Nov 26, 2025·8 min
How to Create a Website for a Founder-Led Case Study Archive
Learn how to plan, build, and launch a founder-led case study archive with the right structure, CMS, search, SEO, and a simple publishing workflow.
Learn how to plan, build, and launch a founder-led case study archive with the right structure, CMS, search, SEO, and a simple publishing workflow.
A case study archive can’t be “for everyone” without becoming useful to no one. Before you touch design or tooling, decide what this library is meant to do for the business—because that choice will shape your page templates, what you highlight, and how you measure success.
Pick the main job of the archive (you can support others, but choose a clear #1):
Once you choose, write a one-sentence purpose statement (e.g., “Help qualified prospects self-select by showing outcomes in their industry and use case”). Keep it visible during production.
List the top audiences and what they’re trying to answer:
If two audiences have conflicting needs, prioritize the one tied to your primary goal.
Founder-led doesn’t have to mean the founder writes every word. Define it in a way you can maintain:
Choose a small set of measurable outcomes tied to the goal:
Define targets and a review cadence (weekly for early learning, monthly once stable). This turns the archive from “content” into a system you can improve.
A case study archive feels effortless to browse when every story is built from the same “building blocks.” That’s your content model: the fields you capture, the formats you support, and the narrative structure you repeat.
Start with a small set of required fields for every case study. These should describe who it’s for, what changed, and how you’ll prove it.
At minimum, define:
If you want founder-led storytelling, add fields like Founder takeaway, what we’d do differently, and unexpected insight.
A “case study” doesn’t have to mean a long article. Pick the formats you can consistently produce:
Make one format the source of truth (usually the written page), and attach the others as supporting assets.
Keep the narrative predictable so readers can compare stories quickly:
Problem → approach → results
Within that, standardize sections like “Background,” “Why they chose us,” “Implementation,” and “Results.” Consistency increases readability and makes writing faster.
Before the interview, plan what you’ll collect:
This content model becomes your template, your interview guide, and later your filtering/search foundation.
A founder-led case study archive lives or dies by how quickly someone can find “a story like mine.” Information architecture (IA) is the plan for how content is grouped, labeled, and reached—before you write a single page.
Keep the top nav short and obvious. A simple set often works best:
If you sell a product, decide early whether /pricing belongs in the top nav or as a secondary link in the footer. You don’t want the archive to feel like a dead-end.
Different readers browse differently, so plan a few “entry points”:
Beyond the archive itself, you’ll typically need:
Write down a one-page sitemap and define the templates you’ll need (Archive, Case Study, Topic, Collection, About). This prevents CMS rework and keeps URLs clean—for example: /case-studies/acme-onboarding, /topics/pricing, /collections/saas.
A case study archive lives or dies on how easily people can recognize “stories like mine.” Taxonomy is your naming system for organizing stories—so visitors can browse confidently and your team can publish consistently.
Start with a small set of filters that reflect how prospects self-identify and how founders tell stories. Common high-signal dimensions:
Keep each dimension mutually clear. If “Ecommerce” is an industry, don’t also create “Online store” as another industry label.
Use categories for the few, stable buckets you expect to keep for years. They should be limited and broadly understood.
Use tags for the flexible details that help discovery but change over time (tools, tactics, niche scenarios). Tags can grow, but they still need governance—synonyms and duplicates quietly ruin filters.
A practical rule: 5–10 categories, 20–60 tags, with a short definition for each.
Collections are hand-picked groupings that cut across categories and tags. They’re perfect for founder-led storytelling because they let you frame narratives:
Search is helpful, but browsing should work even if someone never types.
Provide a Browse all view with prominent filter chips and a few curated entry points (Featured, Editor’s picks, newest). A visitor should be able to click to a relevant list in two steps: Industry → Challenge, or Role → Stage.
If your archive grows past a handful of stories, browsing alone stops working. Visitors arrive with a specific intent (“Show me a B2B onboarding win” or “I need proof this works for startups like mine”), so your search and filters should feel obvious—and forgiving.
Add a prominent search box and make it helpful from the first keystroke.
Typeahead suggestions should match real queries: company names, industries, roles, and common outcomes (“reduced churn,” “faster onboarding,” “pipeline growth”). Back this up with synonyms so the search doesn’t fail on vocabulary differences—e.g., “HR” vs “people ops,” “customer success” vs “CS,” “ecommerce” vs “online store.”
Most people will scan on their phone. Use a filter drawer (or bottom sheet) that opens with one tap, then apply filters with clear, tappable chips.
Include:
Keep filter names human (“Team size”) instead of internal jargon (“Segment”).
