Why you need to update your fence company website for 2018

  • by Anthony Guidetta
  • April 16, 2018
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1. Your current website probably looks terrible

I’ve seen hundreds of fence company websites at this point in my career, and I can say that only a very small handful of them meet or exceed my standards of visual design.

Of this small handful of acceptable sites, there’s an even smaller percentage that not only look good but also adds to the value of the business they represent and work exceptionally well while doing so.

For some reason, fence company business owner’s and the people that they put in charge of the design and creation of their business website’s are so woefully bad at designing and developing that their creations typically look like something out of a website design playbook from the early 2000’s.

I can assure you that a website created even 5 years ago will look absolutely terrible and outdated to anyone who is under the age of 50.

Now you may feel a little insulted at this point, but these are things you need to be told as a business owner in 2018.

The world is no longer reading home magazines, they are reading blogs.

In the battle of the Yellow-pages vs. Google, the later has certainly won.

It’s time that you realize that every single one of your potential customers are now looking at your website long before they decide on calling you.

A website is now your first impression for any potential lead that wants to buy a fence from your company, and we all know how important first impressions are.

Now, fence contractors have it a little easier than fence manufacturers or fence fabricators.

A manufacturer or fabricator typically has close to or over 100 different products that they stock and sell at any given time.

If you’re a PVC fence manufacturer and you have a website that looks terrible, works terrible and is organized in a terrible manner, any potential customer is going to be so turned off with that interaction that they most likely won’t even both calling you.

Simply put, if your site looks terrible – buy a new one. It’s time.

2. A bad website makes you look like a bad company

People are visual creatures.

When they see a piece of food that look’s off-putting, they won’t eat it.

When they see a business storefront that looks dirty and run-down, they won’t shop there.

And when they see a website that is visually unappealing, you can guess that they won’t buy from you.

Looks are everything in today’s world, according to this article the look of your website has a big impact on conversions.

Now, I’m sure you have nice work trucks that are clean and updated, you have a well organized and clean shop and your employees are provided with enough work shirts to wear a clean one every day of the week.

So why not have a website that conveys to people how good of a company you have as well?

It makes absolutely no sense to invest dollars into every other public-facing aspect of your fence company, but to ignore the internet.

Even if you still use a flip cell phone, you must know of the importance of the internet in 2018.

I mean, literally, every single person who exists in your service area knows that the internet exists – that’s a very large audience to NOT reach with a website.

And it’s even worse if you have a website that is light-years behind your competitors.

So, since you’re already doing everything in your power to appear better than your competitors and to appear as a contender for the best fence company in your service area, do the smart thing turn that same mentality to your online presence.

3. Potential customers have high standards

Take a look at some of the largest business in the world at the moment.

Do you see a single one of them without a website? No.

Do you see a single one of their websites that looks unappealing in any way, shape or form? No.

Virtually every single prominent national business has a visually stunning website in 2018.

And a small handful of them is on the bleeding edge in terms of functionality and visual design.

Do you think that any of these companies don’t fully understand the magnitude of having a perfect website?

They all know the important of staying up to date with current visual best practices because they know that all customers are generally spoiled due to the incredibly fast pace of innovation on the web.

People expect perfection on the web now.

Even the smallest bit of outdated design is a big turnoff to someone who is constantly seeing impressive websites on a daily basis.

If you don’t meet or exceed these standards, then they will go to your competitor – who does.

4. Free website builders produce boring websites

We’ve all seen the ads for Wix or for other free website builders like Godaddy’s current iteration.

It’s tempting to go with the cheapest option right?

Well, let’s apply that rationale to the fencing business.

You’re a fencing installation company with a pretty decent sized shop, you have employees that are amazing at their jobs – real experts in their fields.

You’ve got a few work trucks, a few custom made machines that you bought to increase efficiency and you’re customer service funnel is pristine.

Everything about you and your company shows to the public that you know exactly what you’re doing and you are simply the best at doing it.

So you go to give an estimate to a homeowner and they show you another quote that some unlicensed handyman gave them – it’s half the price and they want you to meet the price or they are going with him for the job.

I mean, you know the handyman is going to do a horrible job, he isn’t going to pull a permit and most likely is going to use they cheapest grade of material he can buy or steal.

As a man or woman with years of experience being the best in your field, you would have a million things to say about the cheapest competitor right?

The same is true about free website builders, also, here’s about 16 more reason’s not to use free website builders if you won’t just take my word for it.

They work bad, they create bad sites and they have literally no return on investment – because there is none.

Don’t use them.

5. Cheap websites are cheap for a reason

Every single decision you make a business owner is driven by two things:

  1. Risk vs. reward
  2. Return on investment

The risk in going with an inexperienced web developer or web development company is pretty big. Sure, you’re going to pay way less, usually because they either create a garbage product, or because they have no idea how to price their skills or what other companies are charging.

