Web design for contractors in Florida: what your site needs

A Florida trade website has three jobs: show your license number, make it obvious which towns you serve, and let people call you with one tap — including in the middle of a storm. Everything else is decoration.

This guide covers what is specific to Florida for plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors and pest control companies, and what every trade website needs anyway.

Not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current wording with your licensing board before you publish.

Your license number has to be on it

Florida is strict about this. Under section 489.119(5)(b) of the Florida Statutes, a contractor's certification or registration number must appear in every offer of services, bid, contract and advertisement, "regardless of medium". Your website is advertising.

That section covers contractors licensed by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, which includes plumbing and air conditioning contractors. Leave the number off and the board sends a notice of noncompliance first, and can fine you if it is not fixed within 30 days.

Electrical contractors are licensed by the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board under a separate part of the same chapter, and pest control companies through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Check your own board's advertising rule for the exact wording. The safe habit is the same for everyone:

• Put the license number in the header, or right beside your phone number — not buried in the footer
• Repeat it on your contact page, and on every quote and invoice
• Write it exactly as it appears on your license, prefix included — CFC for a certified plumbing contractor, CAC for a certified air conditioning contractor

A license number is also a selling point. After every hurricane, Floridians are warned to check a contractor's license before they hire, using the state's search at myfloridalicense.com. Showing the number up front saves them the step and separates you from the unlicensed crews that turn up after storms.

Name the towns you actually cover

Nobody searches for "plumber Florida". They search "plumber near me" or "AC repair Kissimmee", and Google matches you to those searches partly on what your website says about where you work.

• A service area section naming the cities and counties you cover. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are three different searches.
• One page per main service, each naming the area: "Water heater repair in Tampa and Brandon".
• Your business name, address and phone number written the same way on your website as on your Google Business Profile.

Leave out towns you will not drive to. A call you have to turn down wastes your time and the customer's.

Build it for storm season

Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. When a storm comes through, calls for leaks, flooding, power and air conditioning spike — and people are searching on a phone with a weak signal and a low battery.

That changes what a Florida trade website should do:

• Phone number at the top of every page, as a tap-to-call link. Not an image, and not hidden behind a form.
• Say whether you take emergency calls, and your hours, in plain words on the home page.
• Keep it fast. A light page loads on a weak signal. A heavy slideshow does not.
• Post a one-line update when it matters. "We're taking emergency calls in Lee and Collier counties" answers the question every caller has.

The long hot season works the same way. An AC company whose website says "same-day AC repair" in July gets the call over one that makes people hunt for it.

Speak to your customers — in Spanish too, if you can

Plenty of Florida homeowners speak Spanish at home, especially in South Florida and around Orlando. If you or your team take calls in Spanish, say so beside the phone number: "Hablamos español". Only say it if the person answering the phone really can.

Reviews do more than design

Most people read your Google reviews before they call. A website that links to them, or quotes a few real ones with first names and towns, does more than any stock photo.

Ask every happy customer the same day. The review request generator writes the text message for you.

Florida trade website checklist

• License number visible on the home page and the contact page
• Tap-to-call phone number at the top of every page
• Emergency and after-hours availability in plain words
• Service area with real cities and counties
• One page per main service
• Name, address and phone number matching your Google Business Profile
• Recent reviews with real names and towns
• Fast on a phone

Get the words written

• Service page copy generator — a page for each service you offer
• Google Business Profile generator — the description that shows in Maps
• FAQ generator — the questions callers ask before they book
• Tools by trade: plumbers, electricians, HVAC and pest control

Rather not build it yourself? The Trade Website Bundle is a finished website designed for your business, with click-to-call on every page — live in 10 days.

Quick answers

Does a Florida contractor's website need a license number? Yes, for contractors licensed under Part I of Chapter 489, which includes plumbing and air conditioning contractors. Section 489.119(5)(b) requires the number on every advertisement regardless of medium, and a website is advertising.

What should a Florida plumbing or HVAC website include? The license number, a tap-to-call phone number, emergency hours, the cities and counties you serve, a page for each service, and recent reviews.

Where do Florida customers check a contractor's license? On the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's license search at myfloridalicense.com.