How to Craft the Perfect Construction Website | The Complete Guide

You have either just set up a business or are looking to take the next step and you are thinking "does my construction company actually need to have a website?", "Will it actually change my business for the better?"

You might be thinking it's just a gimmick, a thing that we "should" all have but it is something that just sits there and looks pretty and holds no real value. However, If that is what your website is doing, you're going about things completely wrong! (This might not be your fault, most web developers build your site like its a checkbox, they build it, call it a wrap and pass it over and that's where it is left to sit).

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This is where things get interesting... A website is a tool, just like a tool on a tool belt, it's there for a reason, it's not a fashion statement. It is a marketing tool that represents your business and its job is to deliver leads directly to your inbox. A website is becoming more and more important in current society, more and more businesses are moving online and when a potential client is looking for a plumber or electrician, they don't open the Yellow Pages anymore, they open up Google and simply find what they are looking for within seconds.

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Do not become overwhelmed and filled with self-doubt if your website is not delivering for you at the moment! Throughout this article, I will be telling you exactly why a carefully and strategically crafted construction website is needed and exactly how to do it!

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For those, too busy or don't really have time to dive into wireframing, designing, developing their own site, speak to Saint Global, a no BS Media & Marketing company built for the construction industry.

Okay, now that my self-plugs are out of the way, let's get started!

Construction Website Guide Navigation

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Why is a website important for a construction business?

How to make your construction website successful

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A website, if done correctly, has the power to become the central hub for all of your marketing efforts, it becomes the connecting point for your business and the place where visitors are turned into clients. A website can be the main driver for your business success, it's where your social media profiles all lead to, it's where your emails link to, it's the URL that is listed on your van fleet. All these connection points all going to one single place, surely it's for good reason, right? Yes!

Your website simply becomes the motherboard to your entire marketing process, the piece of the puzzle that fits everything together and makes everything "click".

This is all part of your marketing funnel, a simple yet clever way to generate leads.

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Tap into a whole new audience of potential clients In fact, especially if you are yet to put any effort into online marketing. Your potential reach is massive, in fact, 97% of consumers use the internet to find a local business in their area. By focusing your efforts on bringing your business online, you tap into a huge market where you can see great returns on your investments!

Having a website is a crucial part of any competent company, this is even more important if you deal with the commercial market. It's hard to trust a company that is completely run of an Instagram page, where's your creditability and professionalism? (no offence).

84% of consumers believe that a website makes your business more credible, a simple statistic showing the importance of your online presence as a business.

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Having a website allows you to display the services which you offer to potential clients, making the understanding of your business and the customer journey as simplistic as possible. It gives you the chance to break down your services so that it is easily understood by anyone who lands on your site, they are provided with enough information to make them feel comfortable in their search.

If you have a lot of services that you have, make sure to use the correct design methods and hierarchy in order to create a pleasant customer experience! Your goal is to convert site visitors into paying customers!  

You might be thinking why is trust important? What is it and how can I even build it?

Potential clients are looking to work with you, they may be letting you into their homes or into their office space, or even into a school filled with kids. Trust is a fundamental part of any sales process, even more so within the construction industry. They need to believe that you are a competent fit for the job, they need to know that the task at hand is going to be a success and not a painful heartache. People often jump to worse conclusions, so building up a stable level of trust allows for meaningful connections to be made. This can lead to customer loyalty and recurring income, so always keep that in mind.

Let's run through some effective methods to build trust through your website:

Showcase your previous work

Prove your worth by showing work that you have previously done, this is commonly known in the marketing world as "proof" and is a fundamental part of the buyer's journey and is a very important step in establishing trust. The reasoning is simple, by showing work that you have previously done, this becomes your portfolio and demonstrates the level of work that you can deliver on, developing trust and removing fear from potential clients or contractors.

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Let others speak for you via reviews!

A great way to build trust is to showcase the reviews that you have received from past clients, simply collect them up and show them on your website! Potential customers seeing your dealing with past customers and seeing what their exact thoughts are is a fantastic way to visualise how the journey will be when dealing with your business.

