What a fence or deck company website needs

A fence or deck company website needs to show finished jobs sorted by type and material, and take a quote request that collects the numbers you price from: the footage or deck size, the height, the gates and the material. It should also answer the questions that hold jobs up, like permits, HOA approval and marking utilities, and say which towns you work in and how far out you're booked. A homeowner who finds a fence like the one they want and sends you the footage and the gate count from their phone is a lead you can price before you drive out.

Photos sorted by type and material

People shop for a fence or a deck by how it looks. They search for a black aluminum fence or a composite deck, not for "fencing services." So sort the gallery the way they think:

• Fences by material and style: wood privacy, picket, vinyl, aluminum, chain link, split rail, and pool enclosures if you build them.
• Decks by material: pressure-treated, cedar and composite, with separate sets for railings, stairs and covered decks if you do them.

Give every photo a caption with the material, the height or size, the style and the town. Something like "6 ft cedar privacy fence, board on board, 2 walk gates," followed by the town. That one line tells a homeowner you've built what they want, near where they live.

Shoot the parts nobody sees later

Deck work disappears once the boards go down. Photograph the footings, the framing and the ledger where the deck meets the house. On a fence job, shoot the posts going in, the gate hardware and how the line follows a slope. These photos answer something homeowners rarely ask out loud: whether you do the hidden parts properly.

Before and after from one spot

A leaning old fence next to the new one, from the same corner of the yard, says more than a paragraph of copy. Our article on taking job photos that sell the next job covers angles, captions and file sizes.

A quote request built around your numbers

You price a fence by the foot and by the gate. You price a deck by size, height and material. A blank message box gets you "How much for a fence?" and a callback to ask everything else. Ask for the numbers up front instead.

What to ask on a fence job

• Rough length in feet, or a photo of the yard with the line drawn on it
• Height
• Material and style, with a "not sure yet" choice
• How many gates, and whether any need to be wide enough for a mower or a car
• Whether there's an old fence to tear out
• Anything that changes the job: a slope, a pool, a dog that has to stay in
• A plat of survey, if they have one

What to ask on a deck job

• Rough size, like 12 by 16 feet, or the square footage
• How high it sits off the ground, or how many steps down to the yard
• A new deck, a full replacement, or new boards on an old frame
• Material: pressure-treated, cedar, composite or not sure
• Railings and stairs
• Photos of the back of the house where the deck would go

Keep the required part short

Make only the name, phone, town and job type required. Everything else is optional, with a "not sure" choice where it fits. Someone who doesn't know their footage should still be able to send the request, because a wide photo of the yard from the back door often tells you more than a guessed number.

Permits and HOA rules

Permits are where fence and deck jobs stall, and homeowners rarely know the rules before they start. You don't need to explain every town's code on your site. You do need to say how you handle it.

Who pulls the permit

Rules on permits, height and distance from the property line differ from one town to the next. On your site, say:

• whether you pull the permit or the homeowner does
• what you need from them for it, like a plat of survey
• roughly how long approval has taken in the towns you work in most
• that anyone outside your usual area should check with their own town first

HOA approval

If you work in subdivisions with a homeowners association, say what you can provide for the HOA application: a drawing of the fence line or the deck, the material, the height and the color, and a product sheet. The homeowner usually submits it, and work starts after approval. Writing that down saves a lot of "can you start next week?" calls.

Marking utilities before you dig

Every fence post and deck footing is a hole in the ground, and homeowners will see paint and flags in their yard before your crew shows up. A short note on your site explains what they are and shows you follow the rules.

The national 811 before-you-dig service calls itself "the free national before-you-dig service" and says to contact 811 "a few business days before you begin any digging," naming fences among common projects. Illinois has JULIE, which covers the state outside Chicago's city limits, as the City of Yorkville's JULIE page notes. JULIE's guide for homeowners says "building a deck or installing a fence require having underground utility lines marked," and asks people to contact JULIE "at least 3 days before you want to dig."

On your site, say who makes the request on your jobs and that digging starts once the lines are marked. If you work in another state, point to that state's 811 center instead. This is information for homeowners, not legal advice, so check the current rules where you work.

Seasons and how far out you're booked

Fence and deck work runs on the calendar, and homeowners want to know when you can start before they bother calling.

• Keep one line near the top of the homepage that you can edit yourself, like "Now booking installs for May."
• If you work through winter, say so. If you stop when the ground freezes, say when you start booking spring jobs.
• If some materials take longer to arrive, say which ones, so the homeowner who picks them expects a later start.
• If you take a deposit to hold a spot, say how much of the price it is and when the rest is due.

Update that top line every few weeks during the season. A "booking for April" note in August makes people think the business went quiet.

Towns you work in

List the towns by name, the same list you use for your Google Business Profile service area, and add a line about towns you'll travel to for bigger jobs. A homeowner outside your area should learn that from the site, not from a callback a week later. For the Google side, see how service areas work on Google Maps.

What the price covers

Fence and deck quotes are hard to compare, so say what yours includes:

• tearing out and hauling away the old fence or deck
• how you set posts and footings
• gates, hinges and latches
• cleanup of the yard when you leave
• stain or sealer, if you offer it
• your workmanship warranty, kept separate from the manufacturer's warranty on the material

When you compare materials, talk from your own jobs: how much upkeep each one needs and how it has held up for your customers. Leave out lifespans you can't back up.

A quick check on your own site

Open your site on your phone and try this:

• Find a photo of a fence like the one a neighbor wants, in a nearby town.
• Send a quote request for about 150 feet with two gates, without typing an essay.
• Find out who handles the permit and the utility marking.
• See how far out you're booked.

For the rest of what a builder's site should do, see how we build contractor websites.

See your own fences and decks on it

We build the first version of your website free, in 2 days, with your job photos sorted by material and a quote request that asks for the footage, the gates and the material. You click around it, then decide. If it isn't for you, you owe nothing. Get your free preview.