10 Great Websites: Airclic.com

September 13, 2010 - 9:16 am EDT

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Company: Airclic

URL: www.airclic.com

Target audience: C-level supply chain and logistics decision-makers across 13 industries, customers, current and prospective partners, media, investors and influencers

Key Web executive: Tracey Ellis, VP-marketing

Number of people who work on the site: 10

Last major redesign: April 2010

No. of pages on the site: 40

Web developer: Zer0 to 5ive, Philadelphia

Tracey Ellis, Airclic's VP-marketing, used to joke that when someone told her she had a great website, she would assume they were a liar. "There was no way to search. The site was more like a Kindle, a book or a brochure that really didn't address visitors' needs," she said. That shortcoming, along with a company rebranding, was the impetus for a complete redesign in April that replaced every page on the company's site.

The first goal was to provide a way for Airclic's visitors—anyone looking for mobile software for supply chain, logistics and field services operations—to opt in and self-qualify as a potential customer. The new navigation addresses this by letting visitors move through the site based on their industry. Visitors can also go right to a products page if they know what they want. Every page has a contact link as well as a "share-to-social" feature, so visitors can reach out to the company as well as share information via one of eight social sites, including Facebook and Twitter. There are also live chat and live call options so those with immediate needs can get in touch right away.

Visually, the site has a new logo and new content, including case studies, a blog and webinars. Airclic made a conscious decision to use the WordPress content management system in the website design, Ellis said, sothat anyone in the marketing department could post updates. As a result, the site gets new elements on an almost daily basis, she added.

All this work is already paying off, Ellis said. Airclic has seen an increase in traffic to the site but, more important, conversion rates are up. "People who interact with our website have a 70% conversion rate; they are becoming leads that salespeople are interacting with," she said.

Expert commentary, Bill Rice, president, Web Marketing Association: The execution of the design is clean and the interactivity is seamless. The site's vast content is organized by industry to help simplify meeting the users' needs. The site actively uses social media and technology to engage users on various levels. Not only does it offer a blog, RSS feed, site search and LinkedIn group but it also offers both live chat and live call to allow users to interact with the site on multiple levels.