Every service website you’ve visited has several key features that tie it all together. Everything from the way they display their services, to the information they choose to include is (or should be!) the product of careful consideration. It’s a lot of work to undertake alone, which is why we decided to put together a guide to creating a WordPress service website for your benefit.
This tutorial won’t focus on secondary aspects of service website design, like which type of logo to use, or how to style your pages. We’re going all-in on the most critical WordPress service website features.
In this article, we’re going to teach you how to add pricing tables, implement payment options, customer testimonials, and live chat. However, before all that, let’s take a minute to talk about step number one – getting your domain and WordPress hosting ready.
Step #1: Pick a domain and a WordPress host
Picking a domain name is mostly a personal choice, but there are several factors you should take into consideration to make sure it’s a good one. Choosing the right WordPress host, however, can get a bit trickier. You need to consider security, performance, scalability, and the plans they offer. It’s a lot of information to find on your own, so we recommend that you take a look at some of our past WordPress hosting review articles:
- A2 Hosting Review for WordPress: Fastest Hosting You’ve Heard Of?
- HostGator WordPress Hosting Review: A Surprise Turnaround
- SiteGround Review for WordPress Websites and Blogs: Good Enough?
Your choice of WordPress host will heavily influence your further experience, so study your picks closely, and then test them personally if possible (with a short starter subscription) before settling in for the long haul.
Step #2: Install and set up WordPress
As we mentioned earlier, we’re going to build our service website using WordPress, which is an excellent choice for this type of website, since it enables you to implement all sorts of advanced functions at the drop of a hat using plugins. It’s also budget friendly, which makes it ideal for growing a service website from scratch.
After installing WordPress, you need to set up a theme to get your site ready for prime-time. Follow these instructions (the guide uses the Zelle theme as an example), and you’ll be good to go.
Once you know how to install one WordPress theme, you know how to install them all – the process is always the same. With that out of the way, we can get started with our WordPress service website sections. But first, check out this guide to installing WordPress plugins (if you need a refresher).
Step #3: Add pricing tables
Pricing tables are the type of tables that service websites use to display the plans they offer, how much they cost, and what each of them includes. Here’s an example from our own site:
This type of table is an excellent fit for service websites because they provide potential customers with all the information they need in a tidy package. Furthermore, all your services are laid next to each other so that they can be compared with ease.
To set up your own pricing table, we recommend that you use the Responsive Pricing Table plugin:
We previously dedicated an entire article to setting up and using the plugin. Once you give it a read, you can follow the steps inside to achieve something like this:
Step #4: Implement one (or more) payment options
Direct payment options enable users to complete purchases online the moment they decide on buying your services. The alternative is to wait for them to contact you, and then perhaps go back and forth on the details for a while, which could take up lots of your time.
If you do the kind of work where users could prepay for your services – or you could benefit from accepting online payments – PayPal should be your first stop. It’s the most popular online payment processor by far, which makes it an obvious choice. You can use the WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart plugin to integrate it into your site.
Setting up the plugin is relatively straightforward. Follow this guide, and you’ll learn how to add shopping cart functionality and PayPal payment buttons to your site, as seen below:
Step #5: Add customer testimonials
Customer testimonials usually come in the form of brief blurbs or snippets of text somewhere within your service pages. They provide customers with an opportunity to leave feedback, and, of course, glowing recommendations. Example:
The benefits of customer testimonials are self-evident. Not only do they provide potential users with proof about the quality of your services, but they also serve as living advertisements. It’s a win-win scenario. As far as WordPress is concerned, our favorite tool for setting up testimonials is the Testimonial Rotator plugin:
Using this plugin, you can set up both individual testimonials, and a slider that rotates through all of them. You also get access to star ratings, for the more visually inclined clients. Here’s a complete guide to setting the plugin up – once it’s ready you’ll be able to create customers testimonials such as this one:
Step #6: Set up a live chat option
Every WordPress service website lives or dies by the satisfaction of its customers. One of the simplest ways to keep yours happy and stay in touch with their needs is to set up live chat. Live chat enables you to communicate with your visitors directly, using a simple chat interface, whenever they have any questions.
A functional live chat can increase customer satisfaction by enabling them to ask you for support directly. It cuts down on long email response times and sends potential clients the message that you are always available to help them out. Tidio Live Chat is one of the best WordPress live chat plugins available these days, and its free version offers enough features for most service websites.
Setting up Tidio Live Chat is simple, but it will require that you sign up for an account on their platform. As soon as you register, you will start a seven-day trial of their premium service, and you can choose to stay on as a free user afterwards. Here’s what one of their live chats looks like once it’s all set up:
If you’d like more alternatives, you can also check out our other post, dedicated entirely to live chat plugins – 6 best live chat plugins for WordPress.
Creating a WordPress service website: Conclusion
Creating a WordPress service website might not be a walk in the park, but it’s entirely within your reach. At their core, most service websites share the same key features we just finished discussing. Since you now know what they are, you can get to work on implementing them.
With that in mind, if you’re ready to start your own WordPress service website, these are the six steps you need to take:
- Pick a suitable domain name and a good WordPress host.
- Install WordPress and a suitable theme (this one, for instance – it’s free).
- Add pricing tables to your site with the Responsive Pricing Table plugin.
- Implement as many payment options as you want, starting with the WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart plugin.
- Remember to include customer testimonials using the Testimonial Rotator plugin.
- Set up live chat with Tidio Live Chat or an alternative solution.
Do you have any questions about creating a WordPress service website? Ask away in the comments section below!
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