Here’s the bottom line: if you’re running ads for your contracting business and sending people to your regular website, you’re leaving serious money on the table. Landing pages convert 2x better than regular websites when it comes to turning visitors into paying customers. That’s not marketing fluff: that’s cold, hard data that can make or break your advertising budget.
But here’s the thing: most contractors don’t even know what a landing page is, let alone use them. So you’re about to get a major competitive advantage just by reading this.
What’s the Difference Anyway?
Think of your regular website like a hardware store. Someone walks in, and they’re hit with aisles of options: tools, lumber, paint, plumbing supplies, gardening stuff. They might find what they need, but they might also get distracted and leave empty-handed.
A landing page is like a pop-up tent at a home show with one big sign: “Free Roof Inspection – Schedule Today.” There’s nowhere else to go, nothing else to click on. You either sign up or you don’t.
Your website tries to do everything: showcase your services, tell your company story, display testimonials, show off past projects, and maybe: if visitors make it that far: get them to call you.
A landing page has one job: get the visitor to take one specific action. Usually that’s filling out a form, calling your number, or booking an appointment.
Why Landing Pages Crush It for Contractors
Landing pages work because they remove every possible distraction between your visitor and your phone ringing. The average conversion rate for a well-built landing page is 26%: meaning roughly 1 in 4 people who land on your page will actually contact you.
Compare that to your website, which might convert at 2-3% on a good day. The math is brutal when you’re paying $50+ per click for roofing leads or $40+ for HVAC clicks.
Here’s why landing pages work so well:
Laser Focus: When someone clicks your “Emergency Plumbing Repair” ad at 11 PM, they don’t want to read your company history. They want to know you can fix their burst pipe tonight. A landing page speaks directly to that one problem.
No Escape Routes: Your website probably has 20+ links in the navigation menu alone. Each link is a potential exit ramp where your prospect can wander off and never come back. Landing pages typically have zero navigation links: just one clear path forward.
Message Match: If your Google Ad says “24/7 Emergency Electrical Service,” but your website homepage talks about your family business since 1987, there’s a disconnect. Landing pages let you continue the exact conversation your ad started.
Mobile Optimization: Half your leads are coming from phones, and landing pages are built mobile-first. They load faster, work better on small screens, and get straight to the point.
Personalization Power: You can customize landing pages for different services, locations, or even seasons. Your “Winter Furnace Tune-Up” page in December hits different than your generic HVAC services page.
The numbers don’t lie: contractors using dedicated landing pages see 2x higher conversion rates when turning website visitors into actual clients.
But What About Your Regular Website?
Don’t throw your website in the trash just yet. It still has a job to do: just not the same job as your landing pages.
Your website is like your business card on steroids. It’s where people go to check you out after they’ve heard about you. It builds credibility, shows off your best work, and helps with search engine rankings.
Your website excels at:
Credibility Building: When potential customers Google your business name, they want to see a professional website with testimonials, project photos, and your story.
SEO Rankings: Google needs content to rank you for searches like “best roofer near me.” Your website provides that content through service pages, blog posts, and location pages.
Full Service Showcase: Maybe someone needs electrical work now but might need plumbing later. Your website can showcase everything you do.
Organic Discovery: People finding you through Google searches (not ads) often prefer browsing a full website to get the complete picture.
But here’s where websites fail: they’re terrible at converting cold traffic from ads. When you’re paying for clicks, you need every visitor to count. Websites have too many distractions, too many decision points, and usually ask visitors to do too much thinking.
The Numbers That Matter
Let’s put this in perspective with real contractor numbers:
| Strategy | Cost Per Click | Visitors Per Month | Conversion Rate | Leads Generated | Cost Per Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website | $45 | 200 | 2.5% | 5 leads | $1,800 |
| Landing Page | $45 | 200 | 5.2% | 10 leads | $900 |
Same ad spend, double the leads, half the cost per lead. Over a year, that’s the difference between 60 leads and 120 leads from the same advertising budget.
Real-World Example: Jake’s Roofing
Jake runs a roofing company in Minneapolis. He was spending $3,000/month on Google Ads, sending all traffic to his website’s “Roofing Services” page. He was getting maybe 8-10 leads per month.
We built him a landing page specifically for his “Storm Damage Roof Inspection” ads. Same budget, same ads, different destination page. Within the first month, his leads jumped to 18. The landing page had:
- A headline matching his ad: “Free Storm Damage Inspection – Available Today”
- A simple form asking for name, phone, and address
- Three testimonials from recent storm damage customers
- One clear call-to-action: “Schedule My Free Inspection”
- His phone number in three different spots
No navigation menu. No links to other services. No company history paragraph. Just one clear path from visitor to lead.
When to Use What
Use Landing Pages When:
- Running paid ads (Google, Facebook, etc.)
- Promoting a specific service or offer
- Targeting emergency services
- Running seasonal campaigns
- You want maximum conversions from paid traffic
Use Your Website When:
- Building long-term SEO rankings
- Showcasing your full range of services
- Building brand credibility
- People are searching for your company name specifically
- Visitors are in early research phases
The Smart Contractor’s Strategy
Don’t make this an either/or decision. Use both, but use them strategically.
Step 1: Keep your website for SEO and credibility. Make sure it loads fast, looks professional, and showcases your best work.
Step 2: Create landing pages for your most profitable services. Start with whatever makes you the most money: usually emergency services or high-ticket jobs like roof replacements or furnace installations.
Step 3: Send all paid traffic to relevant landing pages. Google Ads for emergency plumbing? Landing page. Facebook ads for deck building? Different landing page.
Step 4: Test everything. Try different headlines, different forms, different offers. The contractors making serious money online are constantly testing and improving their pages.
Step 5: Scale what works. Once you find a landing page that converts well, create variations for different services and locations.
The Bottom Line
Your website is great for people who already know about you. Landing pages are great for people who don’t know you yet but have a problem you can solve right now.
When you’re paying for advertising, every click costs money. You can’t afford to send paid traffic to a page with 20 different directions they can go. You need them to go in one direction: toward hiring you.
The contractors who understand this difference are the ones dominating their local markets while their competitors wonder why their advertising “doesn’t work.”
Ready to Stop Throwing Money Away?
If you’re spending money on ads but still sending traffic to your regular website, you’re basically buying leads at full price and throwing half of them in the trash.
At Funky Moose Digital, we build landing pages that turn more of your paid traffic into actual customers. We know the trades business inside and out, and we know what makes contractors’ phones ring.
Get a quote and let’s build you a landing page that actually works( before your competitors figure this out.)