A company website doesn’t just happen overnight. There is a lot of moving pieces and technical aspects to creating a site that embodies a whole company vision. With those things in mind, owners, Joe and Kimberley Swanekamp set out to create a branding tool that was user-friendly for clients to build trust and confidence in The Swan Company.
“It’s interesting how far we have come,” said Joe Swanekamp. “I designed the first website on Weebly, and I was so proud of what I built. But quickly, we realized you needed a lot of experience and some education to compete on a high level with the other contractors’ websites.”
The Swanekamp’s then went to three different design companies before settling on one website designer. With a compilation of both of their ideas, the website was officially launched in 2020, and is this year’s recipient of the Pavement Best of the Web Award.
TrustSwan.com
A captivating collection of videos with a bright white phrase “trusted partners for property management professionals” is the first thing that greets people on the homepage of the website. Across the top, an easy-to-read navigation bar leads customers through the tabs of the most important information including services. As users click through, vibrant photos are shown that relate to that particular service.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” said Joe. “I like to show potential customers pictures and overwhelm them with the understanding of the quality work we do. Utilizing photos also creates culture with our customer base because they are able to see their property on our website and know they bought into a quality brand.”
The site not only showcases pictures, but it features projects the company has completed. There are blog posts with educational content, and an about section which dives deep into the trust they are building with their customers. No detail has been overlooked. Under the contact us section, next to an easy to fill in form to get in touch, a personal video by Joe is embedded into the page that can help any customer understand the work they do in less than 90 seconds.
“It took a lot of refining to get to the point that the website is at now,” said Kimberley Swanekamp. “I still consider it a work in progress. We are frequently making changes and improving it, adding new features as it’s a continual process.”
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Updating photos and videos, writing informative blog posts and analyzing site optimization are all things the Swan Company continually does to keep their website up to date. Processes like these keep them current on the internet and helps portray the brand they are building that reaches outside the walls of their office.
“The digital world is constantly evolving and changing,” said Kimberley. “Staying current is a fundamental part of being in business these days, you have to stay current and grow with the times even if that means reaching outside of your comfort zone.”
