If you’re like many home services contractors, you might not be getting the number of leads you need to keep your small business running. If that sounds familiar, your website might have something to do with it.
76% of people turn to a business's online presence before they take their next step. The trade industry is no exception. And because oftentimes, you or your team need to work in their homes, people may even be more careful about researching the quality of your website, from trustworthy reviews to an accessible contact page.
That means if people aren’t finding your website — or they’re not impressed with what they find — you could be losing potential customers.
It takes the right know-how to turn a struggling website into a powerful asset for your home services business. In this guide, we’ll help you build a website that gets you results, without needing to touch a single line of code.
Why Build a Trades Business Website?
For any trades business, a website isn’t just an asset to your marketing. It’s a necessity.
What are trade jobs, exactly? And why do they need a website so badly? If you’re working in hands-on industries like construction, plumbing, HVAC, or electrical work, your potential clients will be turning to the Internet to help solve whatever problem they've encountered. To consider their options, they’ll scour the Google search results and check out the websites of your competitors.
Chances are, you already have some kind of online presence. But a Facebook page, Yelp profile, or Google business listing isn’t enough. While these can help summarize your business and offer some reviews, they don’t offer you the same control that a website does. When you craft your own business page, the power is in your hands to tell your own story.
A website can act as a business card that’s available 24/7 to any customer who wants it. It does the marketing work for you, getting your name out to people in your service area without you having to lift a finger.
6 Tips For Building Your Home Services Website
Of course, just building a website isn’t enough to generate quality leads. A website that’s poorly designed or isn't SEO-friendly won’t do much more than sit on the Internet gathering dust, barely producing more than a few leads for your business.
So how do you turn a bland, unproductive website into a modern, fully optimized website that outperforms all your other marketing efforts?
Here are six tips for building a home services website that makes a powerful impression on your customers.
1. Make Sure Your Pages Are Well-Designed
Website design is something you can’t afford to overlook. You might have all the necessary text — with engaging copy and stunning images — but those won’t matter if they’re not packaged in an appealing way for your audience.
Design is the first thing people will see when they click on your page. It’s also going to be the first thing they’ll judge. If your website is clunky, out of date, or hard to read, that will reflect on your business.
So how do you make a solid first impression? You don’t need to have top-tier design skills, but you should at least have:
- An attention-grabbing headline that sums up your home services business
- A bold and easily readable font in an appropriate size
- A professional logo displayed prominently on the home page
- A strong header or banner image
- A consistent aesthetic — colors, fonts, and images should all match your brand
2. Build a Mobile-Friendly Site
These days, almost half of all online traffic comes from mobile devices. What does that mean for you?
The next time a potential customer picks up their phone to search for companies in their area, you have an opportunity to catch their attention. If your website isn’t formatted to work well on a mobile phone, they’ll probably move on to a competitor.
A mobile-friendly website is one that can be easily read and navigated regardless of what device you’re using. To figure out if you’re mobile-ready, pull up a phone and look for the following on your own website:
- The font is readable without needing to enlarge
- All the text is visible on the screen without needing to scroll left or right
- The navigation menu is clear and easy to read
- The buttons are spaced out so you can press one without accidentally pressing another
- The page loads quickly and easily, without a significant lag
If one or more of these factors isn’t the case for your mobile website, updating it should be the first thing on your list. Whether you’re ready for it or not, mobile responsiveness is becoming a top priority for any small business.
It isn’t just your customers that care about your website’s ease of use. The Google rankings take mobile responsiveness into account too.
Google boosts the search rankings for mobile-friendly sites and penalizes those that aren’t as responsive. On average, moving up just one spot in the search rankings can increase your click-through rate by 31%, which means every SEO boost counts. To confirm whether or not Google considers your site to be mobile-friendly, you can use their free tool.
3. Focus on SEO
A staggering 90% of websites get zero traffic from Google. When people use the search rankings, most of them stick to the first page of results. That means websites that aren’t search engine optimized (SEO) optimized aren’t getting seen.
To turn your website into concrete leads, you’ll need to make it into the top rankings. The best way to do that is through keywords.
As you build your website, keep the top keywords for your niche in mind. Using free tools like SEMrush’s keyword planner or Google’s Keyword Tool extension, look for high-volume keywords with a low difficulty score. Those are the keywords you’ll have the best chance to rank with — they get a decent number of searches without being too competitive.
