Over the past four weeks we attended many trade shows and spoke with over two hundred remodeling contractors. We volunteered to work the JLC trade show in Providence and the Residential Design Conference in Boston for the Eastern Mass NARI chapter as well as attended the NARI national business conference. We acquired over two hundred business cards from contractors at these events and had the good fortune to meet outstanding remodeling contractors who are at the top of their game and a few who are not. 

To date, we have followed up on 100+ contractors cards and have found many with no website or a website under construction. Some of the business cards have a website address and when we went to search for them there was no site. The others had the statement "website under construction" or "coming soon".  One even said "we are worth the wait".

In this challenging economy, what do you think will happen if a homeowner tries to contact these contractors and finds no site or one under construction?

If you are a contractor and don't have a website then it is time to develop one. Most homeowners want to research the contractor they call, on line, before they invite you to their home. The internet has replaced the yellow pages. Having a website up and running is now a requirement for business. Contractors who fail to recognize this will lose out to those who do!

If you have a website and it is under construction, we suggest you do not put it on your card or marketing materials until it is ready to launch. Homeowners who see sites under construction will not call you for a consultation. They will think since your site is under construction and unfinished, that is how you will do their job.

If you need help finding a cost effective website designer who produces results, you can contact me and we will recommend some one for you. Also buyer beware of the website designer who is not an expert in SEO (search engine optimization). Your website should be designed professionally and be recognized by the major search engines for your keywords. A poorly done website is worse than having none at all. 

While we are on the subject of websites, if you have one, have you updated it in the past year? Are your pictures and content current and is it ranking favorably with the search engines?

Why do you think some contractors have avoided building websites when the marketing experts recommend having one?