[Project Complete] Kramer Industries template - $325

[kramertjl]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 2CO 26082243)

Company name: Kramer Industries, Inc.

Company profile: Kramer sells industrial equipment and supplies to the parts finishing market. In addition, we have begun to sell more product for blasting (both equipment and media) to small job shops and first-time users. The equipment we sell is both our own design and manufacture as well as re-selling of other manufacturer’s equipment. We do not differentiate between our machines and others on our website or in the sales process unless necessary. The media is purchased directly from other manufacturers and re-sold in smaller quantities to our customers. The compounds are all our own design and manufacture.
We spend a lot of time with prospective customers helping them to identify what equipment and/or supplies they need to get the results they desire. For parts manufacturers we do process sample parts so that the prospect can see the results they will get with our solution – Right From The Start. We really do use the description on our Right From The Start Guarantee with prospects (http://www.kramerindustriesonline.co...uarantee.shtml). We do not do a good job in promoting this on our site – other than having Right From The Start on every page.
The Kramer site (and what differentiates us from competitors) is a content heavy site. We have tried to offer enough information on the site leaving our prospects wanting to know more and thus call us. Unfortunately, our resource articles are not easy to locate; however, the product pages do contain a lot of information.
Traffic comes to our site primarily through PPC ads. We have multiple landing pages. These are typically the product type ‘home’ pages (i.e., barrel finishing, blasting, etc.). Whereas the navigation through the site works, we need to make it easier to understand and quicker to get from one location to the next.

Domain name: www.KramerIndustriesOnline.com

What is the scope of this project?: Redesign, update of the look and feel of the site as well as improve the navigation system. We will code the HTML but would like a home page and sample product page.

Who is the intended audience?: We typically speak to plant managers and engineering departments in larger companies. We also speak with a lot of business owners of small operations looking to replace hand finishing with a more cost efficient (semi-)automated process.

Mood or tone?: We want to project a professional image that identifies Kramer as the expert in the industry.

Color psychology?: The Kramer site has been around (with our current color scheme) for almost 5 years. The intention was an industrial look. I believe that it is important to use a scheme that screams ‘industrial’ and ‘expert’ but not ‘cold’.

Any dynamic elements?: We have a forum on our site that is not heavily used but we want to keep it. We do not have online sales. Our primary purpose is to have prospects call us.

Who are your main competitors?: The companies listed here are mainly competitors but also suppliers and customers at times. Note that we do not really like any of these sites.
http://www.compomat.com/home.shtml
http://www.metalpreparations.com/
http://www.multax.com/
http://www.crminerals.com/
http://www.dennisdawson.com/
http://www.roto-finish.com/
http://www.hammondmach.com/
http://www.novafinishing.com/
http://www.nvo.com/kpegco
http://www.trinco.com/
http://www.royson.com/
http://www.candmtopline.com/


What resources can you provide?: We can provide logos and pictures on the site as you see them. I am not our in-house web person but will have them post any files needed what I know what you want.

Websites you like: There are no websites in our industry that are very good. Most have no content and are impossible to navigate (see list above).

Deadline: December 30, 2004

[Aliska]

Hello. I’m interested and begin to work. Do you have a location where I can download the logo and pictures you wanna use at the site? May be you will be able to look at my portfolio at oxygenworks.net and point what style do you like.
Looking forward to your reply,
Helen Koshkina
http://OxygenWorks.net
sales@OxygenWorks.net

[kramertjl]

Here is a link to download a zip file containing our logo and other picture files currenlty on our site. Please let me know if there is anything else you need/want. Thanks.
Steve

[Lori]

Hi Steve...

I am working on a design for you - I will try to have it in either today or tomorrow

[Lori]

Here is something to get us started

*revisions below*

[kramertjl]

Lori:

Thank you for the submission. I will post comments in the next day or so.

Steve

[Aliska]

my variant

[pickadesign]

Hi Steve,

Here is my first option for the design for Kramer Industries.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

[kramertjl]

A few comments about the initial designs:

Lori: I like the simplicity of the home page. The color scheme is good. Having our USP right at the top with our positioning statement is important to improving the quality of the leads/conversions off the site. Putting pictures of the machines on the home page will also help improve the lead quality. I’m not sure I like the right side menu and don’t really understand the navigation system you are suggesting. While you have put the ‘support’ links across the top, I would like to see a little more emphasis for these links – but without dwarfing the product sections of the site.

Aliska: Having some limited description of the products on the home page with a link for more information is good. I assume you are suggesting that the links across the top are to be consistent on every page – a little too much space used at the top of every page. The layout is a little confusing. The eye is drawn to multiple locations on the page making for a complicated/confusing call to action. The header design is good (without the links above). Using a different color for the ‘support’ links helps to make them stand out but the yellow box is a little too dominant on the page. The “communication” picture is good as we ultimately want prospects to call us. We do not have e-commerce on our site.

Pickadesign: The format of the page is easy to understand. The close-up pictures are a nice touch. There is a lot of content which may add for a little confusion. I like the placement of the multiple logos on the site. I would like to see more emphasis of our USP. The same links are on the top and the bottom of the page – seems a bit redundant. As we want to have visitors call us, making the phone number more prominent would be better. We will need links on the other pages to include the product lines (i.e., the main links you have on this page). The color scheme is a little too soft. Our customer base is primarily industrial manufacturers and we want to have the site look more industrial.

