Alter Ego à Domicile

Project Overview

Alter Ego à Domicile has been providing professional home healthcare services in Brussels since 1997. Their WordPress site had served them well but was showing its age — slow loading times, outdated design, and limited multilingual support were holding them back in an increasingly digital healthcare market.

We completely rebuilt their digital presence from the ground up using modern web technologies, creating a fast, accessible, and SEO-optimized platform that serves patients in French, Dutch, and English.

The Challenge

• Aging WordPress Infrastructure — Slow page loads (3+ seconds), security vulnerabilities, plugin conflicts
• Poor Mobile Experience — Non-responsive design losing 60% of mobile visitors
• Limited Multilingual Support — Manual translation management, inconsistent content across languages
• Weak Local SEO — Missing local targeting for Brussels’ 19 communes and surrounding areas
• Low Accessibility Score — Excluding users with disabilities, potential legal compliance issues
• Competitive Market — Need to stand out among established healthcare providers in Brussels

What We Built

Complete Platform Migration

We migrated from WordPress to Astro, a modern static site generator that delivers lightning-fast performance. The new architecture eliminates database queries, reduces server load, and provides instant page loads.

Technical Implementation:

• Astro + TypeScript — Type-safe development, fewer bugs, better maintainability
• Tailwind CSS — Utility-first styling for consistent, responsive design
• Cloudflare Pages — Global CDN deployment, 99.99% uptime
• Static Generation — Pre-built HTML pages for instant loading

Bilingual Architecture

Built a proper multilingual system with separate domains for each language:

• French: www.alteregoadomicile.be (primary)
• English: en.alteregoadomicile.be
• Dutch: Coming soon

Each language version is properly localized with:

• Hreflang tags for SEO
• Translated content (not machine translation)
• Language-specific URLs and meta tags
• Consistent user experience across languages

300+ Local SEO Pages

Created an extensive local presence targeting every Brussels commune and surrounding areas:

• 47 location-specific pages for communes
• 7 detailed service pages per location
• Unique content for each page avoiding duplication
• Local schema markup for enhanced local search visibility
• Internal linking structure distributing authority

Modern Design System

Implemented a calming, professional design that builds trust:

• Color Palette: Soft blues (#1E73BE) with orange accents (#FF8C3E)
• Typography: Montserrat for headings, clean sans-serif for body
• White Space: Generous spacing for readability
• Mobile-First: Responsive from 320px to 4K displays
• Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, screen reader optimized

Performance Optimization

Achieved exceptional performance metrics:

• 442ms LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)
• 0.07 CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)
• 100% WebP images for optimal compression
• Lazy loading for below-fold content
• Preconnect to third-party domains
• Minified CSS/JS with tree shaking

The Results

Performance Metrics

Before (WordPress):

• Page Load: 3.2 seconds
• Accessibility: 62/100
• SEO Score: 45/100
• Mobile Score: Poor
• Security: Vulnerable

After (Astro):

• Page Load: 442ms (7x faster!)
• Accessibility: 95/100
• SEO Score: 83/100
• Best Practices: 100/100
• Security: A+ rating

SEO Impact

• 2 of Top 3 Google Positions for “garde malade à domicile”
• 300+ indexed pages across Brussels communes
• Organic traffic increased 240% in 3 months
• Local pack visibility in Google Maps
• Featured snippets for healthcare queries

Business Results

• Qualified leads up 180% — Higher quality inquiries from families needing care
• Bounce rate down 45% — Visitors stay and explore services
• Mobile conversions up 320% — Mobile-first design pays off
• Support tickets down 60% — Intuitive design reduces confusion

Technical Achievements

• Core Web Vitals: All green metrics
• Lighthouse Scores: 95+ across all categories
• WCAG 2.1 AA: Full accessibility compliance
• Schema Markup: Rich snippets in search results
• Hreflang: Proper international SEO structure

Key Features

• Instant page loads with static generation
• Perfect mobile experience from phones to tablets
• Multi-language support (FR/EN/NL coming)
• Online appointment requests with form integration
• Service area pages for 47+ Brussels communes
• Blog system for healthcare advice content
• Analytics integration (GA4 + Microsoft Clarity)
• Cookie consent GDPR compliant
• Structured data for enhanced search presence

Technologies Used

• Framework: Astro 5.0 (Static Site Generation)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS 3.4
• Language: TypeScript
• Hosting: Cloudflare Pages
• Analytics: Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity
• SEO: Schema.org structured data
• Performance: WebP images, lazy loading, CDN

Client Testimonial

“Une équipe de vrais professionnels ! Nous sommes ravis du travail de Perel Web Studio tant sur la gestion du SEO que pour la création (relifting) de notre site internet. Je pense qu’on peut difficilement trouver mieux. Tout était parfait, même la communication et les tarifs plus que raisonnables. Cerise sur le gâteau, le trafic de notre site a considérablement augmenté. Un investissement rapidement rentabilisé.”

— Emanuel Cristea, Co-CEO of Alter Ego à Domicile