I run a small HVAC shop with my brother. I handle phones, photos, and the website after the kids go to bed. I’ve tried doing the site myself. Twice. It looked fine. It didn’t sell. So I hired real HVAC web design folks. Three of them, over four years.
I documented the whole journey in a candid case study I hired 3 HVAC web design teams—here’s what worked (and what didn’t) if you want every gritty detail.
You know what? The site matters. People land, judge fast, and either call or bounce. Here’s my honest review, with real wins and real hiccups.
The Quick Launch: Housecall Pro Sites (Year 1)
We used Housecall Pro for scheduling, so their website add-on felt easy. For anyone starting from scratch, Housecall Pro also offers a free, customizable HVAC website template you can tweak in minutes. They set up a clean WordPress theme, hooked up our online booking, and added basic pages: AC repair, furnace repair, heat pumps, and maintenance plans.
- Setup time: 3 weeks
- Cost: low monthly fee
- Tools: WordPress, their booking button, and CallRail (for tracking calls)
What worked:
- The “Book Now” button showed on every page. People liked it. We got 9 extra bookings the first month.
- They used our reviews. A slider on the home page helped trust.
- Our phone rang more on days we ran promos, like “$89 tune-up.”
What bugged me:
- Stock photos. Our “tech” was the same guy I saw on another site. I could spot it. Customers can too.
- Speed was meh on mobile. The home page took 4–5 seconds to load on my phone.
- The contact form broke after a plugin update. Fix took 3 days.
Real example:
We added a “No heat? Tap to call” sticky bar on a cold Friday. That bar alone got 12 calls over the weekend. The rest of the site? Quiet. One simple line, bold red, saved us.
Who this fits:
- New HVAC companies that need something live fast.
- Folks who want booking tied to their system without fuss.
The Big Agency: Scorpion (Year 2–3)
I wanted more leads and better SEO. Scorpion pitched a full plan: custom site, content each month, and call tracking. We signed a 12-month contract. Their own take on why thoughtful HVAC web design matters explains how those tweaks convert browsers into callers.
Scorpion also pitches a lot of franchise operators, and if you're evaluating a multi-location roll-out this breakdown on franchise web design that actually worked might save you some headaches.
- Setup time: 8 weeks
- Cost: high monthly fee
- Tools: WordPress, CallRail, their dashboard
What worked:
- Clear wins. Calls went up 34% in 90 days. Form fills doubled. Our mobile score jumped to 92 on Lighthouse after they trimmed images and fixed code bloat.
- They built city pages for our service area. “Furnace repair in Grove City” moved from page 3 to page 1 in about 5 months. Slow climb, then it stuck.
- A/B test on the hero line. “No Heat? We Can Be There Today” beat “Schedule Service” by 28% on clicks. Short, urgent, human. That’s the one we kept.
What bugged me:
- Turnover. Three account managers in a year. Each was nice. But I had to repeat myself. A lot.
- Upsells. PPC, video, more pages—I had to say “not now” many times.
- The contract. Leaving early was messy. Read the fine print, and then read it again.
Real example:
We added a “Financing” page with simple steps and our rate range. Big jobs got easier. We closed 7 extra system installs that quarter. People want heat, and they want a plan to pay for it. Say it plain.
Who this fits:
- Busy shops ready to grow fast.
- Owners who want numbers every month and don’t mind a contract.
The Brand-First Crew: KickCharge Creative (Year 4)
I wanted a site that felt like us. Not just “HVAC, but blue.” KickCharge led with brand: logo tune-up, van wrap mockups, tone of voice, and then a site. They also worked with our CRM team to tie online booking to our calendar.
- Setup time: 10–12 weeks
- Cost: higher up front, lower monthly
- Tools: WordPress, Cloudflare, our same CallRail
What worked:
- Real photos. They asked for shots of our techs, our shop dog (Milo), and our vans. The difference? Night and day. Time on page went up. Bounce rate dropped from 58% to 36%.
- Copy that felt like us. “We show up, sweep up, and stand by it.” Short lines. Plain talk. People mentioned it on the phone.
- Smart little features. A “text us” button for folks at work, a service area map with zip codes, and a “No attic access? Tell us now” field on the booking form. Fewer surprise trips.
What bugged me:
- Time. They’re artists. They care. But we slipped two weeks while we picked colors and headline lines. That was on me too.
- Price. It’s a chunk up front. Worth it, but plan cash flow.
Real example:
We added a “Heat Pump Rebates” page with a simple checklist and a call-to-action: “We’ll handle the paperwork.” That page pulled 21 calls in the first month. People love help, not guesswork.
Who this fits:
- Shops that want a brand people remember.
- Owners who can wait a bit and give feedback fast.
The Little Things That Made Big Money
These are small, but they moved the needle for us:
- Real photos on the home page (no hard hats in a spotless garage)
- A sticky call button on mobile
- A free estimate banner that shows on system pages only
- Review badges (Google rating, BBB, NATE)
- A simple “We service these zip codes” list
- Chat that turns off after hours and shows “Leave a message”
- A “Morning or afternoon?” pick on the booking form
- Clear hours and a real address in the footer
- A “Before you call” checklist for no-heat calls
While we’re on the subject of keeping visitors engaged, I kept looking at how completely different industries build fast, low-friction conversations online. One surprisingly useful reference was this deep dive into a Kik-based friend-finder platform: Kik Friender. Even though it’s aimed at social connections, the breakdown of quick bios, instant messaging, and profile cues offers smart UX ideas you can swipe to make your own live-chat or text widgets feel effortless.
Another unlikely goldmine for layout inspiration is the way hyper-local classified boards cram dozens of offers above the fold. A good example is Backpage Weymouth — Backpage Weymouth —browsing that page shows how punchy headlines, tight geo-tags, and an always-visible contact button funnel even distracted visitors toward action, lessons you can adapt when designing your own service cards or zip-code grids.
Here’s the thing: people don’t read walls of text. They skim. Make it easy. Not in HVAC? The same rules applied when we tested a lawn care web design team—real photos, fast load, clear call buttons beat fancy fluff every time.
Real Numbers From My Notes
- Calls up 34% after speed fixes and stronger headlines
- Form submissions x2 after we cut the form to 6 fields
- Mobile page speed from 54 to 92 with compressed images and lazy load
- After we added the financing page: 18% more closed installs in Q3
- “No Heat? Tap to Call” sticky bar: 12 weekend calls, 1 banner
Small levers, big lift.
Stuff I Wish I Knew Sooner
- Start with mobile. If my thumbs can’t hit the button, it’s wrong.
- Show your face. One photo of us in a dusty attic beat ten stock pics.
- Plain words sell. “We fix it today” beats “comprehensive solutions.”
- Update hours on holidays. I forgot once. Bad reviews happen fast.
- Ask for reviews right after the job. Smile, then send the link.
Honestly, I fought this. I wanted big words. But simple wins.
Tools We Kept Using
- WordPress (easy to update, plugins are plenty)
- CallRail (see which pages bring calls)
- Cloudflare (helped with speed and security)
- ServiceTitan for scheduling (booking widget played nice enough)
No tool is magic. The message and speed matter more.
Who Should You Hire?
- Need a site now, on a tight budget?
Housecall Pro Sites or a similar service will get you live and