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Posted on 16/09/2019
You’ve decided you need a new or refreshed website, but you don’t know where to start when it comes to choosing the right web design partner. A recommendation is always a good place to start but remember its horses for courses – a relationship that worked for a peer may not be right for you. So how do you make sure you get it right? Here are some suggestions from the Glazing Vault team.
It’s useful to think about what you want before you decide who is best delivering it. Think about what you want your website to be. Do you want it to be a brochure site, or to actively generate leads? If the latter, what experience and evidence can your shortlist of web designers demonstrate to you on previous successful lead generation sites?
Looking good
Once you know what you want it to be, you need to think about how you want your website to look. Look at your potential designer’s portfolio to see if they have done anything you like. A lot of designers also find it useful to see other sites you like, whether from your industry or another, to get an idea of the overall look and tone that appeals to you.
How do you like to work? Do you know exactly what you want and simply need a web company to do the technical bit and create your vision? Do you like to work collaboratively using your supplier’s expertise and experience with your input throughout the process, or can you take a step back and let your chosen supplier take the lead? It might help if your supplier specialises in your market and has proven experience to give you peace of mind.
Cost Vs Value
And finally, think about how much you have to spend on the project and find the right fit for your budget. It sounds obvious but looking for the cheapest supplier is never a good place to start. It’s better to think about what value you could get from the right site. For example, a site that helps you to generate leads will pay for itself more quickly than a straight-forward brochure site. But a brochure site is less expensive to create. Once you know what budget you have and what you want to achieve with that budget, you can look for a supplier who fits the brief.
Our philosophy
Glazing Vault specialises in the window and door industry and works closely with all kinds of customers to deliver what they need. We work for companies big and small supplying everything from the simpler brochure sites, to the slightly more complex lead generating sites. But whatever the size of customer and whatever the brief, we appreciate it’s a big step to take choosing a new website supplier, so try to make it as easy as possible for our clients every step of the way with our advanced management system and ongoing support once the project is completed.
Posted on 06/08/2019
As specialists in the window and door industries, we have worked with hundreds of companies – start-ups, long-established businesses and everything in between – to build a website presence that suits their operation. However, time and time again when we are approached by new companies looking for the right online solution, we hear requests for basic brochure sites because that’s all they assume they can afford. This isn’t the case.
Companies are surprised to see just how much they can get for their money when they use design themes and tools that are then tailored to their business. Some come with a negative perception of website design themes too because they don’t think the finished site will be personalised enough for their business. However, themes are just a starting point. They provide a layout and structure for the site to follow, but all the creative elements – colour palette, images, copy and headlines are all unique and suited in with each individual company’s brand identity.
So, just how much is it possible to get using this template format?
At Glazing Vault, we offer a range of website design themes for companies to choose from, so they can find the right ‘look’ for them. Once they have selected the design, because a lot of the work has already been done, we can often get the site up and running in a matter of days. As long as we have the imagery and copy, it doesn’t take long at all. Also, once the site is up and running, we’ll then continue to work with the customer for the long term to ensure everything runs smoothly on an ongoing basis.
And it’s not a one-way process either. Any good website company, theme based or otherwise, will encourage two-way interaction while the site is being developed. We use a handy system whereby customers can edit or offer live comments on elements of the site when it is still in draft form. It makes is easier for customers and ensures the whole process runs as smoothly as possible.
Take it up a notch
For companies that want to take things a step further and incorporate proven lead generation tools on their site, we have a solution for that too. Our ready-made door-designer tools can be loaded onto an existing or new site within hours. The door designer tool is a complex tool behind the scenes and has taken a lot of work to design and develop. However, now that the work is done, having worked with some of the industry’s biggest names in composite doors, we’re able to offer a basic door designer tool that is ready to be uploaded and start generating leads, quickly and efficiently.
Because a lot of the work for website themes and ready-made door designers has already been done, we are also able to offer these impressive solutions for affordable prices, particularly suited to small to medium sized businesses.
If you’d like to put us to the test and see if we can surprise you with how much website you can get for your money, get in touch with us today by e-mailing katie@glazingvault.com
Posted on 17/06/2019
A large proportion of new and well-established businesses alike struggle to generate leads. In fact, more than 60% of marketers worldwide say that lead generation is their biggest challenge. As specialists in delivering cost effective website solutions, we think we can help. You would be amazed at the difference an effective online presence can make to your lead generating efforts. For example, our vast experience in the window and door sectors tell us that having a door designer tool on your website significantly improves lead generation.
If you’ve ever done your research into generating leads online, you’ve probably come across a few rules that come up time and time again. Here are just a few examples that we agree are important: Encourage interaction with visitors by ensuring your calls to action are clear and obvious; Give visitors something in return for their contact information; Offer something for free; Measurable lead generating tools.
Including a door designer on your site can tick all these boxes and more.
I can’t imagine there are many people that work in the window and door sector, whether at supply, fabricator or installer level, that haven’t come across the door designer tool in one form or another. There are different formats out there – some easier to use than others – but all with the same purpose. They allow homeowners to browse through a range of doors, altering the colour, door design, hardware and glass options, until they have created their perfect door. It’s such a popular tool because it can be hard to visualise the completed door with all your personal preferences in place, without seeing it as a finished item.
