Is your business website going the distance for your home improvement contracting company? If you rely on do-it-yourself site design like many small business owners, chances are that it isn’t even coming close. Through my many years in the digital marketing sphere, I’ve seen it again and again: Despite having an active site, general contractors fail to see results – and it’s usually because the site hasn’t been professionally designed. Don’t just take my word for it, though; read on to learn 18 benefits of professional website design for contractors.
The Statistics Don’t Lie – A Website’s Design is Crucial for Marketing a Business Effectively
When it comes to effective Monterey Bay contractor marketing, having a professionally designed website is absolutely vital. Here are some statistics that I dug up to show you why:
- 94 percent of consumers cite poor design as the top reason for not trusting certain websites
- People form an opinion about a website in 10 seconds or less
- Two out of three people prefer to read content that is beautifully designed
- Consumers take an average of just 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about a website – and the company behind it
- 38 percent of consumers say they will leave a website if its design isn’t attractive
18 Top Benefits of Investing in Website Design for Contractors
The above stats just scratch the surface of how important a professionally designed site is for any business – including contractors like plumbers, electricians, landscapers, renovators, builders and roofers. Without further ado, here are my top 18 reasons for investing in professional site design and website management:
1. First Impressions Matter
When someone needs contracting services these days, Google is sure to be their first stop. Even if your site appears in the SERPs, however, it won’t do you much good if it doesn’t make a great first impression immediately. Given that 48 percent of consumers cite site design as a top credibility factor, this isn’t just about dazzling people with a stylish site – it’s also about demonstrating your company’s legitimacy, credibility and authority. Remember: Merely getting someone to land on your site isn’t enough; you also need to present them with a website that makes them willing to stick around for a while.
2. A Unique, Quality Design is Crucial
If you rely on generic templates and do-it-yourself web design solutions, your contracting website is certain to look the same as countless others. It will also come across as amateurish. In today’s competitive business climate, no business can afford to skimp when it comes to the design of its website. Having a unique, high-quality website is a must.
3. Reliability Means Fewer Headaches
When a website isn’t professionally designed, it is apt to experience technical issues on a regular basis. Since your site acts as your virtual representative, it needs to be functioning and available when people find it. With a professionally designed business site, you’re far less likely to deal with website downtime and other issues that can alienate prospective customers.
4. Providing a Great User Experience is a Must
Today’s internet users are savvier than ever – and they don’t like to be kept hanging by slowly loading websites. The user experience that your website provides plays a critical role in any prospect’s journey toward becoming a paying customer. According to HubSpot, 47 percent of users expect a website to load within just two seconds. On top of that, reducing site loading times from eight seconds to two seconds improves conversion rates by a whopping 74 percent. With professional design services, your site will load faster, be easier to navigate and will help push people along the sales journey instead of scaring them away.
5. Clean Code Means Better Results
When you put together a website yourself with templates, plugins and third-party tools, the resulting code is guaranteed to be messy. Amateurly designed business sites tend to have code that is positively choked with CSS, JavaScript, HTML frames, Flash and other elements that reduce load times and cause other issues. Worse still, Google has stated that code quality is an important ranking factor. When you hire someone to handle digital marketing for home improvement contractors for your business, you can rest assured that the code that they produce will be clean, effective and SEO friendly.
6. You Need a Professional Design to Compete Effectively
Regardless of the type of contracting or home improvement company that you operate, it’s sure to face fierce competition. Surer still, your chief competitors have already likely invested in professional design services for their websites. Indeed, 73 percent of companies have invested in design just to differentiate their brand. If you don’t bother to do so yourself, you’re basically handing business over to your competitors.
7. A Professional Site is a Scalable Site
Even if you manage to cobble together a basic website for your home improvement firm, the work doesn’t end there. Web design technologies and trends constantly evolve, so website updates are a fact of life. Updating one that is barely functioning in the first place is difficult at best – or you might just fail to keep up with those updates, causing technical issues that push people away. With professional site design for contractors, your site will have a strong foundation that allows it to be updated and expanded as needed with minimal effort. With website management, which is usually included, you won’t have to worry about it at all.
8. Mobile Friendliness is Imperative
More people access the internet through mobile devices now than ever. Without the right technical know-how, your odds of designing a site that works just as well on mobile as it does on desktop are woefully slim. Professional website designers use responsive web design that allows sites to load correctly regardless of how they are being accessed, allowing you to seamlessly reach prospects whether they are on a desktop computer, smartphone or tablet. In fact, 68 percent of businesses that adopt responsive website designs see increases in sales.
