How To Make Your Plumbing Website A Conversion Machine
Updated on August 4, 2023
The importance of a premium website is more important than ever, especially with 88% of online consumers being less likely to return to a website after a bad experience
Plus, building a quality website gives your plumbing business an opportunity to be seen by people searching for plumbing services online, and more importantly, a chance to convert and gain more customers.
When we say quality, we mean it. With consumers reporting that it is worse to have a bad website than to have no website at all, it’s more important than ever that your plumbing site is designed well and has a solid technical foundation.
Whether you’re running a small or large plumbing business, investing in a quality website is well worth the time and cost when it leads to more customers calling your company.
If you keep the following tips in mind, your website will not only be seen but will be transformed into a total conversion machine.
Make Sure Your Website's Technical Foundation Is Solid
Your plumbing website’s beautiful design or raving reviews will have no impact if your site isn’t loading properly. Especially when you consider that conversion rates can increase by up to 74% when load time is reduced from 8 seconds to 2 seconds.
It’s important to ensure your website’s quality is consistent across all devices and that all images, videos, calls to action, and content load quickly. When people visit a website, they expect to see the information they need almost instantly before leaving the page or deciding to call.
Anything that keeps them from seeing the information they need sooner needs to be addressed and adjusted to get the most out of your website. Try these tactics out to make sure your website is up to standards:
- Check your page load speed to ensure your load time is 2 seconds or less.
- Make sure images are compressed and CTAs are working properly.
- Make sure it's mobile-friendly for tablets and phones as 66% of consumers are searching for local businesses on a mobile device.
Follow Accessibility Best Practices From the Start
With your plumbing website being your digital storefront, the last thing you want to do is turn customers away at the virtual door because your website is not accessible to them.
Accessibility has always been a highly important element in digital marketing, and it is only becoming more and more so. That means that you need to be following accessibility best practices from the outset of designing your website.
If you haven’t taken these elements into consideration until now, that’s okay. It’s never too late to increase your website’s inclusivity.
- Alt Text: Alternative (alt) text is hidden text that is associated with an image or graphic that describes that visual element in clear, easy-to-understand terms. Alt text is used by screen readers to describe these elements to people who are visually impaired.
- Video Captioning: Including captions with any videos on your website is essential for people who are hard of hearing. Make sure your captions are accurate and are displayed in a readable font type, size, and color.
- Color Schemes: Believe it or not, your website’s color scheme might not be accessible to some people. It’s important that you take the time to research what color schemes are colorblind-friendly. Additionally, you’ll want to use high-contrast colors for people that have reduced vision.
- Limited Flashing: Bright flashes and blinking can induce seizures in certain individuals, so you’ll want to remove any of those elements from your website. If you have to include them, make sure to provide ample, clear warnings so that people can click away before the flashing occurs.
By keeping these accessibility best practices in mind, you’ll be well on your way to designing a plumbing website that welcomes all visitors!
Have Clear Calls To Action
Calls To Action, otherwise known as CTAs, are what potential clients will click on in order to contact you.
If your CTA is not effective at communicating what they should do to get a hold of you, your website is going to have trouble converting. The more specific you are with your CTA, the better.
For example, “Call our plumbers now for a free estimate!” or “For immediate emergency plumbing services, call now!” are CTAs that inform and incentivize.
These CTAs show the potential client how they can benefit by picking up the phone and are always more effective than a vague CTA that does neither.
An example of a vague CTA might be “Click for more information!” This CTA isn’t clear about what a potential customer needs to do and doesn’t specify exactly what will happen if they click somewhere.
Keep these tips in mind when writing your CTAs:
- Provide a clickable phone number at the top of the page to make it convenient for potential clients to reach you.
- Use a chat box for them to easily learn more information.
- Utilize forms for them to quickly fill out and wait for your response.
- Consider building a personalized CTA and possibly increase conversion by 42%.
Let Your Customers Speak For You
Have you ever left a website simply because it lacked customer reviews? If so, you’re not the only one.
Displaying positive customer reviews lets potential clients see the authentic, high-quality customer experience you provide, helping build trust.
It’s easy to say you’re the best plumber in town, but having hundreds of positive reviews that echo that claim is what really proves your commitment and consistency, which is what every client wants. Customer referrals are also incredibly important for small service businesses like yours.
Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to generate those crucial reviews.
With 71% of consumers reporting that they are likely to leave a review if the company makes it easy for them to do so, you can follow a few simple tactics to generate testimonials for your plumbing business.
Once you have those high-quality testimonials, you’ll want to make it as convenient as possible for potential clients to see your 5-star reviews. That’s where displaying them on your website comes in.
In fact, websites with testimonials found a 45% increase in traffic compared to websites that didn’t have any. These are some helpful ways to ensure your clients see your hard-earned reviews:
- Showcase at least 1 Testimonial on every page.
- Have a separate testimonials page.
- Develop case studies to prove overall company success.
Write Clean and Clear Copy
Writing clean and clear copy is more than being informative and effectively telling your audience why they should choose you.