To take this a step further, you can do video testimonials with past customers. I explain why video content is so impactful in comparison to text next. 👇

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Make an introductory video

A video speaks a 1000x more than any written content, people connect with people and sometimes that level of connection is hard to deliver via text-based content. With a video, people can gain a much wider perception of the type of person you are and the passion that you bring through your tone of voice, enthusiasm, facial expressions and so on.

Making something like this can be uncomfortable, but can sure be powerful. Of cause, it's all how you go about it.

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Show Accreditation

Showing accreditation badges is a great way to convey trust, showing pre-existing organisations and associations that many already know about just builds those connections a little bit faster. Show qualifications that you have got, show associations that you are a part of. Show that you are a trained expert and that has been awarded via these larger organisation. You can show associations badges such as CHAS, EcoConstruct, Safe Contractor, Construction Line, Gas Safe, Saint Ambassador and so on.

Building trust via Social Media.

Social media and the stats that come with it can be a powerful trust tool. Large following and engaged audiences can really deliver a vision of trust for a potential customer. They see people are loving your business and the content your team is making and they want to be a part of it!

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There are two simple answers to this point, if your competitors are online, you're behind, if they are not, you are outperforming them! Doesn't that just feel great?

However, don't celebrate too early as it is not too long until they will be. You have to show why you are the right business for the job, why you are better. You don't want a website that just blends you into the crowd with every other construction firm that is out there. You want to stand out, outperform and win.

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Develop a unique, outperforming, winning website with Saint Global Marketing.

We are a caring team of professionals who work exclusively with the construction industry. We understand exactly what construction businesses need ad we know how to market them. Get in touch with the team today!

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There are so many options when it comes to choosing the type of website that your construction company needs, it can be overwhelming or daunting, but let's clear that up.

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Start by asking yourself a few simple questions:

• what do you want to get from your website?
• What features does your site need?
• How does it work for you and your business model?

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Here are a few of the board terms of different types of websites that you can get. If you speak to your web dev team, they will be able to mix and match and help you with what is most beneficial to your business.

1. Portfolio

A portfolio site is a rather simplistic site, commonly used to showcase your work and therefore is very popular among creative industries and creative freelancers. Having a portfolio within your site allows you to build trust with the end-user and you are quite literally showing them the quality of work/projects that your construction company provides. As we said above, showcasing your work builds trust so having a portfolio within your site is a great feature and we highly recommend it!

2. Brochure

A brochure site is the equivalent of a printed brochure but online, it lists out all relevant information about your business. Brochure websites are commonly used for businesses that have a wide range of services and wish to inform their audience on how they can help.

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3. A Blog

A blog is a website format where there is a regular release of long-format content, a blog, an article, press releases. Its aim is to provide a collection of information to the end-user, you can visit The Saint's Blog or Construction Insider for an example of a blog.

A blog can be used in order to inform your audience with relevant updates and news in regards to your business, you can also write up helpful articles to maybe help with common client problems and so forth. Created a blog is a fantastic marketing tool for gaining traffic from Google via Search Engine Optimisation (Explained shortly).

4. E-commerce

An E-commerce store means electronic commercial transactions, so essentially a shop that works through the internet. Platforms like Amazon or eBay are examples of E-Commerce stores. Users can come to your site and purchase physical or digital goods, this cuts out the need for stores as you can run it all digitally!

5. Forums

A forum site is a very community-focused website, where the content does not actually come from the business or the person hosting the website, but the users who visit. A forum based website allows a large collection of users to come together to discuss issues or support one another. It could be compared to a Facebook Group in many ways. Most forums allow for anonymous visitors, but in order to post you would have to create an account. This would be useful for a construction business that is looking to build an audience of like-minded individuals, however, running and managing a forum website can be a big task!

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Out of all of these, there is no perfect option for your business, that is why your website design team should be building a high-quality website that is built around your exact needs. Do you need a mixture of a traditional brochure and portfolio to showcase your work? Maybe you want a blog to update your customers? Or do you want to run a fully-fledged e-commerce site? This all depends on the strategy and the goals of your website.

Feel free to contact us for a free no-obligation chat about your website.

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Welcome to section two of The Complete Guide to How to Craft The Perfect Construction Website.

