Nearly Worthless Websites

Every month I review many manufacturer websites to classify them before adding to 4specs or to validate their classification when doing a review. Sometimes a website inspires me to write a newsletter featuring their website.

ICP Group exhibited at a recent SCIP meetings, indicating they want to be specified. When I looked at their main corporate website there was absolutely no information to support their products being specified. There were links to individual products, but no information to indicate the products they actually make. This website inspired me to write this newsletter.

For manufacturers the website needs to support multiple users

Architects to become excited to include their products in their design over existing products used on prior projects
Specifiers to have sufficient information to include their products in a specification
Contractors to have specific information on how to install their products
Consumers that may want to include their products on a do-it-yourself probably purchased at Lowes or Home Depot

ICP Group owns multiple companies that make products used in multiple product sections. Working through their website there is no easy way to see which companies make products in a specific section. A specifier - either a project architect or full-time specifier - wants to see which products would be appropriate to include in the specification, especially if they are from different companies. While the early phase architect may be looking for design ideas when visiting a website, a project architect or full-time specifier is typically focused on updating one specific section and does not have the time to wander through a website looking for product information supporting the specification.

Another related problem is the when a company has multiple url domains generally done for search engine optimization reasons. The project architect may write 1-3 specs a year while the full-time specifier may write 20-30-40 specs a year depending on the complexity and repetitive nature of the projects. You want the specifier to understand all the products you make, grouped by product section, including all the domains and products on one page. He may have another project next week with different requirements and you want him to be aware of your other products.

The way to provide this information for both situations would be to identify every section where your companies make products and to list the section along with links for each product with applicable design and specification information for each section. My assumption is that the web designer does not understand the need to do this or how to do the classication.

An alternate way is to have 4specs develop a profile page as we have done for Mars Metal. Note that the 4specs page grouping is by product section with all the design and specification links to information under that section. We offer this for $1,000 a year to develop and host this information. You can link back to this 4specs page from your website as appropriate. For ICP Group the cost would probably be higher due to the number of companies and the range of product sections.

Colin

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Colin Gilboy
Publisher - 4specs
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