Internet marketing for contractors is an increasingly important part of getting noticed by potential customers. We’ll go into more detail below, but five ways to get started include:
- Getting a website
- Signing up for referral services
- Collecting reviews from customers
- Use PPC ads
- Specialize your services in advertising
Getting A Website
Websites are essential for business these days. Whether you’re working solo or managing a larger crew, websites can help you get attention, showcase projects, and otherwise convince people to hire you.
The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money getting a website. You’re not running an enormous shopping site; instead, you’re just hosting a few pages with images, contact information, and perhaps a form or two. An experienced designer can have a basic site up within a few minutes and tweak it to your business within a few hours.
You can even create a website yourself through various services, though it’s better to let experienced designers do it. They’ll charge a small fee, but this is more than worth it as an investment in your business.
Make sure to maintain your website after you get it. Maintaining your site is easy, and in most cases, only takes a few minutes at a time, so don’t worry about learning too much for it.
Signing Up For Referral Services
Today, internet marketing for contractors often goes through referral services like HomeAdvisor. Your presence on services like these can make all the difference for whether people even consider hiring you. It’s best to learn what those services look for and how to get ahead in their rankings.
Experience matters for services like these, so the more you can showcase your services, the better. However, don’t forget to account for potential charges from the projects. Referral services can also help you see what market costs are like in your area, allowing you to set more competitive prices.
Don’t be afraid to be too competitive on anything you show on these referral services, either. You can always try to upsell customers later, and it’s much easier to do that once you’ve already started talking to them.
Collect Reviews From Customers
Reviews are incredibly important for contractors, and the more you can get, the better. These are one of the primary methods people use to decide whether or not to hire you.
More importantly, many search engines and referral services also use reviews to help decide when to display your business and recommend you to others. It’s not hard to see why these are so important, but getting them can be a little trickier.
Luckily, most customers are willing to give a positive review if you ask for one after doing a good job on their project. You can also influence your reviews a little by not asking for them from anyone who seems neutral on your work. Reviews are all about managing impressions, so the better you get at that, the easier it will be to keep marketing yourself.
Use PPC Ads
PPC ads, or pay-per-click, are advertisements where you only pay the ad company when someone clicks through the ad to visit your website. These are an impressively affordable option on practically any budget because they’re designed to be as competitive and useful for customers as possible.
That does sound a little strange to hear, but consider this: the ad company has a clear incentive to make the advertisements compelling and clickable. They only get paid if people care.
PPC ads require more time to set up and manage, so it’s better to pay someone to set this up for you. Once you do that, all you really need to do is refill the advertising funds occasionally, and you’ll get more traffic to your site.
Specialize Your Services In Advertising
Finally, the last way to get started with internet marketing for contractors is to specialize your services in ads. Most people look for help with specific things, such as sink repairs or deck construction. Focus your ads on those types of services, then include notes at the end describing how you can help with anything else customers need.
Overall, this is more effective than advertising yourself as a generalist, even if that’s true. Don’t be afraid to update and adjust your service pages to match market trends.
