In a world of digital technology, all businesses seek a strong online presence to compete in the market and promote their brand awareness. Logistics companies are not new to this business race as well.
A modern logistics website is not a formal attribute of a corporate style anymore. It has transformed from a mere informational web page to a signature marketing tool that works to increase customer engagement, boost sales, and give impetus to business growth.
With a number of ready-made website templates available, a custom solution is always a better option for a highly competitive logistics business.
To come up with a professional website that will help you unleash your business potential to the full, you should embrace key elements in its design we’ll discuss below.
What Is A Good Logistics Website?
A well-designed logistics website is an active user-friendly platform that
- Has an organized and clean structure;
- Properly represents your business and provides every bit of info about your company a customer might need;
- Makes the user experience a smooth ride rather than a pain in the neck;
- Attracts customers by addressing their specific needs;
- Enhances your brand power by communicating and promoting your brand.
Despite operating in the same industry, all logistics companies are made different and will benefit from different website functionality accordingly. However, a successful logistics website is built around a few common components.
8 Features A Quality Logistics Website Should Embrace
A good logistics website should work in both ways. It will match your business goals and objectives and deliver to varying customer needs. By advertising your products and services, it will popularize your brand and reach a potential audience.
At the same time, a quality website should serve practical purposes and function as a one-stop shop for your customers to get what they need, be it info, products, or some sort of assistance.
Website planning is a multi-stage process that requires close attention and scrupulousness. It’s not an easy task, yet, knowing the core features a logistics website should cover today, you’ll spot the right concept faster.
1. Price and Time Calculator
Before placing an order with your company, customers want to know how long it will take you to perform delivery and how much it will cost them. Most often than not, all service providers offer quick quotes at request. However, the customers should have an opportunity to estimate the prices and timings before contacting you.
Online calculators are widely used across industries including logistics. By entering the destination points, cargo weight and dimensions, and any other specific parameters, a customer will be able to calculate the freight and timing based on your company rates and delivery conditions.
Prices, rates, and cost estimate accessibility and transparency are one of the easiest ways to get clients hooked and win over their trust.
2. Online Order Process
If you sell services or products, having a website with no opportunity to place an order makes no sense today. Online sales keep gaining pace since they are available 24/7 and limit customers neither in time nor in location.
An online order option is a must for a modern logistics website too. A simple order form will make the whole process convenient and comprehensible for customers. And automated order placement will minimize the risk of mistakes and ease the accounting for your company.
3. Online Payment Security
Obviously enough, when ordering online, customers should have the option to pay online and rest assured that their financial info is not at risk. Secure payments are a rule of thumb for modern digital platforms.
Not only should your customers be offered multiple payment methods but also they should be protected from scammers, fraudsters, and unauthorized private info access when buying from you online.
4. Order Tracking
When shippers entrust you to handle their cargo, they still want to be on top of it and keep their eyes on the ball. A real-time order-tracking feature will let your customers check their shipments en route at any moment and time of the day.
To check the transportation progress, it’s normally enough to enter an individual shipment code into the tracking field. This feature will not only help customers feel confident and keep an eye on their cargo but also prevent delays and many shipment problems.
5. Accessible Support
Helpful and accessible customer support is always a benefit that contributes to customer relations and business reputation. With all types of online services they have, shippers and receivers should be able to get personal assistance when they need it.
This is where live chats come into play. It’s a highly efficient type of customer support widely used by service providers. It’s essential to have help reps ready to address specific customer questions and find solutions for their problems and issues.
So, make sure, a responsive and friendly support team is easy to contact via live chat or interactive online forms to provide timely and efficient assistance.
6. Service Quality Verification
How do your potential customers know they can trust you? No matter how you advertise yourself, you won’t gain customer trust and loyalty unless you are able to prove your logistics service quality.
There are a few aspects that work for that purpose and should be covered on your logistics website:
- Certifications: Demonstrate any awards, certificates, and documents you have showing your diligence, reliability, and reputation;
- Customer feedback: Place real customer comments and reviews on the front page. Use customer feedback from such websites as Trustpilot, Consumer Affairs, and BBB if any.
7. Detailed Company Profile
Introduce your logistics company to your target audience. Try to be concise yet informative. Let your customers know the history behind your company, highlight your best achievements and values, and describe your services.
Besides, demonstrate your strengths and outline what features and peculiarities give your company an edge over competitors making it a better choice. Show your clients-to-be how they will benefit from hiring you.
Make your company contacts (including a phone number, email, and a live chat tool) available on every page of your website to establish trust with your customers by demonstrating your openness.
8. Blog Section
This part of the website is a potent brand builder. If you want to create a functional, efficient, and engaging logistics website, you should maintain a professional blog. Regularly post meaningful content related to your industry and its most important aspects to get your customers’ interest and provide the info that will help them hit their goals.
A blog is a great tool for:
- Communicating with your audience;
- Showing your customer-focused approach;
- Strengthening your commercial channels and boosting your sales;
- Connecting new customers.
Basic Characteristics of a Good Website
At this point, you already know what core elements a quality logistics website should boast. Yet, there are also a few standard characteristics any website should have. They relate to user experience and you should be aware of them as well when designing an online portal for your logistics business.
Accessibility
Your website should be easy to access and fast to load. Most users would leave a site if it takes too long to load. So, it should be properly optimized to maintain swiftness and smooth work. This will keep users engaged and won’t make them feel annoyed.
Likewise, pay special attention to making your website accessible to different types of users. It would be great to have sound typing and screen reader functions available.
Navigation
It’s the very first tool your customers will use once they visit your website. The navigation menu should be helpful and easy to use for newcomers. It should be clean and clear to avoid confusion and let users find the info they need without roaming around for too long.
Ensure a toolbar and directories are organized logically and not overcrowded with links. If users get lost, most likely than not, they will rather abandon the website than keep spending their time on the search.
User-Friendliness
A good website should have an attractive and streamlined design matching recent trends and standards to look up-to-date and catch users’ attention. Hence, a well-thought layout, proper imagery, fonts, and color selection are of utmost importance. It should be neither too plain nor overloaded with visual and textual elements.
Other than that, avoid complicated technological solutions. All tools and forms should be straightforward and intuitive to match non-tech-savvy users.
Mobile Compatibility
A good site could be accessed and conveniently used and browsed from any device, be it a PC, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. With mobile gadgets taking the lead today, your website should offer full mobile compatibility. All forms, buttons, fields, lines, and features should be easy to click or fill.
Stop Pop Ups on Chrome
One of the most irritating things for any website visitor is pop-up windows that appear out of nowhere and block the content they want to read. You can avoid this annoyance by making sure that your logistics website does not have any pop-ups, or at the very least, limiting them to a minimum. Stopping pop-ups on Chrome will improve the user experience on your site and prevent visitors from leaving your website out of frustration.
One of the most irritating things for any website visitor is pop-up windows that appear out of nowhere and block the content they want to read. You can avoid this annoyance by making sure that your logistics website does not have any pop-ups, or at the very least, limiting them to a minimum. This will improve the user experience on your site and prevent visitors from leaving your website out of frustration.
Roundup
Online presence is a part and parcel of any successful business today. And a well-developed website created with both company and user needs in mind can become a game changer for a logistics business.
It will add to your marketing strategy and bring your relations with customers to a new quality level, not to mention a positive impact on sales and your overall business image.
