Over the past 30 years, the way home service providers present and secure business has changed. While word of mouth and current customer referrals are important, having an online presence is even more important. If you are not present online, how much of your local audience are you missing?
Your home service online presence is crucial to not only be found by new homeowners and those moving into your community but build important trust and relationships with your overall community. If they can’t find you online, you will be invisible to a large part of your audience. Here’s why creating a strong online presence can help you drive more business without a large time commitment.
Consistency is Key
In every online touchpoint your customer faces, it’s critical to ensure your home service online presence includes a NAP. This doesn’t mean you put them to sleep with your content. NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number:
- Name Recognition: The more consistent your name is across digital touchpoints, the more distinguished your brand will be, giving you recognition for your customers when they need service.
- Address Consistency: Address consistency compliments name recognition by giving you a stronger SEO presence, making you more visible online. If your customer knows where you’re located based on your website and Google Business Profile, they know you service their area and can trust you will be there for them.
- Phone Consistency: Phone consistency ensures your number is prominently displayed everywhere, including your website. If your customers can find your number when searching for your home service business and (better yet) call you with one tap, you are removing friction from their ability to connect and book an appointment.
While consistent branding helps, this doesn’t require you to develop a full brand book. Instead, using the same logo at each touchpoint is enough to build your company identity.
A Professional Website Makes a Good First Impression
Before a potential customer decides to call, the first thing they will do is search online to check out the home service provider’s online presence. If it doesn’t make a good first impression, your customers are more likely to choose a competitor. This is based on hard data: A British peer-reviewed study found customers are 94% more likely to reject a company if their website has a bad layout, small print, too much text, or a lack of navigation aids.
The last thing your business can afford is visiting an outdated website that doesn’t inspire confidence. You wouldn’t send out a technician to someone’s home in a dirty uniform and a rusted vehicle — why send your potential customers to a bad website? Making design changes to modernize your website’s look, streamline content, and create clear calls to action will help your team convert more business.
Even if you can’t afford to pay for a new website design today, it doesn’t mean that you are doomed to failure. Start with the consistency tips we provided above, and filling out your Google Business Profile completely. The more consistent you are online, the better your business will stand out.
Your Google Business Profile is Key (and Free)
A Google Business Profile is a critical part of your home service business online presence. There’s no excuse to not have a business profile: It’s free to claim and gives you direct access to Google searches from your audience. If you search for “home service” today — or any keyword associated with the term — you will find that your competitors are listed on the front page because they have their Google Business Profile completed.
If you haven’t done so already, it’s critical that you claim your Google Business Profile now and fill it out completely, including your business location, hours, website, areas served, and services. Engaging with the questions the public asks about your business and every review can help you expand your presence and earn trust with your audience.
Social Media and Similar Sites are Free, Easy, and Useful
While a clean website and Google Business Profile can help you stand out, social media sites can help you earn additional credibility from your audience. Consistent branding and using social media as part of a local problem solving content strategy helps you build consistency and credibility with your audience.
Even if it seems irrelevant to your home service business (like Instagram, Bluesky, Pinterest, and others), it’s important to claim all the social media accounts you can. This not only builds consistency with your brand, but also boosts your home service online SEO presence by creating a backlink to your website. It also prevents someone from impersonating your brand online, which could hurt your reputation.
Claiming your profile on websites you may not consider traditional social media are also an important part of your home service online presence. Claiming your profile on sites like Yelp, Angi, Porch, or HomeAdvisor may require more work but will be very rewarding in the end.
According to Commscore Media Metrix, 2.7 million people visit Yelp alone on an average day. Without a profile on there, you’re missing out on core visibility. While some businesses exist by only having social media profiles and business listings, we recommend every company has a website because it’s always fully under your control and allows you to tell your business’ story.
In the Modern Era, Your Online Presence Can’t Be Ignored
When consumers go to the internet before scheduling an appointment, your home service online presence is more important than ever before. Managing your digital footprint means being active wherever your audience is searching for your services: In Google, on your website, and across social media platforms. Without this visibility and SEO presence, your business is missing out on valuable leads that could drive you forward. What could you do if you secured five more service calls per month?
With only a couple hours per week in maintenance after you set up your home service online presence on your website, in Google Business Profile, and in social media, you will see an improvement in traffic to your website, giving you the opportunity to drive more leads and close more business. Not sure where to start? RicketyRoo specializes in helping home service businesses create an incredible presence in their area. Contact us today to start a conversation about how we can help you get better visibility to your audience online.
