In short and in plain language
This article is for metalwork firms. It is about security retrofits, such as window grilles.
After a break-in nearby, home owners often get in touch. The job usually goes to a local firm.
On many websites this is just one word in a list. A page of its own with the phone number at the top is better.
A form asks for the type of opening, the size, the base and the place. Building clients get their own route.
We build such a website for a fixed price.
After a burglary in the neighbourhood, the enquiry pattern of a metalwork firm changes within days. The caller is not a developer but the owner of a terraced house who wants to know what a grille in front of the cellar window costs and when somebody can come out to measure. The German police crime prevention service records 82,920 residential burglaries for 2025 including attempts, after 78,436 the year before. Every one of those cases produces several enquiries in the surrounding streets, and they are placed quickly and locally. On many websites they run into nothing, because retrofit work is only a keyword sitting between railings and gates. This article shows how a firm can map that short route without disturbing the long track for construction clients - and what has to be built differently on the sector page for metalwork firms.
Key takeaways
- Retrofit security is the metalwork occasion with the shortest decision path: the enquiry appears today and is awarded next week. A combined service page where security sits as a keyword between railings, gates and structural steel cannot take it in.
- The number of occasions is not small. According to the German police crime prevention service, 82,920 cases including attempted burglaries were recorded in 2025, compared with 78,436 cases in 2024. On top of that come 92,870 thefts from cellars, attics and laundry rooms.
- Almost half of all attempts fail at the hardware: according to the same source, nearly half of all burglaries (44.9 percent) failed in 2025. That is the firm's strongest argument, and it belongs on the page rather than in the conversation at the kitchen table.
- The police recommend retrofit systems in line with DIN 18104 parts 1 and 2 and point out that a sufficiently solid basic construction is a precondition. That is exactly why the form asks for opening type, dimensions, substrate and mounting location before anyone talks about a price.
- Two entry points, two forms, one phone route: the short path for private customers can be shown without diluting the long path for construction clients. The split happens on the website, not in the inbox.
Why retrofit work is an occasion of its own
A metalwork firm usually serves two worlds. One consists of railings, gates, structural steel and maintenance; there a job runs for weeks or months, contact goes through a named person, and the website is evidence rather than a sales channel. The other world is retrofit security. There somebody decides within days, collects two or three quotes and awards the work to the firm that answered first and could name a date for the site measure. On most firms' websites, both worlds share the same page.
The closest comparison is the emergency call-out service - and that is exactly where the transfer breaks down. How to present an out-of-hours service is covered in a separate article on presenting emergency service online: there the phone call is what counts, a form gets in the way, and the decisive detail is the hour at which somebody actually drives out. Retrofit work is not an emergency service. It involves a site measure, a choice of material, a delivery date and an installation that has to be planned. It therefore needs both: a phone number for first contact and a form that captures the dimensions.
The difference is not a detail; it determines the structure of the page. An emergency page is a page with a single action. A retrofit page is a page with two actions that may both lead to the goal: call, or send dimensions. Putting both onto a combined page that also lists balcony railings and industrial gates forces the visitor to find the right line for themselves.
| Occasion | Decision path | What the page needs for it |
|---|---|---|
| Grille or door security after an incident | Days to a few weeks | Own page, phone number in the first screen, form with dimension fields |
| Jammed gate, faulty drive | Hours | Phone route with hours, no form journey |
| Railing for a single-family house | Weeks | Photo sequence, material description, measuring appointment |
| Structural steel for a main contractor | Months | Scope of work, capacity, named contact person |
| Repair of a damaged front door | Days | Short form with image upload, call-back window |
The table does not describe a ranking but four different pages. The mistake we see most often is equal treatment: a service overview where all five lines get the same tile, the same length and the same closing line. How to untangle that is described in the article on service pages instead of one combined page - there across all trades, here with the fields a metalwork firm actually needs.
What the numbers say about the timing
Anyone building a dedicated retrofit page should know when it gets read. The German police crime prevention service publishes an analysis of the police crime statistics for this. For 2025 it records 82,920 cases including attempted burglaries, compared with 78,436 cases in 2024. The clearance rate in 2025 was 14.1 percent. For a trade business the second figure matters more: it explains why those affected do not rely on the investigation but on the hardware.
Burglars mostly entered through easily accessible windows and flat or patio doors.
That is the map of the enquiries. Ground-floor windows, patio doors, cellar shafts and side entrances are the places where a metalwork firm works - and they are the same places that show up in the analysis. A page that names those four locations is recognised by somebody affected, because after the incident they stood in exactly that spot.
The timing can be read off as well. According to the same source, more than a third of all residential burglaries are committed by daytime burglars: in 2025 that was 31,332 cases, or 37.8 percent of all residential burglaries. Anyone affected during the day searches in the evening - and calls the next morning. On top of that come 92,870 thefts from cellars, attics and laundry rooms, an area where cellar window grilles and door security are the usual answer.
The figure belongs on the page, not in the brochure
A dedicated service page instead of a keyword
Almost every firm now has a website. According to the Bitkom study report on digitalisation in the skilled trades, 94 percent of trade businesses run a website of their own and 88 percent rely on online directories. So the question is not whether a site exists, but whether the occasion appears on it. Most metalwork websites have a page called services listing six to ten items: railings, stairs, gates, canopies, structural steel, repairs - and somewhere in between, security. That keyword has no address of its own, no heading of its own and no closing action. It can therefore neither be linked nor found nor promoted. Anyone who wants to tidy up such an overview will find the general approach on our page about services for trade businesses; this article is about the one item that deserves a page of its own.
A page of its own means: an address that names the occasion, a heading containing the word somebody actually searches for, and a text