CONTRIBUTING MEMBER:
AUSTIN HOUSER, FOUNDER, BASE COAT MARKETING
Does your painting business website rank well on Google? Does it generate traffic, but fail to produce quality leads? This may be an indication of issues on your website that are negatively impacting user experience, or you could be missing critical components required to generate leads in this competitive industry altogether.
Here we will review 7 essential website elements your painting business needs to convert online traffic into paying customers in 2023.
1. Review your traffic
Before we review what elements your website needs to convert traffic into high-quality leads, it’s important to understand who your website is targeting. It’s possible the content on your website is ranking well, and generating consistent traffic, but for the wrong search terms. To evaluate this we will look at two primary KPIs: Traffic Source and Engagement Rate (formally known as Bounce Rate).
Traffic Source
Why is it important to know which search terms are driving traffic to your website?
Consider this scenario: The content on your website is targeting residential repaint jobs, such as cabinet painting, but that may not be what you’re actually ranking for. It’s possible that most of your traffic is being sourced from a less competitive term like commercial painter.
So how do you find the source of your website traffic?
Google has a free tool called Google Search Console that provides insights into your organic search performance. Under the “Performance” tab you can identify which search terms your website is ranking for (impressions) and which are driving the most traffic (clicks).
Note this tool does not provide historical data so you can only report on future traffic and search actions. After you setup your domain in search console it is recommend to wait at least 3 months to have enough data to make educated, actionable decisions.
Engagement Rate
Now that we have determined the source of your organic traffic we need to determine why they’re not converting. The primary purpose of your website is to generate painting leads, which typically involves a contact form or appointment booking application. If your visitors are not engaging with these onsite elements they will have a low engagement rate.
First make sure you have Google Analytics installed on your website. As with Google Search Console this tool only reports on future traffic, so if you do not already have this installed it can take a few months to capture enough data for actionable insights.
To find your engagement rate expand the Acquisition tab and click on User Acquisition.
A healthy Engagement Rate in the professional painting industry is 60% or above.
A low Engagement Rate can be an indication that you are targeting the wrong traffic or have a bad onsite user experience.
To identify which pages on your website are contributing to a lower Engagement Rate navigate to the Pages and screens tab located under Engagement. Next sort the Views column so the page with the most views is at the top of the list. Finally, filter the Event count column by user_engagement. Since this is a relative metric we just need to compare how well (or bad) your most visited page is performing compared to the rest of your website.
If the page with the most views on your site has very little engagement then continue reading for more actionable insights.
2. Every page needs a contact form CTA
To convert website visitors into repaint leads you need to make it as simple as possible for your customers to reach out. Any friction can result in the visitor bouncing from your website. It’s preferred to have a contact form on the sidebar or in the footer of every page on your website, but this can require some technical skills to implement.
As a simple alternative, add a “Book a Free Quote” button at the bottom of every page, color it red, and link it to your contact page. This provides clear direction to your visitors and increases the likelihood of capturing their information.
3. Prominently feature your phone number
As previously stated, visitors to your will not spend time hunting down your contact information. While some may want to contact you directly online, others will prefer to pickup the phone and speak with you directly. To empower your visitors, add your phone number prominently to the header and footer of your website. Don’t be afraid to increase the font size and make it bold!
4. Add a chat application to your website
Increasing your points of contact is the best way to turn website visitors into new painting leads. Features such as Live Chat allow you to pop up and offer assistance the moment someone lands on your website. We recommend implementing a free chat application like Tawk. Their free mobile app makes it easy to monitor and respond to website visitors. This service also offers the ability to trigger automated responses, transfer chats to different team members, and create an online knowledge base for those frequently asked questions.
Caveat: Only utilize this feature if you or someone on your team is available to monitor the mobile app for new messages. A delayed response is one of the primary reasons your painting leads won’t convert into paying customers.
5. Use an online appointment booking application
Many painting business owners are working on the outdated assumption that the best way to convert a lead is to speak to someone over the phone. While this may hold true for some, the younger generations prefer contactless booking.
A simple appointment booking applications with automated reminders make it easy for visitors to schedule a free quote right on your website without placing a call, message, or email. Online booking apps are one of the best methods to convert visitors on your website. Best of all, other than the initial setup this service requires no additional monitoring.
We have had success with Calendly which integrates with your existing calendar to prevent double booking, embeds directly on your website, and automatically sends out appointment reminders to reduce cancelations.
6. Link website forms to your email marketing service
Automation is your friend! Reduce your workload and keep the communication flowing by leveraging a free email marketing provider like MailChimp. Create contact forms directly in MailChimp to embed them on your website. You are notified when a visitor submits the form, then they are automatically added to your mailing list. The best part, MailChimp integrates with Calendly so new appointments are captured as well!
For best results we recommend creating two email lists:
-Leads: Anytime someone submits a form, books an appointment, or leaves their email address with you, add them to this list and nurture with monthly promotions.
-Customers: Use your past customers as a referral source with a monetary ($100 for each referral) or discount (10% off your next service) incentive. Additionally, use these emails to capture reviews by adding a link to your Google Business Profile.
7. Leverage Social Proof/Reviews on Your Website
To build your online reputation your website needs real testimonials and social proof. Testimonials, especially with photos of smiling customers provide a connection between the people you serve, the service you provide, and your ability to deliver those services. Testimonials and reviews are authentic and inspirational with real stories about how your painting services made someone’s life easier, helped them sell their home, created a new brand for their business and more. The more diverse and heartfelt your testimonials, the more people see you as a trustworthy painting business.
Testimonials and Reviews
Most of your customers will leave a review on your Google Business Profile or on social media, but this is not always the case. If you happen to obtain some positive feedback over the phone or email simply hardcode the testimonial on your homepage or in the footer of your website.
If possible, include before/after images with the testimonial to further boost trust and credibility.
Social Proof
For the majority of customers who leave a review on Google or social media you can leverage a free review embedding tool or plugins to pull those reviews directly on your website. We have found success with Widget for Google Reviews, a free plugin for WordPress.
About the contributor
As founder of Base Coat Marketing, Austin is a data scientist and digital marketing expert with over a decade of lead generation experience within the professional painting industry.
