LBM companies redesign websites for mobile users

fe n rew wEBSITE is in your compalny's future-or you're planning to upgrade an existing one-you'll want to consider "responsive design."

Responsive websites automatically adjust for optimal viewing on any device: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. This concept has been around a couple years, but adoption has picked up lately, as the number of different mobile devices has increased.

"The LBM industry is traditionally slow to respond to technological enhancements," says Blake Cooper, marketing manager at RoyOMartin, Alexandria, La. "To improve our customer service, we implemented responsive web design to provide more meaningful and useful product information. even on mobile devices."

Compared to responsive websites, traditional websiteswhich are designed for larger screens-are harder to navigate on mobile devices, a source of frustration for users. Offering a mobile app helps, but involves additional costsand updates can be time-consuming.

"Your customers expect your website to be presented in a format that looks good on smartphones, tablets and computers without any effort on their end-without an app," says Steve Lubahn, vice president of client marketing strategy at Vision Design Group, Winona, Wi. "Downloading an app should provide information or content that can't easily be provided via a web browser."

All of this is important because 45Vo of Americans own a smartphone and 3l7o own a tablet computer-and they're using them to access the Internet. And if users become frustrated, they're not likely to return for a second look or recommend your website to others.

"Surveys show that mobile traffic to all websites has increased significantly every year, and will continue to grow," says Rachelle Shendow, marketing manager at AZEK Building

Products, Scranton, Pa. "Recognizing this trend, we developed a responsive website in order to improve the user experience-for consumers at their home computers or contractors using smartphones or tablets on a jobsite."

Although a responsive website can cost slightly more upfront, it is less expensive than maintaining separate desktop, tablet, and smartphone sites. It's also cheaper and easier to manage content on a single, responsive website, rather than on multiple sites and apps.

Updates are also significantly cheaper on a single, responsive website than for mobile apps-and don't require any action by users. Just update content once and every format is updated.

Another way to keep costs down is to partner with someone with experience in responsive website design. "Select someone who is skilled at this type of website design, to get the most from your investment," advises

Siding And Trim Spegifications And Coverage

Shendow.

Tracking visitor response is also easier with responsive websites, because all inbound traffic is routed to the same address-instead of being routed to different versions of the site. Tech experts say this ensures higher ranking on search engines.

At Carter Lumber, Kent, Oh., the goal was to convert website visitors into Carter customers.

"Through best website design and conversion optimization practices. Carter Lumber instantly grew both traffic and leads when the new website launched," says designer Justin Smith, OuterBox Solutions, Akron, Oh.

from the Apple App Store.

The California Redwood Co., Eureka, Ca., chose responsive design as the best way to reach its customers and sing the praises of natural redwood.

"We had lots of information to communicate, so it was time to refresh our website," notes marketing manager Kelly Lusa. "People are using a variety of devices to access the Internet, so we wanted to make sure we are properly represented on all of them."

GETTING THE WORD out on natural redwood was the goal for The California Redwood Co.'s new resoonsive website.

WEI.COME TO THE CALIFORNIA REDWOOD COMPANY

Carter chose responsive design to bring a fresh look to its website and implement interactive tools such as a store locator, real-time estimators, and a product-quoting system. "My Store" locations are stored for future visits. Once a quote is completed, it is emailed to the customer. then saved and forwarded to the nearest store.

When it was time to combine two separate websites into a single corporate site, Select Trusses & Lumber and Precision Steel Trusses, West Salem, Wi., chose responsive design, on the advice of Vision Design Group. On the new responsive website, no download is required for Select's own top chord calculator. Another tool, MiTek's truss design software, can be downloaded for iPhones and iPads