Do I need a website for my lawn care and landscaping business? (The Answer Might Surprise You)

Key Considerations:
Should You Build a Website for Your Business?Need a website for your lawn care business? 

The answer may surprise you. While not essential for everyone, a well-crafted website can be a powerful tool for attracting clients, building credibility, and even increasing your business's value over time.

Let's explore why a well-crafted website might just be your most overlooked tool for success.

Why Websites are So Beneficial to Lawn Care And Landscaping Businesses

It’s no secret, that the internet is HUGE, and with good reason. As of 2022, 85% of Americans have access to the internet. And many of them use it every day. 

While word of mouth is still the best way to grow your business, many homeowners turn to the Internet when they need to find a new contractor. Such as someone to mow their lawn or maintain their landscape. 

And one great, and in most cases very affordable way to get in front of new customers, as well as to show that you are serious about your business is to build a website. But websites aren’t for every business. 

So should you build a website for your lawn care and landscaping business?

Take a look...

Here are some things to think about; are you:

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you should probably get a website. 

On the other hand, if you are simply looking to mow lawns as a side hustle temporarily, or you simply aren’t serious about the business. Then you probably don’t need a website, however, even then a website is likely a good idea. 

How many lawn care businesses have a website?

According to our research, about 49% of lawn care businesses have a website, and 51% do not. Which is perhaps one of the closest results we have ever seen in a poll. 

However, as the breakdown above shows that of those who do not yet have a website, about 40% have it on the to-do list. 

Shockingly over 25% of the businesses we polled did not have a website and did not intend to get one. However, that is likely because they don’t recognize the value of starting a website. And some simply rely on Facebook, but that's not a great idea. 

Here are 3 things lawn care pros without websites have likely missed...

 1. Websites Grow in Value Over Time 

Websites don’t only generate leads, if you build one well enough, and hold onto it. The site itself can grow in value over time. A semi-established (say 2-3 years old) lawn care website can easily sell for $2000, and the operating expense is typically less than $200 a year. And the value only goes up from there.

Of course, you also need to consider the cost of the initial design. But, you are building a website to pick up leads for your business. So that ad's value too. 

Pro Tip! You can start a website very easily with WordPress.org.

 2. Good Content Keeps Traffic Coming 

If you do build a website, I would avoid PPC or Pay Per Click advertising. Instead, invest in quality content that appeals to people in the niche you want to serve. 

Here’s the deal, while spending money on Google PPC may get you immediate leads. Investing in quality content will increase your website's presence and generate clicks for years with much fewer reoccurring costs.

It will also increase the value of your website, and give you a valuable asset that you can share on social media year after year. If you write the content well enough and focus on your local service area, your content will be more likely to be shared with people in your service area. 

 3. Websites Bring In A New Type of Client 

Look, a lot of us get stuck working for friends and family early on in our lawn care and landscaping career before we know all the insider secrets. While it can be helpful at first, this can be damaging to our businesses in the long run. And when your main avenue for new clients is word of mouth, you may still find that it's difficult to charge what you are worth because your current clients tell their neighbors what a great deal they are getting with you, and they expect the same deal. 

For example, "Hey you should hire Jeff's Lawn Care he only charges me $45 to mow, weed eat and blow my whole 1-acre property."

While you should learn how to raise rates on your clients it's not always easy, but with a website, you can bring in new clients that don't know your friends and family, or what you have been charging. This means you can feel more comfortable raising your rates, and over time, you can continue to raise them as your demand increases.

A website can be a great way for you to get the leverage you need to start charging clients what you are worth, but then again so can signing up for GreenPal as a Vendor!

Build Your Site Before Buying Ads

While some people find great success operating their business's online presence entirely on Facebook. In my experience, you would be better off building your own website first and paying for Facebook ads to promote your website rather than your Facebook page. 

You will never “own” your Facebook page, on the other hand, you can own your website. The same is true for any other social media platform you may want to market on. 

Use their platforms to grow your own, especially if you are paying them.

While Instagram may be a great place to kick up lawn care leads, by building your website's presence as part of your branding, you will be building a more direct connection with your audience. And you won’t as be dependent on other platforms to maintain that connection.

TL;DR

A website can be a powerful tool for lawn care and landscaping businesses to attract new clients, increase brand awareness, and even grow in value over time. It's particularly beneficial if you are looking to build a competitive company, sell your business one day, or raise your rates. However, if you're only doing lawn care temporarily or not serious about the business, a website may not be necessary.

While almost half of lawn care businesses don't have a website yet, many plan to get one due to the advantages it offers:

• Websites grow in value over time and can be sold later.
• Quality content attracts consistent traffic and leads over the long term.
• Websites bring in new clients who are willing to pay your rates.

Instead of solely relying on Facebook or other social media platforms, invest in your own website and use paid ads to drive traffic to it. This gives you control over your brand and builds a direct connection with your audience.