The industrial and construction sector has been understandably slow to embrace the world of digital marketing - after all, their target audience have historically been late adopters of online technology. It gives us great pleasure then to single out www.theforkliftcompany.net as a stand out example of great website design in its field.
Who are they?
The Forklift Company is a Warwickshire based supplier of forklift trucks, access platforms and other warehouse and construction equipment. All their second hand equipment is reconditioned and refurbished. They have over 30 years experience in the business, they're CFTS accredited and supply everything with a 90 day warranty.
The Forklift Company have been Approved Index suppliers since 2009.
Why did they win?
Design - The industry-appropriate orange and yellows of the website are a bold choice. They're eyecatching and create an excellent contrast with the black and grey hues. This contrast makes the layour clear and the information presented easy to understand. The way the site is set out has been thought through well, with a home page that gets right down to business by showing a selection of available products and prices.
Navigation - The site structure couldn't be clearer with both top and side navigation bars making it easy to switch between information on the products and information on the company itself. The design really helps here, bold colour choices and a low level of clutter make scanning pages and picking your way through the site a simple process.
Content - As you'd expect from a site in this category the content is functional and to the point. There's nothing that doesn't need to be there while every piece of pertinent information is included. The product descriptions are especially detailed. This makes for a refreshing change - most websites go heavy on uneccessarily wordy write ups for the purposes of stuffing in as many SEO keywords as possible. The Forklift Company plays it straight, keeping the longer articles and extra information for the blog - which seems to be updated regularly and contains other kinds of content like industry news and infographics. It's to their credit.
Contact Options - Copious, though, like most suppliers in this category The Forklift Company has yet to embrace social media. There are no Twitter, Facebok or LinkedIn profiles available which is a missed opportunity and a shame considering they get everything else so right: a phone number and email address on every page, several contact forms, a 'Contact Us' page with map, a live chat facility and an SMS text enquiry service.
Pizazz - We've already mentioned how well The Forklift Company balance their content, keeping the site economically populated with vital information for existing and potential customers. They also have possibly the longest FAQ page I've seen outside of Google which I'll show here on its side for full effect:
It's chock full of great information for prospective buyers - explaining terms and acronyms, running through the uses of different trucks - which could have been split up into different keywords and spread over many pages which would have made the site flabbier and less easy to use. You could argue they could do with a contents section at the top with links to different parts of the page but nevertheless it's a great resource which is invaluable to potential customers.
All in all a visit to The Forklift Company's website is an uplifting experience and one which were happy to reward with a 2012 Approved Index Website Award.
Construction Honourable Mention: Smart Platforms
Who are they?
The Forklift Company is a Warwickshire based supplier of forklift trucks, access platforms and other warehouse and construction equipment. All their second hand equipment is reconditioned and refurbished. They have over 30 years experience in the business, they're CFTS accredited and supply everything with a 90 day warranty.
The Forklift Company have been Approved Index suppliers since 2009.
Why did they win?
Design - The industry-appropriate orange and yellows of the website are a bold choice. They're eyecatching and create an excellent contrast with the black and grey hues. This contrast makes the layour clear and the information presented easy to understand. The way the site is set out has been thought through well, with a home page that gets right down to business by showing a selection of available products and prices.
Navigation - The site structure couldn't be clearer with both top and side navigation bars making it easy to switch between information on the products and information on the company itself. The design really helps here, bold colour choices and a low level of clutter make scanning pages and picking your way through the site a simple process.
Content - As you'd expect from a site in this category the content is functional and to the point. There's nothing that doesn't need to be there while every piece of pertinent information is included. The product descriptions are especially detailed. This makes for a refreshing change - most websites go heavy on uneccessarily wordy write ups for the purposes of stuffing in as many SEO keywords as possible. The Forklift Company plays it straight, keeping the longer articles and extra information for the blog - which seems to be updated regularly and contains other kinds of content like industry news and infographics. It's to their credit.
Contact Options - Copious, though, like most suppliers in this category The Forklift Company has yet to embrace social media. There are no Twitter, Facebok or LinkedIn profiles available which is a missed opportunity and a shame considering they get everything else so right: a phone number and email address on every page, several contact forms, a 'Contact Us' page with map, a live chat facility and an SMS text enquiry service.
Pizazz - We've already mentioned how well The Forklift Company balance their content, keeping the site economically populated with vital information for existing and potential customers. They also have possibly the longest FAQ page I've seen outside of Google which I'll show here on its side for full effect:
It's chock full of great information for prospective buyers - explaining terms and acronyms, running through the uses of different trucks - which could have been split up into different keywords and spread over many pages which would have made the site flabbier and less easy to use. You could argue they could do with a contents section at the top with links to different parts of the page but nevertheless it's a great resource which is invaluable to potential customers.All in all a visit to The Forklift Company's website is an uplifting experience and one which were happy to reward with a 2012 Approved Index Website Award.
Construction Honourable Mention: Smart Platforms
Smart Platforms is a nationwide supplier of self-propelled, truck and van mounted access platforms with branches in Birmingham, London and Manchester.
While the design is unpretentious and highly functional their website outdoes many in the industry by cramming in tons of high quality content and information. No option for customers is left out - there are demonstrational videos, downlodable brochures and plans for each product, copious images and a wealth of contact options for each branch.The intention to provide a useful resource to customer is made very clear. With such a wealth of information already in place, a little attention paid to the aesthetics of the site and the ease of navigation could make it a real winner.
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