So how does this tool generate leads for your business?
Once the homeowner has spent some time playing around with various options and finally found their perfect door, they will of course want to save their creation for fear of forgetting all their specific choices. Any clever door designer will at this point ask for the users contact details in exchange for an image and details of their chosen door. On the surface it sounds like a simple idea, but if we look again at the rules for generating leads online, you’ll see that the door designer tool is a tool that ticks all the boxes. Your designer becomes another salesperson for your business. Fully automated it can even send out quotes and other documentation to your customers.
Some new clients we speak to think that having such a technically complex tool on their website will be prohibitively expensive because of the time and money it will take to build. But having worked with all the market leading composite door manufacturers, Glazing Vault have a series of ready-made door designers that we can implement on your website within hours. Fully branded as your designer, it will suite in with your existing website seamlessly.
If you would like your business to benefit from a door designer, e-mail us today to find out more katie@glazingvault.com
Posted on 12/06/2019
The work of a web designer or developer is very much behind the scenes. The UK alone spends an average of 2.5 hours every day online, or nearer 3.5 hours if aged between 18 and 24 years old. But when you’re browsing or even interacting with a site, assuming the site has been built well and is operating smoothly, you’re probably not thinking about the team of people that created it. And that’s as it should be.
The team at Glazing Vault have been working behind the scenes for long time now and although we have partnered with hundreds of companies in the window and door sector, we’ve become aware that people either don’t recognise the Glazing Vault name or aren’t sure what it stands for. That’s why today we’re breaking the mould in this latest blog to step forward and let you know a little more about us and our experience.
Vital Statistics
Here’s a picture of Glazing Vault by numbers!
30 – this is the number of years the team at Glazing Vault have been designing and developing websites and online solutions for the window and door industries.
500 – although we supply solutions for new and established businesses alike, we have helped more than 500 start-up organisations to get their new ventures online.
300k – our website solutions don’t just look nice, they generate leads too. We have generated more than 300,000 homeowner enquiries.
200k– we don’t stop at leads either. This is the number of actual online orders placed with trade supplier customers.
300k - the number of quotes created online for trade customers.
3 – the number of hours it takes for us to deploy one of our product designer solutions onto your existing website. Talk to us about our window and door designer tools.
2 – how many days it takes us to design, develop and make live, a basic new website.
20 – is the number of website designs we have for our customers to choose from.
As you can see, there is a lot more to Glazing Vault than meets the eye. So, if you’re looking for a website solution with a little more substance, contact us today for more information by e-mailing katie@glazingvault.com
Posted on 25/04/2019
Did you know that 55 percent of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website? Regardless of your industry, product or service, you’re dealing with an extremely small window of time before your visitors head for someone else’s site. To get people to hang around for longer, there are some things you need to do that visitors will see in the first 10 seconds of landing on your site.
Here are some specific questions every visitor wants answered in 10 seconds.
1. What Are You Selling?
First and foremost, they’ll want to immediately know what product/service you’re offering. The instant they land on your website, this should be abundantly clear, and there should be absolutely no guesswork involved. Using just a few lines of text is helpful as long as it gets straight to the point.
2. Why Should They Care?
After establishing what your offer entails, your visitors will have an even more pressing concern. How will it improve their lives and solve whatever pain points they’re experiencing? In other words, what’s in it for them and why should they care? This is where you need to communicate your value proposition and lay out for them in no uncertain terms, why they should do business with you.
3. What’s the Cost?
Let’s imagine that you have explained what you’re selling succinctly, and you’ve piqued a visitor’s interest by explaining what the benefits of using your products or service are, visitors will probably then want to gain at least some idea of how much it’s going to cost. We’re not suggesting we should all have glaring price tags on the home page of our websites, but it might be useful to have a clear and obvious link to your pricing information to show you have nothing to hide. Making them work hard for the information is more likely to result in them being frustrated more than enthused.
4. What Differentiates Your Brand From Others?
Let’s be honest. Most industries are saturated with competitors vying for the attention of a finite demographic. As we all well know, the fenestration industry is no different and quite frankly, sometimes the differences from one company to another may be hard to see on first viewing. It can help to tell your story, because that will be different to everyone else’s. Don’t go overboard, but revealing a bit about your company’s history, team members, values and so on can give visitors a flavour of the type of company you are and whether you’ll be a good fit for what they’re looking for.
5. Who Else is Using It?
People want validation of a product/service before they spend their hard-earned money on it. If you’re able to establish other notable customers/clients who are using it, you’re probably going to put a visitor’s mind at ease, but again, you need to do this quickly and succinctly to get the message across fast. Testimonials are great too, which of course you don’t necessarily want crowding up your home page, but again, let visitors know they exist and give them quick access to where they can find them.
Conclusion
It’s important to remember that you’ve only got so much time to impress website visitors and persuade them to take a closer look. Understanding the most common questions that arise in visitors’ minds is essential for creating a positive experience and creating it fast. Sometimes it can be useful to review your existing site and ask yourself these questions – would visitors find the answers in the first 10 seconds? Or will they be long gone because they can’t find what they need?
We help companies get websites that work online quickly, easily and cost effectively, so if you think your site can be improved, contact us today.
