Five recommended Ottawa trades sites, before and after the ai-refresher pipeline
Every business here was recommended by real users in r/ottawa threads. Each site was
captured, its content extracted, and rebuilt as a static site with one of the ai-refresher
template packs. Lighthouse scores below are real runs: old site versus the rebuilt version,
same categories, same Chrome. The rebuilt previews are deployed with noindex so they stay
out of search results; these are validation builds, not live replacements.
captureextractgeneratereviewdeployoutreach
Lynwood Plumbing Services
Plumbing · since 1993
Original: lynwoodplumbing.ca (WordPress on PHP 7.1, end of life)
Before · WordPress, 7.5 MB pageAfter · trueflow-plumbing pack, 378 KB total
Category
Before
After
Performance
63
100
SEO
92
100
Accessibility
84
95
Best practices
78
100
Largest Contentful Paint on the old site measured between 4.5s and 40.3s across runs; the new site loads in under 2 seconds.
Old homepage had four h1 tags; the old contact details were plain text, not tappable phone or email links.
All eight services (drain cleaning, well pumps, radiant floor heating, barrier free installs, and more) now have their own section, with hours and warranty details preserved.
Watson Electrical (Ottawa) Limited
Electrical · since 1983
Original: watsonelectrical.ca (WordPress)
Before · 58 words on the whole homepageAfter · voltline-electric pack
Category
Before
After
Performance
83
100
SEO
100
100
Accessibility
82
100
Best practices
100
100
Scores were already decent; the real problem was substance: the entire homepage was 58 words, and the services list lived nowhere.
The rebuild surfaces the company history (serving Ottawa since 1983), the four service areas from their own pages, and the ESA/ECRA licence number prominently.
Old title was just "Home"; new titles are descriptive and location-bearing.
Apex Electric and Controls
Electrical · recommended on r/ottawa
Original: apexec.ca (returns HTTP 406/500 errors to visitors)
Before · every path returns an error pageAfter · northbeam-it pack
Category
Before
After
Performance
unreachable
92
SEO
unreachable
100
Accessibility
unreachable
91
Best practices
unreachable
100
Every path on the old domain returns HTTP 406 "Not Acceptable" or 500 errors with a noindex flag. Customers get an error page; Lighthouse cannot even load it.
The rebuild uses only facts that could be sourced: business name, trade, owner, city. The thin content is deliberate and flagged for the owner to expand.
David Tulloch Roofing
Roofing · since 1999
Original: dtroofing.ca (hand-built, no CMS)
Before · no h1, no viewport metaAfter · ironclad-trades pack
Category
Before
After
Performance
86
100
SEO
75
100
Accessibility
67
100
Best practices
42
100
The old single page had no h1, no viewport meta, and no meta description. Best practices scored 42.
All the good material was buried in one long page: CertainTeed shingle lines, WSIB standing, BBB accreditation, 24/7 availability, and the free estimate offer now have their own places to live.
Content was sourced entirely from the existing page; nothing was added.
Before · 1 MB homepage, two h1 tagsAfter · trueflow-plumbing pack
Category
Before
After
Performance
32
100
SEO
92
100
Accessibility
91
95
Best practices
77
100
Worst performance score of the five: a 1 MB homepage with two h1 tags.
The rebuild condenses their service lineup (drain cleaning, fixtures, lead pipe replacement, rough-ins, water heaters, furnace repair) into a scannable structure with the same contact path.
This is a larger company with an extensive blog; a full engagement would preserve their content strategy rather than condensing it.
Averages across the five sites
Category
Before (avg)
After (avg)
Performance
52.8
98.4
SEO
71.8
100
Accessibility
64.8
96.2
Best practices
59.4
100
The before average counts the unreachable site as zero, which is what an
unreachable site is worth to a customer. All five rebuilt previews are static HTML with no
frameworks, and every fact on them comes from the businesses' own pages.
