Concrete contractor websites: driveways, patios and decorative work

A homeowner looking at a concrete contractor website usually has one project in mind: a new driveway, a patio off the back door, or a stamped pool deck that looks like stone. Each of those comes with its own questions, and a page per project that answers them (how thick, which finish, how long before I can drive on it, how do I take care of it) does more selling than any general "about our services" text. Here's what to put on each page, and how to build galleries that help people choose.

Why one page per project works

Someone planning a patio wants to see patios, read about patio shapes and finishes, and get a sense of patio prices. They don't want to read about garage slabs on the way. A page per project means:

They land on exactly what they searched for.
You can answer that project's real questions in depth.
The photos on the page all show the thing they want.

At minimum, most residential concrete contractors want pages for driveways, patios, walkways and steps, and decorative concrete. Add pool decks, garage floors or sidewalks if they're a big part of your work. Writing a page for each service you offer explains the basic layout.

The driveway page

Driveways are expensive and have to handle weight, weather and years of use, so homeowners ask practical questions. Answer them:

New, replacement or extension. Say whether you tear out and haul off the old driveway, and what you do with the old concrete.
Thickness and reinforcement. State what you usually pour for passenger cars and what you do differently for RVs, trucks or a work van. Mention rebar, mesh or fiber in one line.
The apron and the street. The section where the driveway meets the street often needs a permit from the town and has its own rules. Say whether you handle that.
Drainage. How you slope the driveway to keep water away from the garage and the house.
Finishes. Broom finish for grip is the most common; mention exposed aggregate, colored borders or stamped edges as options.
Cracks. Explain control joints and say honestly that concrete develops small cracks over time; the joints are there so the cracks happen where you want them.

End with the questions people ask about using the new driveway, which brings us to curing.

Curing times, in plain language

Every concrete customer asks "When can I walk on it? When can I park on it?" Put the answer on every project page, or a single curing section linked from each.

Give your own practice, but the common guidance goes roughly like this:

Foot traffic: usually after a day or two, gently, in clean shoes.
Furniture and grills on a patio: after several days.
Passenger cars on a driveway: commonly after about a week. Heavier vehicles like a loaded pickup, a moving truck or an RV, longer.
Full strength: concrete keeps getting stronger for weeks after the pour.

Add what affects it: hot or cold weather, rain soon after the pour, the mix you used. Then the care instructions for the first season:

Keep kids, pets and bikes off while it's soft. Put up tape or cones if you leave it overnight.
Avoid de-icing salts on new concrete the first winter; sand is safer for traction. Say what you advise after that.
Don't park heavy equipment near the edges, which are the weakest part.
Water it, cover it or leave it alone, depending on what you've done to cure it. Tell them which.

The patio page

Patio buyers care most about how it will look and how they'll use it. Cover:

Size and shape: rectangles, curves, multiple levels, steps down from a door. Suggest thinking about furniture: a dining table and chairs, a grill and a walkway around them.
Slope: a slight fall away from the house so water drains.
Finishes: broom, smooth trowel (often slippery when wet; say so), exposed aggregate, stamped, colored.
Additions: seat walls, steps, a fire pit pad, a hot tub pad, walkways to the yard.
Covered patios: if they plan a roof or pergola later, say you can pour thicker footings where the posts will go.

Photos on this page should be real patios in use, with furniture and plants, not empty gray slabs.

The decorative and stamped concrete page

Decorative work sells on looks, but buyers also need to know what they're getting into. A good page covers both.

What it is. Stamped concrete is pressed with textured mats while it's still soft, to look like stone, brick, slate or wood planks. Color goes in the mix, on the surface, or both, and a contrasting release color gives the look of grout lines and weathering. Explain it in two or three sentences with close-up photos.

Patterns and colors. Show the patterns you offer, each with a photo of a real job, not just the manufacturer's sample. List your color choices, and offer to bring samples or show a finished job nearby.

Other decorative options: exposed aggregate, scored patterns, colored borders, acid stains on interior floors.

Honest care. Stamped concrete is sealed, and the sealer needs renewing every few years depending on sun and traffic. Sealed concrete can be slick when wet, especially around pools; say whether you add a grit to the sealer. Mention that repairs to stamped concrete are harder to blend in than on plain concrete. Customers who know this up front are happier customers.

Price honesty. Say plainly that decorative concrete costs more than plain broom-finish concrete, and why: more labor, more materials, more skill. Ranges are welcome if you're comfortable sharing them. Should you list prices on your website talks through the choice.

Project galleries that help people choose

A gallery for each project type, sitting at the bottom of that page, is more useful than one big gallery. Within each:

Pair the wide shot with the close-up: the whole patio, then the texture of the stamp.
Show the pattern and color names under each photo, so visitors can ask for "that one".
Include a few photos taken a year or more later, if customers let you visit. A stamped patio that still looks good after a winter is persuasive.
Show the context: the house style, the yard, the pool. People are trying to picture it at their place.

For a standout job, write a short project story: the problem, the choices, the pour, the result. Project stories explains how to turn a job into a page like that.

What to do this week

Pick your three main project types and give each its own page.
Write your curing and first-season care instructions, and put them on the site.
Photograph your stamped patterns and colors on finished jobs, close-up and wide.
Add a sealing and maintenance section to the decorative page.
Ask a past decorative customer if you can photograph their patio a year on.

If your current website lumps every kind of concrete work into one page, you can see your site rebuilt first with each project type given its own place.