A website that books jobs.
Not just one that looks nice.
Fast, mobile-first, server-rendered websites that you own outright. Built on Next.js with a CMS you can edit without a developer. The average contractor website converts at 2 to 4%. Optimized home service sites in emergency trades like plumbing and pest control reach 12 to 16%. In March 2026, Google lowered its LCP passing threshold from 2.5 seconds to 2.0 seconds and elevated INP to an equal ranking signal: sites that previously passed Core Web Vitals dropped into the failing zone overnight, and sites above 2.5 seconds saw ranking drops of 2 to 4 positions on competitive queries. AI website builders like Durable, Wix AI, and Framer generate single-page applications that fail these benchmarks and include no structured data. We build for the high end because every element is designed around one thing: turning visitors into booked jobs.
Your current website is costing you jobs.
Most home service websites are slow, outdated, and impossible to update without calling your “web guy.” That’s not a website. It’s a liability.
Your site, built right, in three steps.
We handle the build. You handle the business.
Custom design
We design your site around your brand, your services, and how your customers actually search. Visitors decide within 5 seconds whether to stay or bounce. Your phone number and a booking button appear above the fold before any scrolling. Your service, your city, and why you're the right call are visible at a glance. CTAs above the fold convert 304% better than those below it, and centered CTAs generate up to 682% more clicks than off-center ones. Keyword-matched CTAs, where the button text mirrors what the visitor searched for, convert 87% better than generic buttons like “Call Us” or “Get a Quote.” No templates. No cookie cutters.
Modern build
Built on Next.js and deployed to a global CDN. Server-rendered pages that hit a sub-2.0-second Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and sub-200ms Interaction to Next Paint (INP) on mobile: the two benchmarks Google elevated to equal ranking signals in its March 2026 core update. LCP, INP, and CLS are Google’s three Core Web Vitals. Google’s March 2026 update lowered the LCP passing threshold from 2.5 to 2.0 seconds, dropping most contractor websites from passing to failing zones overnight. 43% of all websites still fail the 200ms INP threshold in 2026. Most contractor websites, including sites built on AI website builders like Durable and Wix AI, fail both benchmarks because they use JavaScript-heavy rendering that delays content on mobile. LocalBusiness, Service, and FAQ schema built in from day one so Google and AI search engines understand exactly what you do and where you do it.
You own it
Your domain, your code, your content. Edit anything through a visual CMS without touching a line of code. If you ever leave, you take every file, every page, and your full domain history with you.
Built for speed, search, and conversions.
Every feature exists for one reason: turning visitors into booked jobs.
Sub-second load times
Server-rendered pages on a global CDN. Your site loads before they finish blinking.
Mobile-first design
Designed for the phone first, then scaled up. Not the other way around.
Visual CMS editing
Change text, swap images, add services, all from a visual editor. No code required.
SEO-ready structure
Semantic HTML plus LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, and Speakable schema built in from day one. Content with proper structured data markup has a 2.5 times higher chance of appearing in AI-generated answers. Everything Google, voice assistants, and AI search engines need to read, rank, and cite your business.
Booking widget and chat built in
Online scheduling and AI-powered chat embedded directly into your site. Customers book or ask questions at any hour. Visitors who engage with chat are 2.8 times more likely to convert than those who only see a form. Multi-step booking forms produce 86% higher completion rates than equivalent single-step forms: the first step asks for the service type, the second captures contact details, and the sunk cost of the first step carries most visitors through to submission.
Analytics dashboard
See exactly where your traffic comes from, which pages convert, and what’s driving booked jobs. Heat map and session replay tools show where visitors click, scroll, and drop off so you can identify exactly which page elements to fix to recover lost leads without spending more on ads.
Enterprise infrastructure
Vercel hosting, Cloudflare CDN, auto-provisioned SSL. The same stack used by Fortune 500 companies.
You own everything
Your domain. Your code. Your content. If you leave, it all goes with you. No hostage situations.
