As a plumbing, HVAC, or electrical business owner, you need an effective company website for marketing your services. However, web development can feel intimidating to those without training.
Unfortunately, many misconceptions about web design make some small business owners think they can drive traffic to their online businesses and tackle search engine optimization (SEO) without a professional developer.
At Relentless Digital, we offer web design and development services for HVAC companies. Our team (based in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin) specializes in quality website design for HVAC owners across the U.S. We can help you make the best business decisions regarding your marketing and website strategy.
Let’s start with smashing these myths.
Myth #1: The Web Development Process Isn’t Hard
Professional developers have their professional credentials for a reason. Designing a new website that’s user-friendly, offers great functionality, boosts conversion rates, and ranks high in search results isn’t easy.
Yes, anyone can create their own simple website using online tools. However, building an all-encompassing content management system and strong web presence requires ample time, knowledge, and experience as a web developer.
Myth #2: Web Designers Should Charge Less
You specialize in offering home utility services that people can’t do independently. You charge clients for the high-quality work you provide and the years of experience you spent gaining knowledge.
Web designers work the same way. Their expertise requires a certain level of compensation, and you shouldn’t expect them to reduce this cost.
When you pay for web development, your money goes toward the potential customers and website visitors your business will gain. Think of paying for a good website as a forward-thinking business investment.
Myth #3: Web Design Is Quick
The issue of speed in building a website is one of the biggest misconceptions. Custom websites take a long time. The designing process typically involves a lot of trial and error to get the project looking just right.
Developers must research competitor strategies and keywords, create images, adjust layouts, accept constructive feedback, adjust pages to appear correctly across web browsers, and much more. All of your website users expect these top-notch experiences. The best sites you visit might feel easy to use, but they likely took many months to build.
Myth #4: Anyone Can Design a Successful Website
The average non-tech-savvy person doesn’t know how to design a successful website. While it may function, a poorly crafted website won’t generate traffic and might actually deter visitors.
When creating a site, you must focus on the color scheme, navigational menu, lead generation tactics, target audience needs, requirements from search engines, and more features. A good web designer knows the different programming languages necessary for a well-designed website.
Myth #5: You Shouldn’t Hire Third-Party Web Developers
Many businesses falsely assume that hiring a third-party site developer is unnecessary. If your company thinks it can develop a site in-house, be sure to consider the website design skills of your marketing team. However, successful sites require a long-term commitment that your in-house team likely can’t fulfill.
When you pick a site developer, they take care of everything for you, regularly evolving the site so you can focus on your business. Web design is too time-consuming for a small business to handle independently.
Myth #6: You Can Copy a Template or Competitor Instead of Hiring a Professional
Many excellent hosting platforms exist, making it easy for anyone to go live in a few days. These template sites fulfill certain utility purposes but likely won’t help you generate new visitors or increase conversion.
Some companies also think they can easily copy over content from a leading competitor’s website to achieve success. However, plagiarism is unethical and illegal, and search engines will lower your site’s rankings. You also risk legal trouble.
Myth #7: The Website Designer Should Follow Your Opinions Instead of Their Own Expertise
Out of all the misconceptions about web design, this one might be the most controversial and critical to understand.
Your business site is everything, so we understand that you want to stay in control of what your web design contractor does. While offering feedback to them is excellent, forcing the site developer to follow your advice rather than their expert knowledge will waste everyone’s time and money.
For example, if you don’t like how your home page looks, suggest an idea for new colors or text and then listen to your designer. Avoid telling them what to do, especially if it goes against common SEO practices.
Myth #8: Website Development Isn’t an Ongoing Process
Websites are never one-and-done operations. The internet consistently evolves, your business grows, consumers’ needs change, and search engine crawlers update requirements. After building the initial website, you must regularly complete updates to keep your site functioning at peak performance.
Your professional developer will revisit the following items regularly:
- Your hosting platform
- The site’s domain name
- Updated SEO needs
- Keywords positions
- Privacy terms
- Loading times
- Page content
- Analytics
- Optimization opportunities
Myth #9: You Can Expect Instant Results
SEO takes time. You must consistently publish new content and optimize web pages for weeks or months to see results from your new site. Google bots only crawl websites every two weeks, so you can’t expect ranking or volume results sooner than that unless you use external promotional methods such as social media.
Web design is a long-term strategy that doesn’t offer a lot of quick wins. Instead, you generate life-long customers and industry awareness to support your business for many years.
Myth #10: Fancy Equals Good
If you look at some of the world’s most successful websites, they focus on clean, simple, and easy designs. Many people assume that the more bells and whistles a site has, the better it works. Some websites may offer advanced filtering functions, fun games, and other features that sound appealing though they often detract from the user experience.
Less is usually more when it comes to web design. Reducing unnecessary elements improves loading times and helps keep your leads focused on the actions you want them to take.
Myth #11: HVAC Owners Don’t Need to Worry About Mobile Devices
Sometimes, you might think that mobile-friendly web design is unimportant for your customers, believing they all visit your site from a desktop computer. However, many data sources show that a larger percentage of consumers use mobile phones to search for local businesses, so it’s essential to optimize for both.
Designing for mobile requires additional skills that you may not have. Expert web developers know how to translate desktop content into mobile, so crawlers don’t dock your site.
Do You Want a High-Performing Website? Contact Us at Relentless Digital Today!
Now that you understand the misconceptions about web design, it’s time to contact our team at Relentless Digital to talk about building a high-performance website for your business. We help HVAC clients nationwide craft seamless online sites about their services.
Leveraging SEO and web design is what we do best. Contact us at Relentless Digital today at 262-393-4241 to schedule a consultation!
