Mount Aloysius College students (from left) Nicolette Maines, Caylie Conlon, Nicolas Madrid and Paolo Ibanez present their findings after reviewing Ward Transport & Logistics’ website as part of a PA Chamber of Business and Industry workforce development partnership between the college and Altoona-based trucking firm. Mirror photo by William Kibler

At a presentation by four Mount Aloysius College students last week at the headquarters of Ward Transport & Logistics in Altoona, a PA Chamber of Business and Industry representative quipped that he was glad his boss wasn’t in attendance.

As part of a Chamber-sponsored workforce development partnership between Ward and Mount Aloysius, the students identified design flaws in the company’s website, giving them real-world marketing experience — and the company ideas on how a website tune up could deliver better results.

The Chamber representative was relieved his boss wasn’t around to witness an analysis so astute, because it might have led to a closer inspection of the Chamber’s own website, coupled with a missive that “you’ve got some work to do,” the Chamber rep said.

It was a blessing that the Mount students weren’t bashful about sharing their “actionable” criticisms, said company CEO Bill Ward Jr. after the presentation by senior communications and marketing major Caylie Conlon of Chestnut Ridge; senior communications major Nicolas Madrid of Colombia; senior IT and business major Paolo Ibanez of Mexico City; and junior business administration and marketing major Nicolette Maines of Clearfield.

The constructive criticisms shouldn’t be hard for the company to absorb, given that no single person was responsible for the “hodgepodge” of a website, which was created over the years by periodic additions from multiple individuals from both inside and outside the company, according to James Ward, vice president of corporate accounts and Bill’s cousin.

Mount Aloysius has historically had a career-prep focus, said college President John McKeegan.

All four students are already getting a taste of the workforce, as participants in the work-study program, according to Conlon and Maines, who spoke to the Mirror after their presentations.

Each of the students critiqued an aspect of the company website.

One by one, using a Power Point that included examples from the current website, they outlined the website’s virtues, before launching into areas that could stand improvement.

Conlon discussed the color palette.

The white text on green background of the current website produces a “crisp and clean” look that aligns with the Ward brand, and the green is properly non-aggressive, tying in well with the reliability and consistency that the company wants to project, Conlon said.

But green is used so often that it feels redundant, and within at least one key window, it should yield to a more aggressive color like red to invite critical “clicks” from potential customers, Conlon said.

Red would “pop,” she said.

While the consistent presence of green is a problem, inconsistency in the function of individual colors from one setting within the website to another is also a problem, according to Conlon.

Madrid focused on the text and fonts of the web site.

The current design makes good use of bullet points and headings, which helps invite website visitors to engage, Madrid said.

But inconsistencies with the color, size and boldness of the text can create user inconvenience for them, he said.

There are also issues with maintaining the hierarchical order of headings and the alignment of text across tabs, he said.

It might be better to use even more bullet points and shorter paragraphs to make the visitor experience easier and more efficient, he said.

It would be better also to standardize the way in which text is boxed, Madrid said.

Ibanez focused on navigation, “call-to-action” elements and search optimization.

The website does well to identify the company brand for visitors, while properly emphasizing reliability and clearly categorizing services the company offers and the tools for tracking shipments, according to Ibanez.

But there are shortcomings that can make it harder than necessary for prospective customers to move from entering the website to finding a price quote to booking a transport, then to tracking a shipment, according to Ibanez.

There are places where a visitor can get “stuck,” or confused or be forced to click more than necessary, he said.

There are places where “actionable” elements are buried in long paragraphs or lists, rather than properly obvious to access, he said.

It would be better to integrate quoting, scheduling and tracking tools on all the website pages, for ease of access to those action buttons, he said.

That way as soon as a prospective customer is interested, he can obtain a price and place an order for shipment, he said.

It should be similar for customers to sign up for delivery guarantees or freeze protections, he said.

It’s all to minimize “friction,” he said.

Difficulties in finding quote buttons or order buttons can lead to lost customers, he said.

Maines focused on the visuals.

The website is appealing overall, with a neat and straightforward design that inspires trust in visitors, while the company’s history is presented in a nice way, according to Maines.

But it would be better to activate dead links, perhaps with descriptions and interactive components, she said.

It would be better also to have sharper images of trucks and consistency in capitalization and section alignment to reduce “visual clutter,” she said.

It would also be better to move account information higher on the website, while simplifying long paragraphs, using bullet points, she said.

“You nailed it,” James Ward said when the students finished their presentation.

The trucking industry is “in need of fresh, young, talented people,” James said.

“I’m impressed with your professionalism and analytical abilities,” said Judy Ward, Bill Jr.’s mother and a state senator.

“I learned a lot,” the Chamber rep said.

The PA Chamber helped facilitate the partnership as part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Employer-Provided Innovation Challenge program, according to a news release from the PA Chamber.

Program goals are to “improve career awareness for students, connect them to employers, build their employability skills and help employers access fresh ideas,” according to the release.

The partnership between Mount Aloysius and Ward is the second such in the state, after one that involved East Stroudsburg University and AT&T.

The Mount-Ward partnership grew out of an initiative taken by Bill Ward Jr., who is on the board of both the PA Chamber and the college, after he attended a Chamber meeting in the summer where the program was discussed.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.