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CMA Awards 2013: JELD-WEN Highly-Commended in Best Use of Website

By December 18, 2013CMA News

Lucy Woodhead, communications manager at JELD-WEN, discusses how they developed their award winning website to offer trade professionals and homeowners easy access to expert advice and in-depth information, while showcasing the full JELD-WEN product range.

The redevelopment of www.jeld-wen.co.uk had a number of key objectives: to raise the brand awareness and reposition JELD-WEN as a premium brand, to support the customer decision making process and inspire them, as well as increase the number of visits to the site and drive sales through the nationwide network of retailers.Research had identified that female homeowners were key decision makers in home improvement – they were led by style and inspiration, over price. It also showed that while homeowners used the internet for ideas, joiners often took information to clients to help them choose their products, so it was essential that the new site reflected both the needs of homeowners and trade professionals.

Key Benefits

The key benefits of the new JELD-WEN site are its user friendly format and clear navigation. With intuitive design applications, designers and homeowners can even try out different doors in the home using the new virtual design tool. Being able to make informed decisions is incredibly important to both trade professionals and homeowners so the site includes extensive product specifications. In addition to size and material information www.jeld-wen.co.uk lists essential advice and details about aesthetics, practicality, flexibility and maintenance. The site also hosts an inspiration section. This section features a number of image galleries, videos and informative articles to inspire consumers and also help trade professionals when discussing suitable options with their clients.

With a dedicated trade area, the new site offers professional support and accurate information about JELD-WEN’s products in CAD format – so they can be inserted directly into plans without spending valuable time detailing the products themselves. The download centre houses advice on fitting and maintenance, technical specifications, brochures and certificates in a handy PDF format to download and print. Visitors can also enrol on JELD-WEN’s Continual Professional Development (CPD) training and access news on the latest industry developments to help merchants and architects keep on top of their game.

The site’s enhanced product database allows architects, builders and joiners, as well as homeowners, to research the best products for their requirements, while the handy “compare” function lets users compare and contrast specific product lines to meet the design and budget needs of individual projects. To save time for trade professionals working to tight schedules, visitors can also access practical advice at the click of a mouse, including a range of ‘how to’ videos. Presented by JELD-WEN experts, the new ‘how-to’ videos guide viewers through the process of hanging interior or exterior doors, fitting exterior doorsets and installing fire doors. With even more videos in the pipeline the visual guides are great for people on the go and those looking to brush up their door hanging skills.

Keeping up to date

To entice visitors to return to the site all product information is kept up to date. By conducting regular reviews of site analytics and listening to trade professionals and homeowners JELD-WEN has been able to see how the site is being used and which areas could be modified to improve the user experience and new content is continually being added.

Benefiting the user

The JELD-WEN website is designed to intuitively guide the user through each section naturally, whether browsing the main site or searching in the trade portal, the information supplied leads the visitor from inspiration and advice pages to product pages and the ‘Find a Retailer’ section.

Since redeveloping the site in March 2013 there has been a 55% increase in traffic overall, 61% increase in visits to the articles pages, a 295% increase in visits to the ‘find a retailer’ section and the site has received a number of industry awards for design and functionality.