Since the average amount of time users spend on a website is less than 15 seconds, that’s how quickly you must show them exactly what they’re looking for before they bounce. It’s best not to use jargon or fill a whole page up with text that is not scannable.
Balancing your copy with images that support and complement your content will help.
For example, if a user types “pipe repairs near me” and clicks on your site and immediately sees “pipe repair services” with their city in the title, they have already found what they are looking for.
Pair that with an image of one of your professional plumbers repairing a pipe, along with a bulleted list of related services you offer, and a website visitor is likely to find exactly what they need in less than 15 seconds and contact you.
Try these strategies out when writing your website:
- Use bullet points to make it easier for your audience to quickly find what they need
- Break up text with images that boost the copy’s message.
- Highlight sections with bold headings to avoid large blocks of text.
USE SEO STRATEGIES TO WRITE GREAT COPY
Depending on how far along your digital marketing journey you are, you may or may not be familiar with search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the strategy of using keywords and other methods to get your plumbing website to appear as high up in the Google search results as possible. If you haven’t already started using SEO to improve your plumbing website’s performance, now is the time.
You can use tactics when writing your copy by including keywords and phrases that you think your potential customers will be searching for.
This helps ensure that your plumbing company shows up in the search results for key searches such as “emergency plumbing repairs near me” and “sewer repairs in Austin.”
Keeping SEO tactics in mind when writing your website copy will help ensure your marketing strategy is working seamlessly to connect you with customers ready to convert.
Use Images, Awards, and Affiliations To Build Trust
When people are searching for services that they’re prepared to spend a pretty penny on, it’s no surprise that they’re looking for something authentic, trustworthy, and real. It’s no different than people wanting to spend more on a fresh, homemade dinner rather than something out of a cardboard box.
By using stock images, you’re not giving your viewers a real view of your company, the plumbers they would be working with, or the quality you bring to the table.
It’s very easy to tell stock photos from authentic company images, just like how anyone could differentiate between fresh fruit and canned fruit blindfolded—one of them is always better than the other.
In fact, using real images instead of stock photos increases conversion rates by 35%.
Another way to show clients you’re established and trustworthy is by showing off your awards and affiliations. When people see other companies they know partnered with a company they’re just now learning about, it’s comforting and just might be enough for them to pick up the phone.
69% of consumers reported that it is important to them that the small businesses they patronize are affiliated with local organizations like the BBB and Chamber of Commerce.
Make sure you keep these tips in mind when considering how to display key visuals on your site:
- Showcase team photos on the front page rather than stock images.
- Display before and after projects to show your quality of workmanship.
- List badges of well-known affiliations and awards to build credibility.
Create An Overview Video
Since 50% of consumers stated that videos from small businesses make them more likely to patronize that business, it’s important to include informative and helpful videos on your website whenever possible.
Videos are a great way to show your company's values, culture, and professional process of what customers can expect when using your services. They are also a quick and convenient way for the client to get the information they need.
If a client has to click on every single drop-down menu on a website to find what they’re looking for, chances are they won’t even bother. So it’s a good idea to not only have your services stated but have the option for them to just watch a quick video on the front page.
After all, studies have shown that videos increase traffic by 300% and are a great way to nurture plumbing leads. Consider these topics when planning out your videos:
- Describe your process step-by-step so potential clients know what to expect from start to finish
- Let them know what sets you apart from other plumbing companies by stating your special offers like emergency services, great deals, or free estimates.
- Consider having a brief video explaining each service you provide so that when a viewer clicks on “sump pumps,” instead of reading several paragraphs, they can watch a 1-minute video giving them all the information they need.
Use Other Visual Elements to Connect With Customers
In addition to videos, there are a number of other elements you can include on your website to encourage conversion. Not everyone is going to take the time to read your copy, so keeping up with plumbing industry trends and doing everything you can to connect with those potential customers is key.
Keep these strategies in mind when building your plumbing website:
- Use infographics to display key information in an easily digestible format, which can be ideal for many customers. Infographics can visually represent almost anything, like your service process from start to finish or what trenchless pipe repair looks like.
- QR codes are easily generated and can direct people to key pages with one scan. With something as simple as a right mouse click (on the Google Chrome browser) you can generate a QR code that will lead potential customers anywhere, such as your review page, services page, or form submission page.
- Connect your social media pages to your website to increase cross-channel engagement. If you already have social media for your plumbing business, you should be using social media plugins on your website. These will show your most recent posts and can link potential customers directly to your pages from your site and vice versa.
in conclusion
If creating or improving your plumbing website didn’t seem worth the effort before, we hope we have shown you the positive impact it can have on growing your plumbing business and increasing conversion rates.
Though it may seem overwhelming, taking things one step at a time will help make it seem more doable. Plus, there are plenty of tools like Wix or Squarespace to help you build your website and ensure your efforts lead to successful results.
Other than checking off the list of website tips above, make sure your website encompasses what sets your plumbing company apart from the others in your area. People are much more likely to remember and gravitate towards a company that is proud of its unique attributes rather than a company that tries to fit in with everyone else.