Sorting isn’t decoration—it changes what gets read. Offer a small set of options:
Default to “Most relevant” for search results, and “Newest” (or “Most viewed”) for the main archive.
When filters return zero results, don’t show an empty page. Suggest nearby options (“Try removing ‘Enterprise’” or “Showing ‘SaaS’ stories instead”), and always provide related stories links so there’s a next click.
Your platform decision should be driven by one thing: how quickly a founder (and a small team) can publish consistent case studies without breaking the site—or needing a developer every time.
If you’re publishing a handful of stories per month and want speed, a no-code CMS is often enough. If you expect dozens (or hundreds) of case studies, multiple contributors, and more complex filtering later, you’ll want a stronger content model and permissions.
A practical way to decide:
If you want the speed of a guided build without sacrificing code ownership, a vibe-coding platform like Koder.ai can be a middle path: you describe the archive, templates, and filters in chat, and it generates a React-based web app with a Go + PostgreSQL backend—plus deployment, hosting, custom domains, and source code export when you need it.
Webflow + CMS
Great for a polished design and fast iteration. Editors can publish without touching layouts. It’s ideal when case study pages follow a consistent structure.
Watch-outs: complex taxonomies and very advanced filtering can require extra work (or third-party tools).
WordPress
A strong choice if you want a familiar editor experience, lots of SEO tooling, and flexible content types.
Watch-outs: plugin bloat, security updates, and theme constraints can slow you down unless someone owns maintenance.
Headless CMS (e.g., Contentful)
Best when you want a clean, reusable content model (quotes, outcomes, FAQs) and expect to reuse stories across the site. It also scales well with teams and permissions.
Watch-outs: you’ll likely need developer support for the front end and for evolving the setup.
Keep it simple, but explicit:
Even with a small team, permissions prevent accidental layout changes and make approvals predictable.
Case studies usually reuse the same blocks: a pull quote, a results table, key metrics, timeline, FAQs, and a “How we did it” section. Configure your CMS so those elements are structured fields or reusable components, not free-form paragraphs.
This helps you:
If you’re unsure, start with the simplest setup that supports structured fields—then only “level up” when publishing friction becomes obvious.
A great case study page should work for two readers at once: the skimmer who wants proof fast, and the careful evaluator who needs details to justify a decision.
Start with a summary box near the top so visitors can confirm they’re in the right place.
Include:
Add 1–2 pull quotes from the founder or customer to break up the page and reinforce credibility.
Consistency helps readers compare stories across your archive and also supports SEO.
A simple, repeatable structure:
Write headings as plain language (“What changed in onboarding”) instead of jargon (“Operational transformation”).
Place one primary call-to-action after the results and one softer option in the sidebar or footer. Keep it optional, not aggressive:
Close the credibility gap with small, visible elements:
A case study archive works best when each story can stand on its own in search and guide readers to the next logical step. SEO here isn’t about hacks—it’s about clarity, consistency, and making your library easy to crawl and navigate.
Pick a URL pattern you’ll keep for years. A simple format makes pages easier to share and easier for search engines to understand. For example:
/case-studies/company-name-use-caseAvoid dates and random IDs unless you truly need them. If you ever change a slug, set up a 301 redirect so old links don’t break.
Internal links are how your archive “teaches” both readers and search engines what matters.
A practical pattern:
/contactDefine templates so every page launches with solid SEO defaults, but leave room for edits.
{Company} case study: {Outcome} with {Product}How {Company} used {Product} to {measurable outcome}. See goals, approach, timeline, and lessons learned.Don’t overstate results in titles or descriptions—be specific and truthful.
Structured data helps search engines interpret your pages. For most case studies, Article schema is a safe baseline. If you mention the featured customer, you can reference Organization details (name, logo, URL) where appropriate.
Keep it conservative: avoid marking up outcomes as guaranteed performance. Tie claims to what’s actually in the story and, when possible, include the measurement context (timeframe, baseline).
A case study archive only works if people can skim it quickly—on a phone, on spotty Wi‑Fi, and with assistive tech. Treat speed, accessibility, and mobile layout as core requirements, not “nice to have.”
Large media is the most common performance killer in a customer stories library.
Accessibility improvements usually help everyone: clearer pages, easier navigation, better readability.
Case study archives rely on repeatable UI patterns.
Use responsive components for cards, filters, and any tables (tables should collapse into stacked rows or become horizontally scrollable with clear affordances). Keep tap targets large and spacing consistent so browsing doesn’t feel cramped.
Create a one-page style guide covering typography, spacing, buttons, and link states. Consistency reduces design debt and makes every new case study page faster to publish—without reinventing layouts each time.
A founder-led case study archive works best when publishing feels like a repeatable habit, not a heroic effort. The goal is to capture good stories quickly, keep quality consistent, and avoid surprises right before launch.
