Most service business websites fail for one of two reasons. Either they say too little (a logo, a phone number and “Welcome to our website”), or they say too much (a 900-word home page nobody reads). The fix is the same either way. Give each page one job, and put only what helps that job on it.
We’ll use a made-up plumber, Hollis Plumbing in Smyrna, as the example throughout. Swap in your own trade and town and the advice holds.
Home
The one job: convince a stranger in five seconds that they are in the right place, and make calling easy.
The first screen on a phone should show your name, your trade and your city in the headline (“Plumbing repair in Smyrna, same day when we can”), a tap-to-call button, a quote button and your Google rating. Below that: three to six main services, each linking to its own section or page, two or three real reviews quoted exactly, one real photo of you, your truck or your work, and your hours.
Leave off: a photo slideshow, “Welcome to our website,” stock photos of people in headsets, your mission statement, and every service you have ever done once.
Services
The one job: answer “do you do the thing I need?” and “roughly what will it cost?”
Write one short section per service in the words customers actually use. “Water heater replacement,” not “hot water solutions.” Say what’s included, give a starting price or a typical range where you can, and say “free estimates” only if that is true. Put a call button on every service, not just at the bottom.
If a service is a big part of your business, give it its own page. Google can only show a page for a search if that page exists. Hollis does a lot of water heaters, so water heaters get a page. Garbage disposals get a paragraph.
Leave off: work you don’t want more of. If Hollis hates apartment drain calls, the site should not advertise them.
About
The one job: make a stranger comfortable letting you into their house.
Who owns the business, how long it has been around, where you are from, and that you are licensed and insured (with the license number if your trade requires one). A real photo of real people. Two sentences on why you started. That is enough.
Leave off: stock photos, “we are passionate about excellence,” and a company history longer than a paragraph. Nobody is reading your About page for the story. They are checking that you are real.
Service area
The one job: tell both the customer and Google exactly where you work.
List the towns and neighborhoods you actually go to. Add a map. If anything changes by area, such as a trip fee outside the perimeter, say so here. If two or three towns make up most of your work, give each a short paragraph about what you do there.
Leave off: a list of 80 towns you have never worked in, and pages that are copies of each other with the city name swapped. Those don’t help a customer, and Google is good at ignoring them.
Contact and quote
The one job: make the next step a single tap.
Your phone number as a tap-to-call link. A short form: name, phone, what you need, and a zip code or address. Your hours. Your shop address and a map if you have a shop. One line about when they will hear back, and only a line you can keep. “We reply within an hour during business hours” is great if it is true and a problem if it isn’t.
Leave off: twelve-field forms, required fields nobody needs, and anything that makes a person on a phone give up.
On every page
- A tap-to-call button that stays visible on a phone.
- The same business name, address and phone number as your Google Business Profile, character for character.
- A link to your Google reviews and a footer with hours.
- Fast loading and the padlock in the browser. Visitors notice when either is missing.
What we need from you
We write the pages. You don’t need to write a word unless you want to. What we do need, usually in about 15 minutes at kickoff:
- Your logo, or a clear photo of your truck lettering if you don’t have one
- 5 to 10 photos: you, your crew, your vehicles, finished work
- Your list of services, and which ones you want more of
- Your hours
- Your service area: the towns and neighborhoods you actually cover
- The link to your Google Business Profile
- 2 or 3 real reviews you are proud of (we quote them exactly as written)
Everything above fits in five pages, which is what our Website Starter includes. If you want to see how your home page would look before you send any of it, we will build a free preview with your real reviews and text you the link. Get my free preview. For why the site matters next to your listing in the first place, read Why your Google listing needs a website.