Some of the most effective keywords include long-tail keywords. For example, instead of “find a plumber,” it would be: “how do I find a plumber near me?”
4. Include the Right Content
When people visit a home services webpage, they have a specific goal. They want answers to their questions and solutions for their problems. That means you need to include the right pages with the right content.
Here are the pages you need to have, as well as what you should include.
A Homepage
This might seem obvious, but all trade business websites need a homepage. Your homepage is the first thing they’ll see, so it should make a great first impression. You only have a few seconds to convince a potential customer that they’re in the right place.
What should you include on this page? To start, try asking yourself these questions:
- What kind of services do you offer?
- Who are your services for?
- Why should they choose you? What sets you apart?
- Why should customers trust you? What makes you a dependable choice?
- What value do you bring to your customers?
- What should visitors to your site do next (call your business number, book an appointment online, etc.)?
A Service Page
A services page is one of the most important parts of your website. When someone clicks on your services page, they want more in-depth information on what kind of services you provide and what those services look like.
This is your chance to go deeper into your range of services. That being said, make sure to keep a clear and simple tone. For any services people may be unfamiliar with, provide a brief explanation and avoid using industry jargon.
Then, you can list all the cities or local communities you serve. If you have any other relevant information about your services, how long they take to complete, or what customers can expect, put that here.
An About Page
The about page offers a great opportunity, but don’t overdo it. Some companies write paragraph after paragraph about how their company started and facts about their team — not all of it is something that customers need to hear.
When in doubt, get straight to the point. Who are you, as a brand? What makes you qualified to do this kind of work? What kind of values do you care about the most?
After reading your about page, you want the customer to come away feeling confident that your business is responsible, trustworthy, and qualified to take care of their needs. It doesn’t hurt to add in a personal touch, but keep it brief and relevant.
A Blog Page
Including a blog page is one of the best ways to show off your authority as a home services professional. By posting educational articles about your industry, you can show off your expertise while also connecting with new customers.
Not sure what to write? Think about some of the top questions you get from customers. Are they concerned about HVAC maintenance, for example? Or do they want plumbing DIYs? Whatever your customers are looking for, the content should follow.
What’s more, your blog content offers another chance to include SEO-friendly keywords to boost your ranking. Just be sure not to overstuff keywords in your blogs. Above all, the content should be informative and easy to read.
5. Make the Most of Imagery
Did you know that people remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read? If you focus too heavily on text, you could be missing out on a great opportunity to level up the look of your site.
A photo can help break up a wall of text while also drawing the customer’s eye. The right photo can tell a powerful story about your business and what you offer.
Make sure all images on your website are large and high-quality. It’s best if you take your own photos, but you can also find affordable or free options through royalty-free stock photo sites.
What kind of photos should you include? It depends on what kind of story you’re trying to tell. Here are a few examples of how a home services company can effectively use imagery:
- Show a smiling member of your team interacting with a customer
- Get shots of your team members in action — whatever that looks like
- Highlight a few success stories and show what a complete job might look like
- Use shots that might help someone imagine what it’s like to work with you
6. Use Forms to Capture More Leads
If you have a well-designed website that’s SEO optimized and geared towards your ideal customer, you might find that leads flow naturally. People find your site, learn more about your services, and head to the contact page.
But some customers will need an extra nudge. To capture more leads and nurture them to a booking, you can use sign-up forms. These forms — usually a pop-up on your home page — can collect the email addresses of interested visitors.
While many visitors will just click away from these pop-ups, you can encourage them to stick around by offering them something of value. Consider giving them a discount code or a link to a guide to entice them to join your list.
Once you've gathered contact information, you’re one step closer to a conversion. You can reach out, offer more valuable content, and convince them to take the next step with your business.
Taking the Next Step to Build Your Website
Anyone can make a website for their home services website. But to make a website that ranks well on search engines, captures attention in just a few seconds, and converts visitors into customers, it’s going to take a more intentional strategy.
Building a home services website doesn’t have to be complicated. If you don’t have a website, or your current site needs an upgrade, it’s time to stop missing out on leads and start maximizing your online reach. With Scorpion, you can create a website that’s designed to impress — and convert. Learn more about our website design or explore our range of services for trade businesses.
