10 Great Websites: Tyco.com

Tyco International, which provides security products and services; fire protection and detection products and services; valves and controls; and other industrial products, has a variety of companies and "thousands of brands" that fall under its corporate banner. Providing site visitors a conduit to these properties is one of the challenges the corporate communications team faced during its recent website redesign.

Plus, Tyco's old site design was very static and didn't convey any sense of the company being one that is on the move, said Paul Fitzhenry, VP-corporate communications. "We wanted to exemplify simplicity but at the same time make the site more engaging and exciting," he said.

Today, the Tyco.com corporate site features links to the company's most popular brands off the home page and links via product category to other, less well-known brands. In the past, there was one drop-down menu, which was clunky and often difficult to use. "The key with the multiple menus now is making navigating the site as easy as possible," Fitzhenry said. "Navigation should be flexible and give visitors multiple ways to enter the site.

One way the company does this is with a Flash-based banner that promotes specific sites and stories—a feature designed to speed access to featured website content. However, unlike similar offerings on other sites, a Tyco.com visitor can click on any of the available links at any time, Fitzhenry said. "You don't have to wait for a banner to cycle through," he said.

Indeed, interactive elements like this are some of the site's most popular. A video component on the home page gets a tremendous amount of traffic, Fitzhenry said. A Jobs page—easier to use since the redesign—is another popular destination, he said. "You may have come to the site looking for a job at one company, but now you can see more of what we have to offer," he said. "We wanted to show career paths that may not have been obvious on the old site."

Expert commentary, Bill Rice, president, Web Marketing Association: Tyco.com tackles the seemingly impossible job of easily explaining what a complex global industrial company is, why investors should invest money with them, why job seekers should want to work for them and why a potential customer might be interested in one of the many, many brands in its portfolio. It uses Flash and other rich media to engage its audience. The site provides clarity and insight not just into the company's services but also highlights innovations in workplace safety, sustainability in manufacturing and access to all the financial statements in one consolidated Web portal.