Site awareness

With the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, portable gaming consoles and other devices making the worldwide web ever more accessible, the importance of an online presence has never been more important.

That said, it is not enough to have just a website. A professional, informative and well-managed site will promote a business 24-hours a day. A badly designed site that is difficult to navigate or full of outdated information will do more harm than good.

From my own experience, joining the family business some 10 years ago, I was pleased to see we at least had a website, but there was room for improvement. What we have achieved now is a comprehensive site defining what our business is, does, and offers, all at a glance.

The new and previously owned machinery sections have arguably seen the biggest improvement, with the complete product portfolio listed with images, videos, specification, brochures and manuals available to view and download. This information, along with news articles, health and safety guides and so on, is all constantly updated on a daily basis.

We now find the majority of telephone enquiries start with "I have just been looking on your website...".

The acquisition of the Wadkin intellectual property rights in 2009 gave me another opportunity to revamp a tired and outdated site. Today, Wadkin.com provides information on new equipment, services and company news as before, but we have also added a comprehensive 'Wadkin Library' listing historical information including original literature and manuals for Wadkin equipment no longer in production. Enquiries now flood in from all over the world for spare parts and replacement equipment.

Daltons Wadkin is sponsoring the TTJ Website of the Year Award for the third year in a row. Knowing the work involved in producing and maintaining a successful site provides us with a good understanding to judge the efforts of others in the industry.

For more information on Daltons Wadkin, visit www.daltonsmachines.com and www.wadkin.com.

TTJ Website of the year award criteria
The TTJ Website of the Year Award recognises the increasing importance for timber companies and organisations of a strong and impactful online presence both to promote products and services and communicate the performance, environmental and other benefits of timber and wood products and dispel myths and miscommunication about the material.

Entered websites will be judged by an independent panel which will look at their design, content, user friendliness, commercial effectiveness and use of technology.

Entries should describe:

• the aims behind the development of the website;
• the role it plays for the entrant;
• its key benefits;
• how it's used and updated;
• how the design helps it fulfil its function;
• whether it was developed in-house, or if an external web designer was used (including their details, if applicable)
• what the impact of the site has been, the number of hits/visitors and the visitor response or feedback it gets.

Entries should be for new websites launched or existing sites which have had major developments in design/functionality in the 18- month period January 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013.

The deadline for entries has been extended to July 31 but the date is negotiable by prior agreement.

Please send the completed entry form, downloadable from www.ttjonline.com/ttjawards, and supporting documents and images to: Stephen Powney, news editor, TTJ, Progressive House, 2 Maidstone Road, Sidcup DA14 5HZ; email: spowney@ttjonline.com.

The TTJ Website of the Year Award will be judged by an independent panel.

The winner will be announced by this year's host and guest speaker, broadcaster Huw Edwards, at the TTJ Awards lunch, which takes place at The Savoy in London on Thursday, September 12. To book tickets, contact Jennifer Fisher on jennifer.fisher@timetric.com or tel: 020 7406 6582.

To enter other judged categories - Excellence in Marketing, Career Development, Achievement in Engineered Timber, Environmental Achievement - contact Mike Jeffree at mjeffree@ttjonline.com; tel: 020 8269 7794; or Sally Spencer at sspencer@ttjonline.com; tel: 020 8269 7817.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact Carol Stratford on cstratford@ttjonline.com or 01795 589236.