Why Having a Website For Your Plumbing Business is One of Your Most Important Investments

First, a website is your 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year sales staff. Not every customer is going to have the opportunity to talk to you and your staff for hours on end, but… if you set up your plumbing website the correct way, you can and will generate leads while you’re working or sleeping. There’s no better feeling than waking up to an inbox full of customers begging you to fix their plumbing problem.

Your website is the only place where your prospective customers can interact with your business on their time. A well-built plumbing website allows you to build confidence and trust in your business’ abilities.

At a minimum, when someone is referred to you or your business, one of the first things that they do is look you up online. When they visit your site they’re looking to see if you’re a legitimate business, not just Chuck-In-A-Truck. What services do you provide, can you handle the project that they’re looking to have done? Are you trustworthy? What do your past clients and customers say about you?

Here’s why having a high-quality website is important:

• Studies show that 82% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Your website is the perfect opportunity to show off the best of your glowing reviews and testimonials.
• Less than two-thirds of small businesses have a website.

• Small businesses cite cost (26%), irrelevance to industry (27%), and social media (21%) as key reasons behind their decision not to have a website
• 80% of internet users own a smartphone (Smart Insights, 2017) 
• 57% of all U.S. online traffic now comes from smartphones and tablets (BrightEdge, 2018)

Many of the contractors we work with receive much of their business via Word of Mouth, which is a testament to the quality of their work, but… How many people were referred to you, but haven’t called because your website didn’t represent your business or they simply couldn’t find your contact information?

Now, this is where things get fun, if you’re looking to grow your business and make more money (Fun Fact: I’ve never had a client tell me not to help make them more money) your website is the first step in generating new customers from people looking for local plumbers online. You may have heard of or even used third-party lead generation companies such as Home Advisor, Networx, Thumbtack, etc. and while they can and most certainly do provide leads here’s the big issue. Many of these companies are sending that same lead to 3 or 4 different people rendering your website and reviews useless and making price the only factor. Then the second you stop paying them the leads stop.

However, if you invest in building out an asset, in this case, your website, that generates its own leads you will see a higher return on your investment and close customers at a higher rate than with just third-party lead gen apps alone. Simply put not having a website means leaving money on the table.

Having a high-quality website is just another tool in your marketing tool belt, but here’s the thing about tools. My first clients back in 2013 hired me because I’d come out and work with them on job sites. I know how to use a Pro-Press and I know how to install a water heater (notice I didn’t call it a hot water heater), but here’s the thing I’m not an expert with those tools so when I have a problem I call one of my plumbing clients. So while you may be familiar with products such as Wix, GoDaddy Website Builder, or even WordPress do you know how to use them to their full potential?