In 1956, Malcolm McLean launched the first containerized
shipping service, revolutionizing the ocean cargo industry. His Sea-Land
Service was acquired by CSX Corporation in 1986, and went public in 2005 under
the name Horizon Lines. Horizon, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina,
accounts for a third of all U.S. container shipments to Alaska, Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico, which in accordance with the Jones Act must be made on U.S.-built,
owned, and flagged vessels operated by predominantly U.S.-citizen crews. Horizon
Lines owns 13 such container ships and approximately 31,000 cargo containers. The
main About Us page is here.
OVERALL GRADE: A
Products/Services: A
The main About Us page, Our Mission, History, and Values,
is extremely well done. After a summary of the company’s function, it moves on
(under “History”) to describe its founder’s role in developing containerized
shipping and the company’s expansion. As lovers of language (including puns),
we can’t help but smile at the final section, on the company’s values: “Seven
C’s.” Pictures of the founder and of several huge container ships liven up the
page. Headings and short paragraphs break up the text, which is nicely written
and to the point.
Personality: A plus
The Who
We Are page has tabs for Customer Service, Sales, and Operations. Each tab
focuses on a different employee, telling what the employee does, why he or she
is passionate about his or her job, and how he or she interacts with the
public. As we write this, the profiles are of the Service Delivery manager in
San Juan, the Senior Account Manager for the Central Region, and the Export
Cargo Services Supervisor in Oakland. We can barely imagine what such jobs
involve, yet we were fascinated to read about the employees who hold them.
We have never seen
employee profiles written this well—profiles that so effectively convey personality
in a very job-oriented way. Our Commandment
3 of About Us pages is, “Reveal they personality.” Horizon Lines does that
exceptionally well.
Accessibility: A
Horizon Lines has a Contact page with the standard online
form, phone, and mailing address. But it also provides a long list of actual
names for the people in charge of specific terminals, with their mailing
address, telephone, and email. It makes us feel that all those diligent,
enthusiastic people at Horizon Lines would indeed love to hear from us. Well
done again!
TAKEAWAY
Great corporate history, great images, great employee
profiles and easy accessibility make for a great set of About Us pages.
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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