How a generic website can hold a business back
Read time – 3 minutes
A local carpet cleaning owner and I were having a conversation the other day. It quickly turned to marketing and the cost of leads for her business.
She explained how expensive Google Local Service ads had become and was looking for strategies to get more leads.
Naturally the convo turned to her company’s website and how they were getting little to no leads from the website. She wondered if SEO would be worth the investment.
I said before you invest in SEO, let me take a look at the website.
I immediately noticed multiple weaknesses.
The 5 main issues of their website:
- 99% of the pictures on the website are stock photos.
- Nothing authentic or original from the business. No images of team members or ownership.
- No before and after pictures.
- The website had no portfolio and no before and after pictures of carpets or furniture or anything.
- No mention of service areas or neighborhoods on the website.
- Potential clients (and search engines) like to see that you work and are familiar with their area.
- The about us page is generic and has no real story about the business: who they are, why they started the business, what makes them unique etc.
- The website doesn’t mention their 100+ Google reviews or testimonials from past clients.
With such a generic and weak website, it doesn’t matter how many people go to the site; the site is unlikely to convince anyone to hire them. I wouldn’t hire them. I could not tell this company from anyone else. They just blend in.
Even if they spend more on SEO or advertising to drive more people to their website, they will unlikely get more quality leads.
With no story, background, brand, or portfolio, if someone contacts them, this company ends up competing solely on price.
So..What can they do?
- Add authentic before and after pictures.
- Shows they can perform the work, building trust with potential clients.
- Add ideal neighborhoods and service areas to the website. Make local service website pages about the areas they want to target.
- I asked them to identify and target ideal wealthy neighborhoods or areas of their city they would like to service.
- Improve the About Us page. Write your business’s story. Dig deep. Show some personality. Add photos of the team or ownership.
- Add a Google review widget to all pages of the website.
- They have over 100 reviews on Google and a 4.9 rating – Flaunt that.
Bottom Line
Your business website is a chance to stand out. Once people are on your site, you want to do as much as possible to prove your value and sell them on your business.
Plus, everything listed above will help SEO. Improve your SEO by improving your website with the 4 items above. I even wrote a blog post last week about 3 things contractors can do on their own to improve their SEO.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways we can help you:
- Download our Marketing Playbook: A detailed 16-step guide for getting home service businesses from 0 to $2 million+/year in revenue
- Book a call to discuss a partnership to help you grow your business.
