The Starting Point
Cruise Expert is the personal cruise agency run by Joel Lendenmann and Sandra Wüthrich-Stojanovic from Altenrhein, Switzerland. The existing Wix site was outdated, slow, lacked proper structured data and didn't tap into the search potential in the Swiss market — no dedicated pages for the major cruise lines, no blog, no systematic SEO foundation.
The challenge: build a brand-worthy new platform that feels personal, loads fast, ranks for the right Swiss search terms — and at the same time migrate every legacy Wix URL without losing SEO equity.
What We Built
Complete Website Redesign
The entire site was rebuilt from the ground up — new design system, new typography, new visual language, new conversion architecture.
| Area | Implementation |
|---|
| Brand system | Navy & gold, custom typeface (Light/Regular/Bold), uppercase headlines |
| Hero & wave transitions | SVG waves between sections, hero overlays tuned for readability |
| 10 USPs | „Personal cruise experience", „Customer fund protection", „Worry-free travel" etc. in a 5×2 grid |
| Conversion form | Range datepicker, trip duration, multi-select destinations, conditional experience fields |
| Cruise line carousel | Marquee logo carousel with 9 partner lines, hover-to-pause |
Brand system
ImplementationNavy & gold, custom typeface (Light/Regular/Bold), uppercase headlines
Hero & wave transitions
ImplementationSVG waves between sections, hero overlays tuned for readability
10 USPs
Implementation„Personal cruise experience", „Customer fund protection", „Worry-free travel" etc. in a 5×2 grid
Conversion form
ImplementationRange datepicker, trip duration, multi-select destinations, conditional experience fields
Cruise line carousel
ImplementationMarquee logo carousel with 9 partner lines, hover-to-pause
New Subpages — Capturing Search Volume
The Wix site barely had any content pages. We systematically built out the topic and destination spectrum — every subpage targets concrete search volume in the Swiss market.
| Area | Count | Examples |
|---|
| Cruise lines & topics | 8 | MSC Cruises, TUI Cruises, Costa Crociere, family cruises, luxury cruises, expedition cruises, sailing cruises, world cruise |
| Destinations | 9 | Mediterranean, Caribbean, Northern Europe, Asia, Orient & Emirates, Baltic Sea, South America, Transatlantic, Canary Islands |
| New destinations | 3 | British Isles, Panama Canal, Suez Canal (none of which existed in Wix — direct search potential) |
Cruise lines & topics
Count8
ExamplesMSC Cruises, TUI Cruises, Costa Crociere, family cruises, luxury cruises, expedition cruises, sailing cruises, world cruise
Destinations
Count9
ExamplesMediterranean, Caribbean, Northern Europe, Asia, Orient & Emirates, Baltic Sea, South America, Transatlantic, Canary Islands
New destinations
Count3
ExamplesBritish Isles, Panama Canal, Suez Canal (none of which existed in Wix — direct search potential)
Each cruise line page has its own hero story, fleet stats, highlights and integrated request flow. Each destination page includes route descriptions, „why go there" arguments and FAQs.
Blog System with Overview Page
A complete new blog infrastructure with overview page and detail posts — the foundation for sustainable SEO content and content marketing.
| Component | Implementation |
|---|
| Blog overview | /blog with card grid, filter-ready, schema-compliant |
| Blog post template | Hero, author card, reading time, FAQ schema per post |
| Schema | Blog + BlogPosting with blogPost list for the overview |
Blog overview
Implementation/blog with card grid, filter-ready, schema-compliant
Blog post template
ImplementationHero, author card, reading time, FAQ schema per post
Schema
ImplementationBlog + BlogPosting with blogPost list for the overview
SEO — Clean Foundation from Day 1
No patchwork SEO, but a consistent setup across all 22+ pages.
| SEO measure | Implementation |
|---|
| hreflang | DE-CH, DE, EN, x-default — clean single-source (no duplicates from layout) |
| Canonical URLs | www.-consistent across the entire site |
| Sitemap | Generated dynamically, all 22 routes with hreflang alternates |
| Title trimming | 17 meta titles shortened to max 60 chars — pattern „Keyword phrase year | Cruise Expert" |
| OG images | Every page with its own hero image as OG (not generic) |
| Twitter cards | summary_large_image on all 22 pages |
| PWA manifest | Multi-size favicon (16/32/48/64/128/192/512), brand colors navy + gold |
hreflang
ImplementationDE-CH, DE, EN, x-default — clean single-source (no duplicates from layout)
Canonical URLs
Implementationwww.-consistent across the entire site
Sitemap
ImplementationGenerated dynamically, all 22 routes with hreflang alternates
Title trimming
Implementation17 meta titles shortened to max 60 chars — pattern „Keyword phrase year | Cruise Expert"
OG images
ImplementationEvery page with its own hero image as OG (not generic)
Twitter cards
Implementationsummary_large_image on all 22 pages
PWA manifest
ImplementationMulti-size favicon (16/32/48/64/128/192/512), brand colors navy + gold
Structured Data — Premium Schema Strategy
Over 20 schema types distributed across the site — all generated from a central library with real brand data and cross-references via @id.
