Case study · Till Death Tattoo Studio, Auburndale, FL
A direct line to every artist in the shop
We rebuilt Till Death Tattoo Studio’s website around one idea: someone with a tattoo idea should reach the right artist, with everything that artist needs, in their first message. Here is how it works, what we measured, and how the same setup fits any shop.
What we found
The old site sent every idea to the same place
Till Death has several artists with different styles. The website treated them as one inbox.
One chat box for the whole shop
A Tawk.to chat widget sat on every page. Whoever opened it reached the shop in general, not the artist whose work they came for.
Artists without a way in
Each artist had a bio page, but nothing on it reached that artist. The only ways in were the shop’s contact page, the shop phone or the shared chat.
Hard to read on a phone
Body text was 13 pixels, and the home page took 21.8 seconds on a phone before its main content showed.
Searches it could not win
The home page description targeted Winter Haven while the title said Auburndale. There were no pages for the styles the artists actually do.
The idea
Talk to the artist, not the shop
People choose a tattoo shop for an artist. The site should let them reach that artist directly, and give the artist a complete brief instead of “how much for a small one?”.
Try it: pick an artist (example shop, sample data)
- The visitor taps Send Jay your idea on the artist’s page.
- The chat asks Jay’s questions and collects photos and contact details.
- The brief goes to Jay’s phone. The shop keeps a copy.
- Idea
- Black and grey wolf with my daughter’s birth date
- Placement
- Outer forearm
- Size
- Medium (palm size)
- Timing
- 1–3 months
- Budget
- $300–$600
- Photos
- 2 reference photos
- 18+
- Yes
- Reply to
- Sam · text OK
How it works
Six parts that make the direct line work
Every artist page has its own button
Each artist’s page has its own button, such as “Send Ron your idea”. Tapping it opens the chat already addressed to that artist, so the visitor never has to say who they want.
The chat asks what the artist would ask
The idea, the style, where it goes on the body, the size, black and grey or color, timing, a budget range if they have one, reference photos, an 18+ check and how to reach them. It takes about a minute.
The brief goes to that artist
Each artist chooses where their briefs land: a text to their own phone, their own inbox, or both. A visitor who picks “whoever fits best” goes to the front desk or the owner to assign.
The shop keeps the record
Every brief is saved in one place, so nothing lives only in one person’s DMs, and the owner can see which artists and styles people are asking for.
The roster lives in one file
Adding an artist, a guest spot or a new style is one change in the site’s data. The artist page, the chat’s list of names, the style matching and the search data all update together.
It is honest about being automated
It says it is an assistant, never pretends to be the artist, never quotes a price and never gives medical advice. If the AI is off or busy, the same questions run as a guided form, so it never breaks.
What visitors see
Till Death, on a phone
Screenshots from the new site before launch. The brand stays Till Death’s own: the script wordmark, the red and gold, the skull mark. We designed the chat to match it.
Any shop
The same direct line, set up for how your shop runs
Routing is set once, per artist, from how your shop actually works.
Every brief goes straight to you. The chat does the back-and-forth you would otherwise do between sessions.
Briefs go to the chosen artist, with a copy kept for the shop. “Whoever fits best” goes to the owner or front desk.
Each renter gets their own briefs, on their own phone, and the shop decides whether it keeps a copy. Renters can link their page from their own Instagram bio.
A guest artist can get their own page for the dates they are in, with briefs going straight to them.
Briefs go to the desk first, tagged with the artist the visitor picked, and the desk passes them on and books the consult.
Built in
More than a chat box
Local search
Pages built for how people near the shop search: the home page for the shop’s own town, separate pages for the two nearest cities, and one page covering the rest of the county.
A page per artist, marked up as a person
Search engines and AI assistants can read who works there, what they specialize in and how to reach them.
Ready for AI assistants
The site publishes tools that assistants can call, such as find an artist by style or start a consultation, plus a plain-text summary and Markdown copies of every page. These use WebMCP, an early-access standard now in testing.
Things to do, not just read
A tap-to-pick body placement map that drops the spot straight into the chat, a two-question style quiz that suggests an artist, an open-now badge and a healing-day tracker for fresh tattoos.
Measured
Before and after, same tests
- Google Lighthouse 13 on a phone, three runs per page, measured 4 October 2026. The old numbers come from the live WordPress site.
- The new numbers come from the finished site before launch, on its preview address. We will re-measure on the live domain after launch and update this page.
- Rankings, calls and briefs take weeks to show up. We will add them here when there is real data, and not before.
Where it stands
What is done and what comes next
- The site is built and tested. Launch waits on the shop confirming its current artists and hours.
- The chat runs today as the guided form. The AI front desk switches on with one setting.
- Each artist chooses where briefs go, a text or an email. Once they have, briefs go straight to them.
- The online store for merch, deposits and gift cards stays as it is and moves to its own address.
FAQ
Questions shop owners ask
Does every artist need to log in to something?
No. Briefs arrive as a text or an email, wherever each artist already looks. Nobody has to learn a new app.
Will the chat pretend to be the artist?
Never. It says it is an automated assistant, it hands the idea to the artist, and the artist replies as themselves.
Will it give prices?
No. Each artist prices their own work, so the chat explains what affects the price and passes the idea along for a quote. It can share deposit and walk-in policies the shop gives us.
What about people under 18?
The chat asks every visitor. If they are under 18, it explains your state’s rules (in Florida, a legal guardian present with a notarized consent form) and links your form.
Our artists change. Is that a problem?
No. Adding, removing or moving an artist is one change in the site’s data, and their page, chat button and routing all follow.
Can I keep my online shop for merch, deposits and gift cards?
Yes. On this project the WooCommerce store stays where it is and the new site links to it.
Do I need a new website for this?
We build it into the websites we make on Astro, which is how we get the speed numbers above. If you are happy with your site, ask us anyway and we will tell you plainly what it would take.
Want a direct line to every artist in your shop?
Tell us how your shop runs. We’ll send back a plain game plan, with prices, no pressure.