Explain the process, the rebates you handle, and roughly what a system costs, because the customer is researching for months and comparing you against installers who explain none of it.

What the site is actually for

Somebody considering solar is making a decision measured in thousands of dollars over a period of months.

They will read a great deal before contacting anybody, visit your site several times, and compare you against three or four others.

So the site is not a lead form with photographs around it. It is the reference material somebody uses while deciding whether to do this at all.

The installer who explains the process clearly is frequently the one contacted, because explaining is the service being assessed.

The questions that arrive by phone

Each of those is a page. A site answering all six is doing most of the sales process before anybody makes contact, which is the point in a considered purchase.

Say something about cost

The hardest and most valuable page, and the one most installers omit.

Every system is different, which is true and is not a reason to publish nothing.

Give ranges tied to something a person can identify with: a typical smaller system, a typical mid-sized one, and what distinguishes them.

Explain what moves the number: roof complexity, electrical work, whether a panel upgrade is needed, access.

Somebody with no figure at all cannot tell whether this is a five thousand dollar decision or a forty thousand dollar one, and many will not make an enquiry to find out.

A range with honest caveats produces better enquiries and fewer wasted quotes, which is the commercial argument rather than a generosity one.

Explain the rebates rather than listing them

Because the incentive landscape is genuinely confusing and changes.

Federal and provincial programmes, utility arrangements, and loan schemes all exist, with different eligibility, and most customers cannot work out which apply to them.

Explain the ones relevant to your customers in plain terms: who qualifies, roughly what it is worth, and what the process involves.

Say clearly which parts you handle on the customer's behalf and which they do themselves, since that is a real differentiator and nobody publishes it.

Date the page and review it, because amounts and eligibility change and a stale rebate page is worse than none.

Where you are uncertain, link to the programme's own page rather than restating figures that may have moved.

A worked example

An installer had a site with photographs of completed installations, a paragraph about quality, and a contact form.

Enquiries were few and most asked what it would cost, meaning the first conversation was always the same one.

They added three pages: a cost page with ranges and what changes them, a rebate page explaining the programmes and which parts they handled, and a page describing the installation from first visit to switch-on.

Enquiry volume rose modestly and their character changed considerably, with people arriving having read the cost page and asking about their specific roof.

The proportion of quotes converting improved, because the people enquiring already knew the scale of the decision.

The pages took a week to write and replaced the same phone conversation they had been having for two years.

The roof question needs a page

Since it is the first thing a homeowner worries about and the easiest to answer partially.

Explain what makes a roof suitable: orientation, pitch, shading, age, and material.

Be honest about the cases that do not work well, which builds more credibility than claiming everything is suitable.

Mention roof age specifically, since installing on a roof due for replacement is a costly mistake and a customer who learns that from you trusts the rest.

Offer a preliminary assessment from an address and a photograph, which most installers can do quickly and which converts a browser into a conversation.

The long decision period changes the follow-up

A practical point that affects more than the site.

Somebody enquiring may buy in eighteen months, and an installer who quotes once and never follows up loses them to whoever is still present at the moment they decide.

Keep in contact without pressure: a short message when a programme changes, a note when prices move, an occasional case study.

That is a genuine use for a mailing list, since the audience has explicitly asked about a purchase they intend to make eventually.

Ask at enquiry when they are thinking of proceeding, and treat a distant answer as information rather than a rejection.

Photographs and monitoring data

What to show, since the work itself is not visually dramatic.

Completed installations on houses recognisably like the customer's, rather than large commercial arrays.

Local roofs, in local weather, since a customer wants evidence it works here rather than somewhere sunnier.

Real output figures from installed systems, with the month and the system size, which is the most persuasive material an installer has and almost nobody publishes.

Ask customers for permission to share their output, which most grant, and it is far more convincing than any claim about efficiency.

The counter-case

Not every installer needs all of this.

A business working mainly through referrals from builders, or subcontracting to larger firms, has a different customer and may need very little public material.

Publishing costs also has a real downside where your pricing is above the market, and a business competing on service rather than price should think about how it presents that.

And rebate pages carry a maintenance obligation that a small operation may not keep up with, in which case linking out is safer than restating.

Explain the process, give a range, be honest about unsuitable roofs, and show real output from local installations.

What to build first

  1. A cost page with ranges and what changes them.
  2. A rebate page, dated, saying what you handle.
  3. The process, first visit to switch-on.
  4. A roof suitability page, including the poor cases.
  5. Real output figures from local systems.
  6. Photographs of houses like the customer's.
  7. A way to stay in touch for eighteen months.

Step one does the most, since a customer with no figure cannot tell what kind of decision this is and a large share will never enquire to find out.

The equivalent for a related trade is covered in what an HVAC company website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What is a solar site actually for?

Reference material somebody uses while deciding over months. They read a great deal before contacting anybody and compare several installers, so explaining is the service being assessed.

Should I publish costs?

Yes, as ranges tied to identifiable system sizes with what changes them. Somebody with no figure cannot tell whether this is a five thousand or forty thousand dollar decision.

How should I handle rebates?

Explain the programmes relevant to your customers in plain terms, say which parts you handle for them, date the page, and link out rather than restating figures that may move.

What should the roof page say?

Orientation, pitch, shading, age, and material, including the cases that do not work well. Mentioning roof age specifically builds credibility for everything else.

What is the most persuasive material?

Real output figures from installed local systems, with the month and system size. Almost nobody publishes them and most customers grant permission when asked.

How does the long decision period change things?

Somebody enquiring may buy in eighteen months, so staying in contact without pressure matters. Ask when they plan to proceed and treat a distant answer as information.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Every first call about cost?

Publish ranges with what changes them. It raises enquiry quality more than it costs you in negotiating position.

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