Aside from the obvious such as your inspection company logo, something that explains what areas you service geographically, and of course your phone number…what else should definitely go on the homepage of your home inspection company’s website? Here is a simple exercise you can do to make sure you aren’t leaving something out that would help you convert more visitors into scheduled inspections. You’ll need a pen and paper.
Step #1: Imagine that a consumer asked you “Why should I hire you?” Now take your time and in no particular order, start writing down each and every possible answer to this question. Examples might be: “I’m very thorough,” or “I include full-color images in my reports.” The list might end up being 20 or 30 answers long. If it’s longer, so be it.
Step #2: Go back and look at each answer on your list. Ask yourself this question: "Is this something most of my competitors would likely be able to claim? An example would be “I’m very thorough.” All inspectors would say they are very thorough. So scratch it off your list. Another example would be “I’m licensed.” Well if you have a license, then you must be in a state or province that licenses home inspectors and so all of your competitors also have licenses. Having a license is like having a nose. All your competitors have noses. So scratch it off your list as well. Do this for every answer on your list, scratching any off your list that most of your competitors would likely have on their respective list. When finished, you should have a short list of only those answers that are likely not ones your competitors would give in response to a consumer asking "Why should I hire you? Some example might include “I participate in InterNACHI’s We’ll Buy Your Home Back Guarantee” or “I’m one of only a few Certified Master Inspectors® in the state.”
Step #3: Compare your short list with what’s on the homepage of your website. Is everything on your short list also on your homepage? If not, add them to your homepage.
Step #4: Compare what you scratched off your original list to what’s on the homepage of your website. Is anything you scratched off your original list on your homepage? If so, delete it from your homepage.
If you are lucky enough to get a consumer who is looking for a home inspector to come to your website, don’t waste your good luck. You are only going to get a few seconds to convince them that you are the right choice, the inspector they should hire. You might get 5 seconds at most. One, two, three, four, five. That’s all the time your visitor will stay on your homepage. Now if you were in a one-round boxing match where each round lasts only 5 seconds, what would you do to improve your chances of winning? You wouldn’t waste time. You’d throw all your very best punches as fast as possible. That’s what this pen and paper exercise determines for you. It determines what your best punches are.
Once you’ve made the changes, it’s time to get more consumers to your website. Here’s one way: www.InspectorMedia.com