In today’s digital landscape, your website does more than represent your business—it works around the clock as your best salesperson. For home repair businesses in Belleville, IL and surrounding areas, a well-designed, high-performing website can be the difference between a steady stream of new leads or watching your competitors scoop them up. Yet many contractors unintentionally sabotage their own success with avoidable website mistakes. Here are the top five website issues holding back home repair companies in 2025—and how to fix them to boost bookings, calls, and customer trust.
Unoptimized Images That Slow Your Site and Kill SEO
The Mistake: Uploading high-resolution photos of your recent roofing jobs or HVAC installs might seem like a great way to show off your work. But if those images are not compressed or optimized for web use, they can drastically slow down your site. In 2025, this is a serious issue—Google now penalizes slow websites, especially on mobile devices, and over 53% of mobile users abandon a site that takes longer than three seconds to load.
Why It Hurts: Slow-loading pages frustrate visitors and lower your ranking in search results, costing your business up to 20% in potential leads.
The Fix: Compress images before uploading, use next-gen formats like WebP, and utilize lazy loading to keep your site running fast.
The Benefit: A fast website keeps visitors engaged, improves SEO, and leads to more calls and quote requests.
Weak or Confusing Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
The Mistake: Simply listing a phone number on your site isn’t enough to drive action. If you don’t guide users clearly—telling them exactly what action to take—they won’t follow through. CTAs like “Get Started” or “Learn More” are vague, while too many buttons on one page can overwhelm visitors.
Why It Hurts: Without clear direction, users bounce. In 2025, over 70% of home service leads come directly from users clicking strategic CTAs.
The Fix: Stick to one strong CTA per section, such as “Book a Free Estimate” or “Call Now for 24/7 Plumbing Repairs.” Use action-based language and place buttons in high-visibility spots.
The Benefit: More effective CTAs translate directly into more booked jobs and contact form submissions.
No HTTPS—Which Means No Trust
The Mistake: If your site isn’t secured with HTTPS (the padlock in the browser), you’re putting customer information at risk and sending a red flag to Google and users alike. Whether someone’s filling out a form for a water heater replacement or asking about roof repair, security is key.
Why It Hurts: In 2025, 85% of users avoid websites that don’t display the padlock, and Google downranks them in search results.
The Fix: Install an SSL certificate. Most hosting providers include it for free or offer it for a low annual fee.
The Benefit: A secure website builds immediate trust and supports your local SEO rankings—critical for businesses in Belleville, O’Fallon, and surrounding communities.
Ignoring Mobile Users with a Non-Responsive Design
The Mistake: If your website still looks great on a desktop but is hard to navigate on a phone, you’re pushing away the majority of your potential customers. In 2025, 60–70% of home repair website traffic comes from mobile devices, especially when emergencies strike and customers search “emergency plumber near me” or “roof repair Belleville.”
Why It Hurts: Poor mobile design leads to user frustration, lost leads, and lower rankings due to Google’s mobile-first indexing.
The Fix: Make sure your site uses a fully responsive design that adapts seamlessly to any screen size. Ensure text is readable, buttons are tappable, and navigation is intuitive on smartphones and tablets.
The Benefit: A mobile-friendly site improves user experience, ranks higher in local search, and attracts more emergency repair requests.
Letting Your Site Get Outdated and Stale
The Mistake: If you haven’t updated your website in months—or years—you’re not just losing visibility, you’re increasing security risks. In 2025, 40% of WordPress hacks happen because of outdated plugins and themes. Skipping regular content updates can hurt your SEO, as Google prioritizes websites that stay active and up to date.
Why It Hurts: An outdated site looks neglected and can become a target for cyber threats. Plus, customers may assume you’re no longer in business if your last blog post was from 2022.
The Fix: Keep your plugins and themes updated, and consistently add new content—like blog posts on topics such as “How to Prepare Your HVAC System for Winter in Belleville”—to boost engagement and improve your search rankings.
The Benefit: Fresh, secure content keeps customers engaged, builds authority, and encourages repeat business.
Why This Matters More Than Ever in 2025
In 2025, over 80% of homeowners research services online before reaching out. That makes your website the first and most important point of contact for potential customers. If it’s slow, confusing, or insecure, they’ll move on—often to a competitor with a more polished online presence. Worse, some web and SEO providers drop the ball—failing to renew domains, update sites, or follow through on promises. If your current provider isn’t proactive or transparent, it may be time to find a partner who understands how to keep your site live, secure, and working for you.
If you are looking to get a better website for your Belleville, IL home repair business, give Hometown Marketing Group a call today.
