A lumber yard's site should say what is stocked and in what lengths, where it delivers and at what charge, how contractor accounts work, what it cuts, when it opens, and how to send a list for pricing.

What the site is actually for

Nobody browses a lumber yard's website for pleasure. People arrive with a job in mind and three questions that decide whether they drive over: do you have it, can you bring it, and when are you open.

Two kinds of customer ask them differently. A framing contractor wants an account, an order phoned in before seven, and the load on site by mid-morning.

A homeowner building a deck wants to know whether you sell to the public, whether the boards come in the length the plan needs, and what delivery costs to their street.

The site does its job when it answers both before the phone rings, so the calls that do come are orders rather than questions.

The questions it has to answer

The last saves the most time on both sides. The customer gets a price before crossing town, and the yard prices the list in a quiet hour rather than at a crowded counter.

What is in the yard

A full price list goes stale within weeks, because lumber prices move with the market, and nobody should publish a price that changed last Tuesday.

The range does not go stale. List what you always carry: framing lumber, treated wood, cedar, plywood and sheathing, engineered beams, decking, trim and fasteners.

Give the lengths you stock and say what has to be ordered. A homeowner who needs sixteen-foot boards for a deck wants to know before the trip, not at the counter.

Say what you cut to length, rip or mill on site, and how special orders work: usual lead times, any deposit, and how customers hear that an order has arrived.

And say plainly that you sell to the public, if you do. Many homeowners assume a yard is trade only until something tells them otherwise.

Delivery, said plainly

Delivery often decides where an order goes, and it is the vaguest page on many building supply sites.

Show the area as a list of towns or a simple map in zones, with the charge for each zone, any minimum order, and the cut-off for next-day delivery.

Say what the trucks can do. A boom truck that lifts a load onto a roof is worth mentioning, and so is whether a driver can set material down at the back of a lot.

Then say what the truck needs: room to get in, clearance under wires, firm ground to unload on and someone to sign for the load.

Contractor accounts

A contractor choosing a supplier wants to know how accounts work before asking for one: the credit application, job accounts or purchase order numbers, how statements arrive and when they are due.

Put the application on the site, on a secure page with an address beginning https, since it asks for banking and business details. Say how long approval usually takes.

And name the person who looks after accounts. Contractors buy from people, and knowing who handles their orders is part of why they stay with a yard.

Hours a contractor can use

Contractors start early, and many yards open before most shops do. For a crew short one box of screws before work, the opening time is the most useful fact on the site.

Put the hours on every page, with the yard's hours shown separately if they differ from the store's. Post winter and holiday hours well ahead; the season for both is close.

If an order phoned or emailed the evening before can be ready for pickup at opening, say so.

A worked example

A family lumber yard on the edge of a small city sells framing lumber, treated wood, cedar, sheet goods and hardware from a yard behind a small store, and runs two delivery trucks.

Its website consisted of a store photograph on the home page, a page of family history, and a contact page with hours and a phone number.

Mornings brought the same calls: do you deliver to this town, what does it cost, do you carry twelve-foot treated four-by-fours, how do I open an account. Counter staff answered them between customers.

Homeowners also assumed the yard sold only to contractors, because nothing on the site said otherwise.

The new site added a stock page with the lengths carried, a delivery page with three zones and their charges, an account page with the application, and a form for a material list or a photo of a drawing.

The early opening time now appears in the header of every page, where a contractor checking at six in the morning sees it first.

The material list form

A quote form for a yard should accept what customers actually have: a typed list, a photo of a list written on a scrap of paper, a sketch, or plans as a PDF.

Ask for the job's address, when the material is needed, and whether it will be picked up or delivered. That is enough to price it and plan the truck.

Say when they will hear back. A contractor who sends a list at night and has a price by mid-morning has every reason to send the next one the same way.

The counter-case

A yard that sells almost entirely to a handful of established builders can start smaller: hours, the delivery area, the account contact and a way to send a list.

A yard without the staff to answer online quotes the same day can begin with the stock and delivery pages, and add the form once someone owns it.

Any yard that wants homeowners or new contractors, though, needs stock, delivery and hours on the site from the first day.

What to build first

  1. Show the hours in the header of every page.
  2. List what you stock and the lengths carried.
  3. Publish delivery zones, charges and cut-off times.
  4. Add a form for material lists and drawings.
  5. Put the account application on a secure page.
  6. Say whether you sell to the public.
  7. Post winter and holiday hours now.

Step three answers the question behind most first orders. A builder or homeowner who cannot tell whether you deliver to their street will phone the yard whose site says so.

The same approach for another building trade is in what a countertop fabricator website needs.

Frequently asked questions

Should a lumber yard publish prices online?

List the range, sizes and lengths rather than a full price list, since lumber prices move with the market. Offer quick quotes from a material list instead.

What should the delivery page say?

The towns or zones you deliver to, the charge for each, any minimum order, the cut-off for next-day delivery, and what the truck can lift and where.

How should contractor accounts appear online?

Explain how accounts, job accounts and statements work, put the credit application on a secure page, say how long approval takes, and name the account contact.

What should a material list form accept?

Whatever customers have: a typed list, a photo of a handwritten one, a sketch or plans as a PDF, plus the job address, timing and pickup or delivery.

Why put the hours on every page?

Contractors check early, often before the day starts, and need to know when the yard opens. Hours shown in every page's header answer that wherever they land.

Do homeowners need anything different?

Mainly a plain statement that you sell to the public, since many assume a yard is trade only, plus the lengths you stock and what delivery to their street costs.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Lumber yard site with just a phone number?

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