Your home inspection website

General Inspection Topics General Inspection Discussion
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Hi, Bruce (Grant) –

Here’s my feedback for the homepage of your website at http://www.muskokahomeinspection.ca/ :

  1. I’m not sure using your phone number as your homepage tag is an optimum way of getting those SEO hits. I recommend using either your company name or something like “Muskoka Home Inspections.”

  2. Great photos of the two of you!

  3. So, until I did some digging, I didn’t know which inspector pictured is Bruce or who the other inspector was, but your visitors won’t know who either of you is because you’ve omitted your names. If you’ve gone to the trouble to upload your photos (which is a good thing), you’d do even better by including your individual names as a caption under each photo. After clicking deeper into your site (which you should not assume your visitor will stick around to do), I’ve discovered that you, Bruce, are the Certified Master Inspector®, so you should render your name as Bruce Grant, CMI (and feel free to add the spelled-out version under that, and don’t forget to include the registered trademark symbol after it). The other inspector is Christopher Grant, who is also a member of InterNACHI.

Christopher, you’re not technically considered a Certified Professional Inspector® till you’ve taken and passed our Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics courses and final exams, and I urge you to do so ASAP so that you can become certified and can use the designation CPI after your name. I know you just joined a couple of months ago, but those two courses, in addition to the Online Inspector Exam (which you’ve already taken and passed), are the (three) core courses that make a paid member certified. All of our other courses can wait. Don’t delay -– it shouldn’t take you longer than an hour or two to knock out both of them.

  1. I suggest you put some space between your photos and add a public-domain image of a house in the very center, Then, put the web seals on the outside of the photos, so the order of elements will be (from left to right): CMI seal, Bruce’s photo, house image/photo, Chris’s photo, and an InterNACHI seal. (And when Chris takes and passes the SOP and COE courses and exams, you can swap out the InterNACHI seal for the CPI seal. But you don’t want to use both seals for one person, nor do you want to imply that Chris is certified when he’s not yet by keeping that CPI seal. Hate to bust your chops about this, but that’s part of my job! ^) These elements and organization will give the top of your page some visual symmetry, which is especially important since you seem to lack a company logo.

  2. The text between the photos and the dark blue banner is kind of all over the place. So, try this text, large and bold (and short and sweet):

**Providing Residential and Commercial Property Inspections for Muskoka

8 a.m. to 7 p.m., 7 Days a Week

705-205-4663

DoneRight1@live.ca**

You’ll have a chance to add all the other information lower in your page (including all the towns you serve). For now, you want just the essential information up top so that you don’t overwhelm your visitor with all kinds of details.

  1. I have to read a few sentences further before I realize what your company name actually is, so, in that dark blue banner with the white font, change that text to “Done Right Home Inspections” (without the quotation marks). Otherwise, it looks as if your company name is “Muskoka Home, Cottage, and Commercial Inspections.” This is immediately confusing for you website’s visitors.

  2. My main issue with your page is one I see over and over, so I strongly urge you and every other InterNACHI member reading this post to check out our article titled Search Engine Optimization Tips for Inspectors, which should be required reading. And then you should all memorize the following tip, as I see this guideline disregarded so frequently, with the result being that the content on those homepages is virtually unreadable:

Contrary to what you may have learned, don’t try to stuff your text with keywords. It won’t work. Search engines know if your use of a term is abnormally high because people have tried to game the system, and this practice is a red flag. They prefer natural language content.

What this means is that you should NOT use your service area, company name, or a combination of your service area or company name with the phrase “home inspection” or “home inspector” 20 times on your homepage in your text and in your list of links. Not only does this not garner you more SEO hits (because you need to bear in mind that your homepage is just one page of your entire website), but if you read your homepage content out loud, you will quickly realize that it sounds unnatural and stilted, doesn’t make grammatical sense, takes forever to get through, and delays giving your visitors the information they’re actually looking for in order to make the decision to hire you.

Furthermore, this keyword-stuffing may have the unintended consequence of actually driving your visitors away precisely because it’s so repetitive and such a slog to get through. (Plus, you may also be paying some penalties Google-wise.) Marketing is first about giving your prospects what they’re looking for in a manner and format that they expect to find it. Being strategic about SEO will help you get to the top of Google searches. But in the case of SEO, remember that more is not better – it’s actually a question of where, as in, ‘Where is the optimum place for me to insert certain keywords?’ So, most of the rest of my comments have to do with helping you correct this problem.

