NotesNo. 01
What a local service business homepage needs, and what it doesn't
A homepage for an electrician, plumber or landscaper has one job: help a worried person decide to call. Here is what belongs above the fold.
- By
- Russ Gohl
- Published
- Reading time
- 2 min
Most people who land on a trade business site are not browsing. They have a tripped breaker, a leak, or a dead garage door opener, and they want to know three things fast: do you do this, do you work where I live, and how do I reach you.
Your homepage should answer those in the first screen, before anyone scrolls.
The first screen
- What you do and where, in one plain line. "Electrical repair and panel upgrades in Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and nearby" tells a visitor more than "Powering your world".
- A phone number they can tap on a phone. If your site is read mostly on phones, the number should be a link that starts a call.
- Your hours, including whether you take emergency calls. Say so only if it is true.
- Your license number, if your trade requires one. California's contractors' board has rules about showing license numbers in advertising, so check its current guidance for your license type.
The next screen
- Your main services, each linking to its own page if you have one.
- Real proof. Real reviews with the customer's permission, real photos of your own work, real certifications. Skip invented testimonials and stock photos of smiling people in hard hats. Visitors can tell.
- How it works. Two or three honest steps: you call, someone shows up and quotes the job, you approve it before work starts.
What can wait or go
- A rotating banner of slides. Almost nobody waits for slide three.
- A long "our story" before the services. Put it on an About page.
- Jargon. If a customer would have to look a word up, rewrite it.
- A contact form as the only way to reach you. Forms are fine as a second option, but a phone number comes first for urgent work.
Check it on a phone
Open your homepage on your own phone, outside on a sunny day, with one thumb. Can you find the phone number and tap it without zooming? Is the text readable? Does the page load before you lose patience? If not, fix that before changing anything else.
One page, one goal
Every page should lead to one next step. For a homepage that is almost always "call" or "request a quote". If you notice a page with five different buttons pulling in five directions, cut it to one.