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Your laundromat website can be a greater asset to your business than you think! Even though you run a brick-and-mortar business, your digital presence is still very important and often serves as your customer’s first impression of you. This is reason enough to put your best foot forward by making some changes to optimize your website.
It may sound daunting, but a little goes a long way. Not only can you use it to generate more business, but it’s also an opportunity to show your customers what you’re all about. It’s time to turn your website from a neglected page with basic information and drab design buried in a dark corner of the internet into something that actually helps you generate new customers around the clock!
Here are some helpful tips for making your website more professional, aesthetically pleasing, functional, and user-friendly.
8 ways to improve your laundromat website
1. Choose a trusted content management system (CMS)
The first step to having a great laundromat website is choosing a content management system, which will serve as the solid foundation for everything else to come. Your CMS should house all your website’s content in a visually pleasing and user-friendly way.
These software programs range in functionality and cost, so it’s important to consider your business needs while researching your options. Many options have different pricing tiers, so you don’t have to break the bank by taking on features you don’t need. Some of the most reputable content management systems include:
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Strength: Large support community, ample plugins, easy to use
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Weakness: Security
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Strength: Large support community, easy to use, more secure
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Weaknesses: Few plugins, few site themes
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Strength: Excellent SEO, security, and multilingual capabilities
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Weakness: Few plugins
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Strength: Easy to use, top-notch design templates
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Weakness: Less ability to add new capabilities or functionality
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Strength: Easy to use, short learning curve
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Weakness: Must start your website from scratch to choose a new template
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2. Using a striking banner image on your website
Your website banner is one of your first opportunities to catch the attention of your visitors and show them how you can help them. Use this space to showcase imagery from your laundromat, a clever statement about your commitment to excellent service, or advertise a special deal or promotion.
You don’t need professional graphic design skills to create an eye-catching banner. With free and easy tool like Canva, you can throw together a really nice graphic banner all on your own. And don’t forget to include a prominent call-to-action (CTA) towards the top of the page so visitors don’t have to scroll to access your services.
Arlington, Virginia-based laundromat Columbia Pike Laundry uses a quippy one-liner to entice website visitors and introduce their value. They include a picture of a smiling family, which shows that their customers have more time to do the things they love by outsourcing their laundry. They even include a button to schedule a laundry pickup. This is an excellent example to model your banner after.
3. Make it easy for customers to learn about your services
There are all different types of laundry customers and—whoever they may be—they should be able to visit your website and easily find out if you can help them. “Services” should be an option in your main menu, so visitors know right away where they can learn about your offerings. The more time you require your visitor to spend looking for answers, the more likely they are to give up and leave your website, potentially costing you business.
Take San Francisco-based Laundré for example. Clearly stated in their menu at the top of the homepage, they list:
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LAUNDROMAT
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WASH + FOLD
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BUSINESS LAUNDRY SERVICES
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ORDER PICK UP + DELIVERY
Right away, visitors know what kinds of customers they’re able to serve.
4. Utilize your "About" page
A great “About” page will serve two main purposes:
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Show your customers your core values and who you are as a business owner
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Build trust with existing and future customers
Use this page to talk about yourself, your business, and your commitment to gold-standard customer service. Include your mission statement and even a short story about why you opened your business or what you do to support your local community. Revealing a little bit about yourself allows website visitors to become emotionally invested in your company, making them more inclined to do business with you.
5. Embed a Google map
Adding a Google map to your homepage makes it crystal clear where potential customers can find you and shows them the areas you serve for pickup and delivery services. This is also a great way to display each of your storefronts if you have multiple locations.
Orange County-based Laundrylicious used this method to visually represent all the cities they serve. They also include an extensive list of neighborhoods where they offer free delivery!
6. Include reviews and testimonials
Social proof is one of the most powerful marketing tactics you can use. If people see that your current customers are happy with your services, they are much more likely to do business with you. Be sure to include positive reviews prominently on your website like San Francisco-based Lily Laundromat. As you can see, they feature five-star testimonials from a mix of different customers to show the spectrum of services they do well!
7. Dial in your SEO strategy and blog
Search engine optimization (SEO) includes content on your website that help search engines find you. As a local business, it’s important that you use “keywords” on your website that align with what your potential customers will type into their search bar. Make a list of keywords that describe your business and services as well as the neighborhoods, towns, or cities your laundromat serves. That way, if you’re a laundromat based in Oakland, CA, and someone searches “laundromat in oakland,” you’ll pop up in the search results.
If you want to take your SEO strategy to the next level, start a blog so that you can establish your laundromat as a thought leader in the industry. By writing blog posts, you can continue adding relevant keywords to your website, in turn guiding more new customers to you. Keep in mind that SEO is a science, so consider using a keyword planning tool like Google’s Keyword Planner, Moz, Ahrefs, or Semrush to help you learn the data-backed keywords that will generate site traffic.
8. Incentivize visitors to share their information
Come up with a method to collect every website visitor’s email address or phone number. Once you have this customer data, you can use it to market to them and keep them engaged with your brand.
The Soap Box in New York City has a pop-up on their webpage that appears for all new visitors and prompts them to sign up for texts. They incentivize potential customers by promising them access to future offers and deals.
