Your website: it’s the first place potential drivers look. If your truck driver recruiting site is not easy to navigate, does not provide the information your visitors are looking for, or it’s just plain ugly, visitors will leave your site. It may be time to redesign your website; an even bigger consideration is how often it needs a redesign. Redesigning your company website isn’t an easy task: it certainly takes a lot of time and effort to make major changes, but there’s good reason to.
If your website has been ‘live’ for a while (let’s say at least 12 months), you may find yourself wondering how often you should redesign your website and if now is the time. There are a number of factors that should be considered when determining the right time to redesign a website.
Does your website mimc your existing company branding?
Your company’s website should reflect your brand. Are the colors, logos, and slogans up-to-date? If your company has adopted a new brand or is pursuing a new branding approach, it is critical the website run in parallel with these changes. Failing to bring the website up-to-date with your branding image can leave your visitors confused where they just landed and wondering if it’s the correct website or not. Be sure your website’s theme is along for the ride with your entire image.
How does your site compare to your competitors?
In a competitive marketplace a website must be redesigned more frequently to capture and hold drivers’ attention and build loyalty. This can mean that redesigning your site may need to happen every 12 months (or more often! Some experts have said six months, but realistically let’s just say 12 months.)
In markets that are not as competitive, the gap between website redesigns can be stretched to up to 24 – 36 months. With these longer gaps, you must be aware of other changes taking place with technology and search engines. A partial website redesign (restructuring the backend without drastically changing the appearance) may be appropriate in these cases to stay competitive online. For example, make minor changes throughout the website as factors alter within the company, add new offers, update pages and add widgets, etc…
Is it compatible with current browser usage?
Web browsers are constantly being updated to address new security threats and to stay current with advancing technology. New browsers are also continually being developed and adopted by users. Commonly sites that are more than 12 – 18 months old are potentially missing out on technologies available in new browsers that could enhance the overall user experience of your website. Having a website that does not function correctly on these new browsers can have a negative impact on the overall user experience of your site and force users to leave your site prematurely. Technology is not slowing down anytime soon, so it’s important to stay within the trends and update your site so your it functions like it’s 2014, not 2000.
Is your site optimized your SEO?
To remain competitive, search engines are constantly ‘tweaking’ the algorithms that serve as their backbones. These modifications will impact where your site appears in the search engine results. To maintain a high position in the natural listings, you need to stay current with these changes and make changes to your site related to the algorithm changes. If your website has not been analyzed and optimized within the past 12 months, you may be missing opportunities due to lower search engine results listing – meaning fewer visitors to your site (ultimately, fewer potential drivers for your trucking company.)
These are a few of the topics that should be considered during the decision process. If after a careful review of the state of your website you determine a website redesign is needed, be sure to address the impacting topics during the website redesign process.
Why do you need to redesign your website every 12 months? Here are a few key takeaways:
- To remain competitive
- Update any theme changes and improve appearance
- Stay in line with web brower advances in technology
- Better search engine optimization results
Need help with a website design for your trucking company? Contact the Hightower Agency, the Leader in Recruitment Advertising. Our creative team and website developers will create a new, eye-catching, user-friendly site that you will love!
The Hightower Agency is one of the best driver recruitment agencies. As one of the top recruitment agencies in the trucking industry, we offer a wide variety of driver recruiting services. Our driver recruitment consultants can get your company where it needs to be.