Contractor growth · Data
We checked 2,407 contractor websites on a phone
Most advice about contractor websites is opinion. We wanted a count. So we took every plumber, HVAC company, electrician, roofer, landscaper, painter, carpenter and general contractor with a website listed in OpenStreetMap across 21 states, loaded each homepage the way a customer's phone would, and recorded what a visitor can actually do there.
Contractor guidesBy Landon LittleOctober 28, 2026Updated October 29, 20267 min read
Why we counted instead of guessing
Search for contractor website statistics and you get the same recycled lines about how many customers search on a phone, usually traced back to a vendor survey with no stated sample. Nobody publishes what is actually on contractor websites. So we checked, site by site, and wrote down what a customer on a phone can do on each homepage: tap to call, book a time, send a text or chat, or fill in a form.
The 21 states: California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado, New York, Ohio, Washington, North Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Massachusetts, Alabama, Arkansas, Utah and Alaska. California, Texas and Florida contributed the most sites. OpenStreetMap is volunteer-mapped, so this is a large real sample, not a statistically weighted census of every contractor in the country.
State-by-state numbers for the eight states with at least 90 sites are on each state's texting-law page: California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, Arizona, Virginia.
What a phone visitor finds
| What the homepage has | Share of sites |
|---|---|
| A mobile viewport tag (the page is built to fit a phone) | 87% |
| HTTPS | 87% |
| A tap-to-call link coded in | 76% |
| A phone number shown but no call link coded in | 9% |
| No phone number on the homepage at all | 15% |
| A contact form | 49% |
| A chat widget or a text option | 15% |
| A text-message link | 6% |
| An online booking tool | 12% |
| A button or link worded as booking or scheduling | 18% |
| No booking tool and no chat or text | 77% |
| No booking, no chat or text and no form | 41% |
| No call link, no chat or text and no booking | 23% |
The basics are mostly in place. Nearly nine in ten sites fit a phone and run on HTTPS, and three in four put a call link on the homepage. The gap is everything after the phone call. Only about one site in seven lets a customer start a conversation in writing, and about one in eight lets them book a time without talking to anyone. Which tools those sites use is in which booking and chat tools contractor websites use.
After hours, most sites only offer a phone call
A customer whose water heater fails at 9pm or who finally gets around to a roof quote on Sunday is on a phone, outside business hours. On 77% of the homepages we loaded, that customer could not book a time and could not send a text or chat. Their options were to call a business that is probably closed or fill in a form and wait. On 41% of homepages there was no form either, so the phone was the only way in.
That is not a website design problem as much as a coverage problem. A booking tool or chat widget needs someone or something on the other end. The cheaper fix is making sure the calls that do come in after hours get an answer: a text back to every missed call, or a receptionist that picks up.
By trade: HVAC leads, finish trades lag
| Trade | Sites | Tap-to-call link | Booking tool | Chat or text | Neither booking nor chat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HVAC | 635 | 81% | 23% | 21% | 64% |
| Roofing | 502 | 81% | 4% | 16% | 82% |
| Plumbing | 455 | 82% | 18% | 15% | 73% |
| Landscaping | 231 | 68% | 3% | 16% | 81% |
| Electrical | 226 | 71% | 10% | 8% | 84% |
| General contractor | 128 | 62% | 2% | 9% | 90% |
| Carpentry | 117 | 55% | 2% | 8% | 91% |
| Painting | 113 | 74% | 1% | 11% | 89% |
HVAC is the only trade where nearly a quarter of sites take online bookings, which tracks with how many HVAC companies already run field-service software that includes a booking page. Plumbing is close behind. Roofing sites almost always have a call link but almost never a booking tool, which makes sense for a trade that sells inspections and quotes rather than time slots. Carpentry, painting and general contractors trail on every measure: about nine in ten of their homepages offer neither booking nor chat or text, and fewer than two thirds of carpentry and general contractor sites have a call link.
What this study does not show
- Only homepages were checked. A company may have booking or chat on an inner page, so the booking and chat figures are a floor, not a ceiling.
- Detection reads the rendered page for known booking tools (such as Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Jobber, Calendly, Acuity and Setmore) and known chat and texting widgets (such as Podium, LeadConnector, Tawk, LiveChat, Intercom and HubSpot chat), plus plain wording like 'text us' or 'live chat' and text-message links. Review widgets such as Birdeye and NiceJob are not counted as chat. A widget that only loads after a click or a long delay can be missed.
- It measures what is on the site, not whether anyone answers. A site with a chat widget can still leave messages unread overnight.
- OpenStreetMap lists businesses volunteers have mapped. Businesses that are not on the map, and states we could not pull (Michigan, Tennessee and Oregon failed on the day), are not in the sample.
What to check on your own site
- Open your homepage on your phone and tap your number. If nothing happens, the number needs a call link coded in.
- Visit at 9pm and ask what a customer could do right now. If the answer is call and hope, decide what happens to that call.
- Make sure a missed call gets a reply. Nova Solutions sends a text back to every missed call on your existing number for $99 a month, or answers by voice and books the job with an AI receptionist at $199 a month.
- If you are rebuilding the site anyway, website pricing lists what Nova charges for a contractor site and which tier adds text-back.
Questions this post answers
- How many contractor websites have online booking?
- 12% of the 2,407 contractor homepages we loaded in October 2026 had an online booking tool such as Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, Jobber, Calendly or Acuity. HVAC was highest at 23% and plumbing next at 18%. Landscaping, carpentry, painting and general contractors were at 1% to 3%.
- How many contractor websites have a click-to-call button?
- 76% had a tap-to-call link coded into the homepage. Another 9% showed a phone number with no call link, which many phones still detect and make tappable. 15% showed no phone number on the homepage at all.
- Can customers reach a contractor's website after hours?
- On most of them, only by calling or filling in a form. 77% of the homepages we loaded had no online booking tool and no chat or text option, and 41% had no form either, which leaves a phone call as the only way in.
- How was the contractor website study done?
- We pulled every plumber, HVAC, electrical, roofing, landscaping, painting, carpentry and building business with a website listed in OpenStreetMap across 21 states, removed duplicates and directory links, and loaded each homepage in headless Chrome as an iPhone between October 27 and 28, 2026. 2,407 of 3,170 sites loaded and were counted. Only homepages were checked, so booking and chat counts are a floor.
Want this working for your business?
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Building in this trade? See HVAC websites, or see pricing.