  1. Use just one type of font on your homepage, with bolded text for headings. You have three distinctly different ones, not including bolded text or bolded headings.

  2. In the main area of your homepage under the dark blue banner, you have a lot of repetition. You’re also bombarding your visitor with all kinds of information. This kitchen-sink approach is overwhelming, including the photos that don’t have any space between them(or informative captions), the different systems you inspect, the types of tools you use, etc., etc. It’s too much for just your homepage. You should parse this stuff out and move items by individual topic to separate links that your visitors can click on at will.

Consider using this replacement text, which is more focused, and shorter and less repetitive, with headings to break things up a bit (as I see you’ve done to an extent):

We Value Your Time

Done Right Home Inspections performs residential and commercial property inspections in Muskoka.

Bruce Grant, CMI, and Chris Grant act as a team to inspect properties together, so you get twice the information in half the time!

We understand that your schedule is hectic and that a real estate transaction is time-sensitive. That’s why we offer appointments seven days a week using our superior two-man approach. Whether you’re a home buyer or home seller, a real estate investor or a Realtor, we’ll get you the information you need when you need it so that you can make a confident decision.

Experience That Works for You

With a combined five decades of experience in home-building and renovations from the ground up, as well as thousands of property inspections for satisfied clients, Done Right gets it done right. We can spot problems with materials, installation and workmanship that other inspectors might miss.

As members of the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors—InterNACHI—we follow a comprehensive Standards of Practice, which exceeds those of: CAHPI, the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors; OAHI, the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors; and ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. We also abide by a strict Code of Ethics, which puts our clients’ interests first.

And as a Certified Master Inspector®, Bruce has earned the inspection industry’s highest professional designation.

We have other experts on call, when necessary, such as a licensed electrician and licensed HVAC technician, who also abide by our standards and ethics. Let Done Right put its experience and expertise to work for you!

Our Services

Done Right provides homes inspections, cottage inspections, log and timberframe structure inspections, and commercial property inspections. We inspect a variety of specialty properties and outbuildings, including farms and ranches, bunkhouses, barns and riding arenas, boathouses and boat lifts, and more.

We also offer Water Quality Testing, Functional Septic System Inspections, Radon Testing, Mould Inspections, Lead Inspections, and Asbestos Inspections, with fast turnaround for sample testing and results.

If you have other inspection needs not listed here, please give us a call or email us with your special request.

Our Inspection Report

THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO FILL IN SOME DETAILS ABOUT YOUR INSPECTION REPORT, INCLUDING FORMAT (checklist? detailed descriptions? summary page?), PHOTOS?, METHOD OF DELIVERY (email? accessible via website? hard copy? combo?), AND TURNAROUND TIME.

Our Service Area

We provide property inspection services for the following cities and communities throughout the Muskoka District: Barrie through Hawkestone, Orillia, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Port Carling and Bala, and east to west from Haliburton and Dorset, and through Coldwater and the Midland areas.

It is unnecessary for you to mention that Chris just joined your team -– your visitor will have no idea of any point in time when he wasn’t part of your team, so there’s no need to call attention to it. You want your text to be short and succinct. You have to serve up new information, not endlessly repeat yourself. Make sure that every inch of the real estate of your home page holds some value and information for your visitor.

But you also have to strike a balance so that your text is not over-long, even if the information is new. Your goal is to get your visitor to hire you, and the quicker you can accomplish this, the better, and that invariably means less text.

Under the heading “Experience That Works for You,” consider linking to: InterNACHI, the InterNACHI SOP, and the InterNACHI COE (unless Ontario has an SOP and COE that supersedes ours, and then link to those instead). You should also link “Certified Master Inspector®” to the CMI website.

In the replacement text above (should you choose to use it), bold only the headings. You can make them that nice green, if you want, but don’t bold any text within the paragraphs. If the paragraphs are short enough (as I’ve tried to make them), there’s no need to single out any text by bolding it. You want to emphasize text sparingly because, theoretically, all of it is important.

And as snappy as the “We owe” text seems, the part about what you owe the house doesn’t make actual sense – you owe your clients, not the houses. I honestly think it’s enough that you address the SOP and COE, your CMI designation, your membership in InterNACHI (along with the associated links), and the nuts-and-bolts about your services and report. I would expect your inspection to be unbiased – that’s the point of a home inspection – as well as thorough, professional, etc. So, to me, the rest of the text seems a bit bloated and indistinguishable from Your Average Joe Inspector’s website.