Now we have covered the foundation of why a website is important for your construction business, we can focus on how to actually get traffic to it!

A lot of people receive their website from their web design agency and their first thought is "now what". Is the magic machine supposed to start turning? A week later, no leads... A month later... still nothing.

Unfortunately, the website is not the final answer. I could be a sleazy salesman and say a website is great! Come and buy one and see leads fly through the door! but I'm not like that and the answer is not that simple. Sorry if that hurts to hear.

A website is a fantastic investment, there is no denying that, following all of the points I make above and all of the points I am about to make, every business still needs a website and every business should be working with a high-quality media & marketing team that is focused in your industry.

Having a website is like having a beautiful restaurant, absolutely stunning interior, mouthwatering food. Yet, you keep the shutters down and the doors closed. It is the central point where everything runs and there would be no point opening the shutter doors if there was nothing inside. That is why I always say a website is the first step to any marketing efforts.

Now that I've shattered your hopes and informed you that a normal construction website, residing on its own, isn't the answer you were searching for, let's have a look at some marketing strategies to turn it into one!

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Let's dive into one of the most powerful marketing tools that a website can have. Search Engine Optimisation.

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Harnessing the power of appearing on search engines has a tremendous amount of power to deliver clients to your front door. Unfortunately, the process of SEO is competitive, time-consuming and a truly gruesome task. Especially if you don't really know what you are doing.

With the rise of technology comes the ease of finding out information. More and more businesses are moving online to the point where they are completely virtual. The customer journey for information has never been easier which all sounds fantastic, other than the part of your completion going from your local area to the rest of the planet.

This sounds scary, I understand! SEO is becoming more and more difficult as more and more businesses come online, but if you put in the effort, you are putting yourself in front of an audience that can truly drive high volumes of sales.

Here are the main things that contribute towards effective SEO:

Relevance and Search Intent - Google and other search engines use the users search query to pull together millions of articles and websites that would be most beneficial to the user and list them in acceding order. However, this is influenced by:

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Domain and Page Authority - Google uses this to see how much of a trustworthy source your website is, this is quite simply calculated by how many quality links are linking to your website. Basically saying "if all these great websites think this website is great, it must be!"

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# I want to just input a little note to those construction companies who are working with SEO Link Builders, there are a lot of spam links on the internet, Linkbuilders can guarantee they can get you "quality links" but in more cases than not, I see websites filled with spam links which simply don't mean much and in fact has the potential to hurt your site's traffic. This of cause is not all Linkbuilders - I just want you to be wary of who you work with.

The purpose of SEO is to allow your site to rank for a variety of terms that are suited to delivering leads, for example, "plumber in my area", "electrician in Greenwich" and so on. So many people are searching these terms and can lead to tremendous amounts of sales. Be careful not to get overwhelmed!

This is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which the team at Saint Global Marketing is industry experts at and delivers results!

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Now, simply having a website is one thing, the branding that delivers your website is another story. Branding is the impression that someone gets when dealing with your business, designers and marketeers are able to carefully manipulate branding in order to gain customer trust and appeal. This is through the use of various psychological factors such as emotions in colours, the effect of typography, the effect of text hierarchy and so on.

Is branding a necessity for a successful construction website? of course, it's what builds the relationship between your business and the viewer, it builds trust, loyalty and ensures that you are the right company for the job!

Branding is built throughout your business from the logo to the way your crew dresses and is an in-depth topic that I dived into here.

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Connecting your social media platforms to your site allows the audience and visitors that you gain the attention of to find out more information about your business. As I mentioned earlier, your website is the hub of all of your marketing efforts, this is of course funneling traffic from your social media marketing efforts directly into your website where they can become leads!

Your efforts on social media are not gone to waste, the more followers you collect and the further engaged your audience becomes, the more and more they will your site via the button on your page or the links on your posts.

Let's jump into how to connect social media profiles to your account!

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Every social media works a little differently, but within the setting of your page or profile, there should be a place to enter the web address of your website. I will run through the most popular platforms and how to do it.

