Marketing has changed significantly in a post-Covid world, and this is true for all kinds of businesses, especially the contracting business. With the cheap and ready availability of internet as well as smartphones everywhere, people are looking up contractors online instead of going over to visit their offices. This makes a website for your construction company very important, and should be where all of your marketing efforts get funneled. When hiring website design services, keep in mind these 5 points to make sure you get a first-class website.
5 Features to Include in your Construction Company Website Design
Responsive Design
A responsive website design is an absolute must in today’s digital landscape, where mobile accounts for over half of the web traffic worldwide. This technique enables web pages to automatically adjust to mobile, tablet, or desktop screens for optimal viewing. Without a responsive design, mobile devices will be limited to the site’s website-only version, which would be difficult if not impossible to use.
Switching over from a desktop-only design to a responsive design can be a fairly simple process or a costly affair – your website development company will be able to give you a correct estimate. If your website uses a popular CMS like Drupal or WordPress, it might simply be a matter of changing templates and making minor tweaks to the designs. Here are some elements to consider when implementing a responsive design:
- Short text blocks
- Resized images that fit mobile screens well
- Very simple navigation
- A click-to-call icon, which will greatly stimulate phone inquiries
- Simple inquiry forms having large field boxes
Location-specific & Service-specific Landing Pages
Techniques such as geolocation, or pages surrounding specific locations, can help you target potential clients that reside in specific communities or locations in or around major cities. When you promote a specific area, you not only display that you have knowledge about that locality, but can also benefit from local SEO services. The key to making an effective location-based web page is to not only make it very helpful, but also describe the community in reliable detail. Here are some things you should discuss:
- Make each geo-page specific to a location. And then make each of those pages the most useful, easy-to-access, and reliable source of information regarding those communities and localities.
- Adding a few lines about the specific geographic area that your office is in can not only help customers find your location easily, but also enable you to rank better in local searches.
- You should consider integrating a map as well into your location-specific landing pages as well.
- Don’t forget to include good photographs of each location as well. When your audience can recognize specific locations, it helps build their trust.
Similarly, you should also make it easy for visitors to see exactly what your company can offer, by having separate landing pages for each of the services you offer. This makes it considerably easier for your customers to find the service they are actually interested in. In these landing pages, you should add brief descriptions of what each project entails, and what costs and expenses your customers can expect. This not only gives your customers all the information they need to make a decision, but also allows you to add search engine-friendly content to your website that will help boost its rankings. You can use these pages to write about:
- What makes your company better at these services
- What extra benefits you can offer
- Frequently asked questions
A Great Portfolio Page
This is the page that will truly make or break your business. If well made, your portfolio page can speak volumes about your quality of work. However, this also means a good portfolio page may be difficult to pull off. If the photos are of poor quality, or don’t fit the kind of contracts you want to attract, it could not only damage your conversion rates, but your branding as well. A number of builders and contractors also simply forget to document their progress on projects, which means there are no good quality pictures of their work except after it is done.
Construction companies can display their experience and expertise through their portfolio pages. Pictures allow you to communicate with visitors far more easily, with potential clients visiting all of your past project pages to look at your pictures and see how good you are at your job. Almost all service-based companies, including website development companies try to have an impressive and updated portfolio page for visitors to see. Impressive photos of your work – both in progress and after it’s finished – can speak volumes about your company’s quality. Here are a few tips to keep in mind for the perfect portfolio photographs:
- The pictures need to be clear, bright, and not too compressed so as to compromise the quality.
- If the photos are indoors, then you should make sure to remove any clutter. If it’s outdoors, remove any lingering trash or other equipment.
- Choose pictures that can clearly represent your abilities. Don’t hype up something in your services page that you cannot provide pictures for, since that is a good way to lose potential customers.
- Document the full process of any project. This means pictures of the project at the various stages of its progress, as well as pictures of the crew working away, hammering, painting, climbing ladders, and operating heavy machinery.
- Get creative angles into your photographs. Choose many close-up shots so that visitors can clearly see the details of your work. Get wide angle shots of the finished project to better define its features and location.
- Categorize your pictures properly, so visitors know exactly what they are looking at.
Well-designed Inquiry Forms
Since it is essentially inquiries into your services that you are looking for, a well-designed inquiry form will undoubtedly attract much more leads than any average form. Here are some pointers on creating a good form:
- Put as few fields as you can. It takes time to fill out a form, especially from mobile devices. If your form looks like it will involve a lot of time and work, most users will likely not bother. They’ll just look for another contractor’s website with a simpler form.
- Use selection prompts wherever possible so that users can keep typing to a minimum. If you have a field that says “Type of Project”, put a dropdown menu with selections for bathroom, kitchen, exterior, etc. Under the field for budget, give them a selection of plausible ranges.
- Include an “Optional” field where visitors can compose their own messages as well. This way, they can also put in requests or queries that you did ot anticipate.
- Make sure you have a privacy policy, and make sure that the statement is included in the form. This reassures visitors that their sensitive information won’t be shared with any third party, and they won’t end up receiving any spam or telemarketing calls.
- Make sure that error messages are easily visible. If your users can’t figure out why they can’t upload their form, they’re much more likely to get frustrated and give up.
Elements that Add Credibility
The internet is rife with stories about how some clients got duped by their contractor, or had to face severe delays, extra expenses, or poor quality service. This skepticism is further made worse because there are big budgets involved, and customers are rightly fearful of getting into a contract with a company that might not be credible. Therefore, as a contractor, you must place an extra emphasis on credibility building within your website. Here are a few ways to do that:
- Satisfactory customer testimonials are extremely valuable. They serve to reassure potential clients about your company since they are coming from actually satisfied customers. The best testimonials come with a name, a company name (if applicable), a location, and a brief description of the work you did that actually points out your exceptional quality and reliability. Make sure you display such testimonials on your website. They could be on your homepage, a dedicated testimonials page, and also sprinkled selectively on the various service pages.
- An “About Us” page is a great way for companies to share their ideals, visions, and beliefs. Make sure your “About Us” page is engaging, talks about your company’s history and values, and does so in a way that your customers can relate to. Use real life anecdotes, and avoid unnecessary jargon and buzzwords. It can go a long way in establishing your company’s voice without coming off as pushy and commercial.
- Have a recognizable logo, and implement it on every page. Make sure that you stick to a color scheme in all of your pages as well. While graphic design services can affect the cost of website design, this is an area where you shouldn’t skimp.
- Display business facts like years in business, number of customers, and any other statistics related to your company. Use numbers where you can.
- Make sure you establish your excellence by mentioning any industry awards, BBB accreditations, and trade organization memberships you have received.
Conclusion
If you want your construction company website to rank well and bring in clients, make sure that the website design service that you have chosen implements these must-have features in your site. A well designed website that’s trustworthy, and informative will let you grow your audience, and always close the deal.
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