Puntacana, one of the Caribbean’s premier resorts, occupies more
than 26 square miles on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. Founded in
1969 by Frank Rainieri and Theodore Kheel, it currently includes 2 hotels, 5
residential communities, 9 restaurants, 2 golf courses, its own marina and
airport, plus an ecological reserve. The main About Us page is here.
OVERALL GRADE: C
Products/Services: C
The great material on this site needs to be reorganized and
rewritten. For example, the main About
Us page begins, “Visitors may be interested to learn.” Writing 101: If we’re
reading it, we’re interested. The rest of the first paragraph doesn’t intrigue
or entice us with a description of the delights of Puntacana; instead, it traces
the development of the Puntacana name and brand. After a short description of
the club’s history, we finally come, at the end of the second paragraph, to a
list of the major attractions of the Puntacana Resort & Club, with links to
Tortuga Bay, the Westin, the Sheraton, the Six Senses Spa, etc. The main About
Us page would be much more effective if this list were at the beginning of the
page, rather than the end.
The Press page
gives an impressive number of links in a dauntingly dense block. Because many
people won’t bother to load a new page, it’s always better to show off your
media mentions by a logo, the article’s title, and a one-line summary of how
the content relates to your company. This makes reading media mentions more
enticing, and incidentally minimizes the problem of broken links.
The articles on the Press page
date from 2009 to 2011: has Puntacana fallen off the media’s radar? But no, the
Affiliations and
Awards page has citations from 2013. Our Commandment 10
of About Us pages is “Remember to keep holy the updates.” Even the most beautifully
designed media page falls flat if it’s obviously outdated.
Personality: B
The History
page mentions founders Frank Ranieri and Theodore W. Kheel, and briefly
describes the growth of the resort. This is corporate history put to decent use:
it gives us a sense of the marvelous amenities that have been created at
Puntacana, even if it falls short on corporate storytelling. The page would be even
more fascinating if it showcased the history with archival photos of the area
pre-1969, when it was an impenetrable jungle known as Punta Borrachon
(“Drunkard’s Point”). Headings and images would help organize and break up the blocky
text: e.g., Creating the Resort, Building the Airport, Building Infrastructure,
Building the Brand, Awards.
Accessibility: D
The Contact
page offers email, phone, and a mailing address. Oddly, not a single name or
title of management or staff (and they must run to the hundreds) appears on
this page. We assume this is intentional, but we cannot imagine why.
TAKEAWAY
If you have a list of awards and press mentions, make it
more attractive with logos, the article’s title, and a brief summary, as well
as a link.
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?). To talk about your About Us
page, contact us!
Today’s example was chosen at random;
CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company.
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