Six things. Three jobs. Check your own site against them tonight.
This is your guide. Every part has the same five steps: what it is, why it matters, how to check your own site, how to fix it yourself, and when to hand it to Mike. Open your site on your phone and go part by part.
None of this promises a call. It makes your site clearer for the people already looking for you.
Your name, your town and “septic pumping” before anyone scrolls. The towns you really serve, one per line.
1. Who, where, what
What it is
Your company name, your town and the words "septic pumping," at the very top of your home page.
Why it matters
Someone with a backed-up drain wants three answers fast: who you are, whether you work near them, and whether you pump tanks. Put all three where they land.
Check your own site
Open your site on your phone. Don't scroll. Can you see your company name, your town and “septic pumping”? Then hand your phone to someone who doesn't know your business. After three seconds, ask them what you do and where.
Fix it yourself
Write one headline: what you do, then where. Example: "Septic pumping in Your Town, MD."
Put it at the very top of your home page, above everything else.
Put your company name beside it. A logo is fine if the name is easy to read.
Put your phone number next to it.
Look again on your phone.
When to hand it to Mike
If you can't change the top of your page, or you don't know who can, text me.
2. Your towns
What it is
A list of the towns you really serve, one per line.
Why it matters
Naming a town tells that neighbor you come out there. A closer shop can still win that town. Name it anyway if you'll drive there.
Check your own site
Find the towns on your site. Is every one a town you'll drive to? Is a town you'll drive to missing? Then open your Google listing and look at its service area. Do the two lists match?
Fix it yourself
On paper, write every town you'll drive to. Leave off the ones you won't.
Put the list on your site, one town per line.
Open your Google listing and find the service area. Make it match your list.
Check it on your phone.
When to hand it to Mike
If your site only lets you write one big block of text, or Google won't save your changes, text me.
Trusted Parts 3 and 4
Your reviews on the page, word for word. Your truck and your name, with hours that match Google.
3. Your reviews
What it is
Your customers' reviews, on your site, word for word.
Why it matters
Your customers say it better than you can. Use their words, not yours.
Check your own site
Does your site show real reviews in the customer's own words? Do they match what people see on your Google listing?
Fix it yourself
Open your Google listing. Pick three good reviews. Copy each one exactly as written. Don't change a word.
Put them on your site with the name shown on Google.
Ask every customer for a review, not only the happy ones. Give nothing in return. Google's review rules say the same.
In your Google listing, look for the option to ask for reviews. It gives you a link to send. Google moves its buttons around, so if you can't find it, text me.
After each job, send that link or hand over a card with it.
If you have no reviews yet, text me. I won't make any up.
4. Your truck and name
What it is
A real photo of your truck, your name, and hours that match your Google listing.
Why it matters
A real truck and a real name tell people who they're calling. Hours that don't match Google make people wonder which one is right.
Check your own site
Is the photo your truck, not a stock picture? Can you read your name on it? Do the hours on your site match the hours on Google?
Fix it yourself
Take a photo of your truck in daylight, parked somewhere clean, with your name showing. Hold the phone sideways.
Put it near the top of your site.
Write your hours exactly as they are on your Google listing. If they're wrong in one place, fix both.
Don't set 24 hours unless you pick up at 2 a.m. Google asks for the hours you really keep.
Make sure the phone number on your listing rings you.
When to hand it to Mike
If the photo won't upload, or you can't change your hours on Google, text me.
Reached Parts 5 and 6
A call button that stays in reach. A second door for the pump-out that's just due.
5. Call button
What it is
A button that dials your number with one tap, and stays in reach as people scroll.
Why it matters
Backed up at 10 pm? One tap. No hunt for your number.
Check your own site
On your phone, tap your number. Does it start a call? Scroll to the bottom. Is a call button still in reach? Then call your number from another phone. Does it ring you?
Fix it yourself
Make your phone number tappable. Most site editors have a "phone link" or "click to call" option.
Put a call button at the top. On phones, keep one in reach at the bottom too.
Pick a callback time you can keep.
Record your voicemail: "This is [name] at [company]. I'm on a job. Leave your number and where the tank is. I'll call you back by [time]."
Call back every missed call the same day.
When to hand it to Mike
If your editor has no way to make a number tappable, or you want a button that stays in reach on phones, text me.
6. Two doors
What it is
Two ways in. A problem calls. A pump-out that's due sends a request.
Why it matters
Someone with a backup wants to talk to a person now. Someone who is just due may not want to phone. Each one gets the right door.
Check your own site
Can someone who is just due ask for a pump-out without phoning? Where does that request go? Test it. Send one yourself and see who gets it.
Fix it yourself
Add a short request form: name, phone, address or town, and a line on what's going on. Four boxes, no more.
Send the requests to an email or phone you check every day.
Put a line near the form: "Something wrong? Call."
Send a test request and make sure it arrives.
Open your invoice book. Find customers pumped a few years ago. Write down each name, number and the month of the last pump.
Send each one a postcard, or call: "Your tank was last pumped in [month, year]. Want a date on the schedule?" A few a week is plenty. If someone says stop, stop.
When to hand it to Mike
If you want the form to land on your phone, text me.
Put your site up yourself
Want the sample's files to start from? Text Mike and he'll send them, no charge.
This is for you, or whoever does your computer stuff. You don't need to be technical for the first option.
What you need
A folder of files. The file named index.html is the home page. The rest are pictures, a style file and a few small helper files. Keep them together in the same folder, exactly as I send them. If you only move one file, the page will look broken.
Change these first
Open the files in any plain text editor (Notepad, or TextEdit in plain-text mode) and change:
Your hours.
Your services. Keep the ones you do. Delete the ones you don't.
Your photos. Swap in your own trucks, crew and jobs, with the same file names, so nothing else has to change.
Then open index.html in your browser and look it over. Check your phone number and town while you're there.
Three ways to put it online
1. Netlify Drop (the easiest). Go to app.netlify.com/drop and drag the whole folder, or a zip of it, onto the page. You get a live web address in seconds. If it asks you to make an account to keep the site, make one. The site disappears after a short while if you don't. To update later, open the site's Deploys page and drag the changed folder on again.
2. Your current website host's file manager. If you already pay for hosting, log in and open its file manager. Open the folder your site lives in. Upload everything from your folder there, then take out any old home page that is in the way. Your host's help page has the exact button names.
3. Vercel (for whoever does your computer stuff). Vercel is built for people comfortable with code. It usually works from a Git repository or its command-line tool, not a dragged-in folder. Skip it unless your computer person already uses it.
Connect your own domain
Your domain is the name people type, like yourcompany.com. Whichever host you pick, look for a section named Domains or Domain settings and add your domain there. The host gives you one or two settings to copy. Then log in where you bought the domain and paste them into its DNS settings. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a day or two to start working. The host's own help page walks through it.
Heads up: if your domain points at an old site now, this switches it over. Write down the old settings before you change anything, and keep a copy of your old site.
If it gets stuck
Text or call Mike: 240-210-9140. Or I handle it: $750 to build, half to start and half at launch, then $150 a month, cancel any time. Your domain stays yours. See what happens next.
Tell me what missed
What would have made this worth your time?
Short answers are fine. A one-word text helps.
Got a minute more?
Did anything not land, feel off, or get something wrong?