Connecting Facebook to my construction website

# Ensure that you have a Facebook Page setup - Not a personal profile - To set up your own Facebook Business Page please visit: Create a Facebook Page for your business

1. Go onto your Business Facebook Page
2. Click on the edit button to the right of your logo and page name
3. Click on the edit button (You have a range of options that the button could say)
4. Once the best fitting option is selected, it will let you enter the URL.
5. Press Save
6. Complete!

Connecting a LinkedIn Page to my construction website

# Ensure that you have a LinkedIn Page set up - Not a personal profile - To setup your own LinkedIn Business Page please visit: How to create a LinkedIn Business Page!

1. Visit your LinkedIn Business Page and make sure you are viewing as an admin
2. Click on the edit page button
3. Go onto the buttons tab
4. Select the button name and enter the relevant URL
5. Press Save
6. Complete!

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Connecting a Instagram Page to my construction website

Connecting an Instagram page to a website is easy!

1. Go to Instagram.com and log into your account
2. Go to your profile
3. Click "Edit Profile"
4. In the "Website" box, type the URL of the site that you want to feature on your Instagram profile.
5. Press submit to save your changes.
6. Complete!

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This covers the main platforms but is a very similar process for any other platform, and of course, if you need any help, the team at Saint Global would be more than happy to assist!

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What exactly is a call to action? (C2A - CTA)

A call to action is a marketing term for a prompt to complete an action, this could be to watch a video, book in a meeting or simply send you a brief of the request of works. It's the next step that you intend the user to take.  

So with every bit of content that we write, whether it be about the business of talking about our services, we always want to follow up with a call to action. It's guiding out a simple pathway for your audience to follow and again is another step to the "marketing funnel" and is what delivers us leads.

Throughout all of the construction websites I have reviewed (Which is in the tens of thousands), 99% I do not see the proper use of a CTA, this simple mistake causes businesses to lose so many customers and so much revenue. So! Make sure you are using call to actions correctly on your site!

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Running advertisements is a fantastic way to quickly increase reach and at a relatively cheap price. I have worked with businesses that have had a massive turnaround thanks to the help of a few successful ad campaigns. So! Where do I start with advertisements?

In the construction industry, there are a number of different advertisement platforms that can be utilised. Whether you need to target new leads or generate some extra revenue from your existing customer base, I have covered the best options for you here

Google AdWords

Get found on google search, meaning if someone types in Electrician, you can be the first ranking. Note that the 1st ranking result gets 43% of clicks. With Google AdWords, you are not charged on the impressions (views), you are charged on the amount clicks. This leads to the popular term that you have probably heard Pay Per Click (PPC Ads).

Google Ads are a great way of targeting people who have the intent to purchase, they are looking for, say an Electrician for a reason, not just search for the fun of it. With the intent to purchase this leads to a great return on investment!

Google Ads can be set up to target specific keywords, specific locations and much more. This allows us to define our advertising efforts and our advertising budget to the audience that we actually want to reach! Can't see a billboard doing that.

Facebook & Instagram Advertising

I have put Facebook and Instagram together, as both platforms are owned by The Meta Company (Facebook's fancy new name) and you can run the ads for both platforms through The Meta Business Suite.

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These ads work through a slightly different basis as in they will charge you for the impressions! A way to think about it is, you are essentially renting a space on the news feeds on the targeted audience's device. You will hear the term CPM be thrown around a lot, this means Cost Per Mille, Mille meaning 1000 in Latin, overly complicated and I don't know why, but it is what it is.

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So as FB and Insta ads run through CPM, it can mean that your ad campaign can get zero website visits, I am not saying this is the worse option of the two as it these ads can perform much much better and cheaper than any Google Ad campaign ever could, if done right.

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This depends on a colossal number of factors that all get put in and out of the "Facebook Brain" as I like to call it, such as ad copy, the image, the engagement that post receives and so on. The Facebook algorithm is impossible to master but I'd like to think that we have a good grip on it.

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For the Facebook Brain to favour your Ad, the ad has to be highly engaged with by the end-user, what it is essentially deciding if people like this ad or hate it. If it's hated, your CPM is going to fly up and your results are going to plummet, whereas if people love it, your CPM flies down and your results fly up.

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I don't want to jump into too deep with trying to understand the Facebook algorithm, so this is a very broad and simplistic explanation of how it works. We are able to do various amounts of testing and small little tricks all over the place in order to optimise these ads for the highest chance of success!

