You’re one of the best plumbers in your area. Years of experience; a highly-qualified team of experts; and the most affordable prices around. But business is slowing down. Why? It’s most likely your website. As everything moves online – especially right now with COVID-19 – plumbers need to revamp their online presence. Your business maybe the best. But without a well-oiled and professional website, you risk being left behind. In the digital age, people trust the internet. They are far more likely to open their laptop, then pick up the phone. You must think you your website like a shop front, where it is the first judgement of the business, and can ultimately decided whether customer come in or not. This is why it’s so important you get your website right.
“Think of your website like a shop front”
When we say getting it right, we mean standing out in an incredibly competitive market. There are an estimated 120,000 plumbers in the UK – getting noticed is, therefore, vital. In simple terms: a professional website is credibility. Your website is the doorway to your business, so make sure it attracts.
Like all industries, plumbers need to constantly evolve how they operate online. If you’re a business hanging onto an old and outdated website, you risk missing out on leads and new customers. If this sounds like you, don’t panic – you’re in safe hands. This is why you need a professional website.
Look the Part
When it comes to websites, first impressions count. The old adage of ‘never judge a book by its cover’ goes out the window, and we make a consumer-based decision there and then. In fact, it takes around 0.05 seconds for a customer to form an opinion about your website. This determines whether they like what they see. These seconds can be the difference between a successful business and one that underachieves. It is, therefore, vital you adopt a well-polished and professional-looking design. If it looks good, it will attract more and perform better. At Digital Rainmaker we have tried and tested website templates; tailored for plumbing services and their particular market.
Design is essential. But don’t spend all of your time on nice looking fonts and fancy colours. The layout is equally important. A website should be designed with the customer in mind – easy to navigate and simple to understand. The general direction of your content should be consistent across the site. It should gradually move towards a call to action; a layout that makes people feel comfortable and inspired to act. It must also be mobile-friendly, as this is how most people now visit websites. Again, if your website is inconsistent, unattractive and unclear, customers will always look elsewhere. With a professional design and layout, you’re sure to get noticed for all the right reasons.
“a layout that makes people feel comfortable and inspired to act”
SEO Driven Content
In the age of digital marketing, SEO is king (Search Engine Optimisation); for many it’s a foreign language. SEO is essentially improving the visibility of your site. It’s ensuring your business ranks highly in search engines, and appears at the top of the pile, among unpaid results. Picture this: your plumbing business is visible on Google’s first page for search results; your visibility and traffic increases; and your business grows. This is the benefit of great SEO. It’s something that plumbers should be aware of, but shouldn’t have to worry about. With our help, all SEO is managed and kept up-to-date, to keep you on top.
Without diving into the world of digital marketing, your website content should be driven and shaped by keywords (kw’s) and subject areas which you want to rank for, and which are receiving sufficient traffic to increase you plumbing service demand. This is why it’s first vital to place a focus on the KW analysis before we begin the process of writing up the website content and even choosing the service sections within the website. If we can focus a webpage around a high traffic KW’s, with low competition then the chance of getting your plumbing website to rank on the first page, in a short amount of time will be significant.
You may have a stellar website design that you’re incredibly proud of. But without effective SEO, all of this hard work and effort risks going to waste. If your missing key words, you’re ultimately missing out. It’s worth noting that 92% of all traffic takes place on Page 1 of search engine results. Anything beyond this is up against it. That’s why stand out SEO is so important.
“It’s worth noting that 92% of all traffic takes place on Page 1 of search engine results”
Customer Loyalty
These days, plumbing website design needs to do more than what it used to. Yes, they are there to increase leads and improve business. But to do this, they must cover all content bases. Consumer behaviours are changing. People now want more information and more meaningful content before committing to a purchase, or in this case, a call-out. They want to find out more about the company, before letting them into their home. The key thing here is trust. Customers are now always in search of businesses they can rely on not only to get the job done, but get the job done well.
“People now want more information and more meaningful content before committing to a purchase”
There are a few great ways to establish trust with your customers. One is testimonials and reviews, which are incredibly easy to upload onto the website, as well as encouraging customers to post on your social media or search engine reviews pages such as google.
Another great way to build trust, is by producing meaningful content. As a plumber, this may all seem alien. However, meaningful content, that informs and does something for the customer, develops trust. Coupled with this, is the added benefit that it can lead to significant traffic, which will have a substantial effect for KW rankings. This type of content may include blogs or monthly newsletters, created to keep your customers in the loop. People appreciate useful information – this is especially the case in regards to pain points which your content may help with. And, if you ask me, plumbing related services, are usually in regards to fixing an issue. So, as customers are asking more questions online, and if your website answers them, your credibility will increase as will website visibility. In turn If they like the look of your website, they will be more inclined to use your business.
“People appreciate useful information – this is especially the case in regards to pain points which your content may help with.”
So, although plumbing websites will not need the same content creation approach as the likes of E-commerce sites, newsletters, or national service websites. By providing more useful info and regular updated content compared to your competitors, it will allow for increased: credibility, loyalty, website traffic and conversion rates!
Plumbers need professional websites – now more than ever. Websites host larger amounts of information, and are far more accessible than face-to-face meetings or over the phone calls. Online is the place to be, which is why your website must meet the standards.
This is where we come in. If you need a new website, then please do get in touch. We have vast experience in creating SEO driven, professionally-designed and authentic websites, for plumbers throughout the UK. You focus on the plumbing and we’ll sort the rest.
