When Josh Olswanger first opened his laptop in 2010 to design websites for friends and family, he had no idea those late nights would spark a company trusted by hundreds of businesses across industries. What started as a handful of projects quickly grew into Thrive Web Designs, a brand built on one simple promise: put clients first.
Today, Thrive stands as one of Idaho’s most recognized web design agencies, known for its award-winning service, custom solutions, and unwavering focus on security. Josh’s story isn’t just about building websites—it’s about building trust, evolving with technology, and creating a company where integrity and customer care fuel long-term growth.
Building from the Ground up
In 2010, Josh Olswanger started designing websites for friends and family. At the time, it was about creating a portfolio big enough—and good enough—to start charging for services. “Our brand grew quickly,” Josh recalls, “and it has been built on trust, integrity, and exceptional customer service.”
– Inside Thrive Web Designs’ office, where Josh Olswanger and his team craft custom websites with a client-first approach.
From those early projects, Thrive Web Designs became a business serving small to medium-sized companies across industries. “We’ve been building anywhere from 70–100 websites a year,” Josh says. “From medical to retail, to e-commerce and industrial, we are proud to serve clients of all shapes and sizes.”
A Reputation for Excellence
Thrive’s growth didn’t go unnoticed. The Idaho Business Review, a local editorial group, names the “best of the best” businesses each year. Thrive has taken home the Best of Web Design award almost five times in the past seven years.
“Winning awards like this is gratifying,” Josh says. “It tells our team that serving customers with the best service every day is worth every second.”
– A moment of celebration at Thrive Web Designs, where passion and collaboration drive creativity.
Security has also been a major focus. “One of our biggest challenges has been evolving with the latest security threats,” Josh explains. Hack attempts and malware are constant, but Thrive’s team built “an extremely tight and safe network for all of our clients and their websites.”
The Thrive Philosophy
Josh sums up Thrive’s values with three guiding rules:
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- “Always put our clients first. Without them, we don’t exist.”
- “Be willing to change and adapt to new technology.”
- “Always cater toward a fully custom design rather than cheaper templates.”
As Josh explains, custom work means higher quality, faster websites, and more control over every detail. Thrive uses WordPress with Elementor for development, Figma for mockups, and Dreamweaver for direct code edits. The team has also handled complex WordPress and PHP Laravel projects with multiple integrations—challenges that Josh says have “built our creative and technical muscle.”
Growth, Goals, and Cloudways
Today, Thrive manages close to 600 clients. “It takes a full dedicated team,” Josh says, “to ensure every website stays up to date, stable, and that every customer service request is met on time.” Looking ahead, his goal is “to continually grow at a responsible rate while keeping our client base secure and steady.”
– The Cloudways Platform, where Thrive Web Designs manages fast, secure hosting for hundreds of clients.
Part of that stability came from switching hosting providers. “Back in 2016 or 2017, we did a project for a client using Cloudways,” Josh recalls. At the time, Thrive relied on a bigger-name hosting company that caused repeated problems. After experiencing Cloudways’ easy interface and responsive support, Josh knew it was the right move. “It was a no-brainer to switch our entire network, one website at a time.”
He credits Cloudways for speeding up workflows: “Fast servers, easy-to-use interface, add-on malware security, and exceptional support via chat have made a dramatic difference.”
Lessons from the Journey
For Josh, the work goes far beyond design. “Running a business takes up the majority of your time outside of actually designing and building websites,” he says. Billing, sales, customer service—these are the tasks that grow a business when done right.
Through it all, one phrase has anchored Thrive Web Designs: Putting Our Clients First Since 2010. Josh believes it’s the reason for their success. “Our clients rely on us for all things website-related,” he says, “and it’s our job to deliver with accuracy, clarity, and quality—every time.”
Interested in working with Thrive Web Designs? You can connect with Josh Olswanger on LinkedIn or through their website. We recently interviewed him as part of our Agency Spotlight series.
Mansoor Ahmed Khan
Been in content marketing since 2014, and I still get a kick out of creating stories that resonate with the target audience and drive results. At Cloudways by DigitalOcean (a leading cloud hosting company, btw!), I lead a dream team of content creators. Together, we brainstorm, write, and churn out awesome content across all the channels: blogs, social media, emails, you name it! You can reach out to me at [email protected].
