high-quality electric smokers, built for both backyard enthusiasts and professional chefs. Known for their durable construction and authentic BBQ results, they needed a modern, mobile-friendly e-commerce site to better showcase their new branding, streamline the buying process of their products, and educate customers.
Working as a contractor under Mallard Agency, I transformed their website designs into a fully customized Shopify build and implemented a robust e-commerce backend for their client.
Project Highlights
- Custom Shopify Development
- Custom product pages for six flagship smoker models
- Product comparison tables
- CMS setup for Recipes blog
- Custom interactive store locator
- 301 redirect implementation for SEO
- ShipStation integration
- Email marketing integration
My Approach
- CUSTOM SHOPIFY DEVELOPMENT — Built the site on Shopify with custom Liquid coding to create flexible, uniform product page templates and category layouts. Developed comparison tables and tailored the accessories catalog for easy cross-selling of their 50+ SKUs.
- SEO OPTIMIZATION & REDIRECTS — Audited all legacy URLs from previous site versions, implemented 301 redirects to preserve search rankings, and ensured bookmarked recipe links remained functional — solving a long-standing issue of broken links for returning customers.
- SHIPPING & LOGISTICS INTEGRATION — Collaborated with the SmokinTex team and ShipStation to configure custom shipping rules for heavy, oversized smokers requiring freight. Integrated these rules into Shopify so freight options trigger automatically at checkout.
- SYSTEMS & CONTENT MANAGEMENT SETUP — Established a scalable backend for both SmokinTex and Mallard Agency to manage the site efficiently. Configured CMS collection for recipes, integrated an interactive map dealer locator, streamlined form inquiries, and optimized product metadata for better search visibility.