Soldier Car Transport
Background
Who is Soldier Car Transport?
Soldier Car Transport is a veteran-owned auto shipping company. Kish was referred to them to help redesign their website.
What was Kish's role?
Freelance web designer. Activities:
- Conducted research with stakeholders and of competitors
- Prototyped a new website in XD, incorporating feedback continuously
- Developed website with Webflow
- Managed and maintained the website long term
Context
The Old Site
According to the client, the existing website was a bit outdated and did not meet industry standards or enable growth
Their bottom line expectation was a website that qualifies for google ads.
They wanted someone to design and implement the website without much overhead.
Kish was happy to take on a project to assist veterans, and immediately saw ways to improve the website
How might we redesign our website to better attract and convert visitors?
Research
Market Research
Kish first looked at websites of competitors in the space to identify existing trends, and see ways the existing website can be improved. In addition, Kish studied the existing website and its online presence to determine its competitive advantages.
Roadrunner
✓ Easy to use, automatic quote system
✓ A lot of good content and great SEO ranking
✓ Effective follow ups
✗ Website is extremely busy
✗ Reviews are questionable
✗ No personalized service
Montway
✓ Clean website
✓ Great reviews
✗ Quote system is unreliable
✗ Annoying follow up emails
✗ No clear path for visitors
A1 Auto Transport
✓ Really strong SEO system
✓ Strong marketing and brand identity
✗ Website is a bit unclear
✗ No personalized services
Takeaways from Market Research
- Soldier Car Transport is by no means the largest company, and there is a ton of competition
- A quote generator is a pretty standard feature of all competitors' websites, but it is missing on the existing one
- There are very few Veteran owned and run car tranport businesses
- Soldier Car Transport has amazing reviews - primarily due to its personalized service
Stakeholder Interviews
Kish spoke to the founder and operating manager of the company to learn more and establish the key selling points of the business. These key selling points were
Personalized service
Great reviews
Veteran Owned Business
Design
Wireframed in Adobe XD
The design process began with wireframes in XD. Kish incorporated the insights from his competitive analysis and interviews in this new design. Once developed, the wireframes were shared with the business owner for feedback.
Through numerous rounds of design, feedback, and revision, a solid design was established within XD.
Built the site in Webflow
Kish then recreated (and improved on) the design from XD in Webflow. Again, this site went through many revisions and updates before going live.
Key Solution #1 - Effective Hero Section
The first improvement Kish made to the site was building a captivating and clear hero section. The reason this was important because the first impression visitors have when landing on a website is crucial. Key aspects included:
- Personable and visually appealing hero image
- Clear one line description of the business
- Extremely visible call to action
Key Solution #2 - Social Proof
Reviews and being veteran owned – two key competitive advantages that Soldier Car Transport has. To highlight these Kish added a couple badges, as well as embedded live reviews from various review platforms. Additionally, he added an entire page dedicated to reviews. Testimonials and reviews are auto populated, and specific ones can be highlighted by the client.
Kish put these social proofs right on the homepage to provide users a sense of security and trust in the business.
Key Solution #3 - Get a Quote
The Get a Quote function is integral to the success of the website. Kish simplified the get a quote form so users could understand each field and not feel overwhelmed by the length of the form.
The Final Site
The final website was published in early January at cartransportsoldier.com.
Hit the link below to see it in action!
Testing
As website manager, I was responsible for making sure the website is fully functional, as well as implementing anything else the client wants to see. See some of the features/updates Kish added below
CMS access for client to independently add/edit content
Testimonial slider linked to CMS
Customized form submission emails
Conclusion
Outcomes
Enabled the site for Google advertisements
- It may sound elementary, but the initial catalyst of the redesign was to enable advertisements with Google. This was accomplished
Increased conversion
- While there aren't statistics, the client was pleased with how many more form submissions he was getting per day
- In addition, according to Google analytics, the website traffic and time spent per page increased
Happy customers and a happy client
- More than all the business goals, Kish's primary motivation was to improve the experience of the client and his customers
- The website significantly simplified the client's workflow, giving him more assurance and control over this site.
- According to testimonials and word of mouth, the website has helped customer get their questions answered and get quote. Additionally many reported just genuinely enjoying browsing the website.
Learnings
The client comes first
- Managing schedules, holding team meetings, making important decisions became 3x harder due to COVID-19
Website quality makes an enormous difference
- Throughout the bootcamp, Kish and his team were picking up so many tools and methodologies, and felt confident in their ability to apply them
- However, when it came time to apply these learnings for Brisk, many challenges arose as a result of the team's inexperience
Design never ends
