Electrician website: what earns the call and the big jobs

An electrician's website does two jobs. Someone with a dead outlet or a burning smell wants a number to tap now. Someone planning a panel upgrade, an EV charger or a generator reads, compares prices and asks about permits first. Those bigger jobs are where the money is.

In October 2026 we opened 25 independent electrician websites in ten towns, on a phone and on a computer. Most had a phone number up top and named their big jobs. Almost none said what a service call or an hourly rate costs, and only 8 showed a license number. This guide goes in order of how much each thing matters. The phone, hours and review basics match a plumber's, so we point to that guide rather than repeat it.

Make calling one tap

Seven of the 25 sites had no tappable number on the first screen of a phone. Do these three things:

1. Click Business info in the left menu and check your Phone.
2. Click Menu, and under Header button turn on Call bar on phones.
3. Put your town and what you do in the first line, like "Electrician in Bend, OR".

Steps are in Make calling one tap and Add a call bar on phones.

Say when you answer, and what after-hours costs

Eighteen of the 25 sites mentioned 24/7 or emergency service; only two said what it costs. "Do electricians charge more on weekends?" is a real search. Set your Regular hours in Business info, add an Open today section near the top of your home page, and say whether a person answers at night. Then say the charge, or that there isn't one: "Nights and weekends add $100" beats "24/7 service". Use the Announcement bar and its Emergency service quick start for urgent notices, and We’re closed today when you can't take calls. See Say when you answer and Announcement bar.

Show your license number

Twenty-one of the 25 sites said "licensed"; 8 showed a number. They were bunched by state: all four in Oregon showed one, and so did both in Minnesota and both in North Carolina, but none of the seven in Montana did.

1. Click Business info, and under Location type your number into License number, like "Master electrician #12345" or "CCB# 123456". It shows in your footer, so it's on every page.
2. If your state wants more than one number, or a prefix such as Texas's "TECL" on vehicles, put it all in that one line.
3. Say "licensed and insured" in words in a Highlights section, and that you can send a certificate on request.

Say "licensed", "master electrician" or "electrical contractor" only if you hold that license. See Business info and hours and "Rules worth knowing" below.

Say where you work

Under Business info › Location, list your towns in Service area. If you work from home, leave Street address empty and fill in only the city and state; Google asks service businesses to hide a home address too. Add a Service areas section, and a page for each busy town with Town pages. See Make pages for the towns you serve.

Name the jobs, and give the big ones their own page

People search for the job: "panel upgrade cost", "ev charger installation near me", "whole house generator", "rewire house", "ceiling fan installation". Of the 25 sites, 22 mentioned panels, 19 generators, 17 EV chargers, 11 rewiring and 14 hot tubs or pools. Name at least six jobs in a Services section.

Give your three biggest jobs a page each. Click Pages, then New page, and start from the Service page template. Say what is included (the permit, the inspection, the labor warranty), how long it takes and a price range. Give each a search title like "EV charger installation in Missoula, MT". See Set a page's search title and description.

Say how you price

Only 5 of the 25 sites gave a dollar figure (a service-call fee, a travel charge or a starting price), and none gave an hourly rate. Fourteen said "free estimate" and 15 said "upfront" or "flat rate" with no number behind it. The first electrician who says a number gets the call from people comparing.

• Say what a service call costs and what it covers, like "$89 in town, applied to the repair if you go ahead".
• Say whether you charge by the hour or by the job.
• Post starting prices in a Price list / menu section: an outlet, a ceiling fan, a standard EV charger, a 200-amp panel (as a range, since homes differ).
• Say you give a written price before work starts and call before anything extra.

A coupon needs an end date and what it excludes, and "regular" prices must really be your regular price.

Say who pulls the permit, and what happens after the call

Panels, service upgrades, chargers, generators and rewiring usually need a permit and an inspection, and 18 of the 25 sites mentioned one. Letting a stranger into the house is the worry, so say it in plain words in a How it works section: "1. Call us. 2. We tell you when we'll arrive and call 15 minutes before. 3. You get a written price before we start. 4. We pull the permit, do the work and schedule the inspection." Which jobs need a permit depends on your town; you know yours. Don't write that a job needs no permit unless that's true.

Then add a second way to reach you:

• A request form. Add a Form section, choose Quote request under Start from, and say what you'll do with it. Ask for the address and a photo of the panel. See Forms and your inbox.
• Booking in arrival windows. The Bookings & RSVPs add-on lets customers pick a morning or afternoon window. See Offer visits in arrival windows.
• The software you use. Housecall Pro, Cal.com and Calendly give you a booking link or widget. Paste it into an Embed code section, or a Booking section for Calendly, Cal.com, Square Appointments or Acuity. See Add embed code and Connect a booking calendar.

Put your phone number beside any form; a burning smell shouldn't wait on one.

