Market research — The Truss Factory redesign

01 · Starting point

The current site hides a strong offer.

Screenshot of the current thetrussfactory.com homepage — thetrussfactory.com today: one page, product lists as text, contact details only in the footer.

Fix now

HTTPS fails. Browsers that try the secure address show a connection error.
No way to request a quote or upload plans.
One page with a single “Home” link, so nothing ranks for roof trusses, steel frames or additions.
No meta description; the page title is “Truss_Factory_Fin”.

Keep & build on

Timber and steel under one roof, with design and installation.
Niche specialties: second-storey additions, kit and pole homes, transportables, granny flats, group housing.
20+ years in Neerabup, open to owner-builders.
The blue truss logo and real job photos.

02 · The WA opening

Every nearby competitor makes timber or steel. Not both.

Four framing manufacturers in Wangara and Colli in Malaga are all within about 25 minutes of Neerabup. None pairs timber and steel with design and installation. The only other timber-and-steel supplier found in metro Perth is barely visible online.

Company	Location	Material	Installs	Quote upload	Worth noting
The Truss Factory	Neerabup	Timber + steel	Yes	None today	Welded steel plus MiTek timber: the only combined offer in the northern corridor.
Colli Truss & Frame	Malaga, Cardup	Timber	Yes	450 MB	Floor cassettes, a named truss & frame manager card, $5.5m automation upgrade.
WA Timber Sales	Wangara, Picton	Timber	–	10 MB	Plain-English FAQ on timber grades and H2 vs H3.
Steel Frames WA	Wangara	Steel	Yes	Images only	“I have plans / still planning” hero; second-storey and remote-town pages.
Techsteel	Wangara	Steel	Yes	5 MB, HEIC	Case studies named by suburb; accepts phone photos of plans.
Steel Frames & Trusses WA	Wangara	Steel	–	–	Cyclonic, second-storey and granny-flat pages; drone video hero.
Protruss	Busselton	Timber	–	1 file	Icon trust bar and the strongest drone hero in WA.
Big River Group	Bellevue	Timber	No	Yes	Publishes a pricing guide and lead times.
Trade Price Frames & Trusses	Pickering Brook	Timber + steel walls	–	No	Gallery sorted by truss type, on a dated site.

03 · Table stakes

What buyers expect in every state.

Feature	Seen at	Current site	New design
Secure (HTTPS), fast, mobile-friendly site	Every serious competitor	Missing	Build requirement
Phone number and quote button in the header	Top sites in all four states	Missing	Header, hero & mobile bar
Quote form with plan upload	Most, e.g. Colli, Techsteel, Senoz	Missing	Seven-step smart form
A page for each product	All	Text lists	Four product cards + pages
Captioned project gallery	The Truss People, Techsteel, ASF	9 photos	Captioned by suburb
FAQ in plain English	Most	Missing	Owner-builder & additions FAQs
Google reviews	Frametek, Dark Red, Steel Frames WA	Missing	Section ready, reviews to collect
Delivery, install and service areas	Most	Missing	Placeholders to confirm
Partner and membership badges	MiTek, TRUECORE, NASH, HIA, FTMA	MiTek in text	MiTek in trust bar

04 · Ideas to adopt

Ten ideas, ranked for The Truss Factory.

#	Idea	Seen at	Status
1	Lead with timber and steel, designed, made and installed by one crew, with a timber-or-steel comparison.	Gap in WA	In this design
2	Two ways in: “I have plans” and “No plans yet? Start here”.	Steel Frames WAFrametekHeyden	In this design
3	A quote form that sorts the lead: role, project type, timber/steel/unsure, supply or install, suburb for wind rating, job status, large uploads, promised reply time.	SenozRiverinaManuframeBar-Truss	In this design
4	A page per project type: second-storey additions, kit & pole homes, granny flats, transportables, group housing, North-West.	Steel Frames WAMetframeSFTWA	Additions page designed
5	Publish the process and lead times.	SenozMelbourne TrussBig RiverBB Truss	In design, to confirm
6	Owner-builder help: what to send, H2–H5 treatment guide, FAQ.	Superior Steel FramesWonsonWA Timber Sales	In this design
7	Frame-stage to finished photo sequences from the same angle. No competitor found does this.	Gap in all states	Additions page
8	Rough price estimator for granny flats and additions, including wind region.	ManuframeNone in NSW	Phase 2
9	3D frame viewer, or QR codes on truss layouts that open a 3D model on site.	Wall TrussDark RedBig RiverDahlsens	Phase 2
10	Builder portal and SMS job updates for scheduling, deliveries and certificates.	TrussCorp	Phase 2

05 · Imagery

Real scale beats stock photos.

The most credible sites show drone shots of frames on slabs, trusses against the sky, crane lifts, factory crews and aerials of the plant. Stock photos, renders-only galleries and phone snaps undermine trust.

Homepage heroes of four WA competitors — WA · Colli, Protruss, Steel Frames WA, Techsteel

Homepage heroes of five VIC competitors and the current site — **VIC** · The Truss People, Timbertruss, Bar-Truss, Nurigong, Wall Truss, and the current site

Homepage heroes of four NSW competitors — **NSW** · Heyden, Riverina Steel Frames, Senoz, Trussted

Homepage heroes of four QLD competitors — **QLD** · Frametek, Manuframe, Superior Steel Frames, Trussmaster

What almost nobody shows, so this design leads with it

These are AI concept images generated for this design. Replace them with real job photography before launch, especially anything presented as “our work”.

06 · Sites to learn from

Seven sites, and what to borrow from each.

WA · Steel

Steel Frames WA

Two-path hero, pages for second-storey additions and remote towns, an owner-builder review.

steelframeswa.com.au

VIC · Timber

The Truss People

Closest match: a family manufacturer selling site measures and crane hire, with suburb-captioned work and a 4-step quote.

thetrusspeople.com.au

VIC · Steel

Wall Truss

Permit and engineering help, a project-type dropdown, an interactive 3D frame model, service areas.

walltruss.com.au

NSW · Steel

Senoz Steel Framing

The best quote form found (role, service, uploads, one-day reply) and a lead-time FAQ.

senozsteel.com

NSW · Steel

Metframe

Paths for homeowners, builders and designers; packaged kits; a free download library.

metframe.au

QLD · Steel

Manuframe

Designs, builds, delivers and installs like TTF; wind-class postcode field, cost calculator, guides hub.

manuframe.com.au

QLD · Steel

Superior Steel Frames

The best owner-builder journey: package inclusions, cyclone FAQ, local builder list, premium real imagery.

superiorsteelframes.com.au

Full reports

32 profiles, with sources

The state-by-state reports are saved in the project folder under research/.

07 · Before launch

Content to collect from The Truss Factory.

Every [highlighted placeholder] in the designs is a fact we shouldn’t guess.

Photography

Frame stage and finished shots of real jobs, from the same angle
Factory, welding and the crew
Crane deliveries; suburb and builder for every caption

Proof

Google Business Profile rating and 3–6 reviews
Memberships or accreditations (HIA, MBA, FTMA)
ABN and vector logo files

Operations

Quote turnaround and typical lead times
Delivery and install areas, crane and access notes
What a quote includes (engineering, certification, site measure) and maximum upload size