Full Transcript
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Welcome to the eight of five web minute. And today we're talking about why almost all of your potential customers in the central coast are deciding who to hire before they ever pick up the phone. That really is the core reality for any service business right now. I mean, if you're a plumber, a rougher, an electrician here in SLO County, the way people find you is just completely changed. Right. If your website is slow or, you know, looks like it was built back in 2005 or if it doesn't even exist, you are for all intents and purposes invisible to almost everyone who needs your help. And that invisibility, wow, that has to be the most expensive mistake a local contractor can make. We've been looking at the latest data and the statistics are, well, they're stark. They are. They confirm what we've been saying for years. 97%. That's how many of your potential customers are searching online before they even think about making that initial contact. And they're judging you. You're trustworthy, nests, your skill, everything based on a quick glance at your site, probably on a tiny screen. And that decision happens in seconds. So we need to stop thinking about this as just, you know, casual research. Exactly. We need to think of it as an emergency response. Okay. Let's unpack that for the contractor out there who's been relying on, say, 30 years of a great solid word of mouth reputation. What is the urgent reality today in 2026? That makes a website non-negotiable. The urgency really comes from that crisis mindset. Word of mouth is still vital, of course. But even when someone gets a referral, what's the first thing they do? They Google the name. They Google the name. The research shows over 80% of consumers start their search for a contractor online and get this number. 78% of local searches on a mobile phone lead to a service purchase within 24 hours. Wow. That's almost instantaneous. We're talking about people who are under stress. They don't have time to interview three different people for a leaky pipe. Precisely. Just picture the scenario. It's six in the morning, a homeowner in a royal grande wakes up to a burst water heater. There's water everywhere. Yeah. That's a nightmare. They're not waiting for business hours to call
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a buddy for a recommendation. They grab their phone and they type plumber near me. And the data confirms that 88% of those near me searches. They result in a phone call within one day. So the job doesn't go to the absolute best contractor in SLO. Nope. It goes to the first trustworthy site that shows up and works perfectly on their phone. So the takeaway here is that trust and speed are just everything. If your website looks unprofessional, if it adds more stress to an already stressful situation, they are gone instantly. You have maybe three seconds to turn that anxiety into a phone call. And that's why your website can't just be a digital brochure anymore. It has to be an engine, a lead generating machine specifically designed to turn that urgent mobile search into a call right now from brochure to conversion engine. I like that. So to help everyone listening, we've boiled this down into a checklist. These are the six things. Every central coast contractor website absolutely needs to turn those searches into phone calls. All right. Let's dive in. The first one is it's so simple, but it's probably the most common mistake we still see. It has to be your phone number big and obvious. It still shocks me how many great contractors sort of hide their phone number at the bottom of a contact page like it's a secret. Right. It shouldn't be a treasure hunt. The research points to three really specific rules for this. First, it has to be in the header on every single page of your site. Not just the contact page. If I'm reading about your services, I need to be able to call you right then. Exactly. And the second rule is a hard requirement for 2026. It must be clickable. We call it tap to call because if you're standing angle deep in water, you're not going to try and memorize and type a 10 digit number. No way. That tap to call button is nonnegotiable. And the third point that goes back to that three second rule doesn't it? It does. It has to be visible immediately without any scrolling above the fold as we say. When you land on that page, that phone number should be the first thing your ICs, the benefit is huge. It's instant relief for a customer who needs you now. That makes total
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sense. Give them the easiest path to help. Okay, so that brings us to the second essential. Photos of your actual work. This is all about authenticity. Yes. And the contrast here is key. You have to get away from the generic stock photos. We've all seen them right. The person with the shiny hard hat and the perfect smile who is clearly never held a hammer. They look like an actor, not a contractor. Why do those photos fail so badly? Because people can spot a fake amount a mile away and fake photos suggest, well, a fake company or at least one that lacks real substance. Trust is built by showing your actual work. If you're a painter in Pismo, show me a before and after. An electrician in San Luis Obispo. Show me a clean panel you just installed. So what kind of photos should a contractor be taking on the job? A good mix. Before and afters are incredibly powerful, they show transformation. Working progress shots are great too. They show you're busy and in demand. And definitely definitely get some clear photos of you and your actual crew on the job. Putting a face to the name is a huge trust signal. And the best part is these don't need to be professional studio shots. A clear smartphone picture is way more authentic and effective than some expensive stock photo. Authenticity wins every time. Which brings us right to number three, which is basically the modern version of a neighbor's recommendation. Google reviews front and center social proof. This is so important. The data we looked at showed that 67% of homeowners say online reviews are very or even extremely important when choosing a contractor. It's the ultimate trust signal today. I mean, 88% of people measure a business's trustworthiness through their reviews. So your website has to show that off. Okay. So how do you do that effectively? First, you have to prominently display your Google review rating that five star average. Then feature three to five of your best written reviews right there on the homepage. And then you have to link out to your full Google business profile so people can dig deeper if they want to. Exactly.
