Contractor Stories
Make your website sell
Rooney Landscape uses technology and marketing savvy to turn their website into a cyber selling tool.
By Tom HatlenAbout 5 years ago Dave Rooney hired a "web guy." Dave decided it was time Rooney Landscape got a website, and the web guy offered a turnkey operation promising to take care of everything – a perfect situation for a business owner who had enough to do.
The website was built with a minimal amount of Dave's time and put on autopilot, though it really wasn't going anywhere as it was unlikely to show up in anyone's web search. Over time the site began to look antiquated as new, better technologies came along.
But also with time, Dave gained a better idea of what a website could do for his company. The goal changed from "having a website" to using the site as a sales tool. To do this Dave enlisted the help of Matt Kush, president of MAK Consulting. Matt did much more than build sites. He understood all facets of web design, search engine optimization (SEO) and web marketing strategy.
 |  |  |
| ||
 People feel as if they know Dave Rooney and John Fitzgerald after watching them explain the design-build process on a video. This goes a long ways toward building trust to a level where prospective clients call in. (Opening frame of design-build process video to the right.) | ||
This time, Dave got involved and remains involved to ensure his website truly reflects his company. The new website is built to distinguish Rooney Landscape from competitors, build trust with visiting prospects and in the process – even sell work.
Launched in February 2011, by late June the website had led to $50,000 in design-build sales, all to people previously unaware of Rooney Landscape. With several landscape designs for web-generated clients still in the works, more installation sales are sure to follow.
Dave has been keen to interrogate (nicely) web-generated clients to be sure the "referral" is actually attributable to his site. Dave sees his site as an exciting new frontier for growing his business beyond referrals from past clients.
"I'm really looking more towards the future. I think the web is how people are going to shop, especially in the landscape industry. They're going to Google 'landscapers in Arlington Heights' or 'paver contractors in Palatine.' They're doing it now.
"Our design-build customers are on the high-end of the scale, and they're age 45 to 60. Matt honed in on this demographic. These people are always searching the internet. If they want information, they go to Google. They can do it on their smart phone. And the internet is 24/7; it's always selling."
Find a true web master
Probably the most important change for getting the website selling was hiring Matt, a webmaster geared towards sales not just building an attractive website. Matt says, "There are web designers, graphic artists, programmers, marketing people and SEO people … Our business model is that we are a 1-stop shop. We'll update your Facebook page too."Everything Matt does in designing, optimizing for search engines, etc., he does in the interest of creating sales for Rooney Landscape. He says your website is always selling only if you structure it to sell by focusing on:
- Merchandising, not advertising – Website content should be presented, written and organized for effective merchandising, telling visitors what's in it for them and moving them to act.
- Video – Make effective use of video to make visitors feel as if they know you and how you do business.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – doing all the things necessary to get your website to show up near the top of the list when prospective customers search.
 |
 Most prospective clients relate very well to the videotestimonial on Rooney.com because the clients featured are a perfect fit for the demographics of Rooney's design- build clients. (Opening frame of testimonial video to the right.) |
You must merchandise
The biggest problem Matt sees on 95% websites for companies big or small is they fail to merchandise on their site, so they don't really sell your services."Most websites don't give the customer what's in it for them. They don't let people know why they should trust them. They don't show people what sets them apart. Why should they choose you?"
Rather than merchandising, Matt says people use their websites for "advertising." He defines advertising as promoting your company/work without building trust or a relationship with a potential client. People buy based on relationships – and beautiful-landscape photos alone on a website do nothing for relationship building.
"A lot of people do great work. But why should I trust you?"
Designing a website to sell
Resources
|
- Put the most important sales information at the top of the page: Your phone number, your tagline, your navigation buttons.
- Put other important elements like videos up high enough that they appear on a computer screen without scrolling down.
- Don't cram everything at the top because you want to present a pleasant viewing experience with white space.
- Matt advises against anything that distracts visitors from reading your sales message such as excessive animation – things that blink, scroll or otherwise move.
- Put text in bullet points because people won't wade through long paragraphs. Any paragraphs should be short.
- Use graphics and videos that load fast. "You have 3 seconds to capture someone's interest before they leave your site."
- Make an urgent, specific, easy call to action so visitors know what to do:
- Not good - Get an estimate.
- Better - Get a free estimate today.
- Even better - Click here now to get your free estimate.
- Better yet - Click here now to get your free estimate within an hour.
"These distinctions may seem very minor, but this is where the rubber meets the road. Pages should be set up so that the visitor will pick up the phone or fill out the form so the company can go ahead and close the deal."
Video feels real
Video is a powerful medium for merchandising, so the Rooney website uses it extensively. Matt says video can take your website to that next level beyond advertising to building trust. "You can see Dave right there talking to you. It's very real for viewers. That's a big deal."In fact, Dave adds that their first web-generated client pointed mostly to the site's videos when asked what sold her. "Without hesitation she said, the Testimonial video, the clarity of the vision (Partnership video) among other things allowed them to understand how we were different from other people."
Dave says the Partnership video with himself and landscape designer John Fitzgerald builds trust much as initial client meetings would do. "Our whole process is explained at length. It gives people a lot of comfort knowing that we're going to be there when there are questions while the job's going on. We're not selling bricks; we're selling confidence."
For the Testimonial video Dave chose clients that prospects could relate to. "They are 'our customer.' They live right in the middle of the market we serve. They're the right age. Everything about them fits the mold of our typical customer so well."
Search Engine Optimization
A website won't sell or do much of anything else if people can't find it in a search.Without optimization, the old Rooney website might have shown up on page 10 in a search for the exact company name!
ProfileRooney Landscape, Inc.Arlington Heights, IL David Rooney, President Customer base Landscape construction 100% residential Landscape maintenance 95% residential, 5% commercial Services 48% construction / design-build 43% maintenance & enhancements 9% snow removal Largest job size $100,000 2010 sales $2 million 2011 projected sales $2.3 million Number of employees 33 |
Matt suggests you optimize your site for Google since it's far and away the leading search engine. Google offers volumes of information online on how to do this. It gets pretty involved but some of the basics are:
- Strategic use of key words. If someone searches for "patio repair in Kalamazoo," sites that include those words in strategic places on their website move up in search rankings.
- Frequent site updating. Google favors sites that are constantly updated in order to provide the best results for searchers.
- Inbound links. More links to your website from other quality sites can improve your ranking. This tells Google other good sites value your site.
It takes commitment
Dave learned it takes ongoing personal involvement to make his website an effective virtual sales rep. He and Matt have a standing 90-minute appointment every Friday at 10am.This standing appointment ensures that the website isn't put on the back burner. Timetables are set, photos and videos are shot and edited, and new pages are written, refined and posted on Rooney.com. They shoot photos/videos as the seasons progress and Rooney's work changes. This way they'll have imagery of things like spring cleanup, dormant pruning, etc. on the website in advance of the season next year.
With the regular meetings Matt has gained an excellent understanding of all aspects of Rooney Landscape's business and is that much more effective in adapting marketing techniques for the company. Dave says, "It's hard to teach somebody unless they go out on job sites like Matt does. We walk around and talk and take some pictures."
Part of Dave's commitment to building an effective website has of course been financial. But, even with the cost of ongoing work, sales generated from the site have been exponentially greater. Besides, as Dave says, "The website is a key to our future."
