Heating and cooling website: what earns the call and the sale

Most people who open a heating and cooling company's website have a system that just quit: no heat in January, no cooling in July. They want a number to tap, someone who works in their town and a license. Then comes the bigger question: repair or replace, what will it cost and how do I pay?

In October 2026 we opened 40 independent heating and cooling company websites in ten towns, on a phone and on a computer. Nearly all put a call button up top. Almost none said what after-hours work costs, how a new system is sized or how to cancel a maintenance plan, and five still promised a federal tax credit that has ended. This guide goes through them in order of how much they matter.

Make calling one tap

1. Click Business info in the left menu and check your Phone, written the way you'd say it, like (607) 555-0142.
2. Click Menu. Under Header button, turn on Call bar on phones, so a Call button stays at the bottom of every phone screen.
3. Use the same number on your site, your Google profile, your trucks and your invoices.

Two of the 40 sites had no working call button on the first phone screen. Put your town and what you do in the first line, like "Heating & cooling in Missoula, MT", with a rating or your license under it. See Add a call bar on phones.

Say when you answer, and what after-hours costs

Thirty-six of the 40 sites mentioned emergencies and 29 said "24/7". One said what nights and weekends cost. Four listed "no overtime" only as a perk for plan members, which tells everyone else the opposite.

1. In Business info, set your Regular hours and add an Open today section near the top of your home page.
2. Say who answers after hours, what counts as an emergency for you, and the after-hours charge, or that there isn't one.
3. When it's busy, use the Announcement bar: "Backed up for a few days because of the cold snap. Call anyway." Click a Quick start like Emergency service or Weather delay and change the words.

Click We’re closed today in the Today panel when you can't take calls. See Close for today and Announcement bar.

Show your license number

Fifteen of the 40 showed one, though 27 said "licensed". Texas requires the license number in all advertising that solicits business, Oregon requires it in website advertising and Pennsylvania in advertisements. Minnesota's law lists websites, but whether it reaches heating contractors is unsettled.

1. Click Business info. Under Location, type your number into License number, like "TACLA12345". It shows in your footer, on every page.
2. If you hold more than one (a contractor and a gas license), put them in the one line.
3. Say "licensed and insured" in words in a Highlights section, and that you can send a certificate.

Say "licensed" only if you hold the license. See Location.

Say where you work

1. In Business info, under Location, list your towns in Service area.
2. If you work from home or a truck, leave Street address empty and fill in the city and state. Google asks service businesses to hide a home address.
3. Make a page for your busiest towns with Town pages. See Make pages for the towns you serve.

Name the jobs you do

People search for the job: "furnace replacement", "heat pump installation", "mini split installation", "boiler repair", "duct cleaning". Name at least six in a Services section. If you also do plumbing (11 of the 40 did) or electrical work, give each trade its own page.

Give the big jobs a page of their own: click Pages, New page, and start from the Service page template. Give it a search title like "Heat pump installation in Bend, OR". See Set a page's search title and description.

Say how you price

Only one of the 40 sites posted a service-call fee a customer could pay, and none posted a price for replacing a furnace, an AC or a heat pump. "Free estimate" was on 28. Searches for "hvac service call fee" and "furnace replacement cost" are common.

• Your service call or diagnostic fee, and whether it goes toward the repair, like "$89, applied to the repair if you go ahead".
• Whether estimates are free. A free estimate on a replacement isn't a free diagnostic. Say whether a trip charge applies if they decline.
• A price range for a standard replacement, and what moves it. Put prices in a Price list / menu section.
• Tune-up prices and coupons need an end date and what's excluded. Take them down when they end.
• Savings claims like "saves $195 a year" need something you can show. Say they depend on the home.

Say how you decide: repair or replace, and what size

"What size AC do I need?" is one of the most-asked questions, and only 11 of the 40 sites said they do a load calculation (Manual J) before recommending equipment.

• In Highlights or a Photo + text section, say how you decide: the age, how many repairs, repair cost against a new unit, and that you give an honest second opinion.
• Say how you size a system. If you do a Manual J load calculation, say so. If you don't, say what you do instead.
• Say what a heat pump does in your winters, and when you pair it with a furnace (dual fuel). A mini-split or a boiler deserves its own paragraph.

Show your reviews

1. Add your best recent Google reviews to your Reviews list, with the date.
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page and your rating and count to Highlights, like "4.8★ · 213 Google reviews". Five of the 40 showed a rating with its count on the first phone screen.
3. 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 sends the email. See Reviews and Ask customers for a review.

