GKD Metal Fabrics is the American subsidiary of GKD-Gebr. Kufferath AG, a German company with over 95 years of experience in product design and development for woven metal fabrics—i.e. metal mesh that can be used in building architecture as a design feature, security measure, weather protection, and much more. They work on both large and small scale projects, which include turnkey solutions for a variety of problems. They work with companies all over the country to create custom metal mesh designs to meet their needs—whether rigid or flexible, tightly woven or loose. They’re committed to quality customer service, and their experience and innovation makes them the leading mesh metal provider in the world.

The Problem:

The GKD Metal Fabrics website had a number of problems. It lacked consistency with its messaging, and did not have strong calls to action, to encourage site interaction and generate quality leads. Their brand image was outdated as well, and required a complete reimagining, with greater focus on both user interface and user experience. Furthermore, their mobile strategy was causing problems, as users were having trouble viewing and using the site optimally on mobile devices—which negatively impacted site traffic and harmed their digital presence. Finally, the site was lacking a number of key features and had significant functionality problems, which made it difficult for potential customers to navigate it, and decreased overall site interaction.

Analysis:

The GDK Metal Fabrics site needed better brand continuity, to improve its overall messaging. This included an increased focus on their custom solutions, to allow customers to get what they needed more easily. It also includes the ability to select products and order samples, so that customers could get a better idea of what they were getting, before committing to a project. Along these lines, the GDK website also needed a gallery of past projects, and a resource section, to allow potential customers to see in-depth representation of the kinds of solutions that they provided. Site users can view their products in 3D, so it’s easier to see what they were getting. Finally, the site needed better mobile responsiveness, so that visitors could interact on any device.

The Solution:

MaxBurst gave the GDK Metal Fabrics website’s design a complete reimagining, to focus on brand continuity and improve the clarity of its message. They made the site easier to navigate, with improved UI and UX design and development control through the content management platform. They built the new website framework on the Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP stack, and used the Bootstrap grid to increase mobile responsiveness. That way, the site would be correctly rendered on all devices, and perform optimally on mobile, tablet, and desktop platforms.

What’s more, the new site seamlessly coded the theme interface into the latest version of the WordPress platform, to make it easy to edit, update, and post new content. It utilized all the most up to date technologies in order to optimize the experience for both the users and the admins.

As for the site’s content, it was updated to include a comprehensive resource section for prospective buyers, and to highlight the custom solutions offered by GDK Metal Fabrics. This included a gallery of projects, and the ability to view product photos in 3D. Customers were also given the ability to select products and order samples in advance of a full order.

MaxBurst also implemented stronger call to action principles across the website, to capture users’ attention and encourage them to interact with the site’s content more. This included the ability to submit their basic information and make inquiries, in order to aid in lead generation.

Additionally, SEO optimized plugins were integrated into the custom theme coding in WordPress, to assist with SEO optimization. 301 permanent redirects were then set up for old site pages, in an HTACCESS file, to redirect old links to new links and preserve existing SEO rankings. Campaigns across the company’s social media channels were also integrated into the website, allowing users to share content to their Facebook, Twitter, or other profiles, directly from the website.

Finally, the site was updated using industry standards and best practices for web security and intrusion detection, to prevent unwanted penetration of the system. To protect against Spam and Malware, Captcha tools were added, along with e-mail verification and other precautions, to ensure that site interactions came from legitimate users, rather than bots.

The Results:

MaxBurst was able to create a redesigned and reimagined website for GDK Metal Fabrics that was easy to navigate and could be viewed and used from any device, whether mobile, tablet, or desktop. The creative and high-end design increased leads while maintaining security, ensuring leads were legitimate and high quality. The site is also easy to edit and make changes to on the administrative side, leading to increased overall productivity for the company.