Create one place where sales, CS, or the founder can submit a potential story. A form keeps details from living in scattered docs and DMs.
Include questions like: the customer’s goal, what changed, measurable results (with dates), what the customer tried before, key product features used, and a short “why they chose us.”
Also list required assets: customer logo permission, 1–2 approved quotes, a headshot (optional), screenshots (if allowed), and links to any supporting material.
Before anything is designed or published, run through a checklist:
Keep this checklist in the same tool as your backlog so it’s hard to skip.
A practical review flow is:
Time-box each step (for example, 48–72 hours) so stories don’t stall.
Pick a cadence you can sustain—weekly, biweekly, or monthly—and maintain a backlog with statuses like Pitch → Interview scheduled → Draft → In review → Approved → Published. Add a lightweight “next up” queue so publishing doesn’t depend on memory.
If helpful, create a single internal submission link like /case-studies/submit so the pipeline is always open.
A case study archive shouldn’t be “publish and forget.” The winning libraries get sharper over time because they treat every page as a small experiment: what attracts the right readers, what helps them decide, and what leads to a conversation.
Start with a short list of key events that indicate real engagement (not just pageviews). These are usually the moments when a visitor is trying to find a relevant story or is close to taking the next step.
Track events like:
Keep naming consistent so reports stay readable (e.g., case_study_filter_applied, case_study_cta_click).
Most teams assume their “best” stories are the ones with big logos. Analytics often disagrees.
Create a simple report that answers:
This tells you where to invest: double down on the industries, outcomes, and use cases that people actively seek.
Place a small “Was this helpful?” prompt near the end of each case study and on archive/search pages. If someone clicks “No,” offer one optional question: “What were you looking for?” That single field can reveal missing tags, confusing terminology, or gaps in your library.
Also add a simple story submission form for customers and partners (“Suggest a case study”). Route submissions to a shared inbox or CRM so founder-led outreach is easy.
Once a month, review: top searches with no good results, high-exit case studies, and tags with strong conversion rates.
Use that to decide what to write next, what to refresh (screenshots, outcomes, quotes), and what to reorganize so your archive keeps improving with every release.
Launching a founder-led case study archive isn’t a “hit publish and forget” moment. Treat it like a product release: ship a clean v1, announce it with intent, then keep it accurate and easy to grow.
Before you announce anything, run a tight launch checklist:
If you’re building and iterating quickly, features like snapshots and rollback (available in platforms such as Koder.ai) can reduce release risk—especially when you’re tweaking filters, templates, and navigation.
Your archive is a distribution asset—launch it accordingly:
If your archive includes “how we built it” posts (or a behind-the-scenes on your content system), you can also turn that into a repeatable distribution loop. For example, Koder.ai runs an earn-credits program for content creation and a referral program—useful if your team wants an extra nudge to keep publishing and sharing.
Set a quarterly routine:
Write a one-page SOP in your team space and link it from your CMS:
That single document is what keeps a founder-led archive alive when weeks get busy.
Define one primary job for the archive (sales enablement, recruiting, credibility, or community), then write a one-sentence purpose statement and keep it visible during production. Use it to decide what appears above the fold, what filters you build first, and what CTAs you prioritize.
Pick a small set of metrics tied directly to your primary goal, such as:
Set targets and a review cadence (weekly early on, monthly once stable).
Treat it as an operational definition, not a vibe. Common approaches:
Choose the version you can sustain without slowing publishing to a crawl.
Use a consistent content model with required fields so every story is comparable and filterable later. A practical minimum:
Add “Founder takeaway” and “what we’d do differently” if you want stronger founder voice.
Make one format the source of truth (usually the written page for SEO and skimming), then attach other formats as supporting assets:
This keeps URLs canonical and reduces maintenance.
Use a predictable narrative so readers can compare stories quickly:
Then repeat human headings such as Challenge, Context, Solution, Implementation, Results, and Lessons learned. Consistency improves scannability and speeds up writing.
Keep top navigation short and make discovery fast. A common setup:
Plan templates and clean URL patterns early (e.g., , , ) to avoid CMS rework.
Start with a few high-signal filtering dimensions that match buying questions:
Use for stable, long-term buckets (keep them few) and for flexible details. Add for curated sets like Featured, Editor’s picks, or themed narratives.
Make search forgiving and mobile-friendly:
Also handle zero-results states with suggestions and related stories to avoid dead ends.
Optimize for a founder/small team publishing consistently:
Whatever you choose, model repeated blocks (results, quotes, timeline, FAQs, CTAs) as structured fields or reusable components—not free-form text.
/case-studies/acme-onboarding/topics/pricing/collections/saas