Fargo Company Opens Doors to Global eCommerce
Door Stud was founded by Jim Newenhouse in Fargo, ND in November 2017 “by the craftsman, for the craftsman.” The design makes door installation easier, faster and safer. What started as a small business with a bold idea, is now selling globally.
Jim saw the opportunity for a strong web-based sales model early on in his business planning. He participated in a full day Website Globalization seminar organized by the U.S. Commercial Service / ND on December 10, 2019. Jim also invited his web designer and marketing team to join the seminar. The course covered topics including domain considerations, search engine optimization, Google tools, simple website enhancements, mobile eCommerce and website translation. A panel of experts also spoke about their successes in globalizing their websites. As part of the course, each participating company received a customized search engine optimization website analysis that provided feedback and suggestions to improve the website’s search engine optimization, which in turn, allows the website to appear in more relevant internet searches, and reach a wider audience of potential consumers.
Ever the strategist and driver for improvement, Jim found areas for improvement and he began implementing improvements to his company’s website, as well as becoming more focused on overall digital strategies. He began to strategically use Google Analytics & Power BI to determine where his online marketing dollars were most effective. As a result of these changes, Door Stud’s online sales increased by 300% in 2020, despite the pandemic, including an increase of 75% to international customers. Almost a year after the course, Door Stud is still reaping the benefits of this course.
“The seminar was critical and informative for our team in understanding how to implement and measure the key items that make your website successful” said Door Stud owner Jim Newenhouse. In November 2020, Door Stud received a Website Globalization Review (WGR), a premier service now being offered by the Rural Export Center. WGRs provide a technical and strategic assessment of a business’s ecommerce sales channel efforts. This WGR showed an improved search engine optimization score compared to last year before participating in the seminar. Door Stud continues to adopt new practices and improvements to capitalize on the opportunities global eCommerce offers.
To learn more about WGRs click here. To request a WGR, email rural@trade.gov for more details. To learn more about seminars and webinars offered through the Rural Export Center, click here. To learn more about The Door Stud, click here.