9. Brand Identity and Consistency Starts with a Quality Design
Your contracting business’s website should be the hub of your digital marketing efforts. When done correctly, quality design can help you to enhance brand identity and to create consistency across all platforms. With a professional design, everything from your site’s graphic design elements to its content will be geared toward telling people about your company and brand. This not only appeals to human users, but it helps to demonstrate to search engines like Google what your contracting business is all about – and that helps with ranking in the SERPs big-time.
10. Seamlessly Designed Sites Convert More Leads
In years past, a website that was little more than an online brochure would often suffice. Today, a company’s website plays a key role in the buying journey – so it’s wise to hire professionals to design it. As mentioned earlier, doing so boosts the user experience, which is a key determining factor in pushing visitors toward conversion. Furthermore, a modern, professionally designed business site addresses visitors’ pain points and guides them effectively toward reaching out to your company for help – and that can have a very positive effect on revenue.
11. Good Design Keeps People Coming Back
When seeking home improvement services, people don’t always make their decisions right away. Many times, a prospect will refer to the same site multiple times to inform their decision – but they’re not likely to do that if the site in question doesn’t inspire trust. Quality design plays a key role in keeping people coming back to your business website, and it can also even inspire them to leave positive reviews for your company. Those reviews serve as effective word-of-mouth marketing and are akin to a gift that keeps on giving.
12. Effectively Designed Websites Have Lower Bounce Rates
Many years ago, companies based the effectiveness of their websites on how many “hits” they received. Since then, of course, we have learned that attracting a prospect to your site is just the first step. You need to keep them there long enough for them to head toward conversion, and that can’t happen without professional design services. The rate at which people visit then immediately leave a site – the bounce rate – is a key performance indicator, and it pays to keep it as low as possible for effective digital marketing for home improvement contractors.
13. Excellent Site Design Saves Business Owners Time
If you handle Monterey Bay contractor marketing yourself, you also assume the responsibility of keeping it up and running. This can be a job in and of itself – especially for amateurs who don’t understand the intricacies of modern site design. When you hire a company to design your contracting business website for you, it’s tested thoroughly before going live. If glitches do arise, the digital marketing agency addresses them. In many cases, effective site design can even save you from fielding as many phone calls and the like, saving you even more time.
14. Professional Design Services for Websites Saves You Money
Imagine how much money your business would lose if people found locked doors or inept employees when visiting in person. Well, the same phenomenon occurs when they encounter a poorly designed website. Every prospect that is lost through bad web design is a missed opportunity and can cost you dearly. On top of that, since website management is rolled in with design services most of the time, ongoing maintenance is handled for you. Therefore, paying someone to do it for you reduces overhead.
15. Effective SEO Hinges on Professional Design
You probably already understand the importance of SEO for home improvement contractors. Did you realize, however, that quality site design plays a crucial role in the effectiveness of your SEO efforts? As noted previously, Google has gone on the record to say that code quality is a ranking factor. On-page elements like header tags and anchor text all play a big role and are directly impacted by how a website is designed. Furthermore, the right digital marketing agency can create an SEO strategy that is bolstered by the design of your site and vise-versa, creating a cycle of continual improvement.
16. Local SEO Works Better with Professionally Designed Sites
As the owner of a Monterey Bay contracting business, you need local prospects to find you. Local SEO is an excellent way to make this happen, but it works better when a site is professionally designed. That’s because professional web designers know how to incorporate important local SEO indicators into the design of a site, increasing Google’s ability to identify its service area and improving its ranking in the local SERPs.
17. It’s a Worthwhile Investment
It’s natural to balk at the initial investment that goes into professional, high-quality site design services. However, you need to consider the big picture. Most significantly, paying for professional design services now can help to boost revenue for years to come. It can give you a crucial edge over your competitors, helping you to convert more prospects into customers and broadening your customer base. It also results in fewer technical issues, letting you focus on running and growing your business.
18. Professional Site Design is a Complete Digital Marketing Solution
When you hire a firm to design your website, you aren’t just getting an attractive and appealing site; you’re also getting a complete digital marketing solution. Everything from graphic design to SEO to content and social media marketing is usually included, so you can truly put your website to work for you instead of the other way around.
How Does Your Website Stack Up?
Now that you’ve learned the 18 benefits of professional site design, are you still happy with your current website? Whether it’s one that you designed yourself or one that was professionally designed years ago, your Monterey Bay home improvement business is certain to benefit in countless ways from a professionally updated and designed website. Which aspects of quality site design do you think will help your contracting business the most? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
If you’re looking for more digital marketing ideas for home improvement contractors, we can help! Core6.Marketing can answer your questions about Google Ads, Website Design, Paid Advertising, Social Advertising and more. Please contact us today to learn more about how to grow your contracting business online.
Article by Phil Fisk
CEO, Core6.Marketing
831-789-9320
