Home service businesses, especially small businesses specializing in areas like repair services, are always working to reach new customers. In the old days, the process was relatively simple. All you had to do was release an ad to the white pages with your company name, the services you provide, and your contact information. Those in need of your particular home services could look you up and get in contact with you.
But those days are over. In today’s world, most people search for home service companies online instead of in bulky phone books. Therefore, if you want your home service or repair services business to reach new potential customers, you will need a website.
A website is a collection of pages on the web that share a single domain name and at least one web server. In even simpler terms, a website is your white pages ad for the digital world. Only your website can include detailed information for potential customers as well as several potential designs, images, and displays that help you stand out from the competition.
If you run a small business and would like to create or improve your website, here are five helpful tips for home services websites that'll catch customers’ eyes.
Five Tips for Home Services Websites
Make your home service website easy to locate on the web
On the one hand, this tip should seem like a no-brainer. “Of course” you need your customers to be able to find your website for it to be effective. But, you would be surprised at how many home services websites aren't optimized for maximum web visibility.
To ensure that potential customers can quickly and easily find your home service website, design it so that it becomes the first result from an internet search. For example, if your business is a handyman service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ensure that your website includes the right keywords related to a potential customer's Google search. To do so, you'll have to include the terms “handyman” and “Pittsburgh”, for instance, in your website copy.
This can be done in several ways. The most popular and useful tool to achieve this is “Search Engine Optimization,” or SEO. SEO looks at how search engines determine which websites to bring up (a method known as their “algorithm”) and uses this knowledge to help a particular website move up in search engine results.
You can also invest in internet-friendly ads for your business. Social media offers an excellent way to grab the attention of potential customers. If you run a local home repair service, you can utilize social media platforms that are popular with your customer base in your area. Social media also gives you an excellent means of engaging with your customers personally in a way that would not be possible with traditional ads.
Additionally, Google Ads offers a convenient and user-friendly option for small home services businesses to produce effective online advertisements. With Google Ads, you can put out effective advertisements that will appear on Google's search results page based on the keywords someone entered. These ads can also be localized to your service area. That way, whenever a potential customer does a Google search for "home repair services," your business ad will be the one that appears at the top of the search results.
When you partner with a professional website service like Scorpion to improve your home service website’s visibility in search results, they can help to improve your SEO, social media engagement, and online advertising effectiveness.
Make your site mobile-friendly
Another common mistake that small home service businesses make when designing their websites is failing to design mobile-friendly sites. Today, more and more people spend a lot of time surfing the web on their mobile devices. In many cases, a person may spend the majority of their time online using their phone instead of a computer. As more people get smartphones, and as these smartphones get even more features, that number is only going to increase.
Websites that do not have a version for mobile devices will present as distorted, out of synch, and awkward when potential customers view them on a phone or tablet. Therefore, your home service website should have a well-designed mobile version in addition to a desktop version to reach the largest possible number of potential customers.
If, for example, someone in your area searches for “home repair services in Atlanta", there is a good chance that they are on their phone. If that person comes across your business’s website and the site does not translate well to a mobile device, they will most likely move on to the next, mobile-friendly site rather than trying to decipher your content.
A good small business website consultant can also help you design an excellent mobile page for your website. So, keep this in mind when considering who to partner with to expand your home service business.
Open with a pain point that your customers experience and how you can help them
Once you have designed your website to ensure it reaches your potential customers, the next step is to hook them immediately. The best way to do this is to clearly specify a “pain point” or “pain points” prominently on your home page.
A “pain point” is the main problem or “point of pain” that a potential customer may be having, which is why they are seeking your services in the first place. After all, a person does not normally hire a plumber if their plumbing is working just fine. It’s only when the toilet is backed up, the sink won’t come on, or the pipes are leaking that someone will search for plumbing services in their area.
For this reason, it is a good idea to orient your website’s design around key problems that you can solve and how you can solve them. If, for example, you run a plumbing business, you will want your website’s homepage to clearly and immediately specify what kinds of plumbing problems you can fix. You might phrase this in terms of questions for your site’s visitors. For example, your site might say, “Are you having troubles with your toilet not flushing?” or “Do you have leaky pipes?”