Included in your plan.
See which plans include Websites.
Custom website included in every plan.
Common questions.
How long does it take to build my website?
Most websites launch in 2–3 weeks. We handle design, development, and deployment. You review and approve at each stage.
Do I really own my website?
Yes. You own your domain, your code, and your content. If you ever leave 73 Labs, everything goes with you. No hostage situations. Before signing with any web agency, ask these three questions: who owns the domain, who can access the source code, and what happens to the site if you stop paying. If the answers are unclear, walk away.
What happens to my website if I leave my current web agency?
It depends entirely on who owns the assets. Verify three things before you switch: who registered the domain name, who holds the hosting credentials and source code, and whether your current CMS allows you to export your content. If the agency registered your domain in their account, they control it. Common tactics include requiring a transfer fee, changing the domain registrant email without telling you, or building on a proprietary platform with no code export so the design can’t move at all. The safest approach when switching is to have your new site built and ready before the old agency knows you’re leaving. With 73 Labs, you own your domain from day one, you have full access to the codebase, and everything runs on open infrastructure. There is nothing to negotiate when you leave because you already own everything.
Can I edit the site myself?
Yes. Every site comes with a visual CMS (content management system). Change text, swap images, add services, update your hours. No developer needed for day-to-day changes.
What technology is the site built on?
Next.js with server-side rendering, deployed to Vercel with Cloudflare CDN. The same infrastructure used by Fortune 500 companies, built and optimized for home service businesses. Structured data is built in from the first line of code: LocalBusiness schema confirms your name, address, hours, and services in machine-readable format. Service schema describes each individual service and the area you cover. FAQPage schema marks up your FAQ content so Google and voice assistants can pull direct answers to specific questions. Speakable schema identifies which sections of your content are optimized for text-to-speech readback by Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa. AggregateRating schema embeds your star rating directly in search results before anyone clicks through. Content with proper structured data has a 2.5 times higher chance of appearing in AI-generated answers than unstructured pages. All five schema types are built into every site we deliver.
Do I need a separate page for each service I offer?
Yes. A single page listing all your services ranks for almost nothing. Google needs a dedicated URL for “AC repair,” a separate URL for “furnace installation,” and individual content for each. Home service businesses with individual service pages rank for 3–5x more keywords than businesses with a single catch-all services page. Every service you offer should have its own URL, its own content, and its own call to action.
Do I need location pages if I serve multiple cities?
Yes, and what is on them matters as much as whether they exist. Google map pack rankings are hyper-local: ranking in one city does not carry over to the next. Businesses with dedicated city pages earn 82% more organic search traffic than those using a single catch-all service area page. The problem most contractors run into is that their location pages are near-duplicates of each other, with only the city name swapped. Google detects thin, templated location pages and suppresses them. A location page that ranks has three things the duplicate pages don’t: a customer testimonial from someone in that specific city, at least one real job photo from a project completed in that area, and content referencing a specific local detail such as a neighborhood name, a local road, or a seasonal weather pattern unique to the region. Each location page also needs its own LocalBusiness and Service schema tied to that city and zip code. We build location pages that pass Google’s uniqueness threshold with genuine local signals on every page from day one.
What is Core Web Vitals and does it affect my ranking?
