Well, continuing with my goals for this year for the business I had decided to revamp the web site. While the old web site worked, it lacked a few things I thought would be critical to its growth. I looked around at the other Amsoil dealer sites and decided that too many of them were just cookie cutter type sites and lacked features that really allowed customers to really get informed and involved. So I decided that I needed to change things, drastically.
First I went with a content management system. If you have never used or heard of one and have a website I definately recommend checking into them. I can now add content on a whim, change things in real time without necessarily having to build web pages from scratch. As well I can change the entire layout of the site with just a few clicks. Its nearly completely W3C compliant (still some work to do there with the CSS), its search engine friendly and a host of other things that just make it way easier to keep the site current.
Secondly, I now have a message board for Amsoil products (registered users only) where people can talk about Amsoil and get real world input and such. I hope to be able in the near future add a section for just Amsoil dealers so that we all have a place to go to and maybe talk about whats going on, get advise, help each other out in the business aspect and collaborate on issues and such.
Thirdly, I have a FAQ section now that I am trying to build so that people can come and find answers. It will take time to get this to a completely meaningful and useful state but its in the works.
Next, I have Newsletter and Article capability where I can send out information and articles pertaining to Amsoil. In order to continue to try and give back to what I have received over the last few years from TF I will post up any articles here as well.
As well I now have an online shop where people can purchase Amsoil products and the mobile lube services. I have this up but have not made it available yet to the public because Im still adding products and what have ya. But when it is all done it should be pretty much a self-serve stop for those wishing to purchase products.
Lastly, and will probably take the longest, I am trying to develop an online oil analysis database. I have purchased the software necessary to work with the content management system in order to build all this. This has been a pet project of mine. I STRONGLY believe in the use of oil analysis. In fact, oil analysis potentially saved a customer of mine several thousands of dollars. He had switched from Mobil 1 over to Amsoil and was loving it. I urged him, with the type of driving he does, to do an oil analysis to make sure he didnt need to modify is change interval. He had run the oil for 9,000+ miles and there was no indication of any problems. His only comment was that he had to add some coolant to the system a couple times.
We ran an oil analysis and we discovered he had a HUGE, HUGE ingestion of coolant in the motor. The oil, I must say, did on AMAZING job at protecting the motor. His TBN was really low, and viscosity was high. The viscosity the result of coolant ingestion, the TBN the result of the oil giving of itself to protect the motor. Wear numbers were higher than normal but you can tell the oil did a fine job in protecting the motor. What could have easily become an engine replacement has been caught relatively early and he is now able to take it to the mechanic and get it fixed for a LOT less than it would have cost if it had went un-detected (remember my article on oil analysis that mentioned 'cost avoidance'? This is it).
So one of my goals is to get up a searchable database by vehicle and oil so people can see what the real world use is. Just because one Focus thrives on 0W-30 doesnt necessarily mean the next identical Focus will do so and may need a 5W-20 or a 5W-30. The oil analysis database will hopefully allow visitors to make this sort of decision. I am a strong believer in Amsoil but selling it is only part of the business. Making sure the customer is happy and is using the Amsoil product best for their particular use is anoter big part of the business.
At any rate, if you get a minute, swing by and check things out and tell me what you think. I have built the site around FireFox and you will see a note about why on the main page but if you go there with IE and have problems, let me know. Im trying to make a list of things that need to be addressed so I can start coding the CSS to deal with that.
Thank you both for checking it out. Anyone have any problems with the site browser wise?
Im kinda surprised at what the stats are showing. I put the site statistics on line Sunday I think it was and Ive already had 189 hits and 107 of them were using FireFox, which is good but surprising. I expected IE to be the dominant browser and it has some minor issues with the site.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
