How We Do It: Aug. 2000, Web Sites

Creating a Web site sounded easy – after all, everyone has one these days, and there are many design programs readily available to help. We looked at a few of these programs and quickly realized that we did not have the expertise to create a professional Web site that would properly represent Allentuck Landscaping Co. in the way we wanted.

The first step to creating a Web site was examining why we wanted one and what we wanted it to accomplish. Before creating a Web site, understanding your company’s assets and whom you are trying to reach is important. The purpose of our Web site is to present our company to current and prospective clients and employees. The goal became simple: To attract customers and, hopefully, recruit quality employees.

Once people tuned into our site, we wanted to "wow" them. We also wanted to display our services and quality in a format that would make people want to contact us. We knew we could write the information, and we had many pictures that would show off our work, but we didn’t know how to put it all together in a creative, polished format.

We found an experienced web designer, and we traded a landscape design for the site design work.

We wanted the site to be educational, attractive and fun. We believed that people would be more inclined to pursue our landscape services or employment with us if our site gave them positive feelings.

Entering our Web site (www.allentucklandscaping.com), there is an introduction to our company and its history, our mission statement and company values. There are also "buttons" to access information on a particular service, such as commercial maintenance, commercial installation, residential services, etc. Each section briefly describes services available and features pictures of properties we designed, installed or maintained. Such pictures and graphics are mandatory on our Web site – how else can existing or potential clients see what we can accomplish?

Our Web site has links to the local weather, the Associated Landscape Contractors of America and the Landscape Contractors Association. We also have links to the local Chamber of Commerce and the Corporate Volunteer Council. The commercial maintenance section even features a falling snow graphic to emphasize our snow removal service. An employment application and a direct e-mail for customer comments is available for anyone to use.

Publicizing the site’s launch is the key to its success. We sent press releases to local newspapers, newsletters and landscape magazines. We included announcement cards with invoices and our promotional materials, and the Web site address is included as we print new letterhead, business cards and truck signage.

So far, we have received some good feedback, but it’s too soon to tell whether the site has brought us customers.

We are sure that it will be a sales tool and a morale booster for our employees. We recently displayed the site at a company meeting and our employees felt good about seeing themselves in the pictures and seeing their accomplishments.

Our Web site is good, but we realize we can’t get lazy when it comes to updating the site and keeping it fresh. We also plan to add information about and photos of the volunteer work we have done and seasonal landscape articles to our Web site soon.