Components of Appliance Pages

Your appliance repair website needs to have individual pages for each appliance you repair. The typical list of appliance types are:

  • Refrigerator repair
  • Washer / Washing Machine repair
  • Dryer repair
  • Dishwasher repair
  • Oven / Stove / Cooktop repair
  • Microwave repair

If your appliance repair company also offers HVAC related services, you may include Furnace repair and Air Conditioner repair pages.

Not having appliance pages is a mistake

Some websites make the mistake of simply listing the types of appliances they repair, without creating dedicated pages for each appliance. This creates 2 problems. First, its harder for Google to rank the website for certain key words (like “refrigerator repair service”). And second – its harder for the website visitor to get more information about the specific appliance they need help with (which also causes them to have less trust in your service).

What to include on appliance pages?

The best way to decide what content to show on your appliance pages is to think like your website visitor.

This might sound strange, but stick with me for a couple of minutes. It will be worth your time.

Imagine a person, lets call her Helen. She woke up one morning and noticed that her fridge is not working (ie. leaking or not cold enough). Her husband has no clue, so she decides to look for help.

She goes to Google and types in “refrigerator repair service”.

What questions does your potential customer have?

  1. Who can fix my refrigerator? Will they come to my house? Or do I need to take it somewhere?
  2. Is there still warranty on my refrigerator? Should I call the factory?
  3. How much does it cost?
  4. How long does it take? When can they come to fix it?
  5. Is this reliable? Is there warranty on the repair service?
  6. Can we do it ourselves?
  7. Is it worth to repair? Or is it better to buy new?

Helen clicks on your website link. What does she see?

The information that she sees on your web page, should answer the questions that she has in her mind while she is searching.

Your customer should see the following:

  1. Clear headline that mentions the help she needs: “Refrigerator Repair Service”
  2. Brand of refrigerator – for example “Samsung” or “Dacor”
  3. Locations – for example “serving Toronto area” or ” in home service around Chicago”
  4. If possible, list common problems that happen with refrigerators
  5. Information that helps Helen trust you, like reviews from previous customers or your certifications
  6. Who are you – a couple of sentences about you and your company (make it personal)
  7. Your hours of operation and how fast can you help her (ie. next-day service or same-day service)
  8. Cost estimate, and if possible some savings coupons
  9. Local phone number and contact information

Essentially, your website content must answer specific questions in your prospect’s mind. Once all questions are answered, it’s easier for the prospect to take the action of contacting you.

 

Avoid too much information

Many appliance repair websites include too much information. The most common reason – is because they are trying to “trick” Google.

Very often I see websites that have lists of Cities and Brands followed by the words “appliance repair” appear hundreds of times on the page. This trick used to work in the past, 10 – 15 years ago. Nowadays, this type of content tells Google that your website is poorly built. And as a result, your search engine marketing efforts will be wasted.

Instead, focus on creating information for your website visitors.

Lastly, your pages need to be well designed

Your website information should be easy to read and professionally presented. In United States and Canada consumers have a higher sensitivity to design. When we see something that is not well designed aesthetically, then we tend to discount it’s value or stay away from it all together.

I have met many appliance repair business owners who spend over $10,000 each month into Adwords and Search Engine Optimization in order to drive visitors to their websites. Yet, they invested only $1000 or $2000 to build a basic website.

Instead, you should invest in good design. Good design will make your appliance repair website look professional and that will build trust for your customers.

8 Must-Have Pages to Include on your Appliance Repair Website

There are 8 types of web pages that you must have on your appliance repair website.  Some of these website pages will seem very obvious, yet many websites do it wrong.

The general advice is to think like your customers. Ask yourself: “what is my customer looking for before contacting me?”

So, follow the guide below to help you. And, if you setup these pages properly, they will help you turn more of your website visitors into customers.

1. Appliance pages

These are individual web pages that show which appliances you repair. You need to setup a separate page for each type of appliance, including refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, microwaves, dryers, washers, etc.

2. Appliance Brand pages

If possible, you should create a separate page for each appliance brand that you repair. Of course, some brands are more popular then others. So, you can begin by creating dedicated pages for each major appliance brand. For example, the keywords “GE appliance repair” and “Samsung refrigerator repair” are often used on Google.

