In order to have the best HVAC website you can have, it needs to look great.
Pretty obvious, right?
But did you know that it takes more than pretty graphics to get visitors, leads, and phone calls?
What if I told you that how pretty your website looks does little for how many leads it generates?
Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter what your HVAC website looks like if no one ever sees it.
You need more than pretty graphics.
Luckily for you, we have the winning formula for HVAC website design, and it’s much, much simpler than you may think.
Website Design for HVAC Contractors – 5 Things You Need to Succeed
This doesn’t have to be rocket science. In fact, a little common sense goes a long way.
Ask yourself what you generally want from a website.
Sometimes, all you need is a prominently displayed phone number. If you have pipes leaking in your house, spouting water all over the floor, you just want to get on the phone with someone who can come out and fix your problem as soon as possible.
Sometimes, you don’t even know what service you need, and you’re looking for more information. If a local roofer has information on their website about the best roofing material to use for longevity in your regional climate, or if they answered any other questions you may have, you’d be much more likely to call them for a quote than a website that just has a bulleted list.
Other times, you might be looking for the best provider, combing through a dozen listings to see which company has the best reviews, project pictures, trust factors, and more.
Web design for HVAC contractors doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, you can boil it down into five easy to understand aspects:
- Be helpful.
- Be easy to find.
- Be where your customers already are.
- Be fast.
- Be able to measure your success (or failure) in the previous four areas.
That’s all it takes to have a winning website. Here’s how to make it happen.
1. You need more content than you think.
More content means more visitors; more visitors (generally) means more leads.
Content is fairly cheap and easy to produce, as are additional website pages. Your content strategy should focus on being helpful and answering questions your visitors may not even know they have. This builds authority in your market and makes selling your services even easier.
Here are some examples of content your HVAC website should have:
- Pages for each of the services or procedures you offer
- Pages for each location in which you want to receive visitors.
- Pages for testimonials, before/after pictures, and more.
- Pages with biographies for each member of your team.
- Blog posts answering commonly asked questions.
A roofer website designer will write all of this content for you, but if you’re bootstrapping this yourself, spend a few hours to put together 25-50 pages of content for your website. It’s an absolute necessity if you want to get any meaningful amount of traffic.
2. You need a large digital footprint.
A website by itself will do little to nothing for your HVAC business. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your website is if no one can find it, right?
In order to have a large digital footprint, you need:
- A strong, optimized Google Business Profile.
- Listings on dozens (if not hundreds) of quality directory websites (YellowPages, Yelp, etc…)
- Social media profiles (all of them… even the ones you’ve never heard of)
- Press releases (easy to submit, and a great source of backlinks)
- GPS listings with driving directions
While incredibly time-consuming, all of these pieces of your footprint are free to build. Don’t skimp on this or put it off. If your digital footprint isn’t large enough, you’re not going to get the results from your website you’re hoping for – no matter how pretty it looks.
3. You need to automate your social media posting.
Social media marketing can be expensive if outsourced. Luckily, there’s a free alternative to that. By utilizing technology, you can automate your social media posting across different outlets.
Here’s how to automate your social media posting:
- Free-tier plans from Buffer can cross-post to multiple social media channels at once.
- An IFTTT setup can automate social posting across even more channels.
You can do this with little to no technical knowledge in under an hour. That hour spent now will save you dozens of hours and legwork in the future.
4. You need the latest website technology.
The technology your website runs on matters. Now, you might not have the knowledge of what these systems and features actually are, but you should know what they do.
No matter who builds your HVAC website, ensure that the following is included:
- Built using a CMS. Seriously, just use WordPress.
- Responsive design. This means your website will adapt to whatever screen size is viewing it.
- SCHEMA markup. Specifically, the LocalBusiness and Article markups.
- Lightweight code (or the ability to minify/defer assets). Translation: great website speed.
Ask your roofing website designer if they plan to use this technology.
5. You need efficient tracking and analytics.
How do you know if your website is getting you results? Well, if you don’t have tracking and analytics, you won’t.
Here’s what you need to track your website’s effectiveness:
- Google Analytics. The gold standard. Custom conversions help, too.
- Keyword tracking. We’re talking organic listings and local visibility.
- Phone call tracking. The best way to judge ROI for most local business websites.
For most local businesses, tracking these three metrics are all you really need.
9 Compelling Examples of the Best HVAC Website Designs We Could Find
Sure, the following HVAC websites look great, but that’s not the only reason we picked them.
When looking at these, pay attention to more than the graphics and font choices.
Look at the menu structure. What kind of content are they featuring? Do they have pages for each of their services? What about a blog – or project pictures?
Are they targeting more than one location? If so, do they have pages for those locations?
What about their copywriting? Do they have a clear offer?
What about social signals or trust factors? How prominent are their reviews?
The best HVAC websites don’t just look good – they have tons of content and a large digital footprint.
