mak.nn.ru was the website of the Nizhny Novgorod company "MAK", which traded in rolled metal, mesh, hardware, and building materials. In the general rating of Counter.nn.ru on 30 September 2000, the site was listed as "Nizhny Novgorod company \"MAK\""[1]. The nn.ru directory described the firm as follows: "Rolled metal — a wide range of sheet and section steel, pipes. Various types of mesh. Metal decking, hardware, non-ferrous rolled metal, building materials. Manufacture and sale of metal and wooden structures"[2]. The only surviving text of the home page dates to 21 October 2011: by that time the address hosted the site of the company "NNK Metall", with metal depots in Nizhny Novgorod, Dzerzhinsk, and Bor[3].

The firm in the nn.ru directory and rating

In the nn.ru directory the firm appeared in several sections at once. In the section "Firms (Enterprises): Consumer Goods, Shops: Manufacturing" it was listed as "MAK" with a rating of 47 and the short description "Manufacture and sale of metal and wooden structures"[4]. In the section "Firms (Enterprises): Construction: Building Materials" — as "Firm \"MAK\"" with a rating of 46[2], and in the section "Firms (Enterprises): Industry: Metallurgy" — with a rating of 39, alongside the Kulebaki Metallurgical Plant and JSC "Gorky Metallurgical Plant"[5].

In the counter.nn.ru tables for 30 September 2000, the site held the 58th line in the "Firms (Enterprises)" section[6] and the 196th line in the general rating[1]. In the "Counter", "Rating", and "Hits" columns it showed 1426, 8.74, and 1[1] — the site held a middling position but did not draw much traffic.

Advertising was more prominent than the rating. A square banner captioned "Nizhny Novgorod Company MAK" ran in the Nizhny Novgorod banner network and appeared in rotation on the counter's own pages[1], and in spring 2001 also on the pages of the nn.ru directory[7]. For a trading firm this was a typical way of maintaining a presence in the Nizhny Novgorod Internet of the time: a showcase website of one's own plus a banner on city portals.

The home page in 2011

The snapshot of 21 October 2011 finds the address mak.nn.ru occupied not by "MAK" but by "NNK Metall"; the page makes no mention of the former name[3]. The menu consisted of the sections "About the company" (with the subsections "Company history" and "Mission"), "Rolled metal" ("Metal depots", "Price list", "Promotions and discount programs"), "Building materials" ("Building materials", "Plumbing fixtures"), "Metalworking" ("Metal structures", "Price list"), "Transport", "Contacts", "Our partners", "Vacancies", "Write us a letter"; a site search also worked[3]. Contact details were given right on the home page: Nizhny Novgorod, Raketnaya Street, building 9sh, phone +7 (831) 2-761-761[3].

Merchandise was laid out in five columns: rolled metal (section, sheet, shaped, pipe), mesh (welded, woven, plaited, expanded), hardware (wire, nails, electrodes, discs, shut-off valves), building materials (finishing, construction, roofing, tools, fasteners), and plumbing — PVC, CPVC, polypropylene, metal-plastic, HDPE, and sewer pipes, as well as radiators[3]. According to the home page, the rolled-metal assortment numbered "more than 200 items", the mesh assortment "more than a hundred", and the metal depots operated in the Nizhegorodsky, Kanavinsky, Moskovsky, and Prioksky districts of Nizhny Novgorod, as well as in Dzerzhinsk and Bor[3]. Clients listed included construction organizations, metal-structure plants, petrochemical enterprises, utilities and power companies, small businesses, and private individuals[3], and the stated working principles were "honesty; openness; professionalism"[3].

The news column at the time of the snapshot contained a single entry: on 16 August 2011 the "SVOI" program was announced — a new wholesale discount system for rolled-metal buyers[3]. The page title was stuffed with search queries ("steel pipe, polypropylene pipes, profile pipes, PVC, metal-plastic, buy, prices, Nizhny Novgorod"), and the footer carried the contractor's signature — "Interregional Corporation BRAND, Website promotion in Nizhny Novgorod"[3]. The home-page text was written for search rankings: phrases like "buy a pipe in Nizhny Novgorod" repeated in every paragraph[3].

How it closed

According to the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating, the web archive's first snapshot of the home page was taken on 19 May 2000. The last snapshot of the site is dated 5 June 2018[8]; today the domain mak.nn.ru no longer exists, and no successor at another address was found in the archival materials. Of eighteen years of this Nizhny Novgorod metal trader's online storefront, what remains is a listing in the nn.ru directory, a line in the counter.nn.ru rating, and a single snapshot of the home page.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — General rating of counter.nn.ru, 2000 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, "Firms (Enterprises): Construction: Building Materials", 2003 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Home page, 2011 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, "Firms (Enterprises): Consumer Goods, Shops: Manufacturing", 2002 (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, "Firms (Enterprises): Industry: Metallurgy", 2003 (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — counter.nn.ru rating, "Firms (Enterprises)" section, 2000 (archive)
  7. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory with the company's banner, 2001 (archive)
  8. web.archive.org — Snapshot of mak.nn.ru, 5 June 2018 (archive)