Say what happens after they call

Put the steps in a How it works section: "1. Call or request service. 2. We tell you when we'll arrive and text when we're on the way. 3. We give you a written price before work starts. 4. You say yes, we fix it, and we clean up." Then add a second way to reach you:

• A request form. Add a Form section and choose Quote request under Start from. See Forms and your inbox.
• The software you already use. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro and FieldEdge give you a booking link or widget (12 of the 40 sites used one). Paste it into an Embed code section, or use a Booking section if yours is Calendly, Cal.com, Square Appointments or Acuity. See Add embed code and Connect a booking calendar.
• Booking in arrival windows with the Bookings & RSVPs add-on, for estimates and tune-ups. See Offer visits in arrival windows.

Put the phone number beside any form; a no-heat call shouldn't wait on one.

Maintenance plans

Twenty-eight of the 40 sites had a plan. Two showed its price, and none said how to cancel. A plan that renews or bills by itself is a subscription.

1. Add a Packages section with each plan's Name, Price, Price note (like "a year") and What's included.
2. In Fine print, say when it renews and how to cancel: "Renews every year on the day you join until you cancel. Cancel any time at (607) 555-0142 or at the link below."
3. Link the button to the sign-up your own software runs, and add a "Manage or cancel your plan" footer link. Don't sell plans through payment links.

Many states require clear terms and an easy cancel. See Make canceling easy, and know the rules.

Financing

Thirty-one of the 40 sites mentioned financing, and eight advertised "0%" or "no interest". Say "Financing available through" and name your lender, with a link, and let the lender's page give any rate or term. An ad that states a payment amount or number of payments has to give the full terms and the APR, so don't write "0%", a monthly payment or "no credit check" on your own site unless the lender's page says exactly that.

Rebates and tax credits

The federal tax credit for heat pumps and other efficient equipment ended for installs after December 31, 2025. Five of the 40 sites still promised it in October 2026, one "through 2032".

1. Don't say a federal credit is available.
2. Link to your utility's or state's rebate page, name the program, and say when you last checked. Don't type an amount that changes.
3. A maker's offer needs its end date, like "through November 20".

Brands, titles and logos

Twenty-two of the 40 sites named a maker as a relationship ("Factory Authorized Dealer", "Comfort Specialist", "Elite"), and two said they were the "only" dealer. Those titles belong to a program you hold today. Show a maker's logo or title only while you're in the program, and take it down when you leave. "We service all brands" is a safe claim; "only dealer in the county" needs checking.

Photos that build trust

Real photos beat stock, because people use them to check you're real. With your phone, in daylight, take:

1. Your truck with your name, number and license number on it
2. A technician at the door in uniform
3. A technician at an outdoor unit or inside a furnace cabinet
4. Before and after of a replacement
5. The sizing sheet you use, at the customer's table
6. Your shop front and your team in front of the vans

Ask the customer first, and keep faces and house numbers out of the shot. Add the best to Projects: see Projects. Until you have your own, Free photos has usable ones for "hvac technician repairing air conditioner outdoor unit" and "heat pump outdoor unit house". Searches for furnaces, ducts and air purifiers return foundries, factory ducts and living rooms, so take your own. See Free photos.

Answer the questions customers ask

Add an FAQ section. The ones customers ask most:

• Do you take emergency calls, and does it cost more at night?
• Are you licensed and insured?
• How much is a service call? Should I repair or replace?
• How much does a new furnace, AC or heat pump cost?
• How do you decide what size I need?
• Are there rebates? Do you offer financing?
• What does your plan cost, and how do I cancel?
• How soon can someone come? Do I need to be home?

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 vary by state, so check yours with your state's contractor board. In October 2026 we looked at these:

• License numbers. Texas, Oregon and Pennsylvania require the number in advertising, as above. We didn't check Colorado, Montana, Iowa or Vermont. Putting your number in License number covers most of it.
• EPA certification. The EPA certifies technicians (Section 608), not companies. Say "EPA-certified technicians" only if they are.
• Reviews. Google doesn't allow a discount, gift or free service for a review, or asking only happy customers. The FTC's review rule bars fake and bought reviews.
• A new system sold at the customer's home. The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule can give three days to cancel, even when they called about a repair. Put the notice in your contract and ask your lawyer.
• Names and addresses. Google bars a made-up address or a P.O. box for a company that works at customers' homes.

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.
• Before each season, check what's out of date: coupons, rebate dates, after-hours charges, 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 local searches. A real service area, license number and photos set you apart. See also Plumber website for the points trades share.