Additionally, a lot of the text moving down the page (regarding the “cheap” inspection/inspector, etc.) is a little too stream-of-consciousness and rambling. It’s just too much text in general, and it lacks focus (as well as proper punctuation, grammar, and formatting). It’s just best to stick to selling your services quickly and briefly, and saving everything else for a deeper page (preferably different pages), including “Tools We Use,” etc. Even your guarantee at the bottom should be a link – you don’t want to passively un-sell your services before you’ve sold them.

Again, be mindful of what your visitors want, not what you want to tell them (which is everything – I know!^). If your two-man inspection protocol is meant to save your clients time, then start by respecting their time with your homepage. Make your personal pitch, give them the basic details about your services that they need in order to hire you, and then stop talking!

  1. After your text, include just one of the “Click to verify” InterNACHI icons -– you only need one for the two of you, since you’re both members. Also, include the Honor Guarantee seal and the First-Time Home Buyer-Friendly seal all on one line – all three elements straight across and centered.

  2. At the bottom of your page, you need a copyright notation, so add this:

Copyright 2014 Done Right Home Inspections

  1. You may also consider moving the “Have me call you” button so that it’s higher on your page.

LEFT SIDE:

  1. Delete “Navigation” –- this is a behind-the-scenes term and not one you want as a heading for your links.

  2. So, again, you want to delete ALL instances of repetition in each of these link titles, including using your company name, your phone number, “Muskoka,” the phrase “Home Inspection,” and the phrase “Home Inspector.” Each of these links should have short titles that the visitor can read quickly to find what they want. So, it’s “Home,” “About Us” (and have both of your backgrounds, training, etc., on one page, with Bruce at the top and Chris at the bottom, and in this link it would be okay to have your photos again). So, you’ll be deleting “Done Right Home Inspection’s Certified Master Inspector’s Background,” along with “Home Inspection Specific Training,” and “About the newest inspector at Done Right Home Inspections” and combining all that content at the “About Us” link. Don’t make your visitor slog through three or four links when one will do.

  3. At your “Information for Realtors and buyers” link, you have the year as “2113,” and you also refer to your two-man system as new. Don’t do that -– it’s not relevant for your visitors to know that. Simply state that that’s what your system is. And change that link’s title to “What to Expect from Your Inspection” -– that’s a more compelling title that more accurately conveys what’s at that link.

  4. You also want to re-organize your links more sensibly -– not in the order that you want to present the information (or using HIP’s boilerplate), but in the order that your visitor is looking for information. So, once I find out about you and Chris (at “About Us”), then I want to read about your various services (the “What to Expect” link). In general, you have way too many links. Again, I’m a visitor trying to find out about you and your services, and you’re making it very difficult with all this repetition, including keyword-stuffing, as well as using the individual cities of your service area as separate inspections. Not only is this just a bottleneck of repetition, but it implies that you perform inspections differently for the different areas, and I’m sure that’s not the case. Just delete ALL these separate links and have one link that says “Our Standard Home Inspection." If you want to repeat your service area paragraph on each page, do it at the bottom in lighter text (it will still get the SEO hits but it won’t be as obtrusive). Use separate links for inspections only if the INSPECTIONS are different, not if the service area is different.

  5. I want to know about your ancillary inspections for Water Quality (don’t forget the word “Quality”), Mould, Radon and Asbestos (and their fees) before I’ll be interested in reading what any banking and RE pros have to say about your services, so move those links up.

  6. Your separate Radon link should be right after the link at item #17, or it should be a link from that link.

  7. “Buyer Basics” and “Tips for Sellers” should be near the top of this lineup, not buried below. These are your prospects, so address them right away. Your page went offline before I could check out those links, so if they’re about inspections for these two markets, then do put these very high in the link lineup. If the information at these links has more to do with real estate transactions, as some inspectors have included on their sites, then these links should be lower. Your primary goal is to sell your services, so your links’ order should reflect that. Offer the bonus-type information later.

  8. “What’s a Home Inspection?” should be first in your link list after “Home” (and do add that question mark at the end). This is a question that many first-time home buyers will want answered first.

  9. Your hours and service area are already spelled out here on your homepage, so delete this link. (Again, you have way too many links, so combine and delete as many as you can.)

  10. Your “Inspection Fees” (remember to keep those link titles short) should appear after you’ve presented all your different home inspection types (standard and ancillary).

