The website for your plumbing company is the 24/7 face of your brand and will most likely be the first impression many potential clients get of your business. And since first impressions can make or break you, don’t settle for anything less than a stellar website. Your site should be a source of information and education as you display the best of your talents and everything that your plumbing company has to offer. Of course, this needs to be done in an aesthetically pleasing manner and with the highest level of user experience possible.
What makes a website stellar? Let’s take a look at features that consumers have come to expect and a few that can make you stand out from the competition.
Be Concise
The landing page of your website should focus on your key message. A site visitor should be able to quickly scan and understand what your brand is all about, what services you offer, and how they can contact you with minimal effort. People are not going to read thick blocks of text so stick with bullet points, lists, and lots of images. The more quickly and easily visitors can find information, the greater the user experience.
Images and Videos Outperform Text
Promote your services with images and videos that give people the opportunity to learn more about what you do and how you can help with whatever their plumbing situation may be. Show behind the scenes clips of you and your employees to help visitors to your website get a feel for your personality and that of your company. “How-to” videos or “Look for these issues” pictures can help illustrate when someone may want to contact you for assistance.
Keep the Fonts Straightforward
Your website should follow all branding guidelines. That being said, choose fonts that are easy to read and that look professional both online and in print. While it may seem a simple thing, your choice of fonts and other styling choices say a lot about the personality of your brand (and you). Think carefully about the personality you want to project and make sure your website font choices are in line with that thinking. (It’s also a good idea to stick with font types that are supported by all browsers and devices – think “sans-serif” fonts.)
Colors Matter
Color theory is an incredibly complex subject. We’re talking about more than the basic concept of using dark-colored text on a light background or vice versa. The color of call to action buttons, text, backgrounds, and more influence consumer decisions. That being said, no one particular color is best for everything. You’ll want to experiment until you find combinations that produce excellent results. Since you have to start somewhere, work with contrasting colors to ensure content is visible against the backgrounds and then use some A/B testing to compare options. Most marketing consultants like those at SDM have the skills and experience to help you!
Offer Intuitive Navigation
The path a site visitor takes to move from one web page to the next should be clear and easy to navigate. While drop-down menus are fine for desktop, the hamburger menu layouts can be cumbersome for mobile users. Instead, use top bar menus to make sure visitors can quickly and smoothly move between pages regardless of the device they are using. Utilize Google Analytics to understand how previous visitors have engaged with your website. This will show you which paths visitors use to navigate through your site and will also provide valuable information regarding conversion rates, page popularity and more. Ask someone outside of your organization (a friend or family member) to test the navigation of your site to gain an objective view on the functionality you’ve set up.
Mobile Friendly & Device Responsive
It is important to provide visitors a consistent user experience regardless of what type of device they are using. Google ranks higher in search results mobile-friendly sites and penalizes those sites that are not responsive. To maintain the benefits of all the valuable SEO work you’ve put into your site and to ensure top-notch user experience, ensure that your site is mobile friendly and device responsive.
A responsive website changes based on the needs of the device being used to view a site. Unnecessary images that might interfere or compete with more important information are hidden to make the most of the site’s smaller display. On a responsive website, the navigation is condensed, images are optimized, and the site’s functioning depends on mobile operating systems.
A mobile-friendly website is designed so that it works exactly the same way across all devices. Nothing changes or is hidden from the computer version to the mobile version. No Flash animation is used, navigation is simplified, images are scaled for the size of the device, and the site does not rely on mobile operating systems to properly function.
Contact Information
Provide your contact information on every page of your website and offer multiple channels for contact – site form, email address, social networks, phone number, etc. And then be sure to respond to communications professionally and in a timely manner. Don’t offer communication channels that you are unwilling to check regularly. Keep any forms as simple and clean as possible. Only request the information you need to start a conversation. Save the details for later, once you’ve established a working relationship with the client.
Offer Some Idea of Pricing
Obviously, no two plumbing situations will be priced exactly the same as details will vary from one to the next. That being said, it is helpful to offer price ranges to let people know ballpark figures for different, common services you offer, any general service fees you charge, and so on.
Clear Call to Action
The best strategy for increasing the conversion rate for your website is to provide a clear and concise call to action. Your button should have a bright, dedicated color and feature large, bold font. Post a call to action button on every page of your website and use direct and persuasive language in the text. “Make an Appointment” or “I Want This Fixed” will clarify exactly what the visitor needs to do next.
About Us Page
Don’t neglect this page of your website as it helps potential clients make connections with you, your staff, and your brand. Consumers like to understand the bigger picture of an organization, what makes it tick, and a bit of history of how you came to be. Share what makes you different from your competition and include a “Meet the Staff” section that highlights the expertise and experience of you and your employees.
Include Customer Reviews
Positive reviews from existing customers are an excellent marketing tool to help generate new business. Satisfied customers are the best promoters of any business. Customer reviews provide reassurance to potential customers and should be prominently featured on all of your web pages. BrightLocal found that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
While online reviews are a powerful tool for sharing information, they do tend to over-represent extreme views. It is important to remember that frustration leads to negative reviews. Your best bet is to be proactive in how you deliver your products and services and to respond to any negative reviews head-on in a rationale, professional manner.
Social Media
Integrate your social media accounts into your website. Offer social network widgets along with the other information in your header or footer. You can also use your social media posts to direct traffic to your website. On the platforms where you can post a direct link, do so, and on others, like Instagram, include a vanity URL that is easy to type into an address bar in a web browser.
Include a Blog
A blog is a valuable tool for sharing the latest news in the world of plumbing and information about common issues your company has encountered with your clients. An excellent point to make in any of your blog articles is, “THIS is when you should call a professional!” The trick is to commit completely to offering regular blog posts. Whether it is weekly or monthly, create a posting calendar that covers content and timelines for your blog articles. Because hosting a regular blog adds pages to your website, it also helps with your rankings for search engines.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A page on your site dedicated to FAQs about plumbing situations is a self-help feature for your visitors. It is a resource that offers quick response, available 24/7, and saves your time for more engaging interactions with clients. Include the answers to common questions you and your staff receive via email, phone calls, or in person. You can also use answer portions to direct clients and potential clients to other pages of your website that more thoroughly address the topic.
Wrap Up
The ultimate goal of your website is two-fold. First, brand awareness and recognition. Second, you want to convince people to use your plumbing services. If your website is cumbersome to navigate or contains too much information, people will probably move on to another company. If your website is sleek, informative, device responsive with amazing navigational features, and showcases the best of YOUR best, visitors won’t be able to ignore that “Let’s Get Started” call to action.
The experts at Strategy Driven Marketing have extensive experience in the development and creation of engaging websites for businesses of all sizes and across a number of industries. We understand the important role a website plays for a plumbing company and would love to learn more about your business so we can help you offer an effective and engaging website that will let you maximize your revenue potential. Contact us today – let’s get started!
Cover photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels