How to write a project page

The short version

Write each project page in the same six sections, in plain language, using the details from the job file. Keep it short: three to six hundred words is plenty. Do not add figures, quotes or claims you cannot prove. Ask the owners before you publish.

Why project pages deserve care

Building.govt.nz suggests that people choosing a builder weigh experience, references and past projects alongside price. A project page is where a stranger checks your past work. It is also one of the few places on your site that is about something specific, which makes it useful to search engines trying to understand what you do.

That specificity is what makes a project page useful, and it is also why accuracy matters. A project page is a set of claims about your work. The Fair Trading Act requires a trader to have reasonable grounds for a claim at the time it is made, and the Commerce Commission's guidance to businesses puts it bluntly: if you cannot back it up, do not say it.

The six sections

1. The brief

One or two sentences on what the client asked for, in their terms. "A two-bedroom extension at the back of a 1920s bungalow, keeping the original front rooms." Avoid adjectives that try to do the selling; the photos will do that.

2. The work

What you actually did, in the order it happened if that helps. Mention anything that made the job unusual: a sloping section, a tight access lane, a heritage overlay, a coastal site. Write this part for a future client with a similar problem.

3. Materials and finishes

List the main materials and products, especially those a client might ask about: cladding, roofing, joinery, flooring, kitchen. Brand names are fine if you are sure of them. If a product was chosen by the architect or the owner, say so.

4. Your role

Say whether you were the main contractor, built to someone else's design, managed the project or carried out one trade. If another firm designed the house, credit them by name if they agree. If you did the roofing on a larger build, the page is about the roofing.

5. The area

Give the town or suburb only if the owners are happy with it. Never give a street address. The area tells a future client you work near them without telling the world where your client lives.

6. Photos

Order them from overview to detail, with the strongest image first. Give each a caption saying what it shows and alt text describing it. Before and after pairs should be taken from the same spot. The project photo guide covers this in detail.

What to leave out

Some things look persuasive but cause trouble:

• Costs and timeframes you cannot confirm. A figure on a project page reads as a promise to the next client. If you include one, it must be accurate and you should say what it covered.
• Client quotes without written permission. Quoting someone's words in public needs their agreement to the exact wording. Paraphrasing a phone call into a glowing review is not acceptable.
• Vague superlatives. "The finest craftsmanship in the region" is not a fact anyone can check. "Hand-built kauri joinery to match the original" is.
• Results you did not cause. A house that sold for a good price may have done so for many reasons.
• Anything the owners asked you to keep private.

A worked example

This one is invented for illustration. There is no real client behind it.

The example has no budget, no timeframe and no client quote, because a fictional job has none worth reporting. A real page could add an accurate timeframe or a client's agreed words.

Title and description

Give each project page its own title, such as "Sunroom and deck addition, eastern suburbs". Google's starter guide describes a good title as unique, clear, concise and accurate about the page. The description can be one sentence summarising the brief and the work.

Getting permission

Before publishing, show the owners the draft page and photos. Ask what they are comfortable with: the suburb, interior photos, their names. Keep a note of what they agreed. The Privacy Act principles cover how personal information is used and disclosed, and a client's home can identify them. The project caption builder keeps a permission record alongside the caption.

Keeping it going

The hardest part is doing this after every job. A template helps. So does writing the notes on site, on the day of handover, while the details are fresh. A few minutes then saves trying to remember the details months later.