3. City pages

A separate page for each major city or area that you service. This used to be more important in the past, but it can still hep you attract the right customers. For example, if you provide appliance repair service in the Greater Toronto Area, then you should create pages for several major cities that surround Toronto, like Richmond Hill, Markham, Scarborough, etc.

4. Service Area page

Setup one page that shows a list of all areas that you service. If possible, create a map that shows pins beside each area that you service.

5. About Us page

Statistically, the “About Us” page is the second most visited page on business websites. So, even though it might be obvious that its important to have a page “About” your company, many websites still don’t have this page. Some websites call the “About Us” page with different names, like “Company” or “Team”. I recommend that you keep it simple and name your page “About Us”.

6. Reviews page

Appliance repair is a service that your customer doesn’t plan for. It’s an unexpected need. An unexpected expense. So, naturally, there is a lot of doubt about hiring an appliance repair technician. One of the best ways to reduce this doubt is by showing reviews from your past customers. Good reviews give your company more credibility, and this helps your website visitor make a decision to contact you.

7. Coupons page

Appliance repair is typically an unexpected expense for your customers. So, your website visitors will think about “how much does it cost” while browsing your website. When you show a few coupons, it will help your website visitor to make a decision to hire you. For example, you can show a coupon for “$20 OFF  appliance parts”.

8. Contact page

The “Contact” page is very obvious to include on your website. Yet, many websites do it wrong. Some websites don’t have this page and some websites call it by a different name (like “Location”). Instead, make it easy for your website visitors to contact you by including a page called “Contact Us”. In addition, show your phone number on top and bottom of every other page on your website.

In the next several articles, you can read in more detail about the content and design of each appliance repair website page.

How much should I spend on Adwords and other online marketing?

I’m frequently asked by appliance repair business owners – “How much should I spend on my Google Adwords marketing?”

The best way to find out is to look for your “Lifetime Value of Your Customer”.

One of the most important exercises that you must do in your business is to calculate the “Lifetime Value of Your Customer”.

Not sure what this means? Keep reading – you’ll find out in 1 minute.

Start by answering 2 questions:

  1. How many appointments / jobs can you book from one customer?
  2. What is the average amount you earn for 1 appointment or job?

Next, multiply your answer from 1 and 2 above. The result will be your customer’s Lifetime Value.

Let’s look at an example:

Meet Robert. He is an Electrician.

  • Robert’s customers work with him for about 2-3 years.
  • During this time, they order Robert’s services 4 times.
  • Robert earns an average of $250 from a single job.

This means that the Lifetime Value of Robert’s customer is around $1,000.

Why is Lifetime Value of a Customer important?

When you know your customer’s lifetime value, then you become aware of 2 critical $ figures:

  1. the money you earn from each new customer, and…
  2. the money you can invest to attract a single customer

Let’s look at Robert from our earlier example:

  • Robert’s lifetime value of a customer is $1,000.
  • A portion of this revenue is deducted for expenses -$500.
  • The remaining $500 is a profit that Robert keeps for himself.

If Robert decides to invest into growing his business through advertising and marketing, then he knows that he can spend up to $500 to attract a single customer, without loosing money.

Here are Robert’s profit and marketing amounts:

  • If he invests $400 into marketing he profits $100 per customer
  • If he invests $300 into marketing he profits $200 per customer
  • If he invests $200 into marketing he profits $300 per customer

Once you calculate the Lifetime Value of Your Customer, you’ll know how much to invest into marketing.

Once you know your LTV, you can choose your marketing strategy quicker and with more confidence.

You may choose to diversify your budget into 3 digital marketing channels:

  1. Adwords
  2. Bing Ads
  3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Give each channel a fixed budget and a fixed time frame for measuring.

In our example, Robert is testing SEO

  • Robert chose to invest $600 a month for 6 months of SEO services.
  • Since Robert’s Lifetime Value of a Customer is $1000, he needs to attract 2 new customers a month to cover his marketing costs and earn a profit.
  • Robert wants to spend his money wisely, so he is tracking his phone calls and email messages.
  • At the end of 6 months, Robert will calculate how many customers he attracted.
  • If Robert will attract at least 12 new customers over this 6 months period, then his investment in SEO was successful.

Measuring the outcome of his Search Engine Optimization performance, gives Robert clarity on how to proceed with his marketing strategy. If SEO was successful, he may choose to proceed with it further. If SEO didn’t work well, then he may invest into Adwords or Bing advertising.

It all starts with knowing the Lifetime Value of Your Customer.