Many will argue that websites are a simple matter of throwing a few words and tags together on a text file, saving it as HTML, and posting it on the Internet. While technically this is doable, it’s far from a professional website. In fact, a good professional website involves a combination of front-page HTML, and JavaScript code to affect tools and interactive features as well as capture information from users, and back-end functions for database management and network access.
So, what does one do if they have the expertise themselves to put together a proper site? Bring in the expertise! A professional site development team is the ideal way to express what you want for a business Internet platform and presence without getting caught up in the learning curve of web scripting. Instead of losing time, energy, and money, and misdirected people’s resources on the issue, the task is placed on those who already know how to put a site together correctly from the start.
Startup mistakes are avoided, delays don’t happen, and a professional site operates will full integration in all its parts. More importantly, the site is designed to scale up correctly as well when it’s time to grow. That happens quickly and shows up only a few years later, or even just in months forward.
Good Design Elements
For any business, particularly small businesses trying to get their footing online, a beginning website can’t be a half-done job. It needs to include the latest technology and latest design procedures to be compatible with the devices and connection paths customers are using today, not what they used a decade ago. Further, there’s no room for prototyping; good sites need to stand up on day one when they are ready. That includes all the components of content, imagery, security, user interface, user accessibility, and styling.
Good design also includes documentation and framing that identifies where changes can be made as the site needs to be modified for future needs. A current starting site may, for example, simply be a presence and information sharing. But additional sub-pages should already be designed to simply turn on with an active link, so audiences can click in and engage when the company is ready to start taking their interest actively.
Take, for example, the simple contact form. At its most basic level, the contact form web page can be a few fields less than the fingers on one hand that automatically connects to a user’s email program and sends their note to a predetermined email address. However, this version was the same contact form approach used on a website 20 years ago. In short, it’s archaic. Instead, a modern professional developer will build a site page for integrated contact tools that avoids the need for a separate email app and instead simply takes the user’s contact data, their message, and their Internet data and transmits it to the website owner’s own database at one click.
This take-action approach can literally build a profile of a customer into a customer relations management system connected to a site on the back end seamlessly, and a visitor will never see a blip of the same. But it’s an incredibly powerful version of website integration doable today for a business.
A Service Website Requires Even Better Design
Where product websites have a primary function of selling goods, like Amazon, service websites have to perform much better. They serve a dual function of providing contact to obtain the service as well as marketing its benefits and how a given offering provides a needed solution. More often than not, a service website may only be the one contact or information source a customer sees with a business before deciding whether to engage or not on a purchase. So, the navigation and use experience of the site needs to be well above par. This is where companies often make a mistake; they assume all websites are alike, service and product-oriented.
Tailored to HVAC and Plumbing
Site developers like EZ Service Websites and similar have honed website design to art, especially for utility service providers who need to keep their focus and energy on solving utility problems versus struggling with site coding. Whether operating an HVAC, plumbing, or electrical services company, especially as a small business or sole proprietorship, businesses today need to be seen online.
Much of that has been driven by the expansion and ease by which online search has expanded, especially with mobile devices. Now, some two-thirds of searches today happen with mobile devices versus computers, and people are proactively looking for services near them. So, if a utility service business is not online, they are literally not “seen.” Being able to rely on a web designer who understands plumbing, HVAC and similar makes a huge difference in crossing the digital gap.
With an approach that focuses on a company’s HVAC or plumbing business strategy first, the finished professional website can easily enhance visibility as well as customer awareness. And, when combined with social media as well as local and regional online community tools, business market share can grow quickly simply because an HVAC or plumbing business is visible, reachable, and responsive online. The days of the phone book yellow pages as a service lookup resource are long gone.
If you have a plumbing, HVAC, or electrical service that needs to boost its market and isn’t already online, then it’s time to seriously think about making a big leap forward digitally. A professional website package is a great way to start. Once set up and staff are trained, a site can be maintained with minimal effort, and businesses can even engage with ongoing content providers to develop new content to keep audiences coming back again and again. However, the worst step a small business can take today is to not have a presence at all. Networking and local referrals only go so far, especially when everyone is instead looking online for service solutions.
