Are you a log home restoration contractor going out on your own? Or maybe your website needs a refresh and isn’t up to snuff anymore.
Whether you’re going the route of a one-page brochure style website or a full-on website with a multi-page website with services pages, a blog, and a project gallery, you’ll want to include these features in your website to attract the right clients and be able to charge what you’re worth.
1. Craftsmanship Matters: Use High-Quality Visuals
Building and restoring log homes isn’t cheap, and neither are your services. You’re working day in and day out on people’s dream homes, and your visuals should reflect the quality of your craftsmanship and work. After all, you wouldn’t use shoddy materials to restore a home, so don’t use low-quality images on your website.
Take high-quality photos and videos of your projects. You can do this on your phone or hire a professional videographer or photographer. A day’s worth of photos and videos can pay dividends over the course of a year.
The video above will help you set your iPhone’s camera settings to capture the best possible quality photos and videos. Don’t have an iPhone? Check out the Pro Tip below.
Pro Tip:Shoot in Camera RAW format which has a better dynamic range, is higher resolution, and is more forgiving. Learn how to change your iPhone settings here or do your own seach on YouTube for “taking high quality photos on your phone.”
2. Showcase Your Work
Your customers are making a significant investment by spending money on your services. They want to know you’re someone with experience and know they’re in good hands. Showing your work lets them know you’ve been there and done that before. Through compelling visuals, they’ll be able to see themselves working with you on their log home project. So how do you do that?- Show your process. Take your clients behind the scenes and show them what you do and why you do it. You’ll educate them, and they’ll value your services more.
- Drone footage, walkthroughs, or walkarounds give your clients an immersive experience and the sense of being on-site. It also gives you a chance to explain what you did and why you did it.
- Before and after photos. Sprinkle these throughout your website or build a project gallery. It’ll give your customers hope about their project and show your skills and craftsmanship.
- Create visual interest. Use sliders, image carousels, or image grids to showcase your projects.
- Provide Context: Remember to include captions or descriptions with your visuals on the challenges you faced on a project and how you overcame them.
- Downloads: Create a downloadable brochure that your clients can save and reference later. You can use it at trade shows or as a leave-behind during client meetings.
I did NOT design this website, but it’s a great example of stand out graphics and placing your call to action front and center. I love their interactive map feature.
3. Navigation: Make It Easy
This isn’t the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, with staircases to nowhere, hallways that weave, and unfinished rooms. We want your audience to find what they need when they need it and have a direct path to the information they’re looking for.
- Clear CTA: Every page on your website should have a clear call to action (CTA) to request a free estimate or contact you. Place your CTA in multiple locations to give your user multiple chances to click. This will also make it clear what the next step is to get their project started with you.
- Here are a few places you can place your CTA:
- Your navigation bar.
- As a floating button at the bottom of the page
- In your main image.
- Here are a few places you can place your CTA:
- Mobile responsive: Your website needs to be easy to navigate on a phone or tablet, not just a desktop computer.
- Logical Menu Names: Make your menu clear and concise. This isn’t the time to get cutesy. Label your services, services. If you provide log rot restoration, label your sub-menu log rot restoration. This will help your search engine rankings as well.
4. Who Are You? Tell Your Story
What makes you different than other log home builders or contractors?
- Is it your experience? Have you been in business for over 30 years?
- Do you specialize in chinking log homes?
- Are you a family-run business with multiple generations?
- Are you the only log media blasting company in your area?
- Do you offer blower door tests and thermography?
- Have you attended Sashco’s Zero Failures seminar? Or any additional training or certifications?
- Are you a member of the Log Home and Timber Council?
- Are you a specialist in energy efficiency and sustainable building practices?
Figure out what makes you different from your competition and build that into your website.
Your About page or section should include:
- Your company’s mission
- Experience
- Values
- Certifications
- Service Area
I did NOT design this website, but I hope it serves as inspiration for your website design. Wayne and the folks at Log Home Care do an excellent job with their branding and visuals. They also have a project gallery where log homeowners can look for inspiration and get ideas for their log home. The video clips incorporated throughout show the value their services bring and how much work and care they put into each home.
5. Educate Your Customers with a Blog
If you have the budget or manpower, I suggest creating a resources section or blog. This is a place where you can share your expertise on your services. It will educate your customers and help them make the best decisions on caring for and restoring their log homes. It will also help you get found online for the services you provide.
Here are some content ideas to get you started:
- Log home maintenance tips
- FAQs, what are common questions you field all the time.
- Customer success stories
- Go in-depth on your services
- Log Rot repair process
- How to avoid log rot
- Oil Stain vs. Water-based Stain
- What to Look for in a Log Contractor
- Design Consideration for Your Log Home
- Pest Prevention
- Products you work with and why
Many content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and SquareSpace already make it easy to build a blog your own.
Pro Tip: Use the content from your blogs to post on social media later to get more bang for your buck on your content. Learn how to save time and money by repurposing your content here.
6. Easy-to-Find Contact Information
Make your contact information easy to find and list it front and center. You can list your information a few different ways, whether you have a brochure or multi-page website. Include your phone number, email, and business address—
- Highlight in a page section
- List your email or phone number in the navigation bar.
- Footer section
- Contact page
I did NOT design this website, but I work closely with Dustin on his social media and I love the floating call to action button that follows you around on his website in the lower right corner. Log and Timber Solutions does a great job with their content marketing consistently posting relevant and timely blog posts that address customer needs.
7. Where Do You Work? Your Service Area
Include a static or interactive map of the areas you service. This can be placed on the home page, and you could dedicate a whole page to it.
8. Social Proof! Testimonials and Client Reviews
People tend to go with popular opinion. As much as we like to think we beat our own drum, we put stock into what others think. Social proof says, “If it worked for them, it would work for me.” That’s why testimonials and reviews hold such power.
You can take advantage of this by listing:
- Testimonials (video or text)
- Reviews (from Google, Yelp, or Nextdoor)
- Showcasing before and after photos
- Taking photos of happy customers with their finished log homes
10. Getting Found: Optimize Your Website
Even though you can’t see it, you’ll need to optimize your website for keywords and make sure it loads fast so your customers don’t go somewhere else. Include metadata and alt text. Use titles and their structure to let the search engines know the hierarchy of the most important. Learn more about optimizing your website in our Design Your Website to Rank Higher with Google article.
These may seem like no-brainers, but also remember to:
- Get an SSL Certification
- Register for a custom domain name and get an email that matches.
- Use a domain that reflects your business and brand (e.g., YourLogHomeBusiness.com).
The Takeaway
When it comes to building or refreshing your website, it should speak for you when you’re not there and act as an educational resource for your clients, helping them make better decisions about building and caring for their log home.
Make sure to include high-quality visuals, showcase your experience and projects, and testimonials to build trust. Clearly state your services and make navigating easy so your audience can find the information they need without hunting for it.
Remember to include strong calls to action so your customers know exactly what steps to take next to complete their project.
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