Why Your Website Isn’t Working And What To Do About It

Is your website generating a consistent flow of new customers?

If not, it’s time to figure out why.

At this point, you probably know the importance of having a professional website and what it can do for your business.

However, if you’re like most handymen out there, you aren’t getting very much business from it.

If that sounds like you, your website isn’t working for one of two reasons (maybe even both):

1. You aren’t getting any traffic or….
2. You aren’t converting your traffic into leads.

Not to worry.  In this post I’m going to give you the steps you need in order to turn your website into a lead generation machine.

Problem #1:  No Traffic

Unfortunately, you can’t just build a beautiful website and suddenly expect a rush of targeted traffic to start blowin’ up your phone.  It doesn’t work that way.

There are too many websites out there and if you don’t put in some work, nobody will ever even see yours.

If you want to actually get potential customers on your site, you’ll need to implement the following traffic strategies.

Traffic Strategy #1 – SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Some of you are probably like, what’s SEO?  Basically, it’s the pursuit of being found in search engines like Google, Bing, and even Yahoo! if you’re old school.

The first thing you need to understand is that search engines don’t magically know what your website is about.  Search engines can’t see pictures.  They don’t know who you are,  and they don’t know what you do.

You need to tell them and the way you do that is with the text on your site.

I can’t go into all of the details of SEO because it would be way to much information for this post, but I can give you some basics.

Essentially, the text on your site is the primary factor the search engines use to categorize your site.  So, if you are a handyman business in San Francisco, you’re going to want to make sure the words “Handyman in San Francisco” are on your website (in text), ideally in several strategic places.

Another example is that if you offer faucet repair as one of your primary services, you need to have the words “faucet repair” in your site text and ideally a page dedicated to the keyword “faucet repair” if you ever want to be found when somebody searches for that service..

These are just the very basics, but if you want some more information on SEO, Neil Patel has a ton of information on his website.

Traffic Strategy #2 – Blogging

Want to know the #1 way that I get people to this website?  That’s right, by writing these blog posts.

The cool thing is that you can do the exact same thing for your handyman business.  And don’t worry, you don’t need to write a blog post every week or even every month.  It’ll help, but it’s not required.

I haven’t written a new blog post in almost a year for my handyman business website and I still generate quality traffic from the blog posts I wrote two years ago.

The key to blogging for a service business is writing about the services you are trying to be found for.  By writing about your services, you increase the likelyhood that you’ll be found in the search engines (yes, blogging is a form of SEO).  Additionally, you will build a ton of trust with your potential customers.

If want a little more detail, check out this article and this podcast.

Traffic Strategy #3 – Social Media

You’re probably aware of social media sites like facebook, twitter, pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Social Media is a great way to not only generate traffic for you website, but to gain awareness for your brand.  It’s like word of mouth, except online.  In my opinion, it’s much more powerful, too.

To use social media to generate traffic for your site, start engaging with your target market.  You can do this by posting things that interest them or by simply having an online conversation with them.  Occasionally, you should post a link to your website to lead people to it.

There are endless possibilities with social media and I’ve seen some handymen use it to build a very significant following that supports their business.

If you want to learn more about promoting your business through Social Media, check out the interview I did with Rick Mulready.

Traffic Strategy #4 – Link-building

Want to know a really quick way to get people to visit your website?

Post a craigslist ad and instead of putting your phone number on it, show the url to your website.

Boom!  Instant traffic for your site.

As you can guess by the name, link-building is the process of building links on other websites that point back to your website.  The idea is simple, go to a website that your customers are already on and see if you can get the owner of that website to link to yours.

I’ve written an entire blog post that lists some of the most important places to build your links as a handyman. You can find that here.

There are hundreds of other ways to generate traffic to your website, but these three are pretty much required if you want to build a decent web presence.

Start here and expand as you go.

Problem #2 – Your Website Isn’t Converting Traffic Into Customers

Chances are that if you are getting traffic, you will eventually convert some of that traffic into a customers.

Some is not good enough.  You want to convert as many as possible.

To do this, you’ve got build some trust with your potential customer.  Here is a list of some of the major trust builders on a website:

1. A picture of you or somebody in your company.  People want to know who is going to show up at their door.  Think about it, those customers are going to have to let you into their home.  It’s going to make it easier to call you if you are well presented.
2. Testimonials – You can sit there and tell your customers all day how good you are and how much you care about their home, but their still going to want proof.  Testimonials help provide some proof, or at least an indicator that you will treat them and their home well.
3. Professional Layout – Your customer’s will often judge the quality of your services by the quality of your website.  If your site looks poorly designed, then, well, you get the idea.  Want a professional look and can’t afford to pay a designer?  Do what I did and download a theme from Elegant Themes.  I still get compliments on my site to this day.

Once you’ve got their trust, you’ve done the hard part.  Now, you just have to tell them what to do.

The Call To Action

I’m always amazed when I arrive on a website with no call to action.

Don’t assume website visitors will automatically hunt down your number and call you once you’ve got their trust.  Tell them what to do next and make it obvious!

For example, you might say “Call Now For A Free Quote.”  Simple, yet so often forgotten.

Also, make it big and colorful so it stands out from everything.

Incentives anyone?

Everyone likes a little extra incentive.  Why not give your customers one for finding your website?

Incentives are great for giving potentials that extra push they need to pick up the phone.  For example, you could offer $10 or $20 off for mentioning your website when they call you.

By doing this you accomplish 2 things.  You get more people to choose you and you can easily track where the leads came from.

Take these simple strategies, implement them on your site, and then watch the leads flow in!

Want to learn more?

I’ve spent countless hours refining my online marketing approach and have put it into a complete step-by-step program to help you grow your business.

Learn more about how to fill your schedule with profitable jobs here.