  11. Your “Sample Reports” should appear after your fees.

  12. Your “Client Agreement” should appear next. (And “authorizations” and “service agreements” are technically different instruments from a home inspection client-inspector agreement/contract, so avoid using confusing terminology.)

  13. There’s nothing at your “Links” link, so delete that.

  14. Your “My Blog” should be titled “Bruce’s Home Inspector Blog,” since “my” is unclear. Also, I recommend you cut-paste your content from that link into a Word.doc so that it highlights the many typos you have on that page. If you’re going to have a blog on your business website that you want your visitors to read, make sure it’s error-free, as all of your deeper pages should be.

  15. I’m not sure you want to link your “Client Satisfaction Survey” here unless you specifically use it to ask your clients to download one and fill it out, but that seems like you’re asking them to go to a lot of trouble. You should be including it with your inspection report, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to take the time to respond to you. If you rely on them going to your website, downloading it, printing it, filling it out, and then mailing it on their own, I’ll bet the majority of them skip it -– they’ve just bought a new house and they’ve got their mind on other things. So, I recommend you delete this link and simply incorporate including a blank survey and SASE with each inspection report (and maybe follow up with your clients in a week via email to goose them to fill out and mail you their completed survey).

  16. Delete the underlined text “To e-mail me directly, click link below.”

There are a couple of problems with this:

a. You don’t want to have underlined text that is not itself a link.

b. As a rule, just make the text a link, rather than directing the visitor to more text that actually is a link. This adds a “middleman” to the process.

c. However, in this case, I’d delete both the “To e-mail me” text and the underlined “Done Right Home Inspections” email link because it requires the visitor to install Outlook, which is another unnecessary step. Simply repeat your email address here and folks who want to email you will copy and paste your email address into a new message using their own email account.

  1. Your “Book Your Inspection Now” link is perfect.

  2. Change the “All bookings” text to this (without the quotation marks): “Your appointment will be confirmed within 24 hours via phone or email.”

  3. As a side-note, consider using an unobtrusive Keyword List. Having this off to the side in a light color of font will serve your SEO purposes (you can really go crazy with it, if you want) without clogging up your text, which should flow elegantly and speak directly to your visitors with the sole goal of getting them to hire you.

  4. In general, you’re off to a great start. Your layout is uncluttered, and the general organization can be improved without that much work (hopefully!). Just remember that when it comes to text, less is more, and when it comes to SEO, more is not better, so focus on ‘where.’

222

holy moly

223

She’s amazing.

224

LOL – thanks, Mark!

That could be my favorite comment yet! :smiley:

225

Thank you Kate, some great comments and I have a lot of work to get to. It is exceptionally rare to get professional feedback like this and I very much appreciate it. Well worth the wait for any of you home inspectors out there who are still considering putting in your name/site for review.

226

Thanks for your comments, Bruce! I’m glad that you’re considering some of my suggestions and are enthusiastic about implementing them.

I know that it’s important for inspectors to get their sites up and ready for business, but I think it’s essential, at some point, to get them critiqued, too, so thanks for offering encouragement to the members out there who may be hesitant about participating in this project.

227

Kate “the Ukrainian wrecking machine” Tarasenko.

228

OMG, LOL, Nick!!! :mrgreen:

229

Hey Kate,

Thanks for the fantastically detailed comments you made about my site!

Almost all have been implemented by my web guy and me and were spot on of course.

Psst. Thanks for the card too!

Nicholas! Give this lady a yacht or something!
Oh, you don’t need yachts in Denver… uhmm, a ski chalet??

Tom

230

Thanks a bunch, Tom! :smiley:

231

Honestly I’m a bit intimidated by who Nick has described as “The Ukrainian Wrecking Machine”…! Hehehe. But hey its worth getting mauled by Kate if my front page is going to improve right?..lol

Here you are Kate…

www.afloridainspection.com

Thanks in advance,

Bert

232

LOL – thanks, Bert! I’ll add your name to my list.

I’ll be as gentle as I can, but no promises…! :slight_smile:

233

Hahahaa thanks that’s all I can ask for. Take care…

Bert

234

Hi, Chris (Jacobi) –

Here’s my feedback for the homepage of your website at www.GreatHomeInspector.net :

  1. Good use of homepage tag for SEO hits!

  2. Normally, I would advise against using the large and bold text that you have in the upper left-hand corner that says “Columbus, Indiana Home Inspector” because it’s strictly an SEO grab, but because you have a huge logo under it that clearly identifies your company, I think this is actually okay. For homepages that lack a logo or whose logo is eclipsed up by such large and prominent text, it would obviously not be optimum, as it would cause confusion for visitors about the business name and identity.