Core Web Vitals are Google’s three performance benchmarks that directly affect your search rankings. The three metrics are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how fast your main content loads; Interaction to Next Paint (INP), which measures how quickly the page responds to clicks, taps, and key presses; and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), which measures visual stability. Google’s March 2026 core update made the most significant changes to Core Web Vitals since the original 2021 rollout. Two things changed. First, the LCP passing threshold dropped from 2.5 seconds to 2.0 seconds. Sites with LCP between 2.0 and 2.5 seconds, previously passing, moved into the Needs Improvement zone. Sites above 2.5 seconds saw average ranking drops of 2 to 4 positions on competitive queries. Second, INP became an equal ranking signal alongside LCP and CLS, confirmed in Google’s Search Central blog post on March 18, 2026. INP threshold: 200 milliseconds. Sites with INP above 200ms saw position drops averaging 0.8 places. 43% of all websites still fail the 200ms INP threshold in 2026, and an even larger share now fail the revised 2.0-second LCP benchmark. Contractors who pass all three Core Web Vitals see 8 to 15% visibility improvements in competitive local searches. Mobile bounce rates hit 53% when page load time exceeds 3 seconds. At 5 seconds, the probability of a bounce is 90% higher than at 1 second. Each second of delay costs roughly 20% in conversions. Most contractor websites load in 4 to 6 seconds on mobile, well past both the LCP and INP thresholds. They also fail INP because heavy JavaScript on outdated sites creates lag between a tap and any visual response. Every site we build targets a sub-2.0-second LCP and sub-200ms INP on mobile, the two thresholds most contractor websites now fail after the March 2026 update.
How does my website affect my Google map pack ranking?
More than most business owners realize, and in 2026 the connection runs in both directions. Zero-click search is now the default for emergency service queries: when a homeowner types “emergency plumber near me” or “AC repair open now,” Google surfaces the map pack with a direct call button from the listing. The homeowner calls directly and never visits your website. This makes your map pack position the highest-value real estate in local search, and your website is what feeds it. Your website’s load speed, mobile usability, structured data, and content quality all flow into your local ranking signals. Google cross-references your website content with your Google Business Profile to verify your services and service area. A poorly built website suppresses your map pack ranking even when your GBP is well-optimized. A fast, well-structured site with proper LocalBusiness schema reinforces every signal Google needs to rank you at the top, where the direct calls come from.
What makes a home service website actually convert visitors into leads?
Three things: speed, clarity, and a frictionless conversion path. In 2026, mobile home service websites average a 1.82% conversion rate while desktop averages 3.14%, a 42% gap caused primarily by friction: slow-loading pages, awkward forms with too many fields, and tap targets too small to hit accurately on a phone screen. Most contractor traffic arrives on mobile, which means closing that gap is the fastest way to increase leads without spending more on ads. Your phone number and a booking button need to appear above the fold before any scrolling. Your main CTA should be centered on the page. And the site needs to load before the visitor’s patience runs out. Data shows that centered CTAs generate up to 682% more clicks than off-center ones, CTAs above the fold convert 304% better than those below it, and mobile-optimized sites see up to 40% higher conversion rates than sites designed for desktop first. Trust signals matter as much as layout: license numbers, embedded Google reviews, and before-and-after project photos above the fold convert visitors 15 to 30% better than sites with no trust signals. 85% of homeowners choose the first contractor who responds, and businesses that respond within 5 minutes see 3.5 times higher conversion rates than those who wait. Adding a chat widget or AI-powered chat pushes conversion another 30 to 50% higher: visitors who engage in a chat conversation are 2.8 times more likely to book than those who don’t. Proactive chat that opens automatically based on visitor behavior converts 40% higher than a passive chat button. We build all of this in by default.
What trust signals should my home service website display?
At minimum: your license number and state, proof of insurance, Google reviews embedded directly (not just a star rating), before-and-after photos of real jobs, and your full service area. Additional signals that improve conversion: financing options (29% of homeowners expect to find these before calling), a Google Guaranteed badge if you run Local Service Ads, trade association certifications, and real photos of your team and trucks. Trust signals belong above the fold on every key landing page, not buried in a footer where no one reads them.
What is a good conversion rate for a home service website?
Most unoptimized contractor websites convert at 2–4%. Emergency trades on well-built sites, plumbing, pest control, and HVAC, regularly reach 12–16% because high-intent searches like ‘emergency plumber near me’ come from people ready to book immediately. Planned services like landscaping, painting, and cleaning typically average 6–12% on optimized sites. The paid-traffic benchmark across all home service channels combined is around 7–8%. The difference between a 4% and an 8% conversion rate doubles your lead volume without spending another dollar on ads. We build for the high end by getting the fundamentals right: sub-2.0-second load times, mobile-first layout, above-the-fold CTAs, keyword-matched button copy, and embedded trust signals on every page.
