How to add garden design to a landscaping website

Posted November 15, 2023

This article is all about the different ways you could adapt your landscaping website and social media to sell garden design services and improve your profit margin.

We’re excited to report that after using the My Garden Design service, several landscapers have felt confident enough to adapt their marketing mix to include garden design as part of their landscaping business. Our team, have, of course, been on hand to offer as much help and advice as possible. Let’s take a look at the most frequently asked questions.

What does it cost to add a Garden Design service to my Landscaping Business?

The cost of adding a garden design service to your landscaping business is relatively small when you take advantage of the tools that My Garden Design has to offer. The only tweaks you need to make are to your promotional and sales tools.

You don’t need to recruit or employ a garden designer – our team is all very experienced and very talented. You won’t be disappointed with their work.
There are no computers, screens, or software to buy (you might want access to a printer though)
No formal training needed – the MGD platform is very easy to use
Absolutely no risk – no need to buy a garden design until your client has paid you for it.

If you’re new to My Garden Design, I’ll post a video at the end of this article so that you can see what we do.

Will I need to build a whole new landscaping website?

If you don’t have an online presence for your business, then I thoroughly recommend building a new website. A good website acts as a virtual salesperson for your business. And of course, your online presence is available to customers 24/7. It doesn’t need a pension, company car, sick pay, commission, or holidays. There is, of course, an initial investment and unless you have the time and expertise to manage it yourself, I’d recommend that you engage someone to look after search engine optimisation and regular content updates. However, a well-designed, well-built and well-managed landscaping website will definitely offer a good return on investment. (It’s not so different from a garden!)

If you have an existing website, it should be relatively simple to add a new page or section to the site. You will probably need to tweak the wording on the home page, make sure that the design section shows clearly in the navigation, and have some beautiful illustrations to show people the benefits of garden design. Don’t forget to include a strong call to action.

To work out if visitors are serious about using your landscaping design and build service, you could include a detailed contact form. Take a look at the downloadable email enquiry forms on the My Garden Design website – could you use this as the basis for your own contact form?

Life is too short to build your own landscaping website.
A professionally built site will bring you a far better return on investment and you’ll have more time with the family.

What is the quickest way to promote my new garden design service?

Every landscaper and garden designer in the country is looking for the quickest and cheapest route to market. Each one of us has had different experiences with different platforms. It all depends on your target audience.

I like to take a two-pronged approach to marketing. Short term and mid-long term. In the short term, I’m looking for a relatively quick turnaround. Reach potential customers via Social media and Google My Business. Pay Per Click advertising may work for you – but it does need careful monitoring otherwise it can easily become very expensive. Flyers and print advertising work for some landscapers but not for others – again, it’s all about understanding your target audience.

In the mid-long term, think about search engine optimisation to make sure your garden design and landscaping website ranks really well. In other words, make sure that your site is amongst the first sites anybody searching for landscaping or garden design will see on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. This is a slow burn. It requires regular input but may take 6-12 months for your website to get to the top of the listings.

How to start selling your garden design service

You can start selling your garden design service face-to-face as soon as you are confident with your pricing. Mention it to every person who enquires about landscaping, explain why garden design is important and how the initial cost will pay dividends in the long run. You can also use our handouts to introduce the idea of garden design to potential landscaping customers. If it fits with your business model, you can seal the deal by offering to refund the design cost once they have given you the down payment on the landscaping work.

Begin posting regularly to social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. Most towns and villages have a dedicated Facebook page where businesses can promote themselves – post to these sites as well as to your business profile.

Once your website has been updated running you can post relevant links to your social media profiles. It’s all about letting people know what you do and where they can get more information about your services. Oh – and don’t forget that social media is SOCIABLE – reply to comments and try to make conversation.

Search Engine Optimisation is quite a big topic, too big for this blog. However, what I will say is that it is a vital part of getting a good return on investment from your website. SEO has two main aspects – technical (site speeds, coding, etc) and content management. I leave the technical side to my website developer, Gary, he’s worth his weight in gold. Content management is a collaboration between Gary, myself and a copywriter who regularly adds fresh content to the site. In the early days, I did most of the writing, but, the website did its job well and now I’m too busy landscaping to write a monthly blog. Outsourcing is a lifesaver for landscapers – never be afraid to ask for help!

Please note: You are welcome to use any of the tools on the My Garden Design website for your own marketing, but please ask first. All of them are subject to copyright.

Advantages of using My Garden Design to expand your business

Low set up costs. The only cost to set up the garden design arm of your business is on marketing
Discrete service. Every garden design commissioned by you carries your own Company logo and contact details.
Fast turn-around on designs. Expect to have your garden design emailed within 4 weeks of confirming the order.
Free tools to help you sell your garden design service
No risk – ask for payment from the client before you order your garden design
We sit up late at night perfecting garden designs so that you don’t have to
My Garden Design allows you to expand your business without losing precious family time.
Access to tailored marketing advice to help you get set up

Here’s a video to remind you of the many ways that My Garden Design can help you to build your business.

Useful links

Need help updating your website? Talk to Gary at Uthink1

For a FREE marketing audit of your website, email Angela (the copywriter and digital marker who helps to populate and promote the My Garden Design website)

Contact Paul at My Garden Design for more information