When you’re looking to grow your HVAC business, you must have a website—it’s your opportunity to create a round-the-clock marketing tool that makes it easy for prospects to find and hire you. Of course, in order for that website to function as well as it can, you have to design it properly. That means you need to include several necessary components of solid HVAC web design. What are the must-haves for a strong HVAC website? What makes an HVAC site effective? To help answer these questions and give you a checklist for creating a powerful business website, we've compiled a list of 10 must-haves for a strong HVAC web presence.
1. A Simplified Layout.
When you want true marketing power, skip the cookie-cutter web designs you'll find all over the internet. Opt instead for a custom site with lots of white space, clear headers and good organization. Highlight the most important information you want to communicate, and arrange content so it directs users to calls to action that ask them to contact you or book a service.
2. Responsive Design
The bulk of people who visit your site will do so on smartphones, so you should design your site to adapt to these devices. Responsive design ensures that your site automatically resizes for smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc., so you don’t risk losing someone who can’t find what he or she needs.
3. Streamlined Navigation Menu
If your HVAC website has more than six items in its main navigation menu, it’s too crowded. Streamline to the most important pages—using subcategories, if necessary—and feature them in the menu. For example, organize pages such as “Careers,” “News,” or “Mission Statement” under the “About” item. If someone wants to learn more about the “Services” or “About” sections, he or she can click the category; if not, he or she sees a minimal number of options, and therefore you don’t overwhelm the visitor with too much info.
4. Compelling Images
The HVAC industry isn’t as flashy as entertainment or cosmetics, but that doesn’t mean you should throw up boring photos on your site. You are marketing to people, and people respond to imagery. Invest in professional images that showcase your staff, your location, your projects, etc. Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words. The photos you include on your site can be a great way to communicate your message. Seek out stock photo libraries or consider hiring a professional photographer to create original work featuring your crew, trucks, and headquarters.
5. Clear Contact Info
The main goal of your site is to get people to contact you, so you want to make it as easy as possible for them to do this. Post your phone number prominently. The top right-hand corner of your site and the final position of your navigation menu work well. Likewise, use contact forms throughout the site along with calls to action that prompt people to reach out to you. In the mobile version of your site, include a one-click call button that allows the visitor to immediately dial your number to schedule an appointment.
6. Testimonials
In a service industry where people are trying to decide whether or not they can trust you with their business, testimonials are huge. Display positive reviews from customers who have been satisfied with your service, and showcase the social proof that you're a trustworthy HVAC company.
7. Service Pages
When someone comes to your site looking for air conditioning repairs or plumbing services, you want to quickly and clearly communicate that you offer those. Create pages for each of your services, so someone can click an “electrical” page and find out exactly what you provide. This not only answers prospects’ questions and prompts them to reach out to you, it also helps you build keyword-rich content for search engines.
8. Calls To Action
You want people to call you for appointments, right? Then consider this... When you want website visitors to do something, you have to tell them to do it. Strategize about the best ways to ask prospects to respond to your content with the desired action. Set calls to action on buttons that stand out from the rest of the page. Place them in prominent positions where a visitor can’t miss them. Likewise, use language that persuades the visitor to complete the action. Phrases like "Schedule a service" or "Get a free estimate" work well.
9. No Flash Animation
Flash may look cool, but it’s pretty dated. Likewise, not all devices support Flash, which means you could lose the largest chunk of your audience: those coming from smartphones and mobile devices. You want a site that loads quickly and performs well across all devices.
10. No Text Walls
Generally speaking, you want to make the text on your site scannable (i.e., easy to quickly view and get the gist of). So, rather than posting long paragraphs of content, break it up into bulleted items and shorter paragraphs (like the format of this article!). Rather than flooding your home page with a lengthy story of your company history, condense that info into what’s most important.
Conclusion
From the moment someone lands on your HVAC website, you get a golden opportunity to reach him or her with your business. Use the ten tips above to make the most of that opportunity. Get a design that works for you! Shanna Mallon is a senior copywriter for Straight North, a Chicago-based Internet marketing company that specializes in HVAC SEO, PPC, email marketing and web design. She’s been a freelance writer since 2007.
