SMART BUSINESS: Net Games

Tired of telling your customers that you don’t have a Web site? Or maybe you have a Web site but it’s not working for you. There’s no better time to revisit the issue of whether or not you should be on the net. But first, you need to be aware of what works and what doesn’t, as well as what a site can and can’t do for your landscape business.

WHAT A SITE WON’T DO FOR YOU. The biggest misconception most landscape contractors have is that once they get a Web site, somehow it’s going to bring in a lot of business on its own.   The reality is most landscape contractors want to stay within a 75 mile radius of their home town. This limits the effectiveness of search engines, since most customers might search using more broad terms (i.e. “landscaping NJ” or “New Jersey landscape contractors”) and that means you may get leads outside of your area. So, your search engine strategy has to be very narrow and region specific in focus.
 
But make no mistake, a properly optimized site will bring in leads and should pay for itself quickly. For instance, ranking No. 1 on Google for a search phrase like “NJ Landscape Contractors” means your link will be in front of thousands of potential clients during the course of a year.

WHAT YOUR SITE SHOULD DO. First and foremost, your site should establish your company as a reputable, professional organization. It should make it easy for potential customers to quickly look through your work and establish a positive impression of your firm. With that in mind, it should also help eliminate the wrong kind of clients just as it should reel in the right.
 
Some landscape company sites present high-end design work, so having photos of their high-end clients’ landscapes on their homepage or a button on their site will make it obvious that the visitor has come to the right company. On the flip side, visitors looking for a less expensive firm that does more simplistic designs may believe they’re at the wrong place. In practice, this works well as a tool when a potential client is on the phone and inquiring about your service. You can point them to the site, and they’ll immediately get a sense for what you do. It’s also helpful if you get cornered about pricing options. You can have the potential client view the portfolio section of your site and give price ranges for actual jobs completed. The time you’ll save is immeasurable. You’ll weed out the tire-kickers, and bring in the people who will pay for your work.
 
Also, there are some numbers you should know to get started. A typical starting price for an entry-level site that includes search engine optimization is $3,500. Web hosting plans can range from $19 to $35 per month. Routine maintenance on a site (edits, changing photos, etc.) by a designer typically run $85 per hour.

PLANNING YOUR PRESENCE. Here are some points to consider, as well as common pitfalls to avoid, when planning your online presence.

1. Designing your own Web site. If you’re a creative person and have an industry standard Web design program, designing a Web site can look easy. But just like your clients who think laying down brick pavers must be pretty easy, clearly there’s a lot involved in building a good marketing tool for your firm. As a business that’s selling the importance of a neat, professional job and installation, you don’t want to present an amateur image. Designing your own site may be a poor use of your resources because the learning curve is steep, so think about this seriously before attempting it.

2. Hiring a friend, student, etc. Be careful of this concept as well. You may get a Web site that can be functional but fails to deliver the strategic marketing objectives of your business.

3. Developing a marketing plan for your Web site. You’ll hear from some people who have had a site built complain it’s not generating any leads or sales. Building a site and marketing a site are two different things. You can’t expect that once the site is up suddenly Google’s going to make you No. 1 for “Landscape Designer California.” Your Web designer should be advising you on a marketing program designed to generate traffic to your site. This is a separate component and might consist of a paid placement strategy with the major search engines, in addition to traditional search engine optimization techniques. A good rule of thumb here is to really look for actual search engine results from the design firm you are considering hiring.

4. Having poor navigational structure. The Web site needs to contain a logical flow and hierarchy. There are certain things viewers, especially potential clients, expect to see. The Web site should be as succinct as possible and present the relevant information in a cohesive, logical manner. It should be easy for people to contact you (phone numbers and e-mail information should be on every page). Nothing on the Web site should be more than three clicks away from finding.

5. Including unprofessional copywriting. Contrary to the common myth that “no one reads anything; they just look at the pictures” – you’ll want to make sure the wording on the Web site is polished and professional and speaks on the level of your target audience. While you may know what “compacted underlayment for brick pavers” is, don’t assume your audience does. To them, it’s just a pretty patio. Ask your designer if they work with a copywriter or have one on staff who can interview you and write the copy for the Web site. Even if you write the bulk of the copy yourself, you’ll want to make sure a professional reviews and thoroughly edits it.

6. Establishing an archaic method for viewing photos. What’s shown in your photo gallery is probably the biggest selling point to a potential customer. Unfortunately, many landscape Web sites make the viewer work too hard to look at their work, and they end up frustrating their audience and losing potential business. Years ago, one big issue that needed to be considered when building a landscape company Web site was the manner in which the photos were loaded and viewed. Load times were clearly more critical several years ago than they are today. The vast majority of higher-end consumers are on some type of high-speed Internet, and since they are presumably your target audience, you can have much easier and efficient ways for your photos to be viewed, such as photo galleries using a disjointed photo method – a simple way to allow viewers to quickly look at a lot of photos. It eliminates pop-ups or annoying “before and next” type navigation. The view simply stays on one page and places the mouse over smaller thumbs, that, in turn, display the larger photo – nothing to click and no browser “back” buttons needed.

7. Templated sites. Templated sites offer the advantage of a lower cost entry onto the Web. You can pick from existing sites and through a Web interface, simply drop your information into the pre-packaged Web site. You can also add and delete photos on your own without needing to ask your Web designer. However, the question remains whether a templated Web site can adequately and professionally reflect your landscape company and your unique corporate identity.

8. Web hosting plans and stats importance. Consider the importance of the Web hosting plan offered by your designer. One feature that is often overlooked is how the Web hosting provides stats for your Web traffic. Analyzing your hits, page views and other information tells you where people go on your site and how long they stay. For example, if your average visitor spends only 30 seconds on your site, then maybe it’s not working properly. It’s also helpful to know where your traffic is originating from (i.e. search engines, other Web sites, etc).

9. Do your homework. When choosing a firm to undertake your Web design, make sure whoever you hire understands your company and the message you are trying to communicate. Make sure you find appealing designs in their portfolio; otherwise don’t be surprised if you’re not happy with their design for your business. 

The author is president and creative director for LandscaperMarketing.com and Graphic D-Signs. He can be reached at dan@landscapermarketing.com.