3 Reasons Tradesman Should Have Their Own Website

Tradesmen commonly rely upon word of mouth and local advertising methods to secure business without considering the advantages that a website could provide them.

Here are three reasons why a website is beneficial to tradesman.

1. Exposure & Visibility

The internet is a global medium used daily by millions of people, and while a lot of this traffic will live tens, hundreds and even thousands of miles from you and your business, there will still be people within your local area using the internet to find a new product and or service provider. In fact, a recent survey by a consumer website found that up to 85% of people use the internet as their first port of call when looking for a local business.

So if you don't have a website you're missing out this exposure and all of the potential customers that go along with it.

2. Portfolio

An important criterion when selecting a tradesman is the quality of the workmanship. Customers will usually attain this from a personal recommendation, however, of course, this isn't always possible. And seeing as though people aren't generally able to visit the sites of your previous work, you'll need to find another way to showcase the quality of your workmanship.

A good solution is to create an online portfolio featuring the best examples of your previous jobs. Before and after photos, as well as close up photos of clean, detailed finishes are a very compelling selling tool.

Adding a portfolio or gallery to your website is a very straightforward task. If your website uses WordPress, for example, you can do so by downloading and installing one of the many excellent plugins such as Portfolio Gallery by Huge IT. This is an intuitive and user friendly plug in, packed full of customisable features.

3. Reputation

Another key to establishing a successful service provision business is building a good reputation. Of course, you'll build your reputation based on the reliability and quality of your workmanship, and your customers will then be likely to recommend you to their friends. However, a website can help organise your reviews so that new customers, i.e. those without a personal introduction, will be able to benefit from a word of mouth style testimonial.

This is easily achieved using a review and testimonial section on your website. Again, this is easy to do with a WordPress plugin such as Easy Testimonials or WP Customer Reviews, and you'll have a place that satisfied customers can detail their experience for the benefit of potential customers.

To finish

Creating your own website is a relatively straightforward and inexpensive undertaking, particularly when you consider the potential benefits that it can provide you with.

Our basic shared web hosting package starts from £4.99 per month, and is perfectly suited to small, 1-3 page business websites, perfect for tradesmen and similar service providers.