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But what if a contractor is just starting out and only has a few reviews? That's where the work begins. What's the number one thing they can do? You have to ask if that's simple. Create a system. When you finished a job and the customer is happy right at that moment, send them a quick text or email with a link. Hey, so glad we could help. If you have a second, could you leave us a quick review on Google? That's super actionable. Costs nothing and the payoff is huge. Okay, let's move to number four. This one helps the customer and it also helps Google find you. Clear list of services and service area. This is all about precision. It saves everybody time. You have to clearly state what you do say residential electrical repair and just as important what you don't do. Can you give an example of how that works? Sure. If you're an electrician who only does residential work, you need to state clearly. We do not offer commercial services. That one sentence filters out all the wrong kinds of leads before they ever waste your time on the phone. Right, your website is basically pre screening your calls for you and the service area part that's all about local search, right? Absolutely. For local search, you have to be specific. List out the cities you serve. Aroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, San Luis Obispo, a taskadero. When someone searches electrician a taskadero, Google is looking for sites that specifically mention a taskadero. If you don't list it, Google might just ignore you for that search. It's simple but so powerful. Okay, number five, this is the big one, mobile friendly design. It's non-negotiable. Yeah, if your site is bad on a phone, your site has failed. Period. Over half all web traffic is mobile, but for emergency services, it's even higher. And here's the real kicker. Google's mobile first indexing. Can you bring that down for us? What does mobile first mean for a contractor's ranking? It means Google judges your entire website based on the mobile version first. If your site is slow or if you have to pinch and zoom to read the text, Google sees that as a low-quality site and pushes you down in the search results. Ouch. So even if your desktop site is beautiful, it doesn't
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matter if the mobile version is bad. Exactly. A good mobile site has to do a few things well. One, it has to load fast under three seconds. Two, the text has to be big and readable, no zooming. Three, buttons have to be big enough to easily tap with your thumb. We've all tried to hit a tiny link on a slow site and it's just infuriating. Right. And frustration leads to them leaving. And of course, that phone number needs to be right at the top ready to be tapped. If your site is more than five years old, I could almost guarantee it's failing on this and Google is penalizing you for it. Okay, that's crucial. Finally, number six. And this is one that used to be a big debate, but the data is pretty clear now. Pricing transparency, at least ballpark. Yeah, the dynamic here has really shifted. 78% of homeowners now say they're more likely to call a contractor who shows some pricing on their website. People are tired of the mystery. They just want a starting point. Now a lot of contractors will say, but every job is custom. I can't give a price without seeing it. How do you handle that? You're not giving a firm quote online. You're giving ranges. You're setting expectations. A plumber could say service calls started at $85. A roof for my put most water heater replacements run between $802,000. So you're giving them a ballpark number. What's the biggest benefit of doing that? It filters out the tire kickers. The people who are hoping for a $20 fix won't waste your time. But the serious customers, they appreciate the honesty. And now they're a qualified lead because they already know the general cost before they even call you. It builds trust instantly. That's a brilliant way to pre-qualify your leads. Okay, so that's the six essentials. But before we wrap, we have to talk about a hidden risk that's becoming a huge issue, especially here in California. Yes. We have to talk about website accessibility lawsuits. This is not some far off threat. It is a real rising legal liability. We saw a 37% jump in these lawsuits in just the first half of 2025. And California is ground zero for this, isn't it? It is. 85% of these lawsuits happen
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in California, New York, or Florida. And under California's Unru act, the penalties are steep. At least $4,000 per violation plus attorney's fees. It can bankrupt a small business. And who are they targeting? This isn't just big corporations. Shockingly no. 77% of these lawsuits target small businesses. Companies with under 25 million in revenue. This is a very real risk for a local contractor here. So in simple terms, what does an accessible website actually mean? It means your website has to work for everyone, including people with disabilities who use assistive technology. For example, your site's code has to have descriptions for all your images so a screen reader can describe them. Someone who can't use a mouse has to be able to navigate your entire site just using their keyboard. Wow. That's a huge liability and really shows why you need a professionally built and managed site. So let's tie this all together with the Google business profile, the GBP. That works hand in hand with the website, right? They're inseparable. Think of your Google business profile as the quick reference card that pops up in Google Maps. Your website is the full story where you seal the deal. You need both to be perfectly optimized. And the difference in calls between a basic profile and an optimized one is massive. Oh, it's huge. An optimized GBP can get you up to five times more calls. That means accurate hours. A link to that fast mobile friendly site we just talked about. At least 10 to 15 real photos and all your services listed out. And the final piece is managing the reviews, right? Absolutely. You have to respond to every single review good and bad. When you respond professionally to a negative review, it actually shows potential customers that you care and you're engaged. That combination, a great GBP at a fast trustworthy accessible website. That's the formula to win local search here on the central coast. It's about building a digital platform that turns that urgency into revenue. That's the key to growth in SLO County today. Exactly. Your website is the engine. You just have to make sure it's built right. That's the quick tip for today. If you
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