These are the basic comments I have for now. Please let me know if you need/want additional comments. I look forward to your suggestions.

[pickadesign]

Thanks for the comments, I'll make the adjustments as mentioned, make it a bit less busy and adjust the color tones from being as soft as it is right now. Not a problem. I'll post an update asap.

Delano

[pickadesign]

Hi,

I have posted below two other screenshots with the only change for now being the colors, I want to get the color scheme correct before I make the other adjustments you mentioned in regards to the menu in the footer and on the left column.

Finally you stated you wanted your USP highlighted more, can you let me know what that is? I'm sorry if that's a stupid question, but I want to be sure I'm making the correct improvement and highlighting your USP, as I'm not quite sure what you meant, and needed clarification. Sorry about if that sounds stupid

Thanks


updated later in thread

[pickadesign]

This version

Highlighted the telephone number more and also added more to the menu and showed how the sub-menu would work. I also took away alot of the text that was making it look a bit confusing.

updated later in thread

[Anne]

Here's my entry

Anne

[Anne]

# 2

[kramertjl]

Delano:

I like the darker yellow coloring. What about using a royal blue instead (or would this get drowned out in the gray)? the brighter color pictures is also better.

The links on the bottom may be unnecessary if we have all the links on the left side.

I would prefer to have the product links above the 'services' links (switch the light and dark gray links on the left).

Our USP is "Right From The Start".

The catalog link is duplicated across the top and along the left side.

Steve

[kramertjl]

Anne:

The header is good as we will have the phone number on every page. The concept of a 'Featured Product' is interesting - something to keep the site fresh. I like the tabs across the top but I am unsure what navigation system you suggest once a prospect has entered a product section. Ideas? I like the text size/type on the edition with the blue bottom but I like the formatting on the other page (except the text box). Is it possible to reduce the width of the left side menu area?

Steve

[kramertjl]

Thank you to all for submitting. I am impressed with the quality and diversity of the designs. So far this has been a satisfying process.

Steve

[Lori]

Steve,

I am working on the revisions for you, but want a little better clarification on the right navigation changes so that I can get it right.

I’m not sure I like the right side menu and don’t really understand the navigation system you are suggesting.

What is it that you do not like?

Do you want the menu on the left vs on the right?

In the revisions, I have already made the navigation area button like vs the original text links (which I will show you after the above clarification), but the thought was when you click on the product section, and it went to the inner page, a menu would open showing you all the products/support options in that section - so basically I was showing you what the navigation would do on the inside. Do you understand my thought process on this?

[kramertjl]

I understand what you are saying about the navigation system (i.e., inner pages).

Most sites are designed with left side navigation. What advantages do you feel right side navigation has?

Steve

[Lori]

Steve,

That is a good question for you to ask, and one I can well answer - I am well versed in web usability and search engine optimization.

The answer is, while it is most customary for navigation to be on the left hand side, the navigation system is usually ignored by most users in favor of the content.

QUOTE FROM JAKOB NEILSON:

Users always look at the content first when they encounter a new web page, so it would be better if the content started at the left border of the window (for users in cultures that read left-to-right). After the users are done with the content, their gaze could naturally shift to the right to decide where to go next. In contrast, placing the navigation rail to the left requires users to skip over it before they can start scanning the content area.

READING ON THIS (this is only a few - I have TONS)
http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/...tion.html#four
http://www.uie.com/articles/eye_tracking/
http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/u...bject-ecom.htm
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archiv...redesigned.php
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum21/1807.htm

As well, when your navigation system is on the right side vs the left side, your content is higher in the HTML than the navigaton - this is something that search engines like a great deal when it comes to spidering vs ranking.

In the end it is your choice on which side you would like it to be placed, and I can easily switch it from one side to the other - you just let me know.

[Lori]

I am still playing a little with the menu bars, but here is where I am right now - let me know your thoughts.

*removed for revisions*

[kramertjl]

A few comments in addition to what you are already working on:
1. I would prefer a left side menu.
2. Change the thumbs up picture to something that better conveys – communication.
3. Add some descriptive text to each of the ‘Our Line of Products’ section.
4. Make the phone number a little more prominent/visible (bold?).
5. We would want to change the pictures in some of the categories.
6. Change the USP text to Right From The Start…

Steve

[Lori]

I will move the menu to the left. Will try another photo. Will add text. Will bold phone. Will add text. Will cap USP.

Category photos, can you provide what you would want for these? There was nothing in color for these categories (at least that I saw)

[kramertjl]

Lori:

I will see what we have. Unfortunately, we do not have color pictures for all our machines. We can deal with this issue later - not a major priority. Feel free to use a b&w if we put one in the zip file.

Steve

[pickadesign]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm working on the adjustments and will post it asap.

Delano

[Lori]

Steve,

Here are some changes - with the move of the navigation to the right, the photo looked unbalanced there... but I can put one on the right side of the text if you like.

I changed all the photos with the exception of compounds - there is no pics on your site for that.

USP changed. Phone number larger.

Changed boxes that held products from square to rectangular (like your logo); made a bit smaller and added text under them.

Let me know your thoughts.

*removed for revisions*

[pickadesign]

Updated version, let me know your thoughts:

[Anne]

Here's the revision & a inner page

[Anne]

Inner page

[Aliska]

some changes....