You have a website…now what? Your website is a goldmine of passive income opportunities, you just need to know how to make that website work for you.
That’s great!
But wait…
What if you don’t know how to improve your home services business website?
Well, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Unless you are a digital marketer or web designer, knowing how to make a website perform the way you want it to isn’t something you’re expected to know like the back of your hand.
However, with a little research, determination and in some cases, expert help, you can learn some of the techniques that will take a website from just being there to being a high-performing lead generation tool.
Here let’s discuss eight ways you can improve your home services business website’s local reach and ROI.
Excited? Let’s get started.
1. Clear and Simple Navigation
A website MUST be easy to use and navigate. If it’s not, visitors will click away from your site and find another one that’s not so hard to use. People don’t want to have to try and figure things out for themselves. They want everything to work intuitively.
That means when someone lands on your website, they should be able to immediately see what they need to do to get where they need to go. And that starts with your navigation menu.
- Are your menu tabs clear as to what they do and where they go?
- Do your menu tabs actually take your visitors to where the tab name suggests? For example, does your Contact Us tab take you to a page with your contact information and a form?
- Are the navigation fonts large enough and far apart enough so they are easy to read?
- Do your menu tabs include a hover feature or some other indicator that helps the user easily identify where they are?
- Is your navigation menu above the fold (visible without scrolling down)?
- Once a visitor clicks on a navigation tab, does the page clearly communicate whatever it is you want that visitor to do? Don’t expect people to just know what you want them to do. You need to tell them; otherwise, they might not do it. They will just read the page and leave. You need each visitor to work their way down your intended funnel so they move from being visitors to becoming clients.
2. Easy to Crawl
For the best possible results, your website needs to be intuitive to your visitors, but it also needs to be easy for the search engines to crawl. That means your website should be designed so a search engine can easily scan your website and identify what it’s about.
Doing so will help the search engines rank your website accordingly. A search engine’s job is to find the most relevant information for any given search. And if a search engine doesn’t know what your site is about, it won’t be ranked properly, if at all. You can make your website easier to crawl by including the following:
- Install an XML sitemap – This will make your website more discoverable by search engines. A sitemap is a file that provides information about the pages and other content on your website and how everything is linked together.
- Proper URL structuring – keep your URLs short and don’t include any unnecessary words or characters. Additionally, you should never stuff your URLs with a bunch of keywords and never repeat your keywords in the URL either. Having the proper URL structure helps the search engines know where to send viewers from a search results page.
- Internal linking – Make sure you link your pages internally. You can do this by linking related pages to each other. This also helps guide your visitors and Google to other related and important pages. Search engines crawl websites by following the internal and external links. A search engine will land on your homepage, then it follows the links throughout your website. This way, it can determine the relationship between each of your pages, posts, and other content. Internal linking is also how a search engine finds out which pages on your website are related and have the same subject matter.
3. Built for Mobile Devices
All websites should be optimized so they are just as easy to read on a mobile device or tablet as they are on the desktop version. That means all your page layouts need to display correctly for different-sized screens. It also means the fonts need to automatically adjust to maintain readability.
And that goes for the images and videos as well. All images and videos need to be scaled up or down appropriately. Additionally, you should make sure all your links are able to be triggered by finger taps and mouse clicks. If your website doesn’t have these traits, Google is now penalizing those websites it considers not mobile-friendly.
4. Optimized for Speed
Website speed is how fast it takes for someone to see the content on a page after they’ve landed on it. This is one of the main indicators the search engines use to determine where to rank your website. That means your site’s web pages need to be fast-loading and provide your visitors with quick page interactions.
One of the best ways to achieve a fast-loading website is to optimize the visuals. This includes resizing your images and compressing your video files. You should also make sure you are using the correct formats. Use JPGs or WEBPs when you need high-quality images and a PNG format for your logos, icons, and other illustrations.
5. Hyperlocal
If you are a small business owner, you should be using local business schema on your website. This is a type of structured data markup that is designed to make it easier for the search engines to identify the type of business you have, where your business is located, your services, etc. Having structured data on your website is a major ranking factor for local SEO. Additionally, it’s almost impossible to get your business into Google’s “Local Pack” if your website doesn’t have a local business schema.
6. Relevant Content
The sole purpose of any given search engine is to match a searcher’s query with the most relevant web page. That’s why your website must contain content that is relevant to your customers’ needs. Your content needs to be engaging, easy to read and digest, and informative.
You will first need to find your audience’s pain points and what questions they are asking. Then listen to the comments they are leaving. You can use social listening tools along with extensive keyword research, to identify these things for your target audience. This will help you develop content that grabs your audience’s attention and keeps them engaged.
Including an FAQs page or section on your website is another great way to provide your visitors’ value. Answering your site visitors’ questions without them having to reach out or click out of your website to find the answers is a great way to provide value and build your brand’s authority.
Additionally, FAQs are a great way to help your website and/or web pages rank higher in Google. And, it could even land your content in the Google Answer Boxes. You know, that dropdown box full of searcher questions that can be found on almost every Google results page. Getting your website and/or pages in this box is golden and will definitely increase your traffic and brand awareness.
7. Impactful Messaging
You can put out content all day long but if it doesn’t resonate with your audience, you might as well not have bothered. If you put out content that doesn’t interest them, they won’t read it. Your content should be viewed as important and valuable to your readers. It must be attention-grabbing, informative, and engaging or it will be ignored. So it’s not only about having relevant content, but creating content in ways that impact your customers; ultimately getting them to take action.
And sometimes, you might have written content that should be of interest to your readers; however, no one is reading it.
But why…
Well, sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it. If you don’t present your content in an engaging way that resonates with your readers, you aren’t going to get your message across. Here are a few tips for writing engaging content.
- Ask questions. This will get your readers engaged by forcing them to think about how they will answer.
- Keep your paragraphs short and simple.
- Use bullet points, bolding, and italics to help carry the reader’s eye down the page and directly to your call to action.
- Include meaningful quotes that result in a “feel-good” moment for your readers.
- Use analogies in your content. People love analogies that compare one thing to another. This makes them think and will also, on occasion, remind them of other positive experiences.
8. Consistent Branding
Consistent branding will help identify your business as a brand throughout all digital and print media. You should maintain the same values, elements, and identity that make your business instantly recognizable. Here are a few ways to keep your branding consistent.
- Create a company style guide with clear rules and standards for all your digital and written media.
- Use a marketing calendar to plan ahead and organize all your media efforts.
- Audit your existing branded media and update as needed.
- Repurpose your content.
- Be sure to include the proper branding for all your online and offline marketing.
- Keep your brand’s personality and voice consistent across all channels.
- Work with brand influencers who have similar values to broaden your market reach.
What’s Next?
If you want to optimize and improve your home services business website and online presence, we can help. Check out Surefire Local’s leading all-in-one marketing intelligence platform for home service businesses. Our platform will help you attract more customers and increase your profits all from one convenient place.
Want a free demo? You got it!
Contact Surefire Local today and let us show you just how easy it can be to push past your competition. You will enjoy:
- Improved search engine rankings
- Increased productivity
- More cost-effective marketing
- Better message consistency and coordination
- Expanded branding and local marketing expertise
Just ask the more than 3,000 other small business owners that are already using our Surefire Local platform!