The Deciding Factor and Thornton Landscape recently received a Standard of Excellence
Website Award from the Web Marketing Association. The association evaluates and recognizes the best
websites in 96 industry categories. The website, www.thorntonlandscape.com, earned its award in the Small
Business category.
The Deciding Factor, a marketing agency in Mason, Ohio, developed the branding and strategy for the website
and then designed, wrote and programmed the user-friendly site. The website’s focus is on Thornton
Landscape’s customers and answering their questions and needs, said Karen Holzer, president of The
Deciding Factor.
“Thornton Landscape takes a unique approach to every property they landscape. Likewise, we address every
company’s website individually to meet their unique needs and share their brand differentiation with their
customers,” Holzer said. “Thornton Landscape’s customers would never be satisfied with a cookie cutter
landscape, and we would never be satisfied providing Thornton Landscape with a cookie-cutter website.”
More than 2,400 websites from 45 countries competed for awards and were judged by Internet marketing
professionals from around the world. Sites are evaluated on seven criteria – design, interactivity, technology,
content, innovation, copywriting and ease of use to the target audience – and earn scores between 0 and 70
points.
The highest score in each category won a Best of Industry award. Websites that scored above their industry
category average received the Standard of Excellence Award. The website received especially high scores in
ease of use, copywriting, design and content. The complete list of winners will be announced next week; visit
www.webaward.org.
“We appreciate this honor, but more importantly, we’re happy that so many of our customers have found our
website to be helpful. We created the website to give homeowners, businesses and developers an opportunity
to view our work and be inspired by the possibilities for their own landscaping,” said Rick Doesburg, president
of Thornton Landscape. “A lot of websites are about the company. We wanted this website to be about our
customers.”
The website offers an innovative feature called the Favorites Box. In the past, customers would spend time
with stacks of magazines and a pair of scissors, clipping pictures and ideas to show what they wanted in their
own landscaping. The website offers a different way. Visitors can browse hundreds of images and, with a
simple click, tell the computer to save the ones they love into a gallery. Then, they can view the gallery with a
Thornton professional and easily communicate their preferences and vision, Doesburg said.
“As a custom landscape design company, we start with a fresh perspective on every landscape. Our customers
want a unique design that matches their preferences and complements their space. Getting a sense of the
landscape elements they like is a great starting point for designing a truly custom outdoor living area,”
Doesburg said.
The website also offers a wealth of information for people looking for gardening tips and trends in outdoor
living. The site has an online archive of Thornton Landscape’s newsletter, Ground Cover. “We hear
compliments about our newsletter all of the time, and we appreciate being able to share it with the public
online. The newsletter is like a mini-magazine of seasonal articles, ideas and suggestions,” Doesburg said.
The site allows customers to sign-up for regular updates from Thornton Landscape, request more information
about a project, ask a question to be answered in Ground Cover, subscribe to the newsletter by mail, view job
listings, or request landscape service.
About Thornton Landscape
Thornton Landscape, founded in 1961, is located in Maineville, Ohio, and provides comprehensive landscape
services from design through installation to the residential, maintenance and commercial markets. Thornton
Landscape employees 45 professionals who have extensive experience and certification in the landscaping
industry. For more information, visit www.thorntonlandscape.com.
About The Deciding Factor
The Deciding Factor is a strategically-focused marketing firm headquartered in Mason, Ohio. Believing that
companies of all sizes can benefit from comprehensive, strategic marketing initiatives, they offer a full range of
services to mid-sized businesses and divisions of larger corporations. Services include marketing strategy,
brand positioning, advertising, public relations, website development, sales communications and direct
marketing. For more information, visit www.decidingfactor.us.
About the Web Marketing Association
The Web Marketing Association is working to create a high standard of excellence for Web site development
and marketing on the Internet. Staffed by volunteers, it is made up of Internet marketing, advertising, PR and
design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of Website development and marketing on
the Internet. Since 1997, the Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward Competition has been helping
interactive professionals promote themselves, their companies, and their best work to the outside world. Now
in its 12th year, the WebAward Competition has become the premier award event for Web developers and
marketers worldwide.
