“About Us” Evaluation: Blu Homes Gets an A

Blu Homes, a privately owned company founded in 2008, manufactures environmentally friendly steel-frame houses that are prefabricated in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and unfolded on the building site. The average time from design to completion of the home is 3 to 4 months. We became aware of Blu Homes through an article in Forbes. Blu Homes’ About Us page is here.

OVERALL GRADE: A

The appearance of the site fits the product the company offers: uncluttered and efficient. We like the fact that the header of every page is a changing series of pictures of the company’s homes - a constant reminder of what the company is about.

Products/Services: A+

The main About Us page offers a summary of the company’s product and outlook. The video clip is below the text, hence clearly optional--we particularly appreciate that, since we have little patience for loading videos of unknown content and length. We would like to see some illustrations here that would clarify the technical talk: floor plans, a LEEDS certification logo, and/or a simple graphic of the house being unfolded.

At the top of the sub-menu on the About Us page is a link to the Fact Sheet, an excellent, laudably brief summary of the company: when it was founded, who owns it, its clients, residential uses, environmental concerns, locations, leadership team, board of directors, board of advisors. It would be helpful here to include links within the summary to individual members of the leadership team, the advisors, and house models.

The company’s FAQ page also offers much useful information. Although the current layout gives a clean look, we’d like an option to see all the questions and answers at once, rather than having to click on each one.

Personality: A

Under Leadership Team, we like the fact that each person’s page begins with work experience, then personalizes him or her with community activities, interests, a fun fact, and education. At the foot of each page is a video--again clearly optional--in which the person talks about his or her connection with the company and its products.

Accessibility: A

A contact link appears at the upper right of every page, and a more prominent contact button usually appears on the right sidebar. The Contact page is dominated by a form that gathers information from potential home buyers. For those with other queries, we’re happy to see an email link and a press contact.

TAKEAWAY

The About Us pages for Blu Homes provide all the basic information in easily navigable layouts whose look complements the company’s mission. Well done!

Does your Web site’s “About Us” section accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). Contact us if you’d like to have your site evaluated—there’s no charge and no obligation.

Today’s example was chosen at random; CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.