| Page type | Schema markup |
|---|
| Homepage | TravelAgency (LocalBusiness with founder, opening hours, contact point, hasOfferCatalog for topics + destinations, makesOffer with 11 cruise lines) + WebSite + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage |
| Topic pages (8) | Service + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage |
| Destination pages (9) | TouristDestination with includesAttraction (e.g. Mediterranean with Barcelona, Rome, Santorini) + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage |
| Overview pages | CollectionPage + ItemList + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage |
| Blog overview | CollectionPage + Blog with blogPost list + BreadcrumbList |
| Blog posts | BlogPosting + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage (when post has FAQs) |
| About | AboutPage with 2× Person (Joel + Sandra) + BreadcrumbList |
Homepage
Schema markupTravelAgency (LocalBusiness with founder, opening hours, contact point, hasOfferCatalog for topics + destinations, makesOffer with 11 cruise lines) + WebSite + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage
Topic pages (8)
Schema markupService + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage
Destination pages (9)
Schema markupTouristDestination with includesAttraction (e.g. Mediterranean with Barcelona, Rome, Santorini) + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage
Overview pages
Schema markupCollectionPage + ItemList + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage
Blog overview
Schema markupCollectionPage + Blog with blogPost list + BreadcrumbList
Blog posts
Schema markupBlogPosting + BreadcrumbList + FAQPage (when post has FAQs)
About
Schema markupAboutPage with 2× Person (Joel + Sandra) + BreadcrumbList
Wix Migration Without SEO Losses
The old Wix site had organically grown URL structures. We set up 28 legacy redirects so all existing Google rankings and external backlinks keep working.
| Redirect group | Count | Purpose |
|---|
| Destination cruise URLs | 12 | /destinationen/<slug>/cruise → parent (DE+EN) |
| Topic cruise URLs | 7 | /themen/<slug>/cruise → parent (DE+EN) |
| Premium → Luxury | 1 | /themen/premium-kreuzfahrten → /themen/luxus-kreuzfahrten |
| Wix demo routes | 5 | /blog-1, /copy-of-blog/*, /items/* etc. |
| Structural redirects | 3 | /themen → /kreuzfahrten, /faq → /#faq, /kreuzfahrt-anfrage → /#anfrage |
Destination cruise URLs
Count12
Purpose/destinationen/<slug>/cruise → parent (DE+EN)
Topic cruise URLs
Count7
Purpose/themen/<slug>/cruise → parent (DE+EN)
Premium → Luxury
Count1
Purpose/themen/premium-kreuzfahrten → /themen/luxus-kreuzfahrten
Wix demo routes
Count5
Purpose/blog-1, /copy-of-blog/*, /items/* etc.
Structural redirects
Count3
Purpose/themen → /kreuzfahrten, /faq → /#faq, /kreuzfahrt-anfrage → /#anfrage
| Area | Measure |
|---|
| Images | Compressed to ~40% of original size, blur placeholders for every image |
| Fonts | Self-hosted (WOFF2) instead of external CDN |
| Mobile | Pure vw-scaled hero titles — iPhone-SE-friendly even for long words like „Kreuzfahrtexperten" |
| Lighthouse | Performance 89/85 (desktop/mobile), accessibility 97, best practices 100, SEO 100 |
Images
MeasureCompressed to ~40% of original size, blur placeholders for every image
Fonts
MeasureSelf-hosted (WOFF2) instead of external CDN
Mobile
MeasurePure vw-scaled hero titles — iPhone-SE-friendly even for long words like „Kreuzfahrtexperten"
Lighthouse
MeasurePerformance 89/85 (desktop/mobile), accessibility 97, best practices 100, SEO 100
Request Flow with Real Mail Integration
Completely rebuilt contact form with a professional mail pipeline:
| Component | Implementation |
|---|
| Datepicker | Range selection with Swiss date format (DD.MM.YYYY) |
| Multi-select | Destination pills (multiple allowed), adults + children with compact display |
| Conditional | Experience radio with dynamic detail fields |
| Mail backend | Resend API with HTML template, honeypot, reply-to set to customer |
| Custom domain | anfrage@cruise-expert.ch with DKIM/SPF/DMARC |
Datepicker
ImplementationRange selection with Swiss date format (DD.MM.YYYY)
Multi-select
ImplementationDestination pills (multiple allowed), adults + children with compact display
Conditional
ImplementationExperience radio with dynamic detail fields
Mail backend
ImplementationResend API with HTML template, honeypot, reply-to set to customer
Custom domain
Implementationanfrage@cruise-expert.ch with DKIM/SPF/DMARC
The Results
What used to be a tired Wix site is now a professional, fast travel platform that's visible in the Swiss cruise market:
| Metric | Result |
|---|
| Lighthouse SEO | 100 / 100 |
| Best Practices | 100 / 100 |
| Accessibility | 97 / 100 |
| Performance | 89 (desktop) / 85 (mobile) |
| New subpages | 20+ — cruise lines, destinations, blog |
| Schema types | 21 structured data markups |
| Wix redirects | 28 — no SEO losses through the migration |
| Languages | 2 — DE as default, EN under /en |
Performance
Result89 (desktop) / 85 (mobile)
New subpages
Result20+ — cruise lines, destinations, blog
Schema types
Result21 structured data markups
Wix redirects
Result28 — no SEO losses through the migration
Languages
Result2 — DE as default, EN under /en
Cruise Expert is now a platform that feels personal, loads fast, and shows up in the Swiss market for the right cruise-related searches.