  3. Excellent logo -– no pun intended!^)

  4. Your links need serious reworking–this is the weakest element of your homepage. As a prospect, I want to know about your services before I’ll bother reading any “Testimonials,” which is the second link in your lineup, nor am I prepared to tell you how you did re your third link titled “Tell Us How We Did.” This is the front-and-center place where you want to give information about your services (standard and ancillary), maybe some FAQs about what I can expect from my home inspection, a sample report (which should not be buried in the list of links at your “Useful Information” page), and perhaps links for pricing and a sample contract. What you have as your fourth and last link is “Useful Information,” and that’s too nebulous a title, for one thing. What’s at that link (which should be renamed “Useful Tips for Homeowners”) are informational PDFs and articles, coupons, and other bonus-type material—useful, to be sure—but it should come dead last in your list of offerings, and it should not include the items that should be main links from your homepage, rather than tertiary links listed here.

The point of your homepage is to give your visitors the information they want, QUICKLY, so that they can make the decision to hire you. When you bury the most essential information about your services lower on your page or (worse) deeper on your site, you’re imposing on my time by making me hunt around for what I want to know, and I’m more likely than not to click off and visit another inspector’s website. Even if his/her service is inferior, if their homepage gives me the info I’m looking for right away, I’m probably going to give them a call. You need to approach your page from a consumer’s point of view, as well as in more of a chronological fashion (for example, I’ll tell you how you did after I’ve hired you—this is another link that should appear last on your page, either in the links here up top or elsewhere).

  1. There is already some confusion about how many you are. If you’re a company of one, make sure that all of your personal pronouns reflect that (“I,” “me” and “my” vs. “we,” “us” and “our”).

  2. Render your tagline like this, italicized (which won’t show up in this post):

Living Up to Our Name Every Day!

(Again, if you’re a company of one, change “Our” to “My”).

  1. Make the text under your tagline, as well as your all-important phone number, bigger and bolder. It should not be less prominent than your tagline.

  2. Get rid of the button for your email (which wants to install Outlook) and just give your email address in the space under your phone number.

  3. Your list of services below that space is where the money is. These aren’t links, but they should be, so put them in the black bar above your logo, or—better yet—move that black link bar down here, if possible. It’s ideal to have it below your logo and contact information, not above them. I like the size of the text of your various services, so, if possible, make your links this same larger size.

  4. Change “Water Testing” to “Water Quality Testing” -– it’s more specific.

  5. Change “Certified Home Inspector” to “Certified Professional Inspector®” with the registered trademark symbol at the end. As a certified member of InterNACHI, this is your designation to use, so exploit it. Also, having a registered trademark symbol at the end of that designation adds to your credibility.

  6. Fabulous photo of you! Good spot for it, too.

  7. I’m giving you some replacement text for the following two paragraphs. There are things about your original text that I like, such as the very first line (although you should add your last name, which I will do, as well as change “your new home,” because it’s not technically that yet), but here are some reasons I’m changing it:

a. I dislike the phrase “not only” unless it’s setting up a sensible counterpoint (as in, “He’s not only a doctor, but a lawyer, too” – something that would be unexpected, whereas being a licensed home inspector and a certified one is not.) Furthermore, the word “not” has the effect of slightly derailing the positive, forward motion of text.

b. You also fail to explain what InterNACHI is, so mentioning that you’re certified by us won’t have the desired impact.

c. Additionally, putting a time limit on your inspection is not something that I, as a client, would expect you to do in the first place—you should take however long it takes you to inspect my home, so this is hardly a selling point.

d. Finally, I think you need to steer clear of insinuating yourself in the real estate transaction because you’re signing on for unwanted liability. Your clients are relying on you for an unbiased inspection, and it’s of course possible to use appropriately strong language in your report (and in person) that conveys how serious an issue is. But saying that you don’t want someone to buy a “money pit” is not your business. You don’t know what their agenda is (maybe the clients are fix-and-flippers), and what looks like a deal-breaker to you may not be for them. It’s just not your place to advertise that you’re going to act as their unofficial broker, as well as their home inspector. In general, you want to sell yourself and your contract-for-hire services, nothing more or less. Make your personal pitch about why you’re the most qualified inspector for the job.