EV chargers, rebates and tax credits

Seventeen of the 25 sites install chargers, and "ev charger installation tax credit" and "rebate" are common searches. The money has changed. The federal EV charger credit ended for chargers placed in service after June 30, 2026, and the federal home-improvement credit that covered panel upgrades was reported to end after 2025. Only one of the 25 sites said so.

1. Read your charger, panel and solar pages for "tax credit", "federal credit", "30C" and "25C", and fix anything that still promises one.
2. Link to your utility's or state's program page, and say "check the current amount". Don't print a credit amount as fact; programs change and run out.
3. On the charger page, say how you check the panel's capacity, what a standard install includes, a price range, and that you handle the permit.

Generators and brand claims

Nineteen of the 25 sites do generators. Say which brands and sizes you install, how it connects to the house (through a transfer switch or interlock), that you pull the permit, and the price range. Five sites said "authorized dealer", "certified installer" or "preferred contractor". Say that, or show a maker's logo, only while you are enrolled in that program.

Show your reviews, and state your warranty

Twelve of the 25 sites had a star rating or "5-star" claim on the home page. Add your best recent Google reviews to your Reviews list with dates, a Reviews section on your home page, and your rating and count in Highlights, like "4.9★ · 312 Google reviews". Paste your Google review link into Leave-a-review link in Business info. Ask every customer the same way after the job; the Review requests add-on can send the email. See Reviews and Ask customers for a review.

Sixteen sites mentioned a warranty, most without saying how long. Say what your labor is covered for, and what the maker covers on a charger, a panel or a generator, in Highlights and your FAQ.

Financing and plans

Financing helps people say yes to a big job; 3 of the 25 mentioned it. Name your lender with a link and let its page give any rate or term. One site printed "Rates as low as $99/month" in its own words, which is the kind of payment claim that carries disclosure rules. Don't write "0%", a monthly payment or "no credit check" unless the lender's page says exactly that.

A maintenance plan (an annual inspection, priority scheduling, a member discount) needs a Packages section with the price, what's included and, in Fine print, how it renews and how to cancel. Three of the 25 had one, and none of the pages we read said how it renews. See Car wash website.

Photos that build trust

With your phone, in daylight, take:

1. Your van with your name, phone number and license number on it
2. A technician at the door, in uniform and shoe covers
3. A technician at work at an open panel, in an attic or fitting a charger
4. A panel before and after, with the new directory labeled
5. A finished charger on a garage wall, and a generator on its pad
6. Your shop front and your crew in front of the vans

Ask the customer first, and keep faces and house numbers out of the shot. Add the best to Projects, with a town and a short story: see Projects. Free photos has usable ones for "electrician working on electrical panel" and "electrician installing outlet wall", but searches for generators and lighting installs mostly return industrial units and finished rooms, so take your own. See Free photos.

Answer the questions customers ask

Add an FAQ section with the questions electricians get most:

• Are you licensed and insured?
• Do you take emergency calls, and does it cost more?
• How much does an electrician cost? Is there a service-call fee?
• My breaker keeps tripping. What should I do?
• Do I need a permit, and do you handle it?
• Can you install an EV charger, and do I need a new panel?
• Do you install generators? Rewire old houses?
• What's your warranty? Do you offer financing or a plan?

In Lists › FAQs, Suggest questions drafts more from your own site. See Use suggested questions.

Rules worth knowing

This isn't legal advice, and the rules for electricians vary by state, so check yours with your state's electrical licensing board. In October 2026 we looked at these:

• License numbers. Texas rule 16 TAC § 73.51(e) wants an electrical contractor's name and license number in all advertising meant to get electrical work, with a few exceptions (a sign at your own shop, for one) that don't mention websites. Minnesota's § 326B.87 lists websites among the places a licensee's number must appear. Oregon's Construction Contractors Board rule wants the contractor's license number in website advertising. We found no matching rule for Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, which isn't proof there isn't one. License number in Business info covers the websites rules we found.
• Tax credits. The IRS says the section 30C credit doesn't apply to chargers placed in service after June 30, 2026. Check irs.gov for any credit you mention.
• Safety. Don't tell visitors how to open a panel, work on a live circuit or skip a permit. Portable generators must run outdoors, away from the house; carbon monoxide kills dozens of people a year.
• Reviews, financing, plans and the Cooling-Off Rule work as for a plumber: see Rules worth knowing. A free safety inspection that turns into a sale on the same visit may need the notice.
• Names and addresses. Google asks businesses that work at customers' homes to hide their address, and bars a made-up address or a P.O. box.

Tips

• Your first phone screen should hold the call button, your town, whether someone can come today and one proof, like your rating or license.
• Once a season, check for anything out of date: rebates, after-hours charges, expired coupons, a technician who left.
• Hiring? A Job openings section shows you're busy. See Job openings.
• Every site can have a Spanish version at no extra cost. See Show your site in Spanish.
• Look-alike lead-generation pages crowd electricians' search results. A real service area, license number and photos set you apart.