Mohawk Paper, a family-run business headquartered in Cohoes,
New York, produces high-quality paper and non-paper substrates for offset and
digital printing. In 1931, George O’Connor purchased a paper company dating to
1866—thus Mohawk can proudly say it’ll celebrate its sesquicentennial
(150-year) business anniversary in less than two years. Mohawk is now run by O’Connors
of the third generation (or fourth? see below). Its main About Us page (“Company”)
is here.
OVERALL GRADE: B
Products/Services: B
The main About Us page, Company, has an overview,
“Vision for the Future,” and teasers for pages on Who We Are, Social
Responsibility, and Mohawk
History. Each teaser has a photo. Well done so far. The pages themselves,
and many other pages, would benefit from additional photos. The History page, for
example, has a good narrative, but it’s rather dense. Images of products or
early advertising would entice readers to linger over Mohawk’s corporate
history.
A good timeline is an excellent addition to most company
history sites ... but three timelines are just confusing. On the History page, the
sidebar offers links to “Mohawk Timeline,” “Strathmore Timeline,” and “Beckett
Timeline.” The links lead to pages with somewhat different content, but all
three pages have the title “Mohawk Timeline.” Our Commandment 9
of About Us pages is “Worship clarity.” That means sweating the details,
including page titles. On the same issue: some of the site’s pages (e.g., History) state that Mohawk
has been family owned for three generations, but the first line of text on Who We Are mentions
a history of growth going back four generations. Which is correct?
Success Stories
presents satisfied and innovative customers such as members of Herman Miller’s
marketing team, who explain why they chose specific Mohawk papers. Bravo:
website testimonials are a great way to reinforce positive perceptions of your
products and business history. So are awards, and the Operational
Excellence page neatly incorporates mention of several important awards.
(Images, please!) But like the timelines (which reach only to 2012), this page
needs updates; the stats on employee safety are from 2008 and 2011.
Personality: A
The bio of Chairman and CEO Thomas D. O’Connor, Jr. on Mohawk Board does an
excellent job of presenting him as the driving force behind this family-owned
business. Well done.
Accessibility: C
The Contact
page, available via a link in the footer, offers the standard options:
telephone, mailing address, and an online form. There’s nothing innovative
here, but it’s adequate.
TAKEAWAY
If your site includes references to time (or generations)
elapsed, make a note to check it regularly and update the references. The
impact of great content is diminished if it clearly hasn’t been reviewed for
several years.
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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