These small time people or companies typically have no idea what they are doing and are usually just out to make some quick money of off you.

They usually don’t much about current best practices and know little to nothing about the fencing business.

The end product you’re going to end up with is a WordPress theme that 1000’s of other business use with your pictures pasted in. Definitely not a custom site by any means.

And hey, that’s how I started out too. I charged too little, and made sites that were much less than perfect. We all start somewhere, but I can assure you that my first few customers were missing out and got a cheap product from a cheap person.

I’ve already made the mistakes and learned, and I’ve spent years improving and mastering my craft.

Real mastery does not come cheap. People who are capable of creating a product that is truly good deserve to be paid an appropriate amount for their skill.

Or you could opt to pay for someone with no skill who can only create a product that looks bad and will have to be replaced by someone else in a years time. To me, the risk is not worth it.

When you pay someone to create an asset for your business, the money you give them isn’t gone. It goes back into your business.

A $5,000 dollar website can generate $5,000 a week for life.

Just think about that for a second.

Website’s are an absolutely silly return on your investment, but unfortunately, most people don’t look at them as any more than a commodity.

Ultimately a website created by a knowledgeable and skilled individual can generate many leads per day, and I think you understand exactly what just one sale can mean in profit dollars.

So do us a both a favor, and spend the amount of money that you need to spend to really create an asset that makes you rich and not one that just sits online and does nothing but look mediocre.

6. Many fence companies are outdated and living in the past

A lot of fence company owner’s are living in the day’s where the yellow page and home magazines brought in thousands of dollars of leads.

The simple fact of the matter is – times have changed.

No one has a yellow pages book anymore. In fact, I’m sure some people under the age of 25 don’t even know what a Yellow Pages is.

I mean, think about it. Homeowner’s are getting younger and younger every year right? But you’re not.

You and your fence company need to adapt with the times in order to stay relevant. All the experience you have is worth literally nothing if no paying customers can even find you online.

The world is dominated by cell phones and computers now. Most homeowners are so busy that they don’t even have time to sit on their home computers and search for businesses. They use their cell phones on their lunch breaks, or while in the bathroom.

Don’t be like Daniel Day-Lewis Below.

When they are searching, you need to be there. Not only do you need to be there, but you need to be the best looking option in the search results.

Unfortunately, if you don’t take your marketing dollars out of outdated methods and start investing in the right channels now – it may be the beginning of the end for you.

7. The fence business is many years behind technology standards

Take a second and visit the Home Depot website. Looks awesome right?

Maybe there are a few construction companies you know of, or builders. Take a look at their sites – probably also updated and nice.

Now look at the top ten fence companies in your area.

Pretty big difference.

As I’ve said previously, I’ve see 100’s of fencing company websites. They are outdated and not maintained. Most of the time a lot of the features don’t even work right.

I’ve also worked for quite a few fence companies in various facets of the fencing business, and their internal software and methods of operation are typically severely outdated.

Let’s face it. The fence business isn’t exactly run by the most technological people in the world. And that’s fine, it isn’t a technology based industry – but that doesn’t mean that you should ignore progress and innovation just because whatever you’re currently doing just “works pretty good.”

It’s time to move into 2018, leave behind whatever you were doing since 1990.

8. Great looking websites generate more leads

The whole point of having a website as a fence company is to increase lead generation. The more leads your website generates, the more fence you sell and the more fence you sell, the more money you have to renovate your house with.

It’s pretty simple.

It’s also pretty simple to realize that as a culture, the United States is incredibly visually motivated. We worship good look celebrities, we buy from good looking salesman more than an ugly salesman.

People want to look good and be surrounded by good looking things. And websites are no different.

An ugly website will motivate people much less than a good looking one.

It’s very important to realize the power of visual motivation as a business owner as it’s one of the many ways to influence customers to purchase from you and not from your competitors.

You need to stand out, and the look of your website is one facet of doing so.

9. Single best return on investment of anything you can do in 2018

Ultimately investing in your online presence is simply the absolute best way to spend your marketing dollars in 2018.

If you’ve got an ugly website, buy a better one and watch that website turn into a salesman that works 24/7 and generates you way more leads than you would normally would otherwise.

There’s really no better feeling than waking up to an email inbox filled with 10-20 QUALIFIED leads.

Even if you close one of those leads your return on investment is pretty close to 50% for just ONE DAY.

Literally no other method of advertising will flood you with leads as much as a well designed and developed website can and will for years.

And when you’re ready to sit down and make that commitment, call us because we are the only web design company that caters 100% to fence businesses.