Named work and case studies
A stranger wants to see work, not a row of gray marks. A short case with a name and a result is enough to start.
What this is
Named work is a real engagement a stranger can recognize: the client’s name, or a clearly described situation when the name must stay private, plus what you did and what changed. A case study is that story written out. A work or portfolio section is the same idea in shorter form.
Specifics are the difference. “We helped a regional manufacturer tighten the monthly close” is a case. “Trusted by industry leaders” is a slogan. Numbers belong in the story only when they are true and you have permission to share them. A year, a city, or the type of work is often enough.
A logo wall is a row of client marks with no name in the text and no story. Four or more logo images, and nothing else, reads as decoration. Logos can sit beside a case. They do not replace one. Proof next to the offer is the sibling question of placement. This page is about whether the work is named at all.
Why it matters for trust
People hire for a job they can picture. A case lets them map their situation onto one you have already done. Without that, they have to trust adjectives. Many will not, especially when a search shows few reviews and little else to go on.
A named case is also a check against invention. If you will not put a name, a situation, or an outcome on the page, you do not yet have a public story. Publish the ones you can stand behind. Leave the rest off the site until the client says yes.
Confidential work can still be specific. Describe the constraint, the work, and the change, and say the client name is withheld. Vague praise with a logo is harder to believe than a plain paragraph with no logo. One finished story on the home page or the services page beats a gallery that never says what happened.
Do this
- Pick one finished job you can talk about. Get permission if the client will be named.
- Write three short parts: the situation, what you did, and what changed. Use a number only if it is true.
- Put the client’s name in the heading when you can. If you cannot, say the name is withheld and keep the situation specific.
- Place the case on the home page or the services page, and use ordinary words such as case study, our work, projects, or portfolio so a stranger can tell what the section is.
- If you show client logos, pair each one with a name or a sentence. Do not publish a row of marks and stop there.
- Add a second case only when you have a second true story. Link the case from the service it proves.
How Free Trust Score treats this
Free Trust Score helps when the home page or the services page uses the language of finished work: case study, our work, projects, or portfolio. That is the named-work mark. It is a reading of the words on the page, not a judgment of how impressive the outcome was.
A logo wall hurts when the page has four or more images marked as clients or logos, and it has no quotes and no work, case, or portfolio language. The scan does not decide whether a logo is famous. It notices a wall of marks with no story beside them.
Related
See what a stranger can already see.
Run a Free Trust Score, or book a short fit call if you want help reading it.