April 15, 2021
This is the second installment of a two-part series breaking down corporate websites. Click here for part 1.
In part one of this series, I shared three ways to bolster your company’s corporate website to make sure it’s telling your story in a unique and genuine way.
So who’s killing it? What corporations are doing a great job crafting their message, developing designs and tailoring their corporate sites to an overall good user-experience (UX)?
Disclaimer: The critic in me found little nits across each of these sites that I thought could be improved, however, the overall ways they presented information was compelling.
1. John Deere
John Deere is an American corporation that manufactures machinery, lawn care equipment and more. The company is known for its iconic green color, but how well does its corporate website tell its story?
Here are a few of my favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- Highly visual website with a lot of (seemingly) real employees featured
- Videos help show the wide variety of products and people at the company
- Groundbreakers section showcases people that are proud to work at the company and how their unique personalities positively impact the organization
Here are a few of my not-so-favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- “About Us” section of the website doesn’t have a dedicated navigation, so the user is on somewhat of a path with no direction
- Some of the sections look like they should be clickable, however, they’re just intense hover states
- Leadership headshots look very formal compared to the “salt-of-the-earth” feel the rest of the site has
2. Newell Brands
Newell Brands is a parent company to more than 150 brands across eight global business units. The company’s products are in more than 90% of households with brands such as Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Coleman, Contigo, Graco, Yankee Candle and more.
Here are a few of my favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- Very clean and neat design with not a lot of frills or major hover states
- Content on the site is very short, concise and you know exactly what you’re getting when you go to that specific section (should be a no-brainer, but not always!)
- Between the investor relations and careers subdomains, all have a very similar global navigation that makes it a seamless transition between each brand
Here are a few of my not-so-favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- Main header—while beautiful—it is too big for my liking
- No sorting functionality in the “Our Stories” section, so all information from how they support the communities to executive media coverage is all just tossed into one “stories” page
- Inconsistency in leadership headshots and straightforward leadership bios don’t showcase the team’s personality
3. Goodyear
Goodyear is one of the world’s leading tire companies with operations in most regions of the world and one of the most recognized brand names.
Here are a few of my favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- The main navigation of the site is consistent, no matter if the section ultimately takes you to a subdomain
- Expansive media gallery, filled with images of tires, the iconic Goodyear blimp, leadership, etc.
- Through the use of eyebrow text in the main headers, users have a clear understanding where they are within the overall site
Here are a few of my not-so-favorite things on the company’s corporate website:
- The authentic content is buried in the “Better Futures Blog.” I would like it sprinkled throughout the rest of the site to show a real-world example of some of the sustainability work they are doing
- The landing pages for the core sections of the site is just another page for navigating and doesn’t provide any additional information (except for the corporate responsibility section)
- Content on the corporate responsibility landing page is a little overwhelming and doesn’t seem to follow the same structure as the other pages
What do you think? Do these corporate websites hit the mark for you or do they have more work to be done? Let me know!