Here are 9 compelling examples of great HVAC website designs.
1. McCullough
This is a stellar example of a great HVAC website. It looks clean and sleek. The menu structure is clear, with pages for each of their services, maintenance plans, weatherization tips, special offers and more. Also, notice the two buttons that pop out at the top, allowing people to either shop or request service quickly and easily. Coupled with the prominently displayed phone number, this whole website works.
2. Strikeforce Heating & Air
Here’s another great website. I particularly love that great big button with their phone number. Can’t miss. What you also can’t miss are their coupons, displayed front and center. Not only that, but they have a free estimate form above the fold. All in all, this is an HVAC website to emulate.
3. Stan’s Heating, Air, Plumbing
Simple and clean. See? You don’t need fancy, flashy graphics to look great. I picked this website specifically for their service scheduler. Instead of just asking for an address, name, and phone number, it walks you through steps to nail down what you really need. This is helpful for the customer, but also helpful for the back office, saving a ton of time. Your HVAC website should make your life as a business owner easier, too.
4. Champion AC & Plumbing
https://www.championacaustin.com
I love this HVAC website. You can’t tell from the picture, but they’re utilizing a video header to great effect. I especially love the simplicity, the trust-building logos, and the focus on copywriter (ie. “your comfort is our mission.”). Also, this website is absolutely beautiful, but incredibly simple. And did you see the number of 5 star reviews they have? Hard not to notice, and I think that’s by design. Great work.
5. AirCon
Logo, button, menu, image… sometimes, that’s all you need. This HVAC website does a great job making the happy family the focal point of their website. They also have a simple menu structure, with plenty of content for people to read. Combined with a big, bold phone number at the top of their page, and they’re doing a ton of things right.
6. All Star A/C & Heating
https://www.allstarairtexas.com
Oftentimes, using a flag background and color scheme can come off as gaudy, but this HVAC website absolutely pulls it off. This website features an exceptional designs that’s clean, bold, and patriotic. They’ve put a lot of work and thought into their branding, and they’ve used that branding to create a stunning website. Great work.
7. Total Comfort Cooling & Heating, LLC
https://www.totalcomfortmacon.com
I absolutely love this website. It’s doing just about everything right, from a clean, simplistic design, a prominently displayed phone number, a free quote form above the fold, a menu brimming with content, a live chat feature, and thoughtful copywriting. Also, I really, really like their font choice. It’s not one you often see, and it totally works.
8. Premier HVAC Services
This is a pretty standard HVAC website design, but it just goes to show that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to have a stellar product. Sure, I wish they’d renamed some of their menu items to reflect their products and services without needing people to click through, but the website itself is clean, fast, and effective.
9. English Air, Inc.
I’ve saved one of the best for last. This HVAC website is doing a lot of things worth imitating, from their bold phone number, five star rating, out-front contact button, free estimate form above the fold, and solid menu structure. Also, just look at how cute that baby is!
8 Frequently Asked Questions About HVAC Website Design
Now that you know what it takes to make a great website for your roofing company and you’ve seen some examples of great design, lets talk a little bit more about what you should expect when looking for a web designer. Of course, each service provider is different, but there are certainly some commonalities. We’ll try to detail those below.
Note: I’m going to make some generalities throughout these answers, but after a decade of being in this industry, I have a good grasp on price points, common service features, and more.
1. How much does a new website for my HVAC company cost?
Okay, hardest (but perhaps most important) question first. You have three different options:
You can do it all yourself for a nominal fee: $100-$300/year.
Website builders like Squarespace or Wix allow you to build a website with no real technical knowledge. They work fine, as far as I can tell, and your finished product will essentially look as good as you’re able to make it. Of course, you’ll have to write all of your own content, select your own pictures, build your own menu structure, try your hand at SEO optimization, and build a digital footprint by yourself, and that can be a daunting task. Our blog should help.
You can buy from a big-box provider: $200-$800/month.
These websites are typically paste-and-play, and they look like it (in my opinion). These companies will typically give you a handful of pages with an acceptable amount of content, pages for a photo gallery and contact form, and some links to your social profiles. They’ll usually configure their pre-built templates around your brand and logo, using your company colors where possible. You’ll usually get up and running within a week or two. The downside? You’ll rarely (if ever) own the final product, so if you stop paying, you lose your asset. Ouch.
You can buy from a competent website provider: $5,000 – $15,000 (give or take).
There are about a million and a half options for this. We think we’re one of the best, but whomever you choose, make sure your new website gets the following:
- Lots of pages, with an easy, cost-effective option to add more
- An optimized Google Business Profile
- Directory listings, social media profiles, GPS listings, and more
- SCHEMA markup
- Website caching, with a guaranteed website speed benchmark
- An active blog with real content
- Project portfolios, team member biographies, and more
- Reliable website hosting
2. How long will it take to build my website?
This will depend on the provider you’ve chosen, but in general, you should be prepared for at least a 4-6 week turnaround time, all the way up to 12 weeks for an in-demand provider.
