Your Solar Website: 8 Tips for Improving Your Cyber Calling Card

If there’s one thing that really bugs me beyond home made DIY solar panel kits, it’s home made solar installer websites.

As a business friend said to me years ago when I wore the wrong tie to a meeting, “Fred, you can only make one first impression.” He was right.

These days, your most important low hanging first impression marketing and PR fruit is not your business card or a standard uniform, but your website. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that if you have to choose between a snappy business card and a well designed website, please scribble your website on the back of a paper cocktail napkin with left over chili stains from lunch. To me, your website is your modern calling card, store front, and public relations representative.

I’m talking mainly about small solar PV and solar hot water companies here, although I have to say that the big guys can also overplay their hand as well. Think of your website like a home. A cyber home. Look at that photo above. It's kind of cool and funky, but... would you sit down for 5 minutes and learn about solar in that kind of house? That's what some of your websites look like to me.

To help, here are my 8 Tips to Improve your Solar Website.

#1. Hire a pro. You don’t have to pay attention to the other 7 if you do this one thing, but I’m going to put it out there anyway. Yes, a pro is going to cost you some money upfront, but believe me, he or she will be worth it. If you hire a pro, you will also look like a pro when people read that cocktail napkin and look up your website. Suddenly, they’ll forgive the cocktail napkin and believe that this solar installer knows what he or she is doing.

(A bit off topic, but in some ways, I hate to reveal this advice. Often, it’s the poorly trained, grossly inexperienced installers that have the worst websites too. Bad websites may be nature’s way of scaring away good customers from the inexperienced roofers trying to make a quick solar buck. That being said, if you're just starting in solar, then follow this adivce, but don't "fake it til you make it." Do your best to get as educated as you can and eventually certified. Did someone say, NABCEP?.)

#2 Find a Gifted Web Design Student. Let’s say you’re a pro installer with NABCEP certification with an unfortunate sense of marketing and presentation. Go on CraigsList.com and advertise yourself in the “gig” section looking for a web designer. You’d be surprised how many people are eager to do your web design for free. Why? Because they can use your site as an example for people that can actually pay them. These people don’t even have to be in your town or state. In fact, I would recommend listing your notice in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, or perhaps Rhode Island, where a lot of talented art and web design students are still being supported by college loans and their parents. They will probably also be attracted to your solar theme.

#3 Incorporate a blog. I’m going to repeat my three part series of posts about why you should all be blogging your hearts out about solar. If you haven't read it, start with “Solar Blog or Die, Part 1” and read the subsequent ones. Bottom line, a blog sets you up as an authority, and really, isn’t that what you are? Then don’t hide it. Use it.

#4 Keep it simple, solar people. Whether you hired a pro for big bucks or a gifted armature, don’t make bunch of web pages that are repetitive or give too much information that will confuse those solar consumers. If you start talking about the history of the sun and the physics of how it reaches the solar panels and gets turned into electrons with monocrystalline yada, yada, engineering geeks will kiss your work boots, but most minds will start to wander and think about what’s for lunch.

#5 These should be your basic pages. Now, I’m not a web designer, but me thinks that if you have these basic pages, you'll do well enough. The pages are:

a) Home Page with a brief welcome message that says you install solar PV (electric) and/or hot water systems in your area. Mention the years you’ve been in the solar business, if it’s significant. Mentioning your town or city with the word "solar" is very important for search engine optimization (SEO). But let's not get into that.

b) About Us Page. This is where you put a smiling face of the owner and crew. It would be great if they could all be wearing the same shirt with your logo on it, but I digress. Aside from the smiling picture, give a paragraph about why you’re in the solar business. If you say money and a great tan, think harder. Better to talk about the environment, energy independence, and trying to help people save on their utility bill while going green. If you’ve got any certifications or affiliations like NABCEP, here’s the place to list them either in the paragraph or in bullet points at the end if you’ve got a long list. Good for you, if that’s the case.

c) FAQ. A FAQ page or “Frequently Asked Questions” page is going to include the questions and answers of the questions that people ask you the most, obviously. One of those questions, if not the first, is going to be cost. Now you and I know that this is not an easy question, but people still insist that you ball park it. I would answer that it depends on a lot of factors, including your energy use, type of roof, etc, but yes, give a wide ranging ball park figure. As little as…. for a small (don’t be specific) system, to as much as…. for a (don’t be specific) large system. Keep these hi-low figures updated as solar panel prices continue to plummet. Have up to 9 other frequently asked questions. Remember, keep it simple.

d) Your contact page. Here, include all of your contact info: phone, email, address, mailing address, contractor’s license. If you've got press releases or notices in the news, list them here.

e) Your Happy Customer Page. Again, if you have a blog, you can incorporate this aspect into that, but even if you can barely spell, put up a photo of every successful install with a happy customer or family smiling in front. This perhaps is more important than anything written anywhere else, because customers don’t see these people smiling in front of their solar house. They actually picture themselves smiling in front of that house or imagine their own house.

f) How Solar Works Page. Here’s where you buy or have a generic diagram or schematic of the solar system. That’s really all you need. You might also include a simple explanation of your local net metering and how it substitutes for having a battery, while saving you money. “Contact us for more information about net metering.”

#6 Stay the heck away from solar calculators. If you’ve somehow answered the how much question earlier, don’t put in a solar calculator. They confuse people that don’t know anything about solar, first of all. Second, they’re filled with default parameters that are accurate for a small number of people. And again, since we all know that every install is different, why frustrate people when they learn that the price is actually less or that it was not as rock bottom as they thought? If you want a page about costs, list the local incentives and rebates. Don’t add it up, just list them. The 30% tax credit, plus the per-watt discount or lump sum offered, and any other local tax incentives. You might say, “These combined rebates can cut your net installed costs in half or more. Call for a free quote and site assessment.”

#7 Be Honest, Accurate, and Clear. Whoever writes your material, make sure he or she knows what they’re talking about and that they can spell and construct an easy to read sentence. Proof read every word. (Remember the first impression rule.) As for your content, don’t exaggerate. You will look like a solar used car salesman if you promise too much and don’t deliver.

#8 Infuse your brand and personality into the words and design. Your web design should not be generic. It should be clean and simple, but it should encompass your “personality.” It should be a reflection of not only who you are, but also the customers that you want to attract. There’s an art to all of that, and it means thinking creatively with words as well as design and images.

Those are the basics, but there are many more details and other considerations. But if you at lease interpret these 8 tips for you and your business, it will be worth it.

Thanks. Unthink Solar.

Tor Valenza aka “Solar Fred” is a solar industry consultant and partner at solar referral service, SolarPowerRocks.com. You can contact him through RenewableEnergyworld.com and follow him on Twitter @SolarFred.

photo:Flickr/McMorr