On October 1, 2018, DistributorCentral’s legacy website platform will be discontinued. All websites will have to be re-created in our new responsive website platform to continue working properly.
Why is DistributorCentral discontinuing the legacy website builder?
DistributorCentral launched their award-winning, mobile-responsive website builder platform in 2015. Since then Google and other search engines have redesigned their search algorithms to show preference to websites that are mobile-friendly. Those search engines are reacting to the surge of website traffic on mobile devices, which is more than half of the overall traffic on the internet. DistributorCentral feels strongly that we need to give the users of our websites the best possible user experience so we had to make some dramatic changes to achieve a more intuitive tool that included the basic necessities search engines now prefer.
Can DistributorCentral transfer my legacy website to the new platform?
No. Your website and its pages will have to be created from scratch on the new mobile-responsive platform. You will be able to use the same product catalogs that you have created in your dashboard, and you can copy and paste content into the new platform’s blocks, however, we do not have a tool that will simply transfer the pages automatically.
Can my website look the same?
Not exactly. When designing your website on then new platform, you’ll want to evaluate how the design appears on different screen sizes. Since the new platform is responsive, your new website’s width and content will adjust to the screen size it is being viewed on at that time. Due to the platform being entirely different from the legacy website builder and the responsiveness of your new website, it will not be an exact match of your current legacy website. However, you can still use the same color scheme, catalogs, pages, imagery, and text to create a familiar atmosphere for your customers.
Will I be able to build the new website?
Yes. DistributorCentral has many great starter templates and offers a handful of training opportunities targeted to help our customers learn how to use the responsive website editor.
- Watch our series of short 2-5 minute training videos to get started.
- Join our live webinars to be walked through the website builder tools in real time, while also offering a Q&A session at that end.
- Watch a recorded webinar when you have time to see the walk through of the website builder tools.
- Check out the DistributorCentral Academy for a self-serve solution.
- Ask others who have already built their website by joining the DistributorCentral support forums.
- If you still can’t find an answer, contact us and we will provide you with the instruction you need.
Can DistributorCentral build my new website for me?
Yes. We offer distributor website design packages. DistributorCentral also offers custom website design for projects that do not fit within our package specifications. There are only so many website slots available for DistributorCentral’s design team to guarantee a finished website prior to October 1st, so hurry to reserve your website with us before time runs out. If you are interested please contact us to discuss your website design requests further.
Do I have any other options for designing my website?
Yes. Artwork Services also offers website design services on DistributorCentral’s platform.
How much do DistributorCentral’s new responsive website tools cost?
Like the legacy website builder, the new platform’s tools and hosting are available to our users at no additional charge.
