Straight to business
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The Newton Trailers website doesn’t mess around, as Webwatch discovers
Company: Newton Trailers Address: www.newtontrailers.com
Homepage
The clean, clear Newton Trailers homepage presents the user with a straight choice: ‘Buy Trailers’, ‘Trailer Hire’ or ‘Trailer Parts’.The site as a whole is free of any distractions: as the firm promises, there are “no flash extras that slow you down – no
waving flags and driving trucks”.
This is especially valuable if you are using a mobile device or slower connection.
The process of finding the right trailer (or parts) is broken down into simple steps. Select ‘Buy Trailers’ from the homepage, for example, and you will be presented with another easy choice: tipping trailers or moving-floor trailers – Newton’s two areas of specialism. Click on tipping trailers to further narrow your choice down to bulker, steel body or aggregate. Where appropriate, stylised diagrams or photographs illustrate the options. There is no need to enter text to find a trailer or part, which again helps if you are using a mobile device.
The Newton Trailers website is wider than a usual site, so unless you have a widescreen monitor you may have to do a lot of scrolling backwards and forwards to see everything.
Product search
Once you have worked through the options screens, you will be presented with all the trailers matching your criteria. Each one has a thumbnail image and information on the trailer’s year of manufacture, volume, axles, suspension, brakes and wheels.
Click on any trailer for a full spec and additional photos. Scroll over a photo to see it in more detail, or click for an bigger ‘popout’ version. The website has no search box within the ‘Buy Trailers’ section; although it is easy to navigate through the stock list, you can’t search a particular keyword, but you can search for a particular part number or manufacturer. Every make of part is represented on the site. Also, the parts stock list is integrated with Newton’s other
Likes and dislikes
We like
✓ Comprehensive ‘resources’ section ✓ Optimised for mobile and slow connections ✓ Users can buy parts off the site
We’re not sure
X Wide website is not ideal for many setups X No search box within ‘Buy Trailers’ section
systems and updated ‘live’ so when the website says that two of a particular part are in stock, you can be confident that is true.
Something else we like within the parts section is that items can be added to a virtual ‘basket’ and paid for online.
Other pages
The website has a number of other pages, accessible via the horizontal menu along the top. These include ‘About Us’, ‘Resources’, and ‘Contact Us’ (with a Google Map to Newton’s Harlington, Bedfordshire base).
The ‘Resources’ section is exciting because of the sheer amount of information that it contains: videos of moving-floor trailers in operation, downloadable PDF manuals (for the Keith Workhorse and the Dawbarn Wraptor, to name two), and galleries of photos. You will also find quick links back through to relevant trailers for sale.
Conclusion
An easy-to-use, comprehensive website that is cleverer than it looks.
Webwatch on the Web
● Visit www.roadtransport.com/buyandsell for a great selection of trucks, vans, trailers, plant and equipment for sale.