What an electrician's website needs to get quote requests

Someone with a tripping fuse board or a kitchen that needs rewiring usually isn't browsing. They're on their phone, they've got a few names from Google or a neighbour, and they're working out who to contact first. An electrician's site doesn't need to do a lot, but it needs to do a few things really well, because that person moves on fast if it doesn't.

What people are checking

When someone lands on your site, they're mostly trying to answer three questions. Do you do this kind of job? Do you come out to where they are? And how do they get in touch? Everything below is about answering those quickly, and then making it easy to ask you for a quote.

It's worth saying that a nice-looking site that doesn't answer them won't get you much work. A plain one that does will get you more.

Your services, in plain words

Start with a list of what you actually do, written the way your customers would say it. People search for "fuse box replacement" or "EV charger fitted", so those are better labels than the trade terms you'd use with another electrician. If you do rewires, consumer units, EV chargers, outdoor lighting and fault finding, say so, each with a line or two on what's involved.

Be clear about what you don't do as well. If you only do domestic work, or you don't take on small jobs, saying so up front saves you phone calls you'd have turned down anyway.

The areas you cover

This is the one people forget, and it's often the first thing a customer checks. Name the towns and areas you'll come out to, so someone can see straight away whether you're an option. A list of places is easier to read on a phone than a map, though both is fine.

If you work from home, you don't need your address on the site. The areas you cover do the job, and nobody's turning up at your door expecting a shop.

A quote form that asks the right things

A contact form comes with every site I build, and it comes straight to you. The question is what it asks. A form that just says "message" gets you messages like "how much for some sockets?", and then you're emailing back and forth before you can give a price.

A better form asks the things you'd ask on the phone anyway:

• The type of job, from a short list (a rewire, a new consumer unit, an EV charger, a fault, something else).
• Their postcode, so you know before anything else whether it's in your area.
• When they need it, because "as soon as possible" and "sometime next month" are different jobs for your diary.
• A few lines about the job, in their own words.

Photos are worth thinking about too. A picture of the old fuse board or the spot where they want a charger can tell you a lot before you go out. Letting people upload photos with the form is possible, but it's an integration, so I'd quote it on top. Asking for photos when you reply works just as well, and it keeps the form short. I'd keep the form to the questions that change what you say back, because every extra box is a reason for someone to give up halfway through.

Tell me the questions you always end up asking, and I'll build the form around them.

Tap to call on phones

Plenty of people would rather ring than fill in a form, especially if something's actually broken. Your number should be on every page, and on a phone it should be one tap to call, not something they have to copy and paste.

If you can't answer while you're up a ladder, that's fine. The form's there for the people who'd rather write it down.

Certificates, registrations and insurance

People want to know they're letting someone qualified into their house, so show whatever registrations, qualifications and insurance you hold. Put the name of each one, and if the scheme or body has a public register where people can look you up, link to it. That does more than a row of logos, because people can actually check it.

The honest part matters. Only show what you currently hold, and keep it up to date when something renews or changes. Some schemes have their own rules about how their logo can be used, so it's worth checking yours before it goes on the site. I'll put on what you give me and I won't add anything you haven't got.

Google Business Profile

Plenty of people find an electrician through Google Maps, not by visiting websites one by one. Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up there, with your reviews, your number and a link to your site.

It's not part of the website itself, so it's an add-on. For $99 I'll set up your profile and link it to the site. If you work from home, Google lets you hide your address and list the areas you serve instead, which suits most electricians.

Starter or Business?

For most electricians, Starter covers it. That's up to 5 pages, all sharing one layout, and it's plenty for your services, your areas, your credentials and a way to get in touch. Starter is from $999.

Business makes sense when you've got lots of services that each need a proper page, like rewires, EV chargers and commercial work each explained on its own. On Business every page is designed for its own job, and it's from $1,999. If you just want one or two extra pages on Starter, extra pages are $100 each.

If you're not sure, pick either. I'll tell you on the call which one fits, even if it's the cheaper one.

What to have ready

The quickest builds are the ones where the words and photos are ready. For an electrician that usually means:

• your list of services, even if it's rough
• the towns and areas you cover
• the registrations and insurance you want shown
• a few photos of your work, a tidy fuse board or a finished install
• your logo, if you've got one

It doesn't need to be perfect to start the conversation. If you'd rather I wrote the words, copywriting is $75 a page.

If you want to see what an electrician's site looks like with your choices on it, tick what yours needs and it'll show you which package it lands on.