HomeGauge News Alert
October 2019
Website Checkup | HG News | Training | Conferences
Halloween is a great time for a website checkup
There could be ghouls hiding in your website — and they might be scaring your visitors away! Don't let it happen to you. To help you make the most of your website, we've put together a short list of items to review before the trick-or-treaters arrive.
Make sure you have a clear call to action
Not telling your visitors what to do is one of the scariest things we see on inspectors' websites. Be sure your visitors are directed to request an appointment online, call you, fill out your contact form, sign up for your newsletter, or whatever else you'd like them to do. Do you have something more enticing to offer? It might be even better to get your visitors to respond to a special discount or take advantage of extra services.
Tell your story — we won't know how awesome you are unless you tell us
Storytelling ain't just for campfires, it's for your website too. Things that make you and your company special are things that can sell. Tell us on your website how you can meet and exceed the needs of your potential customers. How did you get involved in the home inspection industry? What are your qualifications? Beyond that are things that are sometimes even more interesting — topics that can help you connect with your audience on a personal level. Are you involved in interesting projects in the community? Do you have special skills that make your business stand out? Any hobbies? One thing to consider is it's generally a good idea to stay away from religion and politics in your business advertising — you don't want to scare half of your potential customers away.
Brush the cobwebs off your website with some fresh content
We're all sick of hearing it, but it's still true that regular, fresh content will help drive your website's success. This is a big topic on its own, but let's just say that the more original content you have — content that's on topic and targeted toward your customer base (not other inspectors) — the more exposure your website will get. More pages of quality content on your website means that more pages of your website will be indexed by search engines — and ultimately your website will get more traffic. Embedding videos that you've uploaded to your YouTube channel is also a great strategy to add interest.
Make sure your website has a good mobile experience
Have you noticed all the zombies staring at their mobile phones? It's an epidemic. And some of them are looking for home inspectors online. So make sure your website is responsive and works well for mobile visitors. It's 2019 and there are still plenty of websites out there that don't provide a good mobile experience. This is a terrible reason to lose customers. If your site doesn't help mobile users, consider building a new, responsive website! You could lose up to 40% of your visitors if your site isn't responsive across devices. That's like dropping your bag of candy in a pile of leaves at night.
Check your website in Google's Search Console
Sometimes there are problems that aren't immediately apparent. Google's Search Console can help you find and fix website issues, such as server errors, site load times, blocked pages, mobile usability problems, security issues, malware, and more. It also allows you to remove sitelinks that you do not want to appear in search results and remove specific pages that you'd like Google to forget about. It can also help you understand how your site is performing with search and provide insight into keywords.
Follow your stats, they can tell you what to do
If you haven't yet, be sure to install Google Analytics on your website. It's a free service that will show you what your visitors are doing. Sometimes a blog post will be a hit, while some pages may get almost no traffic at all. It can help to show you what's working and what isn't. It's even worth it just to see how your original content can build your overall traffic over time (it takes persistence).
Your website can stop hiding now
Got the basics covered? Websites are always a work in progress and it's smart to give them a checkup on a regular basis.
Wait, I'm a home inspector, not a web developer
Don't worry, if you need it, we're here to help. HomeGauge has a great website development team that's ready to get to work on your project. We can build you a beautiful site with custom content and calls to action. We have an SEO team that can bring your website up to par for Google and write your blog for you. Give us a call or check us out online for sample websites and more information. We won't bite (too much). (probably)
Email webteam@homegauge.com for more information or call us at (828) 254-2030.
HomeGauge News
We improved the HomeGauge Support Center
Finding help online is easier than ever with our updated Support Center. We have made big improvements to article organization and site navigation. Plus, you can now access our live online support chat during our regular business hours. Look for the chat icon at the bottom of the Support Center website when you need a question answered. A big thanks goes to our support team for making it possible!
Cyber Monday is coming up!
We haven't forgotten about it — we know many of you look forward to this event. This year we're going to do it a little differently and give all y'all a little more time to shop. We're pouring ourselves a big ol' glass of sweet tea, pulling up a rocking chair on the porch, and are slowing it down for everyone to enjoy. Keep an eye out next month for the announcement.
HomeGauge Mini Training Class
On December 6, 2019, our very own Shancy and Suzie will be giving a free crash course on using HomeGauge Software and Services. This will take place during FABI's Winter Conference.
It's amazing what you can learn in a few hours!
Don't miss out on this free training. Sign up at the link below to reserve your spot or contact shancy@homegauge.com for more information.
Be sure to drop by our booth at one of these shows to enter for a chance to win a great prize. Plus, if you have a HomeGauge shirt, we'd love to see you there in it so we can get some cool photos! Don't forget to bring candy.
WAHI Fall Training Seminar (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
November 8-9, 2019
Conference details
CAHPI National Home Inspectors' Conference (Ottawa, ON)
November 16-17, 2019
Conference details
FABI Winter Conference (Daytona Beach Shores, FL)
December 6-8, 2019
Conference details
InspectionWorld 2020 (New Orleans, LA)
January 19-22, 2020
Conference details
Until next time,
Russell Buchanan
HomeGauge Software
russell@homegauge.com
(828) 254-2030