Questions like this establish the types of home services you offer and can easily connect the pain point of a potential customer with your services as a solution.
Organize your site clearly
Once you have gotten your potential customer’s attention with an engaging hook, the next step is to make their browsing experience simple with an easy-to-navigate website. In most cases, you will want to have your contact information clearly visible at the top of the page. This will include your phone number, business address (if applicable), email, and possibly a contact form that visitors can fill out directly on the site to reach you.
Your home service website should also include several tabs that clearly link to different pages. It is recommended to include an average of five tabs, with fewer being insufficient and more being too confusing for customers to navigate. These tabs might include specific services that you provide, a brief biography where you can establish your experience and credibility, positive customer reviews, and so on.
You may also want to use easy-to-read tools like tables and bullet points to ensure that customers can quickly skim your page and come away with all the necessary information they need about your business.
Be specific and engaging
Finally, once you have a homepage that grabs customers’ attention with clear pain points, and a website design that is easy to navigate, create the rest of your site to be as specific and engaging as possible. Be clear and detailed about the different types of services you offer, the various repair or service packages you sell, the tools that you may use, and so on. Once a customer sees you as a potential solution to their problem, a detailed and engaging website will help finalize a sale by establishing your credibility and expertise.
If you decide to partner with a website consultant to improve your site’s effectiveness, like Scorpion, they will also be able to help you flesh out the necessary details of your site’s pages.
Five Examples for Home Service Websites
Ace Handyman Services
This website for Ace Handyman Home Services is effective in several ways. It has a visually pleasing and easy-to-navigate layout that includes informative text and links combined with friendly-looking images of handymen.
Additionally, the various tabs appear in a clear row, with all the necessary information laid out for the visitor to browse (including tabs for “Why choose us,” “Services,” and “Packages”). Above the tabs is the all necessary contact information for the company, including the phone number and links for the visitor to get an estimate and schedule an appointment.
Amazon Home Services
The home page for Amazon Home Services offers several good examples of quality home services website design. It opens with a row that details why potential customers should choose this particular service to solve their home service issues. This row also includes a table that details the company’s “upfront pricing” and “easy scheduling,” among others.
Below that is a row that lists many of the popular services that this company offers. It even includes their prices and their customer ratings. Finally, the website offers visitors an easy-to-read row of tabs that allows them to conveniently search for the services they may need.
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
The most prominent feature of the Benjamin Franklin Plumbing home page is the display of the company’s contact information. At the top left of the website, in large font, is a link to an online scheduling form and the company’s main phone number.
This is a good example of a home service website maximizing space to make it as easy as possible for potential customers to get in contact with them. At the top of the page is a clear row of tabs that contain necessary drop-down links to other vital pages on the site. For example, the tab for “Services” drops down to reveal several more sub-tabs for each of the main plumbing needs that this company services. This format is easy to navigate, allowing site visitors to quickly and conveniently locate their particular pain point.
Renaissance Electric & Power Systems
The website for the Pittsburgh-based Renaissance Electric & Power Systems gives you an example of how to use website design to emphasize your company’s credibility and expertise for a potential customer. Scrolling down the company’s main page, customers will see displays that emphasize the benefits of using this particular electrician service, including characteristics like “reliability” and “knowledgeable”. Farther down, the website provides a more in-depth “Who We Are” section that details the company’s strengths, values, and reasons why they are the best choice for electrician services in the Pittsburgh area.
Fitzgerald Home Improvements
Looking at another Pittsburgh-based home improvement company, the website for Fitzgerald Home Improvements shows you a design that emphasizes the company’s main service (or the customer’s “pain point”), and the positive feedback they received from satisfied customers. At the very top of the website, above the appealing image of a kitchen, you can see that this company specializes in kitchen remodeling.
Scrolling down, the website includes several five-star reviews from satisfied customers. This helps potential customers feel reassured that they will be satisfied if they hire this company for their kitchen remodeling needs.
Improving Your Home Services Website With Scorpion
For the best home services websites, it’s always a good idea to partner with a professional website consultant for the best tips, feedback, and assistance in website design. Scorpion is just such a company with expertise in helping small businesses grow through top-notch marketing services. If you run a home service small business and would like to improve your presence on the web, get in touch with Scorpion today!
