Websites are frequently an afterthought for most pallet companies, but they are becoming more important when it comes to sales and public perception of your business.
The Pallet Enterprise sat down in the May issue with three business leaders who were involved recently with the revamping of their pallet company websites. This is the second half of those conversations, focusing on the design process, the importance of landing pages and setting up the right content management system.
Developing a Redesign Process
The process of redesigning a website can be different for every company. It may depend on if you are using an outside agency or have hired someone who is familiar with your company to handle the work. Tom Harvey, CEO of Hope Timber Pallet & Recycling, recalled the process his company went through when it redesigned its website. The process took four months and involved a number of key people in the business.
Harvey remembered, “It started with education for our agency of what our business was all about and what our priorities were in our business, talked about our culture, talked about our values. We educated them on what makes our company stand out. Then, we delved into the specifics of what we do, where our business is generated and what kind of customer we are hoping to attract.”
The agency took this direction and then developed mock pages and sought feedback along the way. Harvey said, “Our agency came up with creative changes and then would seek feedback and make corrections as needed.”
Some elements were established that do require routine maintenance or updating. For example, the Hope Timber Pallet & Recycling website contains an active blog that is updated monthly. The pallet company’s management team comes up with ideas and gives them to the agency. Harvey said, “We give them ideas and pass along articles from the Enterprise. We talk about labor shortages, supply chain challenges, and issues affecting us and our customers.”
The company has tapped into younger workers to get their perspective on websites and online marketing. Harvey admitted, “We tried to include some of our younger associates into the process for ideas. They are much more in tune with mobile apps and the Internet world than some of us seasoned industry veterans.”
One promotional thing the company has tried from an HR recruitment perspective is Facebook ads. These tie directly into the website for candidates to apply quickly and easily.
Glenn Meeks, owner of Woodview Media, a website and online content developer, has worked with a number of pallet companies and organizations to redesign their websites and improve their online marketing strategy.
His process starts with listening and hearing the objectives of the customer. The design delivery process begins with showing the homepage, services page, about us page and other key elements. Meeks always creates a sitemap to showcase the website’s architecture and structure. A sitemap is a diagram that identifies the key focus of a page and how it links to other pages. This helps the pallet company understand the connections and relationships between the various pages as well as the sales funnel. (More on better online sales funnels later.)
Landing Pages Create Leads
Glenn Meeks of Woodview Media has seen a lot of bad and a few really good pallet industry websites. Meeks identified one glaring omission in most websites that he reviews. Meeks stated, “The biggest mistake I see for most pallet industry websites is that they don’t use landing pages or pop ups to ask for contact information. They are not capturing leads or leading visitors through a sales funnel.”
Meeks added, “Some of the bigger players have a ‘Get a Quote’ button in the right-hand corner. And that’s great. But you can deploy a more comprehensive strategy to lead visitors through a sales funnel. You want to start a business relationship or at least collect contact information for follow-up interactions.”
What is a landing page? It is a website page that is targeted to a specific topic or keyword that leads visitors to a point where they want to provide contact information and create a relationship. Maybe you create a social media post and boost it to target an audience that you want to capture. It links back to your website, and you offer something the visitor may want in exchange for an email address or cell phone number.
Meeks explained, “The objective is to take out as many steps as possible. From the time that they click on that first link, you are providing something they want in exchange for contact information. Maybe you offer a white paper, an e-book or pallet diagram explaining pallet terminology. Customers eat that kind of stuff up.”
Meeks advised that there is a lot of content out there that can be revised and easily updated to provide good resources to customers. They are looking for ways to cut costs, improve palletization, and train themselves on everything from mold prevention to pallet design to sustainability to much more.
Working with Agencies, Website Monitoring and Content Management
Fuad Hasanovic, Marketing & Communications Manager at Kamps Pallets, said that analytics are important after you design your website and launch it. “Google has a robust suite with tools such as Google Analytics and Google Optimize. The latter helps you A/B test landing page performance and create personalized experiences. Content management platforms, such as WordPress, also come with a large library of analytics plugins. I would suggest implementing analytics as soon as possible, as having data prior to the re-design is important for establishing a benchmark.”
A big challenge is nailing down and simplifying the brand messaging. Hasanovic admitted, “The pallet industry is more unique and complex than most people realize.”
Kamps took a hybrid approach, using a media agency for some things and doing some tasks in-house. Hasanovic said, “I’ve built websites from the ground up. And I am very familiar with design.”
If you are going to use an agency, Hasanovic suggested, “Shop around for the right fit because the prices to have a website designed and maintained can vary a lot. With the Internet, you don’t have to stay local to find a good designer who is responsive to your needs.”
Sales Are Strong! Why Do I Need to Work on Our Website Now?
Harvey of Hope Timber Pallet & Recycling admitted that it hasn’t been hard to sell pallets over the last few years, and that may have led some pallet companies to be hesitant to spend money on their websites. He said, “Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to be as good as today. I’ve never seen this level of pallet demand in 25 years, but this too shall pass. We have to keep on working harder, including on our website, to ensure our long-term success.”
