May 20, 2010 - San Luis Obispo, CA -- TechXpress recently completed a redesigned website for Guayaki, a company that sells organic, fair trade, sustainably harvested yerba mate tea to customers worldwide. Guayaki originated in San Luis Obispo, but is now based in Sebastapol, California.

Guayaki originally launched their website, www.guayaki.com, twelve years ago and since then, both the company and the Internet have evolved.

"Technology changes so quickly these days, we wanted our website to be much more advanced," said Guayaki Creative Director Steven Karr. "Twelve years ago, the site was information only. Today, the way things have progressed with mega-sites like Amazon, people expect to shop online with ease. Now, when you arrive at our site, you're landing at the Guayaki store, which is a fundamental change for us.

Web customers can buy various forms of the tea, including discount-priced loose-leaf tea in bulk - a product only available online. They can also purchase fair trade gourds and bombillas which are the traditional vessel and straw combination used to drink yerba mate in South America.

The new Guayaki site offers an updated look that Karr believes is critical in today's market.

"Branding has evolved and there were more splashy things we could do with the site,” he said. “We wanted it to be cool and aesthetically pleasing and also easy to use, whether people are dialing in on their iPhone or on their home computer."

TechXpress researched and documented how customers were using the old Guayaki site in order to make the new site easier to navigate.

"They researched what people wanted and what order they wanted it in," said Karr. "We were able to make the most important pages more available, with an intuitive navigation to make information easier to find."

The new site provides a wealth of information about yerba mate, about the company, as well as about Guayaki's mission to restore the South American Atlantic rainforest, and to create living wage jobs in that region.

"We have upwards of 150 pages of info on the site," said Karr. "People can read an online book about Guayaki or just collect the info they need. People are hungry for information these days, so when they find something they like, they want to know more."

The site also takes advantage of advancements in technology. A new video section offers informational videos, news clips and testimonials, taking advantage of the proliferation of high-speed Internet.

The site also ties in with the company's sophisticated social media program, via sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and MySpace.

Two months after the launch of the new site, Karr has noticed a significant difference.

"We've gotten a lot of great feedback on the site - people love it, and sales have organically gone up," he said. "It's a lot easier to use, a lot easier to find products, and just organized a lot better. We do a lot of online sales, so having a well-designed site is fundamental."

TechXpress, Inc. is a leading information technology (IT) company offering innovative products and services that enable small and medium-size enterprises to succeed in today's digital age. Offerings include Managed IT Services, Internet Business Solutions, and Software Training Classes. For more information visit www.techxpress.net or call 782-TECH (8324).