Dumbwaiter Design created a new website for Klein Steel increasing the number of visitors by 70% and tripling the duration of their visit. Enter your submission for the 2015 Pinnacle Awards by Feb. 27.
Dumbwaiter Design
Creates Award Winning Website
Klein Steel, a world-class metals processing and innovative solutions company, approached Dumbwaiter Design with a request for a new website that would broaden their visibility in an effort to increase traffic and sales while more accurately representing their company culture. Together with the Klein Steel team, we built much more than a website; we built a powerful tool that puts the control in their hands and their business in the industry spotlight.
Strategy & Goals
The team at Klein Steel wanted to reach a broader target market through a web presence that competed with other high-end firms such as Ryerson, but without alienating small, local businesses.
In order to achieve this goal, we needed a deeper understanding of their company. So, we began the project with a strategy meeting and a three-hour tour of their headquarters in Rochester, NY that showcased the depth and breadth of their operation. We were excited to get started, but the project still posed a unique set of problems.
Interface Design
Klein Steel wanted to humanize their brand by accurately portraying the very rugged, hands-on, friendly nature of their staff. However, to appeal to large corporate companies, the design needed to simultaneously be sleek, clean, and professional. Our goal was to merge these two clashing design styles to represent the Klein Steel brand in the most accurate way possible.
Understanding that a website design for a steel company needed to look solid and structurally sound, we began by using high-contrast, solid colors and flat, square geometry. We then incorporated the friendly, hands-on feel through textures and patterns combined with large imagery and typography.
Content Management
Another unique challenge was giving Klein Steel the ability to custom-build any page, any time on the site to meet their content requirements and still have it look great.
We were able to solve this problem by engineering a unique, module-based solution using Django CMS fluent contents. This feature allows the Klein Steel staff members to create a new page by selecting the page type and adding pre-coded modules of editable content such as an image, text, video, quote, or employee spotlight. These modules can also be easily re-arranged in any order, giving Klein Steel unprecedented control over their new website. No two pages need be the same.
Mobile Friendly
Klein Steel also requested a mobile website presence. Instead of redesigning the entire website to be mobile-friendly, a simple, but strategic one-page design was the most appropriate and cost-effective solution. We kept the user in mind by stripping out the excess information and empowering them with well placed value-added content for the device. The mobile page includes quick and easy access to contact information and directions to each of their locations, along with a brief company description and list of services. It looks great and functions seamlessly on any smartphone.
The Results
Just six months after the website launched, our Google Analytics tracking code showed the following:
- A 70% increase in new visitors
- A total of 63,000 new page views
- A 3x increase in visit duration
By establishing and understanding the clients ultimate goals, we were able to deliver a stunning new website that became a key marketing tool for the company and portrayed them as the world-class metals processing company that they are.
The new website captures everything Klein Steel is all about: strength, integrity, loyalty, perseverance, trust, and power. At the same time, it is able to attract any client, large or small, through its well-written, friendly and personable content.
Thanks to a strong collaborative effort between Dumbwaiter and Klein Steel, the new website won an overall silver award in the Rochester Business Journal’s Best of the Web competition just a few months after it launched.
About the Author:
Interactive Art Director, Dumbwaiter Design
Client Website: http://kleinsteel.com
Case Study: http://dwaiter.com/work/3/klein-steel/