Contractors Marketing – Building Brand Trust Online

Establishing trust is essential to successfully marketing any construction business and for many potential customers, the first impression they’ll have of a prospective contractor is through their website.  As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression and with this in mind, there are several elements that are universally effective in building trust online and should be incorporated into the design of an effective contractor’s website.  Below are six highly effective elements that will positively influence trust in a contractor’s online brand and when properly implemented, will also lead to more sales.

 1.   Show That Your Licensed & Insured

Consumers of construction services have undoubtedly heard horror stories from family and friends of a project that went south after an unlicensed contractor over promised and under delivered.  With this in mind, contractors that are licensed and insured instantly have a leg up on the competition over those that aren’t.   Prominently displaying these credentials on a contractor’s website will help alleviate any concerns about a contractor being a fly-by-night operation and is the first step in building brand trust online.  Just keep in mind that CSLB guidelines prohibit contractors from advertising in any manner that they are bonded.

2.     Gather Testimonials

Consumers that are on the fence about hiring a potential contractor can be greatly influenced by the power of testimonials.  Contractors should start by systematically gathering written testimonials from as many satisfied customers as possible and displaying these testimonials on their website.  There are several display options including a “quote-rotator” as CaliforniaContractorBonds.com uses (see the right side of this page).  Other ideas include creating a “completed projects” section that incorporates customer testimonials with a description of their associated project (see tip 4 below).

3.     Clearly Display Contact Information

The goal of a contractor’s website may vary, but for most, it’s to generate leads for construction work.  If the goal is to generate leads, it shouldn’t be hard for potential prospects to find a business’ contact information on their website.  Very few things are more annoying for visitors of a commercial website than hard to find contact info.  Have a “contact” page link in the header tab bar and the footer of each page.  Also, I’m a big fan of providing the businesses phone number in the top right corner of all pages of a contractor’s website because that’s where many people will instinctively look for it.  Websites that make contact information hard to find give the impression that the business in question does not want to be contacted, which will dramatically affect brand trust and sales.

4.     Gallery of Previous Projects

Having a gallery with descriptions and images from previous projects is huge in establishing trust, especially if you happen to be a remodel contractor.  Potential customers want to know what they are getting when they hire a contractor and pictures speak louder than words.  Contractors should make a habit of documenting projects through the various phases of construction with photos, descriptions and testimonials that can be professionally displayed on a “completed projects” section of their website.  Potential customers will be able to quickly decipher the quality of a contractors work and trust is immediately established when successfully completed projects are carefully articulated and published from start to finish.

 5.     Add Company Staff Photo’s

The internet is full of fraudsters and an important step in building brand trust online is showing the contractor in question is not one of them. Adding staff photos to a contractor’s website not only adds a face to a name for potential customers, it sends a strong message that the company stands behind its work.

 6.     Embrace Social Media

The addition of social media platforms is a great way to build brand trust in a construction business, but with a caveat.  Businesses that tout multiple social media platforms such as Facebook or Linkedin, yet have shallow or non existent social media presences online could actually do more harm than good.  If a contractor has the resources to develop a social media presence online, it’s a great way to build business and trust.  As a side note, remodel contractors should strongly consider Pinterest as a way to market their business online.  Pinterest is a platform that allows users to “pin” there “interests” in the form of images, making home improvement projects a big hit amongst users of this rapidly growing social media platform.

For additional ideas on successfully marketing a construction business online, please visit http://constructionmarketingideas.com/

By Jeremy Schaedler