Not all contractor websites are made equal, which is why having a website isn’t enough. You need an effective contractor website that will convert your visitors into leads and eventually clients. Here are a few tips to help you build a better, more effective contractor website.
How to Build an Effective Contractor Website
Robyn Rivera
7 tips for building an effective contractor website
#1. Make it professional
Hiring a contractor is a big deal. Most of the projects you take on will be worth thousands of dollars, which means that deciding whether to hire you or not is not something your clients will take lightly.
After someone lands on your website, it only takes them a few seconds to decide if they want to stick around and give you a chance or look elsewhere. That first impression makes all the difference, and you need to ensure that you get it right.
Choose a clean, professional design for your website. Focus on one main call to action, and use plenty of white space to draw your visitors’ attention where you want it to go and to avoid a busy, cluttered look.
#2. Keep mobile users in mind
When designing your contractor website, it’s important to think about the devices your visitors will be using. Some of them will be on a desktop computer or a laptop, but likely, most of your visitors will be using a smartphone or tablet.
If you only build a website that looks good and functions well on a computer, you’ll be leaving a lot of your visitors out of the loop. Plus, Google favors mobile-friendly websites and will penalize websites that don’t provide an adequate mobile experience.
Having a mobile-first website starts with choosing a responsive design, which will automatically reconfigure based on the device being used. But, even with a responsive website, you’ll want to make sure you format your content correctly and leave plenty of space around clickable elements.
#3. Diversify your content
A lot of the time, when people think of content they think of text. And, while your contractor website certainly needs text, it’s far from the only kind of content your website needs in order to convert visitors into leads and eventually clients.
Use plenty of high-quality images on your website. Stock photos are OK, but even better are photos of your actual work and team. Before and after photos can be especially powerful for contractor websites because they help to demonstrate the quality of your work.
Another type of content you should utilize on your website is video. Videos help to make your business and your story memorable, and they can be used beyond your website, like in your ads, on your social media profiles and more.
#4. Highlight your niche
Every type of contractor — whether you’re an electrical contractor, a roofing contractor, a home builder, a garage door contractor or a general contractor — has competition going after the exact same leads.
In order to get leads to choose you over your competition, you need to give them a reason. Your niche — the thing you specialize in — needs to be front and center on your website. It should be big and bold so that it won’t be missed.
If you don’t give your visitors a reason to choose you, there’s a very good chance that they’ll choose someone else.
#5. Have user-friendly navigation
People who visit your contractor website aren’t usually doing it just for the fun of it. They’re there for a specific reason, whether it’s to learn about your services or team, see your previous work or get a quote.
Whatever your visitors come to your website for, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for them to accomplish. That means that your contractor website should have a user-friendly navigation system so visitors can find exactly what they’re looking for.
Menu-style navigations will be familiar to most of your website visitors, and they’re intuitive and easy to use. Don’t get too creative with your website navigation. Keep it simple and make it easy to use.
#6. Earn trust
Like I said, hiring a contractor is no small potatoes. It’s a big deal, and in order to convert visitors into leads, you need to give them a good reason to trust you. The more trust you can build on your website, the better.
How to build trust on your contractor website:
- Use trust badges - Trust badges are seals that help to legitimize your website and instill trust
- Feature testimonials - Reviews are a powerful form of social proof, and five-star reviews can be featured on your website to drive conversions
- Include certifications and licenses - Any certifications or licenses you hold should be identified on your website; the same goes for any awards or recognition you’ve earned
#7.Be upfront about what you offer
Not all contractors offer the same things, even contractors in the same industry. For example, if someone is looking to remodel their bathroom, they’ll need a plumber, but not every plumber offers bathroom remodeling services.
There are multiple reasons why someone might be visiting your website, but 9 times out of 10, they’re there because they want to know more about the contractor services you offer.
While you should have individual web pages dedicated to each of the services you offer, you should also highlight your services on the homepage of your website. This will help visitors learn right away whether or not they’re in the right place.
If your contractor website isn’t up to par, it’s time to build a better, more effective website with Websites 360® — an easy-to-use contractor website builder. Choose from a library of templates, and customize your website to make it your own. Get started.