Refuge Sustainable Building Center
- The new homepage welcomes visitors with photos of finished projects, and a simple navigation to allow users to get anywhere on the site with no more than a single click.
- The main products page organizes Refuge's products into 8 simple categories, allowing visitors to quickly find the type of products they're looking for.
- Seeing is believing when it comes to building supplies, and the Featured Projects page is the perfect place for showcasing what's possible with Refuge's product lineup
- Product pages feature shots of the finished product in use, color swatches and other important info for every product Refuge carries.
Overview
Refuge has become the go-to local source for buying sustainable building products. From remodels to complete construction, just about any project could have a little less environmental impact by incorporating any of their products. They also have very knowledgeable staff for making recommendations and working with a budget.
Challenge
Refuge's current website needed a bit of spiffing up on the design side. However, even more urgent, was getting the site ported over to an online content management system so Refuge could manage their ever-changing lineup of products. The store also had an ample backlog of successful projects done with builders and architects from around southwest Montana.
Solution
When it comes to building supplies seeing is believing. Pictures and descriptions of raw products are great for experienced builders. But inexperienced home owners need to be inspired with pictures of finished rooms, allowing them to see what's possible with the products Refuge carries. With this in mind we created a Featured Projects section where the team at Refuge could easily upload pictures of finished projects.
From reviewing the site's analytics, we discovered the Product pages received a lot of attention. In addition to expanding the number of products we also made it possible to add more detailed information for all the lines they carry. Descriptions, links to manufacturer' info sheets, pictures and even color swatches can now be added. All of this content is easily managed through a web-based admin where the Refuge team can quickly login from any computer, add, edit and remove products as their store inventory changes.
In addition to the Featured Projects and Product pages, every page on the new Refuge site is completely editable by their team through the content management system. This cuts down on maintenance expenses significantly, and keeps their site more up-to-date as they can make any changes they need when they see fit.
Results
Refuge has become active on Twitter and uses its store to promote various events ranging from Green Drinks to different parties throughout the year. The site can now reflect this on the homepage and RSS feeds ensure anyone can follow the blog and project updates. In addition, an email template was hand-coded to match the site's design and is used for promoting specials on a monthly basis.
