Contractor website checklist: what turns visitors into calls

A contractor website has one job: turn a visitor into a phone call or a quote request. This contractor website checklist covers the ten parts that do that work, from a phone number you can tap to lead alerts that reach you on a job. Each item comes with a test you can run on your own phone in a minute or two.

The contractor website checklist at a glance

1. A phone number you can tap

A customer with an urgent problem wants to talk to someone. Put your number at the top of every page and make it a tap-to-call link, so a phone dials it with one tap. Use the same number everywhere, on the site, on your Google profile and on your truck.

Test it on your own phone. If tapping the number does nothing, or it’s an image of a number, fix that first.

2. A short quote form

Some customers won’t call. They’re at work, it’s late, or they want to explain the problem in writing. A quote form catches them.

Keep it short. Name, phone number, what they need and their town or ZIP code are enough to call back. Every extra field is one more reason to give up halfway. Put the form, or a button to it, near the top of the home page and every service page.

3. Lead alerts that reach you fast

A quote request that sits in an inbox until Friday is a lost job. The form should send each request to your phone by text and to your email the moment someone submits it, with their name, number and what they need.

Send a test request now and time it. If you have to log in somewhere to see leads, you will see them late.

4. Pages that load fast on a phone

Google uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking, so the phone version is the one that counts. Google’s own guidance says the main content of a page should load in 2.5 seconds or less, a measure it calls Largest Contentful Paint.

Check your home page with Google’s free PageSpeed Insights. Then use the site on your phone yourself. Text should be readable without zooming, and buttons big enough to tap with a thumb.

5. A clear service area

A homeowner wants to know if you come to their town before they call. Name the towns, counties or ZIP codes you serve on the home page or a service-area page. “Serving the greater metro area” doesn’t tell anyone if you’ll drive to them.

Use the same areas you list on your Google Business Profile. The Google Business Profile guide for contractors covers how Google wants service areas set.

6. Your services in plain words

List each main service by the name a customer would use, with a short line on what’s included and a photo of your own work. Use your own job photos over stock where you can, so customers see your work.

If you do a lot of different work, give each main service its own page. A page about one service is easier to read, and it matches what the customer searched for.

7. Real reviews

Reviews let a stranger hear from someone who already hired you. Show a few recent reviews on the home page, with the customer’s first name and town if they agreed to it. Link to your Google reviews so visitors can read the rest.

Keep them real. Don’t edit a review’s words, and don’t hide every review that isn’t five stars.

8. A link to your Google Business Profile

A customer may find you on Google Maps first and visit the site second, or the other way round. Link the site to your profile and the profile to the site. Check that your name, phone number, hours and services match on both.

An out-of-date profile with old hours or a dead number sends calls nowhere. If yours needs work, start with the Google Business Profile setup checklist.

9. A way to book or pick a time

Some customers want to pick a time for an estimate without waiting for a callback. Online booking, or a form field for a preferred day and time, lets them do that. It also tells you when they’re free before you call.

If you don’t want customers booking straight into your calendar, a preferred-time field on the quote form is a simple middle ground.

10. After-hours handling

Calls don’t stop at 5 p.m. An urgent problem gets a call whenever it happens. Decide what a caller hears after hours. Options include a person or answering service, a voicemail that points to your quote form, or a text sent back to every missed call.

Call your own number one evening and listen as a customer would. The guide to what missed calls cost a contractor shows how to put a number on calls that go unanswered.

Score your contractor website against this checklist

KLR Performance’s free website score asks seven quick questions that cover five of these checks: online booking, a quote form, how the site works on a phone, how current your Google Business Profile is, and who answers after hours. You get a score out of 10 and your three biggest gaps. It’s based on your answers, not an automated scan, so answer honestly.

If the checklist shows you need a new site, the guide on how much a contractor website costs compares your options.