Starting your contractor website can be an overwhelming task. With all the website builders and the thousands of templates to choose from, it can quickly become too much – especially for contractors who are strapped for time. Check out our must-haves for your website below and how adding these simple features can make your website show up in search results.
High-Quality Project Photos
As a contractor, every job you do will have a before and after, and taking high-quality photos before, during, and after can help make for either great social media posts or front-page website photos.
Showing off your skill sets to potential clients is how you set yourself apart from other similar contractors. Some people suffice with a quick snap with their phone during a job and then putting that up. But this can actually work against you, suggesting a lack of passion, professionalism, and care for how you present yourself.
Clear, high-definition photos of your work and yourself will help display your great work. These tips will help you get great photos of your work:
- Invest in a digital camera
- If you use your phone, learn its settings and proper editing software
- Hire a professional
- Stage and style the space beforehand
- Get the right lighting or purchase some
Company Description and Location
Are you a family-run business, have unique specialties, or just run your company on your own? Add a description about yourself, your company, and the roots of where or why it was started. The more customers know about you and your company beforehand, the more likely they are to trust you and subsequently hire you.
Make sure to include information about the area that you serve in addition to your physical address so people know if your business extends further than a certain amount of miles. If you work in a large metropolitan area, this could be especially useful for letting folks outside of town that you can still make it to their area for work.
Add Client Testimonials
When you go above and beyond during a job, and customers regard you highly, their review is the perfect advertisement for your business. Including testimonials on your website helps in more ways than one. Of course, it can be the deciding factor for your future clients, but it can also help your business page, website, and socials all rank higher than those who are reviewed less or poorly.
Add these testimonials to your website but also your social media, your Google business page, related content websites like Houzz, or even just an email or text message that you can display anywhere (just make sure to ask them first).
If you're just starting out and don't have many or any reviews yet, your previous colleagues and supervisors are also great sources for review and highlight. Once you complete your first job, reach out to the customer and ask for their feedback.
List the Services You Provide
It should go without saying that you should include every single service that you know you can do confidently. However, if there's something that you specialize in, highlight that in addition to the others.
Like the other tips on this list, this can also help your website rank higher on search pages. The more times you can highlight it appropriately on your website will help search engines recognize your specialty. Google business pages also have sections where you can add these specialties or other work you can do.
Feature Your Team
It's known that people purchase from people. Even when you are the only member of your team, people like to know who they might be meeting beforehand and put a face to the name. In addition to your testimonials, customers also want to know who is going to be working with them, especially if they are particularly large or complex projects.
It's a good rule of thumb to include a headshot, title, and bio for your entire team. Not only does this make your customers feel more comfortable, it can also make your entire company seem more friendly and inviting for business. Include your furry friends if they make an appearance at work, too!
Social Media Links
If you have social media channels (which you should), make sure to include links to all of them on your website. Just like your social media accounts might be a place for customers to discover your website, your website can also help show off and highlight your socials.
If you don't have any social accounts, the first one that you should start with is Instagram. It's a great way to post and promote projects you're working on, as well as an easy way to show off your personality and team.
Contact or Request Forms
Making sure that your customers have an easy way to contact you, even if it's their first time working with your company, is very essential. Including your contact information is great, but make sure that your customers also have a box to type their questions, comments, and even their contact information. This can also help you better prepare for the job ahead of time and research it before you discuss it in person.
Now that you have all your components ready, you can get to building your site! Remember to periodically refresh your website by including new project photos or adding new team members. You should also research other companies similar to yours and see what they're adding to their websites for inspiration or stylizing ideas.