about meHey. I'm Rachel. Let's build something you're proud to send people to.
You've outgrown your website. I build custom Squarespace sites for service businesses and nonprofits that look awesome, earn trust, and bring in the right inquiries.
I'm a Squarespace Circle Member, HubSpot AEO Fundamentals certified, and HubSpot Digital Marketing certified, with 20+ years in web and graphic design. Since founding Open Tree Creative in 2010, I've built websites for landscapers, home builders and remodelers, churches, nonprofits, photographers, and public speakers.
Every project includes strategy, brand alignment, copywriting, SEO (search engine optimization), and AEO (answer engine optimization), so your website is more than a digital brochure.
How I get you there.
A straightforward path from first conversation to finished site. You'll always know where things stand, what's next, and what's needed from you.
Discovery
A free 30-minute conversation to understand your business, your goals, and what's not working with your current web presence. I come back with a clear picture of what you need: a recommended page structure, a project scope, and an estimate.
Strategy
This is where I get into the weeds. During the strategy session, I ask detailed questions about your clients, your process, how you talk about your work, and what makes you different. This session sets the direction for your sitemap, branding, content, and design, so every piece that follows is anchored to the same strategy.
Branding
Using the direction set in strategy, I build out your brand board. You review it and sign off before design begins.
Design
With your brand in place, I build your site in Squarespace, beginning with the home page so you can give feedback before I build out the rest.
Content
With the design in front of you, I write your website's copy — shaped to fit the pages that are already built, and optimized for SEO. You review and approve it before launch prep begins.
Launch
Before your site goes live, I run through technical checks: page speed, mobile responsiveness, redirects, and SEO and analytics connections. Once everything passes, your site launches.
Support
Post-launch, you get 30 days of support and a personalized toolkit page, which includes a self-paced course on updating your Squarespace site, relevant links, brand assets, and sometimes a short video walkthrough built around your specific site. If you'd rather not manage things yourself, a monthly website support plan keeps it current — content updates, photo swaps, and SEO monitoring.
Hi. I'm the whole department.
I strive for excellence.
It's important to me to do my job well and not cut corners. For this reason I try to work with just one or two clients at a time, so nothing slips through the cracks or gets half done. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord."
Copywriting, in-house.
On full-build projects, I write your site's copy. On-page SEO depends on real words on the page, and I make sure they're there, and that they sound like you.
20+ years in design.
Web design, graphic design, visual communications — logos, flyers, promotional materials, playbills, business cards. I know what works and why, and I bring that into every site I build.
No handoffs. No surprises.
When you work with me, you work with me directly from discovery to launch, with a monthly support plan available if you'd rather not manage the site yourself afterward.
Trusted by people who do great work.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND! My experience working with Rachel from Open Tree Creative was simply outstanding. Rachel is professional, genuine, insightful and extremely creative. She is highly knowledgable about website design, extremely organized and holds to what she tells you she will do. She listens, she is patient, and everything she does is with excellence. I'm deeply grateful, and I know that if you work with her, you will be too.
The Living Room
Henniker, NH — a walk-in prayer space rebuilt from the ground up.
View the case studyI deal with very hard subject matter, and the soft colors and gentle lines Rachel put together help mitigate the harshness of the topics. I just got a compliment from a new visitor this week who told me it's beautiful.
Rachel at Open Tree Creative has been our website designer here at Nashua Christian Academy. We have found her to be creative and intuitive in getting to know our organization and representing us faithfully on the web. She is extraordinarily responsive in providing requested updates or changes to our web site. Most notably, we regularly receive business (and compliments in that context) based on our site. I would heartily recommend her for businesses wanting to be noticed and seeking to better reach their online target audience.
Rachel is very professional. I employed her services when I was President of a non-profit organization. The website she developed for the non-profit is professional and of the highest caliber. She was quick to respond when I had a question or when I wanted to discuss a new project. She is professional, friendly, and industrious. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND her services!
Open Tree Creative/Rachel did our nonprofit organization's Internet presence (social media, Internet, email, graphic design), and she excelled at all of them! She is hard working, reliable, and has a good eye for design.
Without hesitation, I recommend her for any Internet presence/marketing/graphic design work you may have.
Rachel at Open Tree Creative was incredible to work with. She's thoughtful, insightful, and genuinely creative, and what I appreciated most was how patient she was and how well she guided the entire process.
She really took the time to understand what we were trying to do and helped bring it to life in a way that feels true to us. The whole experience felt clear and collaborative from start to finish.
We're so happy with how our website turned out.
Moose Mountain Construction
Hartland, NB — a 7-year-old WordPress site rebuilt from the ground up.
View the case studyA little context.
I've been tinkering on the interwebs since the 1900s (ha). Since 2010, I've developed methods to make the process easy for the people I work with.
Years of experience
Web design, graphic design, and visual communications since the dial-up era.
Open Tree Creative founded
I've been doing this for some time now. I keep current with how tech and design changes and evolves, while holding onto what's tried and true.
Hi. I'm the whole department.
When you work with me, I handle your project from discovery to launch.
Let's build the site your work deserves.
You've put in the years. Your website should show it.