Thompson Creek Window Co.’s website is a great example of a marketing website for a replacement window company.
A large company serving the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area, TCW obviously had the resources to use a high-quality professional Web developer, but there’s no reason you can’t use some of these features on your own website, even if it’s something you put together yourself.
Smart domain name: “Thompsoncreek” is a shortened version of the company name that’s easy to type and not too long for email. (Still, register any long versions to protect your brand.)
Purpose: There’s no question about what TCW sells or where it sells. Products offered are clearly presented, as is the company's sales marketing area, using interactive maps. Page content corresponds with page titles and other “metadata” you can’t see (but search engines can).
Layout: It’s clean and easy on the eyes. Navigation is consistent, and key information can be copied/pasted with a mouse. Despite lots of graphics, the site is fast on PC and mobile browsers.
Mobile-specific versions optimized for the platform: Remember, as much as half your traffic could be smartphones and tablets. (Read "Getting Mobile," for more info about optimizing your website for mobile devices.)
Call to action: Include one on practically every page appropriate to the content presented.
Images: The TCW site makes great use of images throughout and good use of YouTube for customer testimonials.
Additional “fun” features: These features, such as TCW’s “Customize The Dream Home,” make the website “stickier,” keeping viewers there longer.
Other social media properties: Make it easy for visitors to link to and from your site. (Check out TCW’s Facebook page, and read our Business How-To on setting up a Facebook business page.)
Thought-leadership: TCW’s news feed is up-to-date with “green” and window/door issues. More important: A local newspaper editor or TV producer could create a feature story by using pretty much just what’s on the website.
—Joe Stoddard is an industry consultant helping remodelers be successful with their technology. twitter.com/moucon; [email protected]
