Tips for Contractors on Building a Website to Showcase Their Business
One of the easiest ways to catapult your contracting business forward is to build a professional website and develop a strong online presence. In fact, 97% of people find local businesses online and evaluate a company’s quality based on its online presence, making it an important step to your success.
But these days, it’s not enough to just have a website. In order to deliver the results both you and your customers are looking for, it’s critical to include some key features. Follow these practices to set your website – and business – up for success.
Photo Gallery
Contractor jobs are incredibly visual, so showcasing your work on your website to let customers know what you’re capable of — and what they can get — is a must. Create a photo gallery that features before-and-after shots, works-in-progress photos or shots of finished jobs.
Product & Service Information
Over 80% of smartphone users conduct online research before making purchases. This means a lot of your customers will want to do their own research before contacting your business. Including a description of your products and services on your site will help searchers learn more about you faster.
Testimonials
Testimonials provide a natural way to highlight jobs that your crew have done, the customer service that you offer or the client relationships that your business builds. Choose four to eight customers who have had great experiences working with you. Here are some insights from customers that you can include in your testimonials:
- Why they chose your business
- Their satisfaction with the work
- Any other positive comments they share
It’s important to choose testimonials that show how your business helped the customer and present the best that your business has to offer.
Mobile Responsive Site
People use their phones to browse the internet, connect to social media, check email and more. Your website might work great for desktop users, but if it’s not also delivering a great experience when accessed from a mobile device, you have some work to do. Luckily, there are a lot of resources available to help, such as templates, online tutorials and website builders. ABC Supply has tools in its Freedom Programs to help you create a contractor website. There are several responsive templates for you to choose from to get started.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) drives traffic to your website by connecting keywords, outside links to your site and more with the search terms that people enter into search engines like Google. The more often your most-searched-for keywords are mentioned on your site, the more likely it is that your website will appear in their search results. Check out this page for more starter information on SEO.
There are many free and paid SEO resources to choose from and some may offer free tutorials. You can also consider hiring a consultant or other outside help to develop your SEO.
Embrace Social Media
Social media also helps your website gain more exposure. Creating more links and mentions of your business and website generates even more visibility to help your SEO. Plus, it allows you to engage with your customers and other businesses in the industry, increasing your local business’s online reach. Look here for tips on how to use Facebook and LinkedIn to build stronger business relationships.
ABC Freedom Programs Contractor Website
To help make website development easier for you, ABC Supply’s Freedom Programs offers resources to build a contractor website. This program offers three mobile responsive templates with many ways to display your information including a photo gallery, a request-a-quote page and customer testimonials.
At a time when people are spending more and more of their lives online, having a strong website will help showcase your business for what it is: reliable, impactful and professional. Keep this advice in mind as you look into a website update or rebuild.
Read other tips on our blog, like how to answer difficult customer questions.