September 12, 2022

Most remodelers are so busy that they forget to refresh their marketing image for the prospects arriving next week, next month and next year. The principle of not judging a book by its cover is outdated. The reality is, people do judge a book by its cover, especially when your competition looks better than you. Take a moment to refresh your image in these simple steps, which do not all have to be done at the same time.

Your Home Page Needs to Shine

Your website’s main page needs to show the best of who you are. Statistics always show the home page is the top-visited web page when people are learning about you. Ensure the images on this page are simply the best work you have done. Perhaps you have used these images elsewhere within your marketing campaigns, but they must be presented immediately when someone visits your website. All you need to do is simply go to your competitors’ websites and compare your home page to theirs, and then ask yourself who looks better.

Simultaneously Update Your Social Pages

Now that you have organized the images for your home page updates, you can easily use the opportunity to take these best images and place them on your Facebook page, Instagram page and even Google My Business account. It only takes seconds to make a first impression, so use these best images to show the world the best of who you are, regardless if someone is visiting your business website or social media pages.

Choose Any Service to Make It Look Up to Date

Many firms have more than one remodeling service segment in their business, such as kitchens, baths and perhaps even outdoor-living remodeling. Choose just one service and decide what images on the Kitchen Remodeling page are outdated and need to be replaced, or perhaps should be deleted all together. Normally, this is harder than it sounds since so many remodelers do not have their images organized well.

Finding your best photos can sometimes be a daunting task when going through hundreds of individual images. But it is well worth the effort. And do not forget to rename your files to something a search engine would understand. Google would much rather see a filename like “Kitchen Remodel with Granite Countertop.jpg” as opposed to “img_0317.jpg.” In addition to having a pretty picture, the objective is to teach the search engines what those images mean. Find your best images and rename them before tackling anything else.

It’s Not Just Images that Need Refreshing

After you know which pictures will be on your Kitchen Remodeling page, organize their sequence; which will display be first, second, third, etc. After you settle on the order of the images, you need to review the text of the Kitchen Remodeling webpage to ensure the story flows with the images. Many times the words on the page become obsolete or irrelevant when the images are changed. Only after you have refreshed your Kitchen Remodeling webpage is it smart to move on to another service segment, such as bathroom remodeling. Do not overwhelm yourself since most remodelers will not do a good job when trying to tackle more than one service webpage at a time.

Do Not Procrastinate

Too many people like to schedule this refresh task for holiday breaks or slower times, and that is the wrong strategy. Your next potential customer will have no idea when your website was last refreshed. It is best to just ask yourself if a particular page represents the best of who you are. If the answer is no, then make it an action item to refresh the webpage.

Your marketing is an ongoing resume that continues to grow. Show your next prospect the best of who you are. Be proud when a future customer judges the book by its cover – especially when it is 101% exactly accurate about your business.

—By Brian Javeline, president of MyOnlineToolbox, an industry leader for online marketing education and strategy planning

Photo: Modern Homestead, Boulder, Colo.