A blinds visualizer on your dealer website lets a visitor photograph their own window, see your products on it, and send you a quote request with that photo and the design they picked. You get a lead with something to talk about, instead of a name and a phone number. To add one, you list your website's address with the visualizer provider, paste a short embed code into a page on your site, and send the leads into your CRM. This post covers what a dealer-site visualizer should do, how the leads come in, what to look for when you choose one, and exactly how HeadRail's website widget works.
What a visualizer on your own site does
Manufacturers already offer visualizers. Graber, for example, has a window treatment visualizer online and as a tablet app, where homeowners can preview Graber products on their own windows and save swatches and room photos. It works under Graber's name, though, and the homeowner's request doesn't come to you.
A visualizer on your own website does a different job. It sits on your domain, under your name and phone number, and shows the products you sell. When the visitor likes what they see, the request comes to you, not to a list of dealers near their ZIP code.
A good one does four things:
- The visitor uploads or takes a photo of their own window, not a stock room.
- They pick a product and color from your catalog and see it on that photo.
- They ask for a quote, and agree to be contacted.
- You get the lead with the photo, the design and their contact details, in the place your team already works.
The preview should be labeled as an illustration. It's a picture of the product on their window, not a photograph of the finished install, and saying so up front prevents an awkward conversation when the real shade goes up.
How the leads come in
The lead is the point, so look closely at what arrives and where.
A request that says only "Jane, 555-0142, interested in shades" makes the rep start from zero. A request with the window photo, "Roman shade, natural linen, bedroom, 1 window" and a phone number and email the visitor agreed to share gives the rep an opening line: "I saw the linen Roman you picked for the bedroom."
Then speed matters. In a study published in Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, companies that tried to contact a web lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as companies that tried even an hour later. A visualizer lead that sits in an inbox until Monday has lost most of what made it valuable. Route it to a person with a due time. (HeadRail's widget sends every request straight to your CRM as a lead; book a demo to see it on your own site.)
What to look for when you choose one
Before you pick a visualizer for your site, ask:
- Whose products are in it? Yours, with your colors, or a generic set?
- Whose brand is on it? Your logo, colors and phone number, or the vendor's?
- Where does it run? It should run only on the web addresses you list, so nobody can copy your embed code onto another site and spend your previews.
- Which site builders does it work with? WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and Shopify each handle embedded code differently. Ask for the steps for yours.
- What does a lead include, and does it land in your CRM, your email, or both?
- What does it cost per preview, how many are included each month, and what happens when they run out?
- What happens to the photos? Homeowners are sending you pictures of the inside of their house. They shouldn't be sold or used for advertising, and you should know when they're deleted.
- Is consent recorded? Follow-up marketing should only go to visitors who agreed to it.
If you're weighing the visualizer as part of a bigger software decision, our buyer's checklist for window treatment software covers the other questions.
Where to put it on your site
Put it where people already go to ask for a quote. A page called "Design your windows" or your "Free quote" page works, linked from your main menu and from the button on your home page. You can also share it as a direct link in emails, on social posts and on a QR code at your showroom or trade-show table.
Keep the page simple: a sentence on what the visitor gets ("See our shades on your own window, then get a quote"), the visualizer, and your phone number for people who'd rather call.
How HeadRail's website widget works
HeadRail's website visualizer is on the Pro and Commercial plans. Visitors photograph their window, see it in your products and send you a quote request, and each request lands in your HeadRail CRM as a lead. Setup takes about 10 minutes, and the steps are in the website widget guide.
List your website first
Browsers show the widget only on the sites you list. In Admin, Website, under Allowed sites, you type your site's address starting with https://, one per line, with both versions (https://www.yourcompany.com and https://yourcompany.com). You can allow every subdomain with https://*.yourcompany.com, up to 20 sites.
Pick an embed code
There are three choices, each with a Copy button:
| Option | What it is | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Option B: script | Two short lines that fit the page width | Most sites |
| Option A: iframe | One line | Builders that only accept an iframe |
| Direct link | A web address, no code | A button, an email or a social post |
Paste it into your site builder
The guide has steps for each builder. A few things that catch people out:
- WordPress: use a Custom HTML block and paste Option B. On self-hosted WordPress, sign in as an Administrator. WordPress.com needs a paid plan with plugins turned on; on the free plan, use the Direct link on a button.
- Wix: embed the Direct link with Embed Code, then Embed a site, and size the box to about 520 pixels wide and 720 tall.
- Squarespace: a Code block with Option B needs the Core, Plus or Advanced plan. On other plans, put the Direct link on a button.
- GoDaddy Website Builder: paste Option A into an HTML section and type 740 in Forced Height. Never enter 0, which deletes the section.
- Shopify: add a Custom Liquid section and paste Option B. Section names vary by theme.
If someone else runs your website, the guide has a ready message to send them with Option B.
Where the leads go
Each request arrives with the window photo, the design the visitor chose, measurements and contact details. It lands in the CRM, and you can get it by email or send it to another system with a webhook. A new website lead gets a "Call" task for its rep, due in 15 minutes, and owners can let website leads take turns between reps. You can export your leads to CSV any time.
Previews and limits
Website previews run within your plan's monthly allowance: 200 on Pro, 400 on Commercial. More previews are $25 a month per 100. If the month's previews are used up, visitors see a quote form instead of a preview, and leads still come in. Overage is off unless you turn it on; then each extra preview is $0.25, capped at $50 a month. All of this is on the pricing page.
On Pro, the widget carries your logo, colors and fonts, and your name and phone number. Homeowner photos are used for the preview, the quote request and, if the homeowner opts in, your follow-up. They're never sold or used for advertising, and they're deleted on your retention schedule.
Two extras on the same page
In Admin, Website, you can also turn on an offer pop-up (visitors who ask for your offer get it by email with their own code, and become leads) and visitor tracking. Tracking needs one line of code in the footer of every page, except pages that already have Option B, and you should keep "Ask visitors first" on unless your privacy policy covers it.
If the widget doesn't show
Check that Allowed sites lists the exact address in the browser's address bar, with https:// and with or without www. Open the live page in a private window, logged out of your builder. If the builder removed the script when you saved, use Option A. Still blank? Email admin@getheadrail.com with the page's address.
After the lead arrives
The visualizer gets the conversation started. The rep still has to call, book the visit and close it. Our post on closing the blinds sale in one visit picks up from there: measuring with the customer, showing the product on their window again in person, and leaving with a signature and a deposit.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a developer to add a blinds visualizer to my website?
Usually not. With HeadRail you paste one snippet into your site builder, or put a direct link on a button if your builder doesn't accept code. If someone else manages your site, send them the embed code and ask them for every address the site loads from.
Will a visualizer slow down or break my website?
HeadRail's widget loads in a frame inside your page, and runs only on the addresses you list. If a page builder strips the script, the one-line iframe version or the direct link works instead.
What happens when my website previews run out for the month?
On HeadRail, visitors see a quote form instead of a preview, and their requests still arrive as leads. You can add 100 more previews a month for $25, or turn on overage at $0.25 a preview, capped at $50 a month.
Are the previews accurate?
They show the product the visitor picked, with its color and options, on their own window. They're illustrations, not photographs of the finished install, and HeadRail labels every result that way. Confirm final colors with physical samples.