Should I offer online booking on my website?
Yes, especially for non-emergency services. Homeowners searching for cleaning, landscaping, HVAC tune-ups, or pest control are comparison-shopping before they decide. A visible booking button reduces the friction between interest and commitment. 40% of all home service bookings happen after business hours: nearly half your appointments come from homeowners researching at night or on weekends when your office is closed and your phone isn’t answered. Top online booking widgets achieve 18 to 25% widget-to-booking conversion rates. The most common failure point is mobile: 71% of home service website visitors arrive on a mobile device, and mobile booking abandonment is 2.4 times higher than desktop. If the booking flow wasn’t built specifically for a phone screen, most of those visitors drop off before submitting. Bookings completed in under 2 minutes are 2.8 times more likely to convert than those requiring more steps. Every site we build includes a mobile-first booking widget that captures leads at any hour, on any device, without adding anything to your workload.
Should my contractor website have a chat widget or AI chat?
Yes, especially on mobile. In 2026, LLM-based AI chatbots achieve 28 to 40% higher conversion rates compared to sites using only contact forms, and the average well-implemented chatbot produces a 23% improvement in overall website conversion. Chatbot-powered funnels convert 2.4 times more visitors into leads than static contact forms because they reduce friction at the exact moment a visitor has a question. Visitors who engage in a chat conversation are 2.8 times more likely to book than those who don’t. Proactive chat, where the widget opens automatically based on visitor behavior, converts 40% higher than a passive chat button waiting to be clicked. For a home service contractor, a chat widget serves the same role as a receptionist: greeting visitors, answering service questions, and capturing contact information before they close the tab. The difference between chat and a contact form is friction. A homeowner with a leaking pipe at 9 PM will type a question into a chat box. They will not fill out a “request a quote” form and wait until morning. AI-powered chat captures that lead in real time and notifies you instantly. AI chatbot interactions cost $0.50 to $0.70 each compared to $6 to $15 for a live agent interaction: for a home service business fielding dozens of website inquiries per week, the cost difference runs into hundreds of dollars monthly while converting more of those inquiries into booked calls.
Do I need a project photo gallery or before-and-after photos on my website?
Yes. For most home service trades, a before-and-after project gallery is one of the highest-converting trust signals on the site. 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends, and visual proof of completed work moves visitors from interested to convinced. For HVAC companies: before-and-after equipment replacement photos. For landscapers: transformation photos. For roofers: job site photos with a description of the scope and what was replaced. Real photos of your team in uniform, your trucks, and your tools build trust that stock photos and template images never can. A contractor whose site shows 20 real completed jobs with descriptions and matching customer reviews is significantly more trustworthy than a competitor with a polished template and nothing to show. We set up a project portfolio section on every site. Your completed work does double duty: it converts visitors on your website and feeds your Google Business Profile photos, which are a top-five map pack ranking signal in 2026.
Does my contractor website need to be ADA accessible?
Yes, and the legal risk is growing fast. Federal ADA Title III lawsuits targeting private business websites increased 40% in 2025 compared to 2024, in part because AI tools now make it easy for individuals to draft and file complaints without a lawyer. The average ADA website demand letter settles for $5,000 to $25,000 before you pay anything to fix the site. WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the current technical standard: it covers alt text on every image, keyboard navigation support, proper color contrast ratios, accessible form labels, and video captions. Every site we build meets WCAG 2.1 AA by default. Semantic HTML structure, sufficient color contrast, alt text on all images, and keyboard-navigable forms are built in from the first line of code. Fixing accessibility on a site not built with it in mind typically costs $2,000 to $10,000 depending on how badly it was constructed. We build it in from day one so there is nothing to patch later.
Should my contractor website include video?