3. Will my new website include SEO?
Short answer: no.
Longer answer: it’s complicated.
Look. Every single website provider says they offer SEO. They say your website will be optimized for keywords and search engines and everything else. Is it true?
Well, it depends on how you actually measure the term “SEO.”
Let me explain.
In simplistic terms, search engine optimization is the act of optimizing a page on your website for a certain keyword(s) in the hopes that you will show up first whenever someone searches for that keyword on Google or other search engines.
Here’s what the process of SEO actually looks like.
- Find keywords
- Build pages targeting those keywords
- Build backlinks to those pages until they rank #1.
Now, this is highly simplified, but that’s essentially what the process looks like.
Here’s the problem.
Let’s say you’re an HVAC company in Baltimore. You provide heat pump repair.
So here’s the keyword: “baltimore heat pump repair.”
Seems like a reasonable keyword to target, right?
Now let’s say your website designer knows his or her SEO, and they optimize a page for that keyword. They do all the technical mumbo-jumbo the way it’s supposed to be done.
They’ve performed SEO.
They have, quite literally, optimized a page, targeting a keyword for search engines.
A week later – woo-hoo! You’re ranking #1! Time to celebrate, right?
Wait a minute, we have a problem…
Barely anyone is searching for that keyword!
If you wanted to get any real traffic from your SEO efforts, you would need these keywords:
As you can see, those keywords have a good bit more volume, but they’re also much more competitive. Most of the companies that rank well for these keywords are already paying an SEO professional to work on their website. Just because your website is optimized for these keywords doesn’t mean it will automatically show up – you have tons of competition!
The bottom line: optimizing for a keyword isn’t the same as ranking for it (or even knowing the right keywords to optimize, for that matter).
Typically, true SEO campaigns will last at a minimum of 12 months, because:
1. It takes time for website pages to move up or down in search engines rankings.
2. It takes time for Google to crawl (ie. discover) website pages and backlinks.
3. It takes time to build backlinks that will actually move the needle.
Keep this in mind when you’re deciding who to buy your HVAC website from. Sure, SEO might be done, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be enough to rank.
4. What about the monthly fee?
Most website providers will charge you a monthly fee to host, maintain, and update your website on a regular basis. Websites built on WordPress need their plugins, themes, and WordPress core updated regularly. There is an extremely wide range of price points for this type of fee, but anything in the $50-$200/month range is reasonable – so long as the maintenance is done.
5. What about ongoing updates? How often should I be adding new content?
Most providers will assist with ongoing changes for a fee – ours is built into our monthly package. As for how often you should update your website, it boils down to a couple things.
1. You should always be adding new portfolio, project, or before/after pictures.
2. You should always be adding blog posts that add value in the forms of building your authority in your industry or solving common problems for patients and visitors.
3. You should only go out of your way to add additional content when it aligns with a specific SEO strategy. Remember the keyword lesson from before? It’s fine to throw spaghetti at a wall, but it would be nice to know what you’re even trying to hit before you do it.
6. What about a mobile version of my website?
Most website built today are responsive. However, it’s important to keep in mind that over 50% of your website traffic will likely come from a mobile device, and responsive design doesn’t always solve the problem of looking good on a mobile viewport. Make sure your website designer is as focused on the mobile appearance of your website as they are on the desktop one.
7. What about website speed?
Firstly, realize that the difference between your mobile speed and desktop speed can be wildly different. Let’s look at example #4 from the previous list, by example: coolmenow.com
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As you can see, the website speeds are wildly different for the mobile and desktop versions of this roofer website.
In general, your “first contentful paint” speed should be 2 seconds or fewer. Your “time to interactive” metric should be less than 3.8 seconds.
You should always test your website speed yourself, as it’s not something many website providers will mention unless they’re specifically asked.
8. Okay, I’ve heard enough. Can I hire you for HVAC website design?
Of course! In fact, you can even get a free website analysis and consultation.
What Do You Want Out of Your HVAC Website?
If you’ve been paying attention, hopefully you want more than just pretty graphics (though there’s no doubt you should have those, too!).
In order to get more visitors, leads, and phone calls for your HVAC company, your website needs to be effective. It needs to have a ton of helpful content, a large digital footprint, automated social media, the latest website technology, and an efficient tracking and analytics setup so you can assess your results.
Let’s boil those down to be clearer:
- Be helpful.
- Be easy to find.
- Be where your customers already are.
- Be fast.
- Be able to measure your success (or failure) in the previous four areas.
If you do all of that with your website, there’s no way you’ll lose.
Remember: this isn’t rocket science.
You’ve Googled enough and visited enough websites to know what makes one better than the other. You can have the better option; it just takes a little more effort.
