How often should you update a contractor website?

You don't need to rewrite the website every month. You do need a way to catch wrong information, broken contact options, and pages that no longer match the work you want. Use this as a starting schedule, then adjust it to your business.

Don't wait until the next quarterly review to remove a service you no longer offer or replace an old phone number. Those details affect whether someone contacts you and whether they're a good fit.

Check all the places that repeat the information. If you've stopped offering handyman work, changing one sentence on the homepage won't help much if the service menu, contact form, and old service pages still promote it.

• Services you've added, stopped offering, or narrowed.
• The cities and areas you actually serve.
• Project minimums, consultation fees, and any price guidance you've published.
• Phone numbers, email addresses, business hours, and contact instructions.
• Team members, credentials, warranties, financing, and availability statements.

Look at the before-and-after screenshots at the top of this page. The earlier homepage leads with 'Our Services' and lists delivery and hauling options. A visitor has to piece together who the company helps and where to go next.

The updated version speaks directly to property managers dealing with unit cleanouts, junk pickup, and move-in schedules. It explains the work, puts the quote option in plain sight, and gives residential customers a separate place to start.

That lesson applies to a remodeler just as much as a hauling company. If you want more whole-home renovations, your homepage shouldn't leave people thinking you mainly fix loose cabinet doors. Update the message, the project examples, and the next step together.

A form can look normal while sending every inquiry to an old inbox. Once a month, use your website the way a potential customer would, starting on your phone.

Submit a clearly labeled test and check that it arrives. A success message on the website doesn't tell you whether the right person received it. If someone else handles the website, ask them to confirm the full test, not just that the button works.

1. 01

   Start on an important service page.

   Open the kitchen, custom home, or design service page a customer is likely to visit. Find the contact option without using the main menu as a shortcut.

2. 02

   Test each contact option.

   Check the phone number, email address, form fields, and confirmation message. Verify that the test inquiry reaches the right person or system.

3. 03

   Look for mobile problems.

   Check whether text is readable, buttons are easy to tap, images load, and popups or sticky bars cover anything important.

Don't wait until December to sort a year's worth of jobsite photos. After a project you're proud of, capture what happened while the crew still remembers the details.

Write down the project type, general location, starting problem, work involved, constraints, and the decisions that mattered. Confirm which photos and customer details you've got permission to publish.

Then put the example where it helps. A kitchen remodel can strengthen a kitchen service page. A complicated addition may deserve a full project story. You don't need a separate page for every finished job.

• Show the starting problem, not just the finished room.
• Explain important changes in words a homeowner would use.
• Choose photos that help someone understand the work.
• Use outcomes you can describe accurately, and leave private details out.

Start with the homepage, main service pages, project stories, and contact page. Also look at pages people regularly reach from search. Read them as someone who hasn't met you, seen your truck, or heard a referral.

You might discover that your best work is buried in an old gallery, the service description is too vague, or the site still attracts jobs you don't want. Those are useful reasons to edit. A page that still answers the right questions doesn't need a rewrite just because three months have passed.

An update can help when it makes a page more useful, accurate, or easier to understand. A better service explanation or a detailed project example gives people more to work with. Changing a date or replacing a few words just to look active doesn't do the same job.

Google's guidance on helpful content warns against changing dates or adding content just to make a website seem fresh. Update something because the answer, the evidence, or the business has changed.

Use search reports to decide where to look next. Google's Search Console guidance suggests checking around once a month or after content changes. Look at which searches show your pages and which pages get clicks. Our plain-English Search Console guide explains the terms.

If your bathroom page gets attention for the wrong kind of work, the wording may need to be clearer. If an important page isn't showing up at all, check whether Google can find it and include it in search results before rewriting everything. Compare recent months with a similar period, and look at the same season last year when you've got that history. More search clicks aren't automatically more qualified inquiries.

Content updates and technical maintenance aren't the same job. A page can read perfectly while the software, backups, or form connection behind it needs attention.

Ask whoever maintains the site what they cover and how often they check it. That includes platform and plugin updates where applicable, backups, domain renewals, and alerts about problems. Security fixes should follow the urgency of the issue and the platform's support guidance, not wait for your annual content review.

Know who controls the domain, hosting, and recovery accounts. Ask how a backup would be restored and when that process was last checked. 'We have backups' is a different answer from 'we know how to restore the website.' Use the marketing account ownership checklist to keep access organized.

Set aside time to look beyond individual edits. Are you selling the same services to the same customers? Have you added a designer, started building custom homes, or moved into a different market? Does the site show the level of work you're doing now?

Review the page structure, navigation, mobile experience, speed, project library, and contact options. Make a short list of what needs to change. Some businesses need a few new examples and clearer copy. Others have outgrown the structure of the website.

Age alone doesn't tell you to rebuild. If the current site lets you make the changes customers need, use it. If every update turns into an expensive workaround, read our repair-versus-rebuild guide before paying for another patch.