Yes. Video is one of the highest-converting content types for home service businesses in 2026. Sites with video keep visitors on the page 2 to 3 times longer than those without, and video on a landing page can boost conversion rates by up to 80%. For contractors, the most effective formats are: short technician explainer videos showing how a common problem is diagnosed and fixed, before-and-after transformation clips for trades like HVAC, roofing, landscaping, and painting, and 30 to 60 second job-site walkthrough videos narrated by the owner or lead technician. These build authenticity that stock photography and template copy never can. A homeowner who watches a 45-second video of your technician explaining why a heat pump is the right replacement option is far more likely to call you than one who read a paragraph about your experience. Keep mobile load time in mind: compressed horizontal video under 30 seconds loads quickly and outperforms autoplay background loops that add seconds to your LCP score. We structure video placement to support speed rather than undermine it.
How many form fields should my contact form have?
As few as possible. Form abandonment is one of the most common and fixable conversion leaks on contractor websites. At 3 form fields, home service lead forms convert at around 23%. At 5 fields, that drops to 17%. At 7 fields, it falls to 11%. At 10 or more fields, conversion collapses to under 7%. In cost-per-lead terms at a $4 CPC: a 3-field form produces leads at roughly $16 each. A 7-field form produces leads at roughly $33 each. Every unnecessary field costs you real money. The right minimum for a home service contact form is name, phone number, and service needed. Everything else, preferred date, job details, address, can be collected during the booking call. For longer quote requests, a multi-step form splits the same fields across two screens. Multi-step forms with a progress bar produce 86% higher completion rates than equivalent single-step forms because visitors invest in step one and follow through to step two. We build contact forms and booking widgets designed to maximize submissions, not gather data.
How does my contractor website rank in voice search?
Voice search queries work differently from typed searches. When a homeowner asks Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa “Who is the best plumber near me?” or “How much does AC repair cost in Phoenix?” the assistant reads a single answer aloud from one source. The average voice search response is 29 words or fewer. To earn that answer spot, your site needs three things. First, FAQPage schema markup on your service pages: it tells Google your content directly answers specific questions and makes it eligible for voice search responses and AI Overviews. Second, FAQ content written in conversational language that mirrors how people speak. A question that starts with “How much does an AC tune-up cost in [city]?” and answers in one clear sentence ranks for that voice query. A paragraph buried in a wall of text does not. Third, Speakable schema on your key content sections, which explicitly signals to Google Assistant and other voice platforms which parts of your page are optimized for audio readback. Content with proper structured data markup has a 2.5 times higher chance of appearing in AI-generated answers than pages without it. A contractor website with no schema markup, no FAQ structure, and no conversational content is invisible to every voice assistant on the market. LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Speakable, and AggregateRating schema are all built into every site we deliver.
Should I use an AI website builder like Durable, Wix AI, or Framer for my contractor website?
AI website builders generate a site in minutes at low cost, and for some businesses that trade-off makes sense. For home service contractors competing for local search leads, they create three problems that compound over time. First, most AI builders generate single-page applications that Google's crawler has difficulty indexing fully. The site may look functional but never surface in search results regardless of how good the content is, because Google cannot reliably read its pages. Second, AI builders produce no structured data. LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, and AggregateRating schema are absent from every AI-generated site by default. Pages without structured data are 2.5 times less likely to appear in AI-generated answers than structured pages, and they do not feed the AI Overview and ChatGPT citation pipeline that now drives nearly half of local service searches. Third, AI builder sites typically fail Google's March 2026 Core Web Vitals thresholds, especially the revised 2.0-second LCP benchmark, because they load JavaScript bundles that delay content rendering on mobile. A site that looks fast on broadband looks slow on the 4G connections most homeowners use when they search from a car or a job site. The lock-in risk is the same as a traditional agency: Wix, Squarespace, Framer, and most AI builders do not export your site code. If you leave, you start from zero and lose your domain history, internal link structure, and every configuration you built. The advice circulating in 2026 is to launch with an AI builder and upgrade to a custom site when growth justifies it. For home service contractors, that trades a cheap launch for months of invisible search performance: the ranking and citation authority you would have built on a proper foundation does not transfer when you migrate. Starting on the right stack costs more upfront and competes in search from week one. We build on Next.js with server-side rendering, full structured data, sub-2.0-second LCP on mobile, and content optimized for AI citations from day one. There is no migration cost and no lost months to recover from.
