You’ve heard that you must have a professional website for your roofing contractor business. That’s true. You have probably also noticed that there are plenty of roofing website templates available. They seem like a temptingly great idea – a quick, easy solution to your need for a company website that won’t take up too much of your time, energy, or resources.
For at least 10 reasons, you should say “No” to roofing website templates:
You need to look professional
Your number one reason for giving in to your need for a website is to maintain a professional image and have the online presence that your customers expect. A premade template simply does not cut it. Internet users are savvy enough to know when they are looking at a website that was not developed for your company. A professionally developed website will be custom made to emphasize the strengths of your company.
It will require customization
Despite the claims of quick, easy setup, those roofing website templates will require customization to be suitable for your purposes. Sometimes those customizations are going to require time and expertise that you may not have. A custom developed website will be delivered as a final product, with no need for you to attempt any alterations or coding yourself.
What about your brand?
Branding is vital in modern day marketing. You need a strong presence that makes your brand memorable and recognizable. That will be difficult to achieve if you are using a roofing website template that was not designed to feature your brand. Your website should be designed with your brand in mind in selecting each element. This will only happen with a custom-built, professional contractor website.
Lack of flexibility
A template is just that – a premade website for you to drop your company information into. There may be things that you would like to do that will not be possible. With a professional website, you will have the flexibility to add features and make changes to suit your business needs.
SEO
A roofing website template is going to be more difficult to optimize for search engine results. In fact, some templates will be missed by search engine algorithms altogether because they are not built with SEO in mind. Second, to having a professional website, SEO is the most important element of your website. Your customers need to be able to find your website, and that may be more difficult using a website template. Professional web developers understand the importance of SEO and build it into the framework of your website in a way that is not possible with website templates.
That looks familiar
The roofing website template that you are considering has probably already been purchased by hundreds of other contractors. It is bad for your brand and has an unprofessional appearance to have a company website that gives your visitors a feeling of déjà vu. A customized website will never be mistaken for someone else’s. Your professional brand will be evident in all elements of your professional website, making it completely unique.
No room for expansion
The scope of your website will be limited by your template. If you would like to add new features, especially as new technology is released, chances are your template will not be up to the challenge. Your website will quickly look out-of-date which is a big turn off for prospective clients. A professionally maintained custom website is monitored for necessary changes so that it is never behind the times.
Content is king
The element of your roofing website that is going to increase SEO, attract visitors, and build your customer base is the content. Regardless of what else you do, high-quality content is required to acquire and keep website visitors. Your roofing website template will not account for this, and you will be left with the most vital element of your website in your hands. A professional website design will include a plan for original content and the maintenance of continuously updating content.
Copyright limitations
Let’s say that you are flexible, and you are willing to take graphics and images from your website template and integrate them into your company materials. Basically, you mold your brand around your roofing website template, rather than the other way around. You may find that you do not have the rights to use these images in other formats, despite the fact that they are featured on your own website. Better to develop your website around your brand than attempt to use a template used by many others to define your company.
What if something breaks?
Your bargain basement price roofing website template is not going to come with stellar customer service. If you have issues, you may be left with a website that turns customers away instead of drawing them in.
Bonus: Advertising
If you are running any type of advertising and sending that traffic to your website, you want it to do its best to convert that traffic. Facebook marketing is great for contractors trying to develop leads, and if you are running campaigns, have the best site you can and avoid templates!