Other platforms of digital advertising

• YouTube Advertising
• LinkedIn Advertising
• Twitter Advertising
• Google Display Ads
• In-App Advertising

All these forms of advertising have pros and cons, I want you to keep your target audience in mind when choosing an ad platform, think about where your target audience is spending their time as they are the ones that you need to get in front of.

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# Bonus note - You are also able to target people who have already been on your site and have shown interest, these people are normally at the last stage of the buyer's journey and are considering their options, jump in while they are hot and get the sale.

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Of course it can! Recently at Saint, we have printed of leaflets which is aimed at supporting construction business and we have reached out to trade merchants and relevant stores across the UK for the placement (So keep an eye out) - On these leaflets, we have included a QR code, people scan the QR code and they come directly to our website!

Other methods of Physical marketing that can lead to increased website traffic

• Business Cards (Include web URL or QR code)
• Saint Connect Business Cards (Wireless NFC Chip, when scanned brings you to the desired site)
• Billboards & Bus Adverts
• Sponsoring local sports teams
• Sponsoring local events and schools

I am sure there are a lot of marketing methods that you can use, get creative! When we work with our clients with their marketing action plans, one of the first things we do is a brainstorming session to strategies and discover the best way we can make the biggest impact on the market and more importantly, organise and structure the correct and most effective way to do things.

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We're are coming to the end of The Complete Guide to Craft the Perfect Construction Website, and you've seen the amount of work and passion that you need in order to get things going, so I 100% recommend that you go with a Construction-Special Designer.

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There are cheaper alternatives available, there are self-build websites such as Wix.com and Squarespace. These platforms make it pretty simple to get a website up and running by yourself however, the end product will not be the same. It's the same as web designers saying, yes I can come fit your boiler, no promise it will be any good though.

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Working with a professional team will give you peace of mind that everything is taken control of, you don't have to spend your evenings figuring out how to change the font or position something a little more to the right. Saint Global is a collection of experts that make a construction website work for your business, get started with a free no-obligation chat with the team.

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So there you have it, the complete guide to crafting the perfect construction website! I hope that we have developed your understanding of what a website can be, the value and potential that it has!

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Websites are somewhat overlooked, people feel like they need to have a website as that is what a business should have, but without the proper understanding of why you should have a website and the benefits that it can bring you, you can never fully understand the importance of it.

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We covered a lot in this guide from branding to SEO and other marketing tactics, I hope that it has come in useful and allows you to progress throughout your business! If you are in need of further support or would like to get set up with your own website that works, please free to have a chat with us here! I look forward to speaking with you.

Have a great day!

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Frequently Asked Questions

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What is a marketing funnel?

A marketing funnel is a process that brings the user through the buyer's journey. It starts with awareness, moves into interest, consideration, evaluation and then a purchase. You have to successfully follow all of these points with support and resources.

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Is video or written content better?

A video speaks a 1000x more than any written content, people connect with people and sometimes that level of connection is hard to deliver via text-based content.

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What kind of websites are there?

There are all sorts of websites on the internet. Some websites are for entertainment, while others are for information. There are also websites for shopping, and many people use them to find deals and save money. Some people use websites to connect with friends and family, while others use them to learn new things. There are websites for just about anything you can think of!

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What website would a construction business need?

Your web design team should be building a website to fit your exact needs, not running from a template. If you need a blog, let's make a blog, you need a portfolio, let's put it together. A website is not pre-defined and can be what ever you want it to be.

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Why is my website not getting any leads?

A website without marketing efforts will never have any luck! It's hard to get picked up with all of the competition out there, you are 1 website out of millions! You have to work hard on marketing strategies to see success!

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What is SEO?

SEO is a way to make sure that people can find your website when they are looking for things on the internet. You can do this by making sure your website has the right keywords and by creating interesting content that people will want to read.

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Why are call to actions (CTA) important?

A call to action is a fantastic way to guide a user through a journey, with every piece of content that you produce, whether its about your services or about your team, you want them to follow through with an action (normally to contact or buy) - So you use a CTA to encourage that.