How should my contractor website be designed differently for emergency service calls versus planned projects?
Emergency callers and planned-purchase researchers are two completely different visitors with opposite needs, and most contractor websites are built for one while failing the other. An emergency caller, someone whose furnace stopped working overnight or whose basement is flooding, is not browsing your About page or reading your project gallery. They need your phone number in the first three seconds, a tap-to-call button that works instantly, and a visible confirmation that you are available after hours. A sticky header with your phone number and an emergency service badge keeps that conversion path open as they scroll. For this visitor, every extra second of load time is an opportunity to dial the next contractor on the list. A planned-purchase researcher, someone comparing HVAC systems, fencing materials, or flooring options over 2 to 4 weeks, needs the opposite: before-and-after project galleries organized by service type, financing information (29% of homeowners expect to find this before they call), detailed service pages that explain the process, and embedded reviews that build trust across multiple visits. The solution is a layered approach: the top of every service page serves the emergency caller with a fast load, a visible phone number, and a 24/7 availability signal. Below the fold, the same page serves the planned-purchase researcher with proof of work, FAQ content, and financing details. Most contractor websites treat both visitors identically. Building the two-layer approach on every key service page is one of the highest-conversion improvements available without changing ad spend.
What is a sticky header and why does it matter for a contractor website?
A sticky header is a navigation bar or website element that stays fixed at the top of the screen as a visitor scrolls down the page. For contractor websites, the most valuable element to make sticky is your phone number with a tap-to-call button. When a visitor on mobile scrolls past your hero section to read reviews or service descriptions, your phone number disappears off the top of the screen. Finding it again requires scrolling back up: a friction point that costs calls. A sticky tap-to-call header eliminates that friction. The number stays visible and always tappable regardless of where the visitor is on the page. This matters most on emergency searches. A homeowner looking for a plumber at 9 PM will not scroll back up to find your number. They will tap whatever number is currently visible on screen. If that number belongs to a competitor whose site has a sticky header and yours does not, they get the call. A sticky tap-to-call header increases mobile call conversions by 35 to 50% compared to sites where the phone number appears only in the hero section and footer. For HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors where emergency calls drive a meaningful share of revenue, a sticky header is built into every site we deliver as a standard component, not an optional add-on.
How does my website’s load speed affect my Google Ads Quality Score and cost per click?
Landing page experience is one of the three components Google uses to calculate Quality Score, alongside expected click-through rate and ad relevance. Quality Score is multiplied by your bid to determine Ad Rank: a contractor bidding $15 with a Quality Score of 9 outranks and pays less per click than a competitor bidding $25 with a Quality Score of 4. Every point of Quality Score improvement reduces your effective cost per click on those ad groups. A 3-point Quality Score improvement, from 4 to 7, reduces average cost per click by 30 to 50%. For contractor landing pages specifically, three things most damage landing page experience scores: load time above 2.0 seconds on mobile, the threshold Google set in its March 2026 Core Web Vitals update; a page that is generic rather than matched to the specific service the visitor searched for; and a page with no clear conversion path above the fold. Sending paid traffic to your homepage instead of a fast, service-specific landing page is the most common and most expensive Quality Score mistake in contractor PPC. Fixing it alone, building service-specific pages that load in under 2 seconds on mobile, can improve Quality Score by 3 to 5 points and cut cost per lead by 30 to 50% on those campaigns. The website and the ad campaigns are not separate decisions. A faster, better-structured site directly reduces what you pay Google for every click.