Here’s what I recommend you use instead (and don’t indent the beginning of each paragraph, which you’re required to do only when there is no space between them):

A home is the largest purchase you’ll ever make, so it’s important to understand the condition of your investment. My name is Chris Jacobi and I want to inspect the home you’re considering. I’m an Indiana-Licensed Home Inspector (#HI01200061) and I’ve been trained and certified by InterNACHI—the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors—which is the largest and most respected home inspector organization in the world.

As a Certified Professional Inspector®, I follow both the Indiana Standards of Practice and InterNACHI’s Standards of Practice. I also abide by a strict Code of Ethics, which puts my clients’ interests first. And I stay up to date with the latest techniques and trends in the housing industry through InterNACHI’s rigorous training and Continuing Education curriculum.

As the owner of Excellent Home Inspection Services, I’ll provide you with outstanding customer service, a thorough inspection from top to bottom and inside and out, and a report you can rely on so that you can make a confident decision.

  1. Regarding the replacement text above, consider linking to the InterNACHI site, our SOP, our COE, and the Indiana SOP (and correct that title within your “Useful Information” page, including the errant apostrophe). The two SOPs are especially important to link to up front as a means to limit your liability and manage your clients’ expectations regarding your scope of work.

  2. Your videos are fantastic! They’re brief but pack a lot of information into them. I love the explanations for each defect that you present. Although the music is a bit dramatic, these videos are terrific visuals for the items that you look for and that all homeowners should be on the lookout for. Very informative! I would change the heading above it to “Here Are Just Some Problems I’ve Discovered During Home Inspections” –- it’s a bit longer, but it’s more engaging. Also, do change the color of the font of your heading, as that blue is the conventional color used on websites that indicates that the text is a link, which this is not.

  3. Under your video is where I’d move the text that is currently your second paragraph above. It makes more sense to have information about the defects you’ve found down here under your videos, and it also makes a better transition to the subsequent text about your guarantees, etc. Here it is, slightly revised to be more consumer-friendly, less repetitive, and which properly uses the past tense:

During my inspections, I’ve uncovered problems such as needed roof repairs, breakers that were too large, dangerous gas leaks, missing and inoperable bathroom exhaust fans, broken glass and windows that wouldn’t open, wobbly ceiling fans, missing gutter downspouts, missing handrails, open junction points, automatic garage door openers with non-working auto-reverse features, faulty GFCI receptacles, dead stove burners, plumbing leaks, and more. These are just some of the defects and safety hazards I’ll be on the lookout for when I inspect the home.

  1. Again, you want to avoid misusing web conventions that will confuse your visitors, such as having headings and/or text in that typical blue color or underlining it, both of which indicate that the text is linked. So, remove the underlines and change the color of all of the headings going down the page (“Money Back Guarantee,” “Free 100 Day Warranty,” “Certifications & Training,” “Services for Additional Fee,” “Added Protection” and “Does your furnace…”).

  2. In the heading “Money Back Guarantee,” insert a hyphen between “Money” and “Back"

  3. Here’s some replacement text for your Money-Back Guarantee that’s shorter and more succinct. It also doesn’t suggest that your visitors keep inspector-shopping to check their guarantees, although I take your meaning. It also leaves out all the “fine print” –- your homepage isn’t the best place for it. So, even though there isn’t a link within that paragraph now, I’ve written one in (“See my policy for details”) so that you can create a link to a page that spells out each provision in a numbered list: that they have to attend the entire inspection, that they have to tell you why they’re dissatisfied in order to give you a chance to rectify the issue, that they don’t receive the report, and that they have to sign a release. Your homepage should sell your services, not passively (or actively) un-sell them, and things like detailed guarantees have that unintended effect. Here’s the replacement paragraph:

I’m so sure you’ll be satisfied with my services that if you’re not, I’ll refund your fee. I encourage you to attend your inspection so that I can describe my process, explain my findings, point out important maintenance items, and answer all of your questions. I’m sure you’ll agree that I offer Excellent Home Inspection Services! (See my policy for details.)

  1. I have some of the same issues with your “100 Day Warranty” heading and text. Un-underline the heading and change the color to something other than that blue (the same new color that you’ll use for your Guarantee heading, in order to maintain consistency), and insert a hyphen between “100” and “Day.” Also, change “Every” to “Your” –- speak directly to your visitor.

