Why it is Important for Contractors to have a Website
The Importance of a website today may be arguable for those who may have built a reputation before 2008 when yellow pages was a resource that people may have used to find a local contractor or service. Todays economic climate is ruled by the web and industries that have a .com presence. Im sure that the newspaper classifieds get their occasional phone call or two these days, maybe more. By the amount of news printing companies going online doing their best to sell monthly subscriptions to their digital news paper it has become hard to tell whether their old ad system has been effective enough to keep them afloat. With that being said if the paper boy made the moved online maybe it’s time for you to move online too.
Today there are so many options for website hosting and design, you could pay a third party ad agency or web hosting agent to do it for you, or you can go down the rabbit hole that is web development and take it on your self. Your approach obviously depends on the resources you have available at your disposal, the biggest factors being, time and money. If you have a hefty amount of room in your overhead budget to be able to add a professional website developer you may want to save yourself the headache and outsource like many large companies can and do. In my experience, like anything else, if you decide to go the route of outsourcing do a lot of shopping around, the base price for the service you pay out in the beginning could double if not triple based on the way that these companies operate. They start you off and give you a presence in the beginning then lure you into gaining more interaction and whitelisting your company through systems that cost a lot more than a classified add in the newspaper. I just want you to be aware of these factors that could make the process frustrating before I get into all the benefits that could transpire from gaining a website presence.
Now let's get into some of the main reasons you might want to have a website starting with where most people start their search for a contractor these days, Google. As I am writing this article right now the growth trend for the word “contractor” is one of the most popular in the country. In the heart of winter with the cold creeping further south with deep freezes, HVAC contractor has a %4500 growth in queries. Being able to boost your presence at key moments like this is only possible by having your skin in the game ahead of time. SEO (search engine optimization) maybe you’ve heard this term and wondered what it means. It’s like computer servers having that word of mouth relationship with one another on the back end of the internet. Word of mouth is no doubt the number one way to build a loyal customer base that trusts you to deliver quality services. This word of mouth can be built on the digital scape as well and that’s one of the biggest reasons why it is important to have a website as a contractor, build up your SEO, get reviews from customers that you can post on the front page of your website, tie them to google the number one search engine used in the world, and your business can grow exponentially.
Having your own website also gives you the ability to represent your company the way you want to a broad audience across the web. The ease of sharing this website across social media where most people spend their off time these days is also an indispensable marketing strategy. A website is a great way to make thousands of introductions for your business without having to say a word once the site is functional and designed for peek engagement. Let your potential customers know what services you offer upfront by offering visual galleries on your sight and a list of services you do and don’t offer if you want to be that specific so as not to waste you or the customers time on the phone.
Streamlining your initial consultation scheduling system on your site can also be a benefit if you’re willing to keep your online scheduling system updated whether you embed a third party scheduling system into it or use the websites integrated schedule system either option can help you generate a good number of leads throughout the year. You will always have those customers that would rather get on the phone and talk to a real person about their project, having a contact us page to get in touch with customers and schedule follow ups with short phone inquiries has worked well for me and many partners as well. In todays economy most of us can’t afford to offer free quotes or estimates anymore, having a payment portal linked to your scheduling system is also another good way to gauge the seriousness of your potential customers that understand the importance of not wasting your time and respect that the estimation process is its own form of work performance.
In conclusion, websites allow you to introduce your company and brand on a larger scale while vetting potential customers and streamlining communication and business inquiries in one place. A well developed site also reduces wasted time communicating your services and makes it easier for you to present your business over and over without having to go the door to door method. Diversifying your outreach methods is important, but having a website to place on ads, yard signs, business cards gives a much more professional presentation that could set you apart from the rest by providing a well designed and engaging website that represents you effectively. The turnover on this inevitably positive but like anything else it depends what you put into it. It can be as simple as a one page site with your contact info and that’s it, maybe throw a photo or two, even then a web presence is a web presence and in todays modern times dominated by technology its better to have a foot in the door than not at all.
