Touching Up Your “Find An Inspector” Settings

Have you ever gone to the ASHI website to look up inspectors in your area, including yourself? No? What are you waiting for? The “Find an Inspector” search tool is a terrific marketing and data-tracking tool,and ASHI makes it easy for you to use!

HOW TO USE THE “FIND AN INSPECTOR” SETTING
Your first step is to fill in information on the Find A Home Inspector search tool on the first page of the ASHI website. It’s important to know that anyone who goes to the ASHI website can use this tool to look up home inspectors in any zip code, city and state. People also can search by last name (to look for an ASHI Certified Inspector) and by specialty. Users can narrow the search to find inspectors within a five-mile radius of a location or widen the search to find inspectors stretching out to a 150-mile radius.

HOW CAN THIS SEARCH TOOL HELP YOU?
Simply by understanding how potential clients and real estate agents can access your information on the ASHI website, you will have a better understanding of what information you should provide to users. How much information people can access depends on how much time you are willing to spend customizing your profile. Having a venue to provide targeted information to your potential clients is a key marketing strategy.

HOW TO UPDATE YOUR “FIND AN INSPECTOR” SETTINGS
Log on to the ASHI website (www.homeinspector.org), choose the Members Only tab (found along the top of the page) and click on the My Membership link. Once you’ve logged in, you will see a link for Find an Inspector Settings (shown in the picture below).

In Find an Inspector Settings, you’ll be able to complete the fields to update your information. In the field Company Description, you should make a general statement about your company that can include how long you’ve been in business, how many people are on your company’s team, what services you provide, which languages you speak and so on. Some ASHI members include some personal information about themselves. Adding this kind of information gives potential clients more insights about who you are and those insights might lead them to choose to contact you.

Next, you’ll add your company logo. Including your business logo on your Find an Inspector page can add marketing value to your business. For example, the fact that you even have a logo lets potential clients know that you have taken the time to brand yourself and that you are serious about your business.

Don’t have a logo? As an ASHI member, you are entitled to receive a free custom-made logo for your business, designed by our talented graphics team. To access this member benefit, go back to the Members Only tab on the ASHI website and select Free Logo Design to get more information.

After you’ve uploaded your company logo and written your company description, you should ensure that your contact information is accurate. You can select options to receive emails or texts (or both) from potential clients who want to hire you. It’s good to know that your contact information (including email, phone number and address) is connected directly to the ASHI database, so when you make a change to your Find an Inspector settings, you’ll be updating the database as well. 

Important Note: You have the option to update anything—except for your address—on your own. (To update your address, contact ASHI HQ at 847-759-2820 or HQ@ashi.org.)

The address you see on your page is the address that ASHI uses to geographically place you on the Find an Inspector search tool. So, if you live in a suburb of Chicago (Des Plaines, for example), but you also want to be found by people searching for home inspectors in the greater Chicago region, you will need to broaden your search radius or select Chicago as one of your metro areas.

WHAT IS A METRO AREA?
All ASHI members can choose three metropolitan areas to appear on their profiles. But, there’s a catch: When prospective clients view “more search options” in the Find an Inspector page, they will only see members who are ASHI Certified Inspectors (ACIs) and ASHI Inspectors in the listing. This is another special benefit that you receive by becoming an ASHI Inspector or ACI.

For more information on moving up within the “ranks” of ASHI, check out the article, “Your Journey to Move Up in ASHI,” published in the October issue of the Reporter. You can also contact us at membership@ashi.org with any questions. Having access to the metro area searches can help you broaden your services to other regions and to potentially attract more clients.

FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS
(OR…HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE VIEWED YOUR PROFILE?)
By updating your Find an Inspector Settings, you create a platform for yourself to stand out. You also help your potential clients to determine if you are the right fit for their needs. If you’d like to keep track of how many clients and or real estate agents search for and click on your name, you can visit the Find an Inspector Contact Views link, found on the My Membership page (shown in the picture below).

This page will tell you how many times your profile has been viewed and how many potential clients have requested that you contact them. This is a great tool to use to see how well you are marketing yourself. Your results might convince you that maybe it’s time to freshen up your profile.

For a step-by-step guide on how to update your profile using Find an Inspector Settings, visit ASHI’s how-to videos at https://www.homeinspector.org/Members-only/How-to-Videos and click on Membership Profile Update 2.

Update your profile and watch as those views from potential clients start accumulating!