Hockmeyer has become the “band aid” of their industry—the brand name that is synonymous with the product. When people think of milling technology (immersion mills, high viscosity mixers, etc.), they think of Hockmeyer. The company’s main goal for their new website was to bring their brand identity to the forefront and showcase it effectively, setting Hockmeyer apart from their competitors.

Unlike a traditional B2B business, Hockmeyer does not have hundreds of different products to display on its site. Since every machine is custom-made for the client, the machine a website visitor sees is not necessarily the machine they will eventually purchase. Everything, from the functionality to the size of the machine and how mobile it is, is bespoke. For that reason, the other central focus of the website is to drive queries to the company’s sales representatives.

CEO Herman Hockmeyer describes the company as follows: “We don’t sell machines, we provide service and solutions.” The customer is not just buying a machine, but also Hockmeyer’s innovation, ideas, and industry-leading customer service.

Having been in the B2B web design space for more than 15 years, Lform has an unparalleled understanding of companies like Hockmeyer. We already understand what is needed and what works, from distribution networks to ERP to cataloguing systems. Combining our expertise with Hockmeyer’s ethos and vision, Lform put together a marketing website streamlined for an improved user experience and lead generation. We also implemented cross-linking, allowing prospective clients to access contact information and get in touch with a sales rep immediately.

Maintaining brand identity and cohesion was at the heart of this project. We started with Hockmeyer’s signature blue-purple color and built the design around that, using complementary colors, fonts, and images.

There were several elements of their business that Hockmeyer wanted to showcase on their new website that were not included in the previous iteration of the site. Most notably, their parts department and their people.

We built separate pages dedicated to the parts and servicing department. This is a major aspect of Hockmeyer’s business, so positioning it prominently was important. Hockmeyer guarantees all their products, so ensuring as little downtime as possible for a client is paramount. That’s why we emphasized their overnight shipping offer.

Hockmeyer’s people are its backbone and strongest asset, and they felt strongly that they wanted to emphasize this on the website. We included a “Meet the Staff” page with photographs of each team member and direct links to their LinkedIn profiles. We felt that this would help to humanize the business, putting a human face instead of a cold, mechanical face to the offering. In other words, the website is less about the machines and more about the company and its people.

This approach differentiates Hockmeyer from their competition and invites trust from customers who might be planning to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a product.

From a coding perspective, one of the major challenges we encountered with Hockmeyer’s website was that the homepage contains three separate videos and numerous images. Initially, this made it slow to load. We had to optimize that, as page speed is a major factor in both Google rankings and user satisfaction. We had to work hard to push the site’s performance up, optimizing the various resources by balancing quality with load speed. We also assessed which elements were absolutely necessary, and removed any that were not.

The site contained several third-party resources, such as Google ReCaptcha and Youtube videos, which can have a significant impact on load speed. We mitigated this issue by coding the site in such a way that these resources only load when they’re required.

Due to the bespoke nature of Hockmeyer’s products, suitable imagery for the website presented a problem. For client confidentiality reasons, bespoke products cannot be photographed, and the company has no base display model due to the size and cost of each unit.

We worked closely with the client to demonstrate the importance of suitable imagery, and they are now implementing a process to acquire product photographs where possible. Because of the way the website is built and laid out, it will be simple to add new photographs as Hockmeyer expands their asset library.

At the time we built the site, Hockmeyer was not using any specific ERP or CMS systems. However, they may do so in the near future. We designed the website with flexibility in mind, allowing integrations to be added seamlessly at a later date. Adding new integrations is simply a matter of changing the data points through the WordPress back-end, and making small changes to allow the site to expand.

The result is a site that can grow with the company. Many of our clients are businesses at varying stages of growth, and we understand the importance of a flexible website that will serve them both now and in the future.

Lform has had a working relationship with Hockmeyer since 2018. As well as the website, we have worked with them on projects like brochures and print advertising.

At Lform, we see ourselves not as a vendor, but as a partner. Everything is undertaken by our Montclair, NJ team, and we do not outsource. If the client wants to speak directly to the person who coded their website, they can do that. Our aim is to help our clients grow their businesses through marketing tools, the right website, and seamless integrations with existing systems to save time, increase efficiency, and grow revenue. Our success is your success, and vice versa.