I’ve changed your “100-Day Warranty” paragraph to eliminate the year (not sure why you have it in there), the fact that you’ve “purchased” something for your clients (if it’s free to me, I don’t care that you bought it or how much you spent –- sorry!), and the goose you’re giving your visitors to again check out your competition. Don’t send them away! They don’t need your encouragement to shop around. If they’re on your homepage now, do what you can to make sure it’s the last site they visit. Here’s the replacement paragraph:

I understand how stressful buying a home can be, so I’m taking some of the anxiety out of the process by offering you a free 100-Day Warranty with your home inspection. Enjoy true peace of mind! Please click on the logo for more details about the items that are covered.

  1. Awesome that you’ve used so many of our seals and logos to spell out your “Certifications & Training”! That’s why we created them, so nice work. Do the following:

a. Consider moving the heading and all these seals to the bottom of your page after the RecallChek© blurb and video. This information abruptly interrupts the information you’re giving your visitors about the various things they’ll receive (or can get) with their home inspection. You’ve made your personal pitch up top, so you can delay this more specific info till later.

b. Add the “Click to Verify” seal in first position where the CPI seal is now. You have no links to InterNACHI currently, and your visitor may wish to check us out in order to understand why it’s a big deal that you’re certified by us.

c. You may wish to move the CPI seal up to a space opposite your photo or somewhere else near your introductory paragraphs, rather than delete it altogether to make room for the “Click to Verify" seal.

  1. The heading “Services for Additional Fee” should be changed to a different color. You should also make it smaller -– this shouts a little too loudly. Furthermore, these aren’t “services” so much as extras -– you’re not performing a service as if it were an ancillary inspection, and that’s what I’d expect to read about under that heading. I think you can rename that heading “For Added Protection,” and I’ll give you replacement sub-headings and more succinct text below.

  2. Change “Added Protection” to just “SewerGard,” and delete the underline and change the color.

  3. Replacement text for SewerGard blurb (and do re-embed that link for the policy’s details):

There are few things as disastrous as moving into a new home and having the sewer line collapse within the first three months. This can seriously disrupt your daily routine, as well as blow up your budget. But for an additional $25, you can purchase a warranty by SewerGard that will cover exactly such a mishap. Find out more by watching their video, and click here for details.

  1. Same deal for the RecallChek© blurb and video –- you don’t want that heading because the coverage applies to more than furnaces, and if the furnace in the house is new, people may skip reading the text. Delete the underline and change the color to whatever color you use for the SewerGard heading (to maintain consistency), and use this text instead:

RecallChek© for Your Major Appliances

RecallChek© has compiled more than 205 million recall notices to create a fail-safe system that catalogues dangerous defects for all kinds of home systems and appliances. Being covered means that you’ll be notified of any recalls for your home’s particular appliances. Watch the short video to learn more, and click on the logo below to sign up.

  1. Change “Business Address and Hours” to just “Business Address” and move your hours of operation up to the top space with your logo and phone number. This is important information that you want your visitors to have, along with your contact info.

  2. Change “AM” and “PM” to “a.m.” and “p.m.” in each use.

  3. Consider moving your service area to the top as well (just under your logo), perhaps as one long line of text. Also, change the bolded heading to “Serving the following communities in Indiana:” and change “and surrounding areas” to “the surrounding area” without a period at the end (this is not a complete sentence).

  4. Add a copyright notation to the bottom of your page:

Copyright 2014 Excellent Home Inspection Services, LLC

  1. Overall, I think you have a great homepage that requires not a whole lot in the way of tweaking to get it so that you’re making a more direct and powerful sell to your visitors. I like all the visual elements you’ve used. But you do need to make it much easier for your visitors to find the (text) information they need about your services, so getting your links squared away is essential because you leave too many unanswered questions and bury/hide so much information that this may frustrate your visitors and cause them to keep looking elsewhere for a home inspector, which you obviously don’t want.

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Excellent work Kate.

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Thanks for you time and expert opinion.

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Thanks for this www.homewiseinspections.ca

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Hi Kate, please take a look at mine when you get a chance. It’s a fairly new site so I know I have some more work to do.

Thank You

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BTW, how do I get my logo to show up better in my sig, its also too big.

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Hi, Pete –

I’ve added your name to my list.

Regarding you logo in your signature line, I’m not sure how you can re-size it – perhaps there are some veteran users of the message board who can help you out with that.

Anyone?