Back in 2002, the service business I worked for decided to build a website. Even though we were late to the game, many residential service business didn’t have a website at the time.
We built the website for the primary purpose of having one. It wasn’t clear if it was going to actually make us money or be a successful website. However, it seemed like a wise thing to do. That was the first mistake we made!
A Successful Website Has to Have a Purpose
Most residential service business owners started as technicians in the field. A technician understands his primary purpose; solve a problem. Most service business owners start websites without a clear purpose other than, “We should have a website, right? Let’s get one.” Without a clear purpose to your website, you will be lucky if people find you online. You will be even luckier if they give you their time by looking past the first page.
3 Critical Keys to a Successful Website
- Answer the Search
- Build Your Email List
- Give a Strong Call to Specific Action
#1 – Answer the Search
This is one of the purposes of your website, “Give the user a QUALITY answer to his question.” Think about Google. When you type a search request, why do you do that? Because you want an answer! More importantly, you want a good answer that matches your request. How long would it take you to stop using Google if you got bad results?
If your search for “Thai Food Restaurant” brought up “American Food” that would be a bad result. A bad results means bad business for Google. It is for those reasons that Google wants to serve up quality suggestions to their clients. They are in the business of making money by solving search problems. Your website needs to be filled with quality answers to your clients requests. And your clients are searching terms like:
- How to install a faucet
- How to fix my air conditioner
“But do I want to give out those kind of answers? Won’t it hurt business?”
Don’t worry too much about the Do It Yourselfer. The DIY isn’t going to stop your business dead in its tracks. Think of it like this, “Has Dave Ramsey, or Dr. Oz suffered from all the free advice they give?” Heck no! If anything, the free advice is their largest form of value building marketing. At the end of the day, most people use the free advice to establish the start of a relationship. They still need you!
#2 – Build Your Email List
The email is worth its weight in gold. It may be the most powerful tool of direct marketing today. Here are a few ideas to help you capture the email:
- Give something of value for the clients email.
o You can exchange a small discount towards service.
o A Useful Guide: See the KRA form and Video we give for free.
o Or even an entry into a contest
- Place the email capture form in the left hand side of your website. Results show that a capture form on the top-left side is the ideal spot to capture email.
- Put in place a system that will save these emails. DO NOT rely on a system that does not store the submissions. Here are a few useful programs:
o Mailchimp
o Constant Contact
o InfusionSoft: This is what I use, and it is the superior choice.
#3 – Give a Strong Call to Specific Action
Your website should make you money!!!! Leave no doubt to that. Make sure your site is asking for the service business you want. Here are few tips:
- Each service should have a page with a strong call to action. This will help you in SEO, and in conversions. So, there needs to be a page for:
o AC Repair
o Leaking Drains
o System Replacement
o Etcetera
- Make it easy for client to submit their request for service.
o A Monitored Email System
o 24/7 Live Phone Numbers
- Give a very good reason why you are the right company to call.
