The general contractor website checklist
A general contractor's website needs to show an owner's representative four things before an interview: projects like the one at hand, the people who would run it, proof the firm is busy, and a way to reach someone. This checklist tests the site with fifteen yes-or-no checks and gives the order to fix what fails.
Why it matters
What an owner's representative checks before the interview
An owner's representative looks up each firm on the shortlist before the interview. The review takes a few minutes, often on a phone between meetings. The representative looks for work like the project at hand and for the people who would run it. The site also has to show that the firm is busy and current. The firm does not hear that the review happened or how it went.
General contractors are shortlisted on relationships, such as a past project together or a referral from an architect. Between the shortlist and the interview, someone the owner pays to be skeptical checks the firm online. The website has one job at that point. It should confirm what the relationship promised and leave no question the firm has to answer cold in the interview room.
A weak site costs credibility quietly. A newest project photo that is eight years old goes unmentioned, and so does a leadership page that still shows a retired partner. The firm walks into the interview with less credibility than the relationship earned, or the interview is never scheduled.
Treat the site the way you would treat a jobsite the week before an owner walk-through. Walk it yourself first and write down the deficiencies. Then fix them in priority order, the way a punch list gets worked.
Checklist
Check your own site in fifteen steps
Count one point for each yes. The checks take about ten minutes with the site open on a phone, which is how the owner's representative will see it.
First impression
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1
The homepage shows its main content within 2.5 seconds on a phone using cell service. Google's Core Web Vitals treat 2.5 seconds as a good load time.
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2
A photograph of a finished project is the first thing on the homepage, above any logo wall or mission statement.
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3
The homepage states the markets you build in using plain words, such as healthcare, K-12, industrial or multifamily.
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4
The site uses no stock photos, including handshakes and hard hats resting on blueprints.
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5
Something on the site has changed in the last ninety days, such as a new project or a new hire.
The owner review
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6
Each project page states the type, size, location and delivery method, so a stranger can judge fit quickly.
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7
Leadership is named and shown in photographs. The people who would sit in the interview appear on the site.
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8
The site names the person who owns safety and describes the safety program in specifics.
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9
Self-perform capabilities are stated. If you pour your own concrete or frame your own walls, the site says so.
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10
Anything published about bonding capacity or licensure is current.
Follow-through
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11
The contact page lists a direct email address for a named person. A form that feeds an unwatched inbox fails this check.
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12
Someone owns that inbox and answers within one business day, and the office knows who that person is.
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13
The careers page is current and lists only positions that are open.
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14
The photography on the site comes from your own jobsites, and a superintendent could name each one.
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15
A search for the firm by name finds you first, with the correct address and phone number everywhere your name appears.
Priorities
Fix what failed in this order
Photograph real work first. New photography changes an owner's impression of the site quickly. It closes the homepage photo check and the stock photo check, and it supplies the project pages. Book one day with a professional photographer on two active jobsites and two finished buildings before you touch anything else. Owners trust a photograph of a finished, occupied building because it shows what the firm delivered.
Rewrite the project pages second, because the owner's representative reads them closely. Give the type, size, location and delivery method, then a few sentences about what was hard and how the team handled it. Write for a skeptical reader with four minutes, and lead with the markets you want more of.
Build the people pages third. The owner is hiring a team for the length of the project. A team shown with names and project histories is easier to choose.
Fix speed and the phone layout last. A slow site loses readers before they see anything, so this work still matters. The first three items change the owner's decision more, and a fast site full of stock photos still fails the review.
Questions and answers
Questions general contractors ask
What should a general contractor website include?
A general contractor website should include project pages that state the type, size, location and delivery method of each job. The homepage should name the markets the firm builds in. The site should also show named leadership with photographs, the safety program, self-perform capabilities, and a direct way to reach a person who answers within a business day. An owner's representative verifies these items before an interview.
Do general contractors need marketing if work comes from relationships?
Yes. Relationships get a contractor shortlisted, and the website is where the shortlist gets checked. Before an owner's representative calls, they have read the firm's project pages and compared it with the other firms on the list. Marketing for a general contractor makes sure that review confirms what the relationship promised.
What photos should a construction company use?
Use photographs of your own jobsites and finished buildings, with your own crews in them. Stock photos appear on a lot of contractor websites, and an owner's representative recognizes them. One day of professional photography on two active sites and two finished buildings gives a contractor enough images for the whole site.
What does general contractor marketing cost?
Old Plank Group marketing retainers start at $8,500 a month, with no hourly billing. A contractor who only needs a website gets one fixed price, quoted after a conversation about what the site has to do.
Old Plank Group builds websites for contractors.
Your own staff can close each check on this list if someone has the time to own it. If you want it handled for you, we build the website and shoot the jobsite photography. Send a note and we answer within one business day.