Portakabin is a brand synonymous with modular buildings and offsite construction, and is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the market leader in its sector.
The scheduled launch of its new corporate website, however, coincided with outbreak of Covid-19 and a global lockdown, and served once again to demonstrate that timing is everything. With its ready-to-go modular healthcare service buildings, portable showers and changing rooms and other products that seemed apt for companies coping with the needs of Covid-19, Portakabin’s project team started the roll out of nine new websites for its European customers, including both German and French versions for the Luxembourg market, while working remotely in April 2020.
The new site had to look good, to demonstrate what existing customers and potential new leads could expect from their Portakabins, but it also had to increase the number of leads coming via the web, increase the value of the brand and provide updated content to reflect the high quality and service provided.
The new site had a different look from its predecessor, and even from its industry competitors, with new navigation, images and content. It is fully responsive on desktop, tablet and mobile. From a business point of view, it advises visitors on the location of their nearest Portakabin sales centre, offers the ability to book appointments online or to arrange a call back. It also has contact forms and a full building visualiser, allowing potential customers to select interior and exterior finishes and view what their new building might look like.
With the final site launched in 2021, Portakabin has found that a growing number of visitors return to www.portakabin.com, and have increased the time that they spend on the new site compared to the previous one. The bounce rate fell on a monthly basis in the first quarter of 2021, and is well below the level recorded by the previous site.
Targets set for on-site activities, such as completed contact forms or call back features, were also achieved; these metrics in the first quarter of 2021 were higher than the same period in 2021. The site has also been received warmly by employees, who claim it looks more professional and provides a better service for customers.
