Development of a content management system and website for JayWest Country Homes, distributor of Viceroy Homes.

www.jaywestcountryhomes.com

Summary

JayWest Country Homes needed a website that would reflect their position as Western Canada’s largest independent distributor of Viceroy Homes. The website needed to be easily updated and an extension of their sales tool—a catalogue of beautiful, glossy home photos and floor plans.

Client Quote

“Working with Boxcar Marketing was very enjoyable. The staff was very insightful and their ability to determine our requirements was outstanding. Boxcar Marketing staff invested a great deal of their time with us to understand our business and our need for this new level of marketing. They used their extensive creative skills to turn our needs into an excellent website that we believe is one of our great keys to future business and success. Thanks Boxcar!!”
—Jaye McManes, President of JayWest Country Homes

Challenge

JayWest Country Homes is Western Canada’s largest independent distributor of Viceroy Homes. Viceroy homes are high-quality, custom-designed model homes that are designed, manufactured and constructed through an integrated process. JayWest Country Homes provides further customization to the designs and aids clients through the process of designing and ordering their Viceroy Home. JayWest Construction also provides construction project management services. 

There are over 80 custom home models available in the Viceroy catalogue and an extensive list of services that JayWest can provide home buyers and home builders. The previous JayWest website was a single page with a JPG image displaying a few homes and some contact information. The new website needed to bring traffic to the site and meet the needs of inquiring potential clients.

The JayWest Country Homes Website Priorities Were To:

1. Give credibility to Jaywest Country Homes Ltd.
2. Inform potential and existing clients about the services of Jaywest Country Homes Ltd. and Jaywest Construction Ltd. 
3. Attract potential clients, in particular those looking to purchase a Viceroy Home, to Jaywest Country Homes Ltd.
4. Provide contact information and additional ways to meet JayWest staff, such as personal appointments or encounters at local home shows
5. Handle online orders for the Viceroy catalogue, which profiles model homes and floor plans
6. Show pictures of, and give directions to, the Jaywest Country Homes Ltd. Show Home
7. Notify visitors of current Viceroy Homes sales promotions
8. Display in a visually attractive way samples of Viceroy Homes floor plans, as well as highlights of Viceroy model homes constructed by Jaywest Construction Ltd.

 

Approach

Boxcar Marketing worked with JayWest Country Homes to refine the scope of the project, set realistic goals for the site, and establish a strategy for organizing the content and site architecture to ensure the new site met the project goals.

Project Goals

• The JayWest website will be a resource for existing and potential customers seeking to buy or build a Viceroy Home.
• The website will promote the company’s services and be a showcase for Viceroy floor plans.
• The website will drive sales of the Viceroy catalogue, and, more important, sales leads for Jaywest Country Homes and Jaywest Construction.

Together we spent ample time planning the basic design strategy and gathering recommendations and feedback from the JayWest and Viceroy teams. We also examined the keywords actively used in searches for Viceroy homes, model homes, show homes and custom-built homes in order to ensure the navigation headings and on-page text elements were optimized for search.

We then worked with Hop Studios to develop the home page and interior design of the website. The JayWest website is built in ExpressionEngine, which allows the JayWest staff easy access to all content areas of the site, making it easy to update, even for those with limited html knowledge.

 

Results

The JayWest Country Homes website went from a static JPG image to a fully functional website.

BEFORE

• Static image
• Nothing is clickable
• The site does not appear in search for anything other than “jaywest”
• The only call to action is the phone number at the bottom, which is not helpful for visitors in the early stages of the buying cycle who just want to browse and gather information.

AFTER

• Logo and call to actions (order the catalogue, call, email JayWest) appear in the header and footer of all pages.
• The top-level navigation or menu bar reflects search terms used by those interested in building a custom home or viewing floor plans.
• Buying and building a home is an emotional experience that requires practical planning and decision making. The site design uses big, glossy images of the homes to convey the luxury and style of Viceroy homes, but it also provides clear, concise information about the homes, ordering details and the qualities that make Viceroy homes a solid choice.
• Client testimonials and photos of their homes post-construction and under construction help establish the credibility of JayWest Country Homes and outline the quality of service they provide home buyers and home builders.
• The footer provides methodical visitors the opportunity to quickly dig deeper into the site or to gather more information about Viceroy and their green building standards.

In addition

• Overall Site Traffic in the first month went up 53%
• Traffic from Search Engines went up 773%
• JayWest received 2 sales leads in the first week from their new online catalogue request form

 

Completed on December 2008
Search Optimization | Web Site Design | Home & Construction