Dover Cylinder Head Service
The Problem
In 2019, we created a website for Dover Cylinder Head.
While it was a huge improvement over the previous site (which had remained nearly unchanged since 2008), a few years later, the owner realized he wanted the website to be able to do more. Specifically, he was interested in adding shopping functionality to the site.
The Process
I worked with Dover Cylinder Head to determine their main expectations of the eCommerce arm of the website and presented the best way to meet those goals:
- Allow customers to purchase the most commonly requested items directly from the shop
- Optimize high-performing items to rank in searches
- Keep costs to a minimum – use free or custom solutions wherever possible
Goal #1
Allow customers to purchase the most commonly requested items directly from the shop
Goal #2
Optimize high-performing items to rank in searches
Goal #3
Keep costs to a minimum – use free or custom solutions wherever possible
The Solution
While the appearance of the website underwent minimal changes, I chose to update the theme to Divi to allow for a full range of customization. This did not incur any additional charge to the client as I have a pre-existing lifetime license to the theme.
Knowing that it would require extensive customization and some compromises, I opted for WooCommerce as the basis for the shop as it is a free plug-in for WordPress.
In the end, we needed to upgrade the server package in order to maintain speed and user experience, but that was the only additional cost to the business in this website upgrade.
Dover Cylinder Head’s updated website includes a vibrant header image of a cylinder head on the main page, a comprehensive explanation of who they are and the products & services offered, a section highlighting great customer testimonials, and puts a focus on the ongoing social media efforts by importing the most recent Facebook post directly to the main page.
I created a simple form for quote requests, added a page where the current catalog can be downloaded directly, and added a contact us page with a google map for the local customers who are planning to drop off their cylinder heads for repair. Because they also work with customers around the country and world, I included an alert bar that can be used to quickly communicate unexpected closures.
