A new Web
Skeeter Products, Inc.
www.skeeterboats.com
Strengths: Sleek, modern look and feel; easy to navigate, Build My Skeeter, downloadable content, My Extras.
Areas for improvement: Finding and supplying
contact information.
Summary: The new Web site Skeeter Products, Inc., launched this January has the look, feel and content you would expect from a company prepared to make its mark on the Internet.
Punch up the company’s Web address, and you’re taken to a sleek home page full of movement. Photos of boats refresh continually, along with news of the latest promotions, while above and below them, well-delineated function tabs direct visitors to a wide variety of services and offerings.
The information is easy to find, well-presented and very thorough. A potential customer can learn a lot about the models throughout the Skeeter lineup. Each has its own Web page complete with specifications, an in-depth list of all the features available, capacities and a photo gallery with several informative and attractive pictures, which can be enlarged, showing the various features and attributes.
The “Build My Skeeter” function is a nice option for buyers that want to choose their own custom color schemes. As users select the colors they want, a diagram of the boat acts as an interactive artist’s canvas, showing what the different combinations will look like on the model in question. The feature also allows users to zoom in for a closer look and print out the results when they have the perfect combination selected.
Downloads are another strength. The site allows visitors to download the owner’s manual and also all of the performance bulletins for its boats.
The “My Extras” section is a smart idea as well. Customers can become a member of the “Trophy Room,” then post pictures to share with other Skeeter owners. However, in order to join, visitors are asked to provide a phone number as well as an e-mail address. That could deter some people and it might be a good idea, if it is absolutely vital to collect that phone number, to at least include a disclaimer along with the request explaining why the company wants it and what it will be used for.
The “Contacts” section is another area that we thought could be improved with a little more information. The e-mail forms that come up when a customer clicks to make a service/warranty inquiry or a general inquiry are fine, but a mailing address and at least one phone number would have been nice for those customers who prefer to communicate using those methods.
But the “Frequently Asked Questions” page in that section is a strong addition. It has the kinds of answers that will help customers and also save the company, and its dealers, time by preventing the inquiries those customers would have had to make if the information hadn’t been provided.
