A Tradition of Excellence: American Cooling Technology

American Cooling Technology has been a leader in the advanced bus air conditioning industry for years. With a robust dealer and service center network spanning across the country, ACT built their reputation on unparalleled customer service and impeccable products. With an outstanding tradition of excellence in their industry, ACT began to realize their current website wasn’t reflecting their brand’s reputation, capabilities, and wasn’t providing the best experience for their customers and staff alike.

They turned to VIG for a complete overhaul and redesign.

American Cooling Technology Website Redesign

American Cooling Technology manufacturers, sells, and services air conditioning units for buses, coaches, and specialty vehicles. Their current site featured a layout that was hard to use for both ACT’s team and customers. From customers getting lost in the navigation to dealing with an outdated content management system (CMS) that made changes almost impossible, ACT knew it was time for a complete rebuild of their site.

They needed a website that not only lived up to their reputation but also served as a tool for their sales team and customers. They wanted the ability to showcase their products, services, literature, and update areas of the website to match their growing portfolio.

Our Solution

We designed a custom website for ACT using the WordPress platform. From a fresh layout to a design and user-experience centered around the unique needs of end users, distributors, and service centers; we created a website that was easy to use and lived up to the ACT name. With clear navigation paths centered around each user and a modern CMS, both ACT’s team and customers could find everything they’re looking for within several clicks.

Deliverables

Improved User-Experience

One of the most vital issues the ACT team highlighted during our discovery phase was the need to improve the functionality of the site for end users, distributors, and service centers alike. This required us to understand the goals of each of these audiences and understand things like “Why do they visit the ACT site?”, “What are they looking for on each page?”, and “How can we improve their experience?”

From our detailed discovery and planning process, we developed a strategy to incorporate content tailored to each audiences’ specific needs. We designed pages for warranty registrations for end users, a literature center for product and wiring diagrams for industry professionals, and even a service center and distributor locator so customers across the country can get the parts and service they need.

We also created a calendar of trade shows and events ACT is planning to attend as well as an impressive list of recent AC installations to showcase their experience and capabilities. The combination of these features in conjunction with a fresh information architecture allowed us to funnel users to specific areas of the site and allow them to find what they need quickly and easily.

Custom WordPress Website

The team at ACT had several goals in mind for redesigning their website. Among improving the layout and user experience, they also wanted to showcase their strengths in the cooling industry and demonstrate “Why Choose ACT” to potential industry partners. They wanted users to see the vast amount of products in their portfolio but also wanted everything to be organized into a clear structure that could easily be sorted through by end users, distributors, and service centers alike.

We built custom pages to organize hundreds of parts, products, and systems into a logical structure. On the homepage of the website, we integrated easy to use drop-down menus that allowed users to filter products by vehicle type and find everything within a few clicks.

To effectively manage ACT’s growing portfolio of parts and products on the backend of the website, we incorporated various plugins that allowed the ACT team to add, edit, and revise all the related content both quickly and easily.

Service Center & Distributor Lookup

What sets American Cooling Technology apart from other manufacturers in the industry is their dedication to customer service. From California to New Jersey and everywhere in between ACT has an immense service center and distributor network ready to help customers with all their cooling needs. To help customers find a service center and distributor for their vehicle, we created a search feature that allows users to find a facility in their area.

With custom fields, users can search for a facility by ZIP code, branch name, and even their vehicle type. We created unique profiles of each facility that included the name, contact information, and area of specialization for each center and distributor allowing clients to connect with properly trained and certified industry professionals.

Literature Center

With a growing portfolio of parts, products, and HVAC systems, ACT needed an online library for professionals to access necessary literature anywhere across the country. We created a full literature center with everything from wiring and piping diagrams for HVAC systems to a full parts catalogue and product specification PDFs so professionals could find all the information they need at the click of a button.

Warranty and Work With ACT Forms

In an effort to make collecting registrations for product warranties and finding qualified professionals easier for ACT, we integrated several forms throughout the site. With custom fields for serial numbers, emails, and contact names, we streamlined several processes for ACT and brought everything online.

Now the team at ACT can collect registration forms for warranties, career applications for professionals, and general inquires on contact forms all online. Saving time, resources, and allowing ACT to better serve their growing number of clients across the country.

The team at Visual Impact Group was proud to partner with one of the leading advanced bus air conditioning manufacturers in the country to help take their digital presence to the next level. From extensive industry research to tailoring each page to a diverse group of users, we couldn’t have been happier to go above and beyond for such a great client.

Looking to take your website to the next level? Think VIG!

Client:
American Cooling Technology
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