How many of you have purchased a truck in the last five years? Did you research the truck online beforehand? If you're like me, then you have done the build and price option, and read the reviews about performance and reliability at a few websites and Internet forums.
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How many of you have purchased a truck in the last five years? Did you research the truck online beforehand? If you're like me, then you have done the build and price option, and read the reviews about performance and reliability at a few websites and Internet forums.
A customer interested in hiring your hardwood flooring company is no different than a customer considering a car purchase. If customers are going to pay good money and get a feeling that your services are valuable, they want to know as much as possible about you. If you have built your web presence and content right, then when you show up for the estimate, you are simply on a "test drive" with the customer to make sure they like you.
I can already hear the guys out there, "I work only by referral and it always works." When I had the same opinion, I was always either way too busy or really slow, and the slow times almost ended my business in 2009. The ups and downs are no fun for family life either. The Internet has changed the playing field forever, and it is the single greatest way to change your business right now if you're slow.
Here are the most common problems I see with most contractor websites that are out there and what you can do to look better than the competition:
1) Poor design: Just like cars change and get more progressive looking, so should your website. I recommend avoiding all of the free website generator tools like "Website Tonight" by GoDaddy, etc… Just like perforated edges on a business card make you look cheap, so does the emblem of the hosting service. There are a lot of ways to get a good design, and I will talk about that later.
2) Boring content: Customers come to your website to see examples of your work and get ideas for their own project. They're are not really interested in how many awards you have won, etc… A genuine story about why you love the business will give them something to sink their teeth into and allow them to identify with you.
3) Company owner photo: I rarely see contractor websites with pictures of the company owner. People want to know that you're not fresh out of the county jail. They want to hire a proud and confident professional, and your picture on the website should show that.
4) Professional photographs: It always amazes me how often you will see some of the most technical floors submitted to win the Wood Floor of the Year contest and the picture was taken from someone's cell phone. We generally photograph all projects that are $10K or more in cost. Just $500 in photography goes a long way and is a drop in the bucket.
Developing momentum on the Internet requires a consistent effort but will pay dividends in the long run. A great website is like a 24/7 sales representative that will always produce phone calls and new customers. There seems to be a notion in the marketing community that getting to the top of Google is the only goal any business should have. The best measure of a good web strategy is the number of phone calls generated and the impact on profit. If you build it right, they will come.
