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Every home services business that wants to grow online will benefit from planning the basic building blocks of its website. A well-designed site matters more than most owners think, and done right it increases traffic and conversion rates.
If you are in home services, whether cleaning, redecorating or any other trade, you already know that a good foundation comes before the real work. The same is true for the website that promotes your services. Keep your goals and your target audience in mind when you choose what to include. Here are the website elements home services businesses cannot afford to ignore.
Plan the page elements that help customers navigate and decide
Before you start, think about which features will let customers find what they need as easily as possible, and how you want to get your message across. These are the essentials:
- Header: The header sits at the top of every page and holds your logo and navigation links. No matter which page a customer lands on, they see it first, so put your phone number here too and make it tappable on mobile.
- About Us: If you are a small business, this section adds a personal touch. Share the story behind the company, and add your qualifications, licenses and years of experience, which are exactly what homeowners look for before letting someone into their home.
- Service Block: Most home services businesses offer more than one kind of service. Service blocks break down what you do, with photos to illustrate each one. Consider adding “before” and “after” pictures of projects you have completed.
- Customer Testimonials and Reviews: We have all searched for reviews before buying a product or hiring a service. Testimonials and star ratings from real customers give an unbiased view of your business and help convince new ones. Showing your Google reviews on the site builds trust quickly.
- Call to Action (CTA): The point of getting traffic is to turn it into conversions, so customers should never have to hunt for a way to reach you. Guide them clearly to the next step, whether that is a call, a quote request form or an online booking.
- Footer: Think about what customers should be able to reach without scrolling back up. Most business sites include a navigation panel, contact details, service areas and a Contact Us section in the footer.
A mobile-friendly website is not optional
Most people browse on their phones, and homeowners often search for a contractor on the spot, when something breaks. Ask yourself how long you would stay on a site that was clearly not built for mobile, where you have to zoom just to read anything. Not long. Google also uses the mobile version of your site to decide how it ranks in search, so a poor mobile experience costs you both visitors and rankings. Make sure your website works smoothly on phones and tablets, and loads fast.
Many people searching for home services on a phone will also tap your number straight from the results, so mobile design and search visibility work together.
Responsive design means one website that fits every screen
If you are thinking that mobile-friendly means building two different sites, the good news is that it does not. With responsive web design, your website adjusts itself to the size and shape of whatever device it is viewed on. You do still have to plan the layout. Your page is essentially made of blocks, and when the screen gets smaller those blocks stack on top of each other. Will your layout still make sense when they do?
How you build a responsive site depends on the platform. Most use a grid system that lets you restructure blocks into columns, and many modern editors let you preview exactly how each block will look on a phone. Whatever you use, test your key pages on a real phone before you launch.
White space makes your content easier to take in
Have you ever noticed the empty space between sections of a website? That is called white space, and well-known brands such as Google and Dropbox use it heavily. Its purpose is simple: it gives visitors breathing room so the page does not feel cluttered. White space does not literally have to be white. It can be any color that suits your design. It keeps information digestible and helps visitors focus on the one thing you want them to do next.
Speed, trust signals and local visibility finish the job
Three more elements deserve attention. Fast-loading pages keep impatient visitors from leaving before they see your offer. Trust signals, such as licenses, insurance, warranties, certifications and recognizable badges, reassure people who are inviting you onto their property. And a complete, accurate Google Business Profile, with a website that matches the same business name, address and phone number, helps nearby customers find you in the first place.
Never miss an important website element with SmartSites
That covers the most important website elements for home services businesses, and it is only the tip of the iceberg. If you are convinced that good website design matters for growing your home services business, do not delay. Optimizing your website is a long-term investment that is bound to pay off.
When you work with SmartSites, you are working with an award-winning web design team and a track record of growing successful businesses, with sites that look great on every device. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so do not put your business at risk with a poorly designed website. If you are ready to improve your website, please contact us today.
“He is consistently dialed into our campaigns, takes ownership of results, and continually looks for ways to improve performance and generate more qualified leads that convert into business.”
Jamie WeberAnago of Nashville
