“We’re very excited about this award because we feel we were very successful in redesigning our website the way we wanted it to be,” says Heidi Sedlacek, marketing coordinator for Bituminous Roadways Inc., Mendota Heights, MN.
“Creating a user-friendly experience, along with a simple and bold design, was the main goal,” she says. “It was important to have a well-organized home page, with the opportunity for customers to easily find the asphalt calculator, a popular button. Incorporating an obvious ‘call to action’ was also necessary to drive customers to call for more information or complete a more detailed consultation form.”
By reorganizing the main menu categories into two project types; new construction or maintenance, it helps customers better choose what they might be looking for, Sedlacek says. “The photo gallery was also a well-visited area of the former site, so a decision was made to prominently display this in the main menu.”
She says that below the “fold” as users scroll down BR highlighted three main areas they wanted to emphasize: employment, company information and customer resources. And they made the site mobile-phone friends. “We felt that was critical,” she says. “Many BR customers utilize their cell phones more than their desktops, so making it easy to navigate on a cell phone was extremely important.”
She says that in addition, an entirely new section of the website was created to focus on customer education, making resources available regarding different asphalt related topics. “The goal here is to provide customers with interesting information to keep them coming back frequently to see what’s new. In the future, BR is hoping to populate this area with videos of asphalt ‘how-tos.’
In an interview with Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, Sedlacek explained some of the thinking that went into the redesign and the impact of the redesign itself.
Pavement: Why did Bituminous Roadways decide to design a new website?
Sedlacek: The timing was right. Throughout the spring-summer of 2016, the company was struggling with the service provider. Pages weren’t being updated, information had been “coming soon” for quite some time and videos weren’t loading properly. In a discussion of hiring a new firm to design and host the website, an internal marketing committee also decided it would be a good time to look at a rebranding campaign.
Pavement: What is the value of a good website for a contractor?
Sedlacek: Making a good first impression is critical in today’s business atmosphere. If your company website is unattractive and clunky, it’s not going to be an effective sales tool. It’s too soon to tell the impact of our redesign as it takes some time to build up SEO (Search Engine Optimization) numbers.
However, we feel the redesign created a more attractive site and helped us reorganize information to allow easier navigation. In addition, we are building our reputation as an expert in our area by creating a customer education section. We want our customers to know they can use our website as a resource.
Pavement: But can you tell if the new website has had any impact on your business?
Sedlacek: It can be hard to calculate, however, what we do know is from the forms completed on line our estimators have secured jobs from as little as $900 to as much as $100,000. Funneling customers to our website is a priority. A website can be an extension of your sales force, if done correctly. While on our site, customers have the option of completing a short, Contact Me form or a Request a Consultation form. Both forms will prompt a call from one of our estimators. We find that many of our customers do repeat work with us, so if we can capitalize on this initial form generator for leads, we may also secure business years from now.
Pavement: What recommendations would you pass along to other contractors about redesigning their website?
Sedlacek: First, do your due diligence in selecting a design firm. We procured four bids, all of various pricing structures and outcomes. We also called clients of the bidding firms and received some feedback. Second, take the time on the front of your design process and really think about what you want your website to do for your company. This may flush out some necessary design elements your design firm will need to be aware of. Finally, develop a timeline and an internal point person to firmly monitor that timeline.
