A homeowner needs an electrician. They find a local business with good reviews and a professional-looking website. But the site does not say which areas they cover, gives no idea of price, and the only way to enquire is a long form. The homeowner tries the next business on the list, whose website answers all three questions and lets them describe the job in a quick conversation.
Home service websites often lose jobs through small, fixable mistakes. Here are the common ones.
Mistake 1: no clear service area
Customers want to know first whether you cover them. List your areas clearly and mention them on the homepage.
Mistake 2: no prices
Customers almost always ask about cost. Publishing callout charges, hourly rates and typical prices for common jobs builds trust and saves time.
Mistake 3: hidden emergency information
If you do emergency callouts, say so prominently, with hours and charges. If you do not, say that too, so customers can find help elsewhere quickly.
Mistake 4: a form that asks for everything
A homeowner with a dripping tap does not want to fill in twelve boxes on a phone. Ask for the job, the postcode and a way to reply, and pick up the rest later.
Mistake 5: no way to capture enquiries while you work
The people doing the work are the people who would reply. If enquiries wait until the end of the day, customers book someone faster. The problem is covered in service requests that arrive while you are on a job, and the cost in what a missed job enquiry costs a home service business.
Mistake 6: no photos of real work
Stock images do not build trust. Photos of real jobs, with short descriptions, show customers what you do.
Mistake 7: a site nobody has touched in years
A number that rings out or a price from three winters ago suggests the business may have stopped trading. Put a reminder in the diary each quarter to read the site through from top to bottom.
Mistake 8: no explanation of how quotes work
Customers want to know whether quotes are free, whether you need to visit and how long it takes. A short explanation reduces hesitation.
Mistake 9: no reviews or proof
A few genuine reviews or testimonials help. Point customers to where they can read more.
Mistake 10: no mention of guarantees or insurance
Customers letting someone into their home want reassurance. Say whether your work is guaranteed, for how long, and that you hold appropriate insurance, if you do. A short line on the homepage answers a question many customers have but few ask directly.
Mistake 11: one generic page for every service
A single "services" page listing everything you do gives little detail about any of it. Separate pages for your main services, each explaining what is involved, typical prices and common questions, help customers and give search engines something to rank.
Fixing the mistakes
Most of these can be fixed in an afternoon. Then make sure your site can answer questions and capture job details while you work. Gyms face a similar list of mistakes, as covered in gym website mistakes that lose new members. The fixes are similar: answer the obvious questions and make enquiry easy.
SpideyChat for home service businesses answers from your own site and captures job details in conversation at any hour. More on how it helps book more jobs is in chatbots for home services booking more jobs automatically.
Try it as a customer
Pick a job you do often, such as a blocked drain or a new light fitting. On your phone, look for three things on your own site: whether you cover a particular street, roughly what that job costs and how to ask for it. Ask a friend to try too and watch where they hesitate. That is where to begin.
Putting the assistant live
When the pages read well, point the assistant at them. Installing the widget takes a single snippet, and training your bot on the refreshed pages means its answers match what customers now read.