Your website is an important part of marketing your HVAC business. These days you can create a user-friendly site in minutes; however, missing even a few best practices can affect your conversion rates and your online presence. Follow these eight tips to build a successful HVAC website.
1. Keep it simple
When it comes to HVAC web design, less is more. A busy website is hard to read and can be stressful and confusing for a new customer. In contrast, a simple site can clarify your message.
Colors
Color influences your overall brand and can change how your customers interact with your business. While color doesn’t drive sales, it can help your brand stand out and draw attention to important messages. To make an impact, try a bright color against a background of light colors.
Remember that your website is a part of your digital marketing plan. HVAC websites should match the rest of your branding and be familiar to your customers. Use the same color palette across your website, logo, advertising, and other media.
Typeface and text
Your typeface is also important. Use a simple font that matches your branding but is easy to read. Avoid large font sizes and large blocks of text that are hard to read.
Use short sentences and paragraphs, and break down information into sections and bullet points. Limit your paragraphs to two to three sentences, making text easier to skim and read.
2. Add strong yet simple visuals
A strong but simple graphic or photo can convey a message faster than words. Instead of describing your HVAC service at length, let your visuals show your visitors what you mean.
The combination of simple text and strong visuals is especially important on your home page or any service landing page where you want to catch and keep your visitors’ attention.
For example, let’s say you offer emergency service. You could include a professional photo of a technician with the text “Emergency Heating Repair. Same Day Service Guaranteed.” You get your message across in six words, and your images fill in the blanks.
3. Use a mobile responsive design
More than half of internet users access the web on mobile devices, which means your website needs to be mobile-friendly. Search engines also prioritize mobile-friendly sites — about 70% of sites on Google’s first page results are optimized for mobile.
The best site layout is a responsive design where content and images adjust according to the screen size; images will rearrange and stack so that it looks good on a smartphone and is easy to read.
You can hire a website developer to build a responsive design, but many website builders also have templates that include these features. So, opt for an HVAC website template that matches your style.
4. Use SEO best practices
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Search engines run on keywords. Users type words into the engine, and it crawls (or searches) the vast supply of websites to display a list of sites that best match the user’s search.
The goal of SEO is to use the right keywords so that you rank high in search engine results. You can do this yourself or you can hire an HVAC SEO services company like Scorpion. Regardless, there are a few important SEO best practices to consider.
Domain name
Your domain name is your website address — your URL. In most cases, your website URL will be your business name. However, you can also include keywords that describe your business.
For example, if you run an HVAC business in Seattle, you might use the keywords “Seattle heating” in a domain like seattleheating.com. Not only will it rank high in the results, but it is easy for customers to find and remember.
Page titles
Page titles are the clickable links in search results that tell you and the search engine what a web page is about. Use keywords in your page titles to help search engines find your website.
If you are an HVAC contractor in Boston, for example, you might use the title “Boston HVAC Contractor” on your contracting services page. Or you might title your homepage “Boston Heating and Air Conditioning.” It’s tempting to put your business name as the title, but using keywords will help you rank higher in search results.
Page content
Include your focus keywords naturally throughout your website. Add them to your site description and throughout the content on your pages. Don’t stuff your pages with keywords, though. Search engines don’t reward this practice and may even remove your site from the results page entirely. Instead, use the right search words in the right places.
Blog post
A blog is a page you update regularly with helpful articles. Many businesses use blog posts as a type of inbound marketing where you create valuable content, like about AC service, furnace service, or common HVAC issues. It helps build awareness and establishes you as an industry expert.
Blog posts are also an excellent way to rank higher in search results. Create high-value content around your keywords and incorporate them throughout your blog content, page titles, and post descriptions.
Learn more about the benefits of content marketing: Webinar on how content marketing drives traffic
5. Make your HVAC website user-friendly
Make it easy for your visitors to move around your site. Use a simple horizontal menu at the top of your website and limit the options to five tabs. Then, organize your other related pages under these main tabs. In general, the fewer options, the better. Otherwise, visitors may have a hard time identifying what they need from your site.
You should also provide a simple way to get back to the home page. Your logo is usually the best option. That way, a website visitor can click on it instead of having to find another button or page in the menu.
6. Add strong calls to action
Good HVAC marketing includes a call to action. Also known as a CTA, a call to action tells your potential customers what to do next with your business. You can use a CTA button or text to urge your customer to make a phone call, book an appointment, or get a consultation.
A CTA can help you make a sale or move your lead further along in your marketing process. There are a few key places to use a CTA button.
Above the fold
The fold is the upper half of your website and the information your visitors see before they scroll down the page. Use this area to communicate your value proposition to your potential customer, and then include a clear call to action and a CTA button. You should use strong visuals and short, clear text.
For example, in the emergency services example above, you could have a photo of a technician with your service statement “Emergency Heating Repair.” Your value proposition is your promise, which is “Same Day Service Guaranteed.” Below this, your call to action might be “Book Now.”
You can link this CTA to an appointment booking site to drive sales for your HVAC company. With this strategy, your customer quickly knows what you offer and what to do next.
Footer email signup
Email marketing is a powerful way to collect leads and continue marketing to potential customers. The best practice is to place your email signup in your header or footer. That way, your customers don’t have to search for it.
If your website header has a booking CTA, add the email signup CTA to your footer. Use the capture form from your email marketing software to link to your system and send automated or periodic campaigns.
7. Monitor site loading speed
Studies report that about 89% of users will leave your website if it takes too long to load. The loading time also affects your customers’ buying decisions, and slow sites lead to high abandonment rates. Your website should run smoothly for your customers and audience.
You can test your loading speed with Google’s PageSpeed Insights. You can also check how your site speed is affecting your website visitors. Look at your bounce rate in Google Analytics. Most times, your bounce rate — or the number of people who move away from your site after only looking at one page — goes up as your site loads slower.
Keep your software updated and reduce the file size of your photos and videos for faster downloads. Get rid of unnecessary plugins and reconsider your website hosting provider. Cheap hosting fees often mean many websites are sharing server resources, which can lead to poor performance.
8. Link your social media
Social media is another powerful marketing tool that can help build brand awareness and connection with your customers. Your social media should drive your audience to your website, and it’s a good idea to link your social channels wherever possible.
However, linking your social media means sending users away from your website, which isn’t necessarily the goal. The best practice is to include your social media links in your footer along with the rest of your contact information.
Grow your business
Website design is a constant process of maintenance, optimization, and improvement, whether you're tweaking your website or building from the ground up. However, using design best practices can help you fine-tune your message and drive business growth. At Scorpion, our marketing and website development experts can help you plan your HVAC website design so you can serve your clients and reach your goals.
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