Name of your website?Artisan Interiors Decorative Finishes
Your name?
Deborah Orchowski
Your Location (city, etc)
Lambertville
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Our website is a vehicle by which we are trying to promote our cabinet finishing company. It is a portfolio of our work and, hopefully, an avenue through which we generate new business.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Years ago (2002, 2003) we advertised with a local ad publication (a "coupon rag"). They had an on-line service where I could design a website and showcase our work. It was part of the package so I did it, and thought we were ahead of the rest of the businesses in our industry. The site was rather pitiful. A year later I met a web designer in a business networking/leads exchange club. He sold me on the importance of having a real website.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
We launched our first website in 2003. It was titled artisaninteriorsdecfin.com. The title was awkward, and the overall look of it was amateurish. A year later we contracted with a web design team for a new site. The first incarnation of the site was well organized, had some interesting features in the portfolio category, and other IT and web people would compliment us on it. We recently had it changed, in order to keep the information current and to allow it to be self-managed wo I can regularly update it. We are still told that it is a nice site, easy to navigate, but it is not as striking as it was before.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We did a name search and needed something easier to remember which reflected the name of our business. http://www.ArtisanInteriorsNJ.com fit the bill.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
Other sites I look at which belong to artisans in various fields are frequently cluttered. Too many words about what they did with a project, photos are not organized in a logical fashion, and the wording usually is too "features" oriented ("we are skilled at a, b, and c"), versus the benefits ("What we can do for you").
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To keep it to promote our cabinet finishing business. We eventually want to create another site, either part of the original, linked to it, or totally seperate, which is a regional home improvement directory with articles, advice, and paid advertising on it. We know it has been done before, but it would be interesting to try to improve upon others which are out there.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
We are pleased with what we have spent and what we have gotten out of it to date. With the recent update, we made sure that our site content was accurately reflecting our current work. Staying current is a definite time investment, but it will keep the business ahead of our competitors if we are diligent.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Add paid advertising opportunites for related trades and artisans. I know the site would need another reworking, and I would be paying for regular, probably daily, site maintenance/upkeep
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
We should be that lucky. Our end product is very labor-intensive, so it is a definite tightrope to balance work with headcount and the cost of employees. If it happens, we'll drop you a line.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
The site redesign was a cost, but mostly a headache. We were evolving as a company and needed to define what exactly our products and services were. It was a great deal of time going back and forth, examining the hard questions in "From Good to Great", (we even eliminated our "core business", which was decorative wall finshes), and setting long-term goals.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Getting on directories which are related to our field and services (although I may be in error with this one) has done well in searches for us. We are also updating all of our source text so that there is as much continuity between them, website text, and company descriptions in forums and directories as possible. Also, we do a fair amount of print advertising. The website is always present. In fact, a current ad we have running in a PA newspaper is a 3" by 4" white text on black, and "the message" is teh website. There is very little text present. And people are responding to it.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
At first I was honestly afraid of it. The new design was set up so sections as the portfolio coud be self-managed. It took me months before I would format the photos and upload them. Then, after I clicked "rebuild site" for the first time, and it was okay, I thought "wow, this is cool and has real potential."
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Our web team, PerfectIsite, runs the site, I try to keep it updated. We hope to keep it as long as Artisan Interiors is custom glazing kitchen cabinets.
What is your website address?
Artisan Interiors Decorative Finishes
