Nowadays, having a website for a tradesman’s profession is no longer considered a competitive edge—it’s a requirement to stay relevant. With more and more people relying on the internet for reviews before patronising a service, not having a tradesman website could mean losing revenue to competitors who have taken the time and resources to set up their online presence.
Understandably, having a website is an achievement unto itself, but in today’s world, it’s simply not enough. While having a few pages up online may have been enough 5 to 10 years ago, the situation has drastically changed today. With over 2 billion websites on the internet as of January 2020, you need to make sure that the old website you put up a few years ago is updated to reflect current standards.
Here are five signs that your tradesman website needs an update.
1. The information is old
It’s safe to say that your skills as a tradesman have grown vastly since the last time you updated your website. Aside from showing your growth as an artisan, it’s also essential to show proof of your previous work and display a few testimonials from satisfied customers. While you’re updating your information, it’s also a good idea to update your contact details so that your prospective customers can reach you.
2. Your website is not mobile-friendly
Another significant change in recent years has been brought about by the rise of smartphones. In case you didn’t know, mobile searches have been surpassing desktop traffic since 2016. Mobile users have become such an integral part of the internet that Google also announced that their search engine algorithm will be favouring more mobile-friendly websites.
A non-mobile-friendly website is detrimental to a user’s experience on mobile platforms. Not only do customers need to do the dreaded “pinch and zoom” to make sense of your website through their small screens, but your website also might not even appear on relevant search engine results at all!
3. Your website takes too long to load
Today’s generation simply has no patience at all, especially with mobile users. According to research by Google, 53% of your website’s visitors on mobile will leave your website if it fails to load within three seconds.
If your website hasn’t been updated for more than a few years, there’s a good chance that its codebase or elements have not been optimised. It’s also worthwhile to check your web host to see if the free hosting plan you signed up for is still up and running. Chances are, the already limited bandwidth options were reduced even more—which is causing the slow loading speeds as well.
4. Your aesthetics look dated
The design language of websites today favour simple lines, solid colours, oversized graphics, and lots of white space. These design elements are not random—it’s a product of wanting simplicity and ease-of-use in a world full of push notifications.
All in all, applying these design choices will help you convey personality without sacrificing professionalism. It will help you stand out by focusing on the elements that help convey your skills as a tradesman.
5. Your website is not delivering leads
Chances are, you haven’t updated your website in a few years because you’ve forgotten about it. Maybe the website did not deliver as many leads as you expected, and you simply got too busy working on other jobs and honing your skills.
The truth is, maintaining a website is not a part-time job. Standing out from your competitors is hard, especially when the world is practically drowning in content. The good news is that a series of little updates are often enough to bring your website up to life again—and if you’re a bit lost, then there are digital marketing agencies like Shake and Speare who can lend tradespeople a hand.
Conclusion
There are many ways to help your users find your website. The most significant way to do so would be search engine optimisation—which focuses on a long term strategy, combining on-page optimisation and curating relevant content. If this sounds a bit overwhelming to you, then it’s best to hire the services of a digital marketing service in Bristol who specialise in websites for tradespeople.
Are you looking for a digital marketing solution to help you in building a website for tradespeople? Shake and Speare is a digital marketing agency that provides online solutions to give tradespeople that competitive edge in the online world. Get in touch with us today and book a strategy session with one of our specialists!
