Case Study · Ice Cream & Deli · Evansville, IN
76 Years of Handcrafted Ice Cream — Proudly Displaying Awards From 2007–2014
Lic's Deli & Ice Cream — Evansville, IN
Lic's has been making ice cream from scratch since 1950. Their website prominently showcases awards from 2007–2014 — signaling stagnation rather than vitality, with no email capture, no loyalty program, and stale content throughout.
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The Evidence
The awards section proudly displays recognitions from 2007 to 2014 — a decade-plus old. For a business that makes fresh ice cream daily and bakes bread every morning, the most prominent trust signals on the site are 10-17 years old.
The Business
Lic's Deli & Ice Cream has been a beloved Evansville tradition since 1950 — 76 years of handcrafted ice cream, fresh-baked bread, and made-to-order deli fare. What started as Lloyd's Ice Cream Shoppe has grown into a multi-location operation with shops across Indiana (Evansville, Newburgh, Vincennes) and Owensboro, Kentucky. Lic's churns over 20 flavors of ice cream and sorbet at their own ice cream factory in Evansville, using real cream and high-quality ingredients. They bake bread fresh every morning at their in-house bakery. They make scratch desserts — pies, cakes, Choco Cremes, and ice cream novelties — that customers rave about. Lic's has built a loyal customer base around quality, tradition, and a commitment to doing things the right way: from scratch, with real ingredients, every single day.
The Problem
Lic's ice cream is excellent. Their website isn't. The site prominently displays awards from 2007–2014 — that's 10–17 years old, signaling stagnation rather than vitality. Online ordering is handled through an external Click4aMeal integration that takes visitors off-site, creating friction and breaking brand consistency. Content feels stale: no seasonal flavor updates, no blog, no community events featured, no sense that the business is dynamic and thriving. There's no email capture form, no visible loyalty program, and no dedicated catering page despite the fact that Lic's makes custom cakes and desserts for events.
The result: missed opportunities to capture new customers, weak conversion from site visitors to online orders, and a digital presence that doesn't match the quality and care that goes into every scoop of handcrafted ice cream.
What We'd Build
Our spec redesign for Lic's focuses on three core goals: communicate freshness and quality, showcase the handcrafted ice cream factory story, and make ordering and catering effortless.
Hero Section
Full-width image of a beautifully scooped ice cream cone with colorful flavors, or a fresh-baked sandwich on house-made bread with vibrant ingredients. Headline: “Handcrafted Ice Cream Since 1950 — Real Ingredients. Fresh Baked Bread. Made from Scratch.” Two prominent CTAs: “Order Online” and “View Menu.” Below the hero, trust badges: “Handcrafted Since 1950,” “Made at Our Evansville Ice Cream Factory,” “Fresh Baked Bread Daily.”
Current Flavors Section
Regularly updated section showcasing the current flavor lineup with photos and short descriptions. Seasonal flavors (Pumpkin Spice in fall, Peppermint in winter, fresh fruit flavors in summer) are prominently featured. This communicates freshness and gives customers a reason to return to the site — a major content upgrade from the static, stale feel of the current site.
Ice Cream Menu Page
Headline “Over 20 Handcrafted Flavors — Made at Our Evansville Factory.” Current flavor list with descriptions, ice cream novelties (Choco Cremes, cakes, pies), highlight of “real cream and high-quality ingredients,” and photo gallery of cones, sundaes, and desserts. This page tells the story of what makes Lic's ice cream special: it's made at their own factory, not mass-produced.
Deli Menu Page
Headline “Made-to-Order with Fresh Baked Bread.” Sandwiches (hot and cold), soups, chili, salads with descriptions and pricing. Highlight that bread is baked fresh every morning and all dishes are made to order with fresh ingredients. High-quality food photography showing the quality and care that goes into every sandwich.
Desserts Page
Headline “Party Desserts Made from Scratch.” Custom cakes (ordering process, flavor options, design examples), pies (turtle pie highlighted as famous), Choco Cremes, and ice cream novelties. Photo gallery of past custom cakes and desserts. “Order a Custom Cake” form. This page captures high-margin custom dessert orders that currently have no clear path.
Catering Page
Headline “Handcrafted Ice Cream & Fresh-Baked Catering for Your Event.” Catering options for ice cream (sundae bars, ice cream cakes, novelty packs) and deli (sandwich platters, soup/chili, salads). Guest count tiers, custom cake and dessert packages, and a “Get a Catering Quote” form. This page positions Lic's as a full-service catering option for events and parties.
In-House Online Ordering
Replace the external Click4aMeal integration with an in-house system (Toast, Square, or similar POS integration). Keep customers on Lic's site throughout the entire ordering process, capture customer emails and phone numbers for future marketing, and offer a loyalty program or rewards as part of online ordering. Eliminates friction, improves conversion, and reduces third-party fees.
Mobile Experience
Fully responsive, fast-loading, touch-optimized. Sticky header with “Order Online” CTA always visible. One-tap phone numbers and directions for each location. Optimized images (WebP format, lazy loading) for sub-2-second page loads. Clean hamburger menu with intuitive navigation.
SEO Foundations
Schema markup for multi-location restaurant, menu items, and product (ice cream flavors). Optimized title tags and meta descriptions for local searches like “best ice cream Evansville,” “handcrafted ice cream near me,” and “fresh baked bread deli Evansville.” Blog or News section with posts about new flavors, seasonal specials, and behind-the-scenes factory content — fresh, keyword-rich content that Google rewards.
The Impact
A modern website for Lic's would deliver measurable results: 30–50% increase in online orders (from in-house ordering system and improved UX), 3–5x more custom cake and catering inquiries (from new Desserts and Catering pages), email list growth of 100+ subscribers per month (from new signup form), and improved local search rankings for high-intent keywords like “best ice cream Evansville” and “handcrafted ice cream near me.” The site would lower bounce rate with fresher content and faster load times, increase average session duration with engaging storytelling and flavor updates, and eliminate the friction of external ordering integration.
Most importantly, the site would finally communicate the freshness, quality, and tradition that goes into every scoop of handcrafted ice cream. Every visitor would see the ice cream factory story, understand that bread is baked fresh every morning, and have a clear path to order, get catering, or request custom desserts. The decade-old awards would be replaced with fresh testimonials and current content.
The Pitch
Pitchcraft Agency builds spec redesigns for local businesses whose websites don't match the quality of their work. We spotted Lic's — 76 years of handcrafted ice cream, fresh-baked bread, and scratch desserts, with a website that feels stuck in the past. We built the concept, and we're ready to deliver. Our offer: a full website redesign, ongoing management, and marketing support packaged as a recurring service. No multi-month proposals, no vague timelines — just a fresh, modern site that showcases your ice cream factory story, makes ordering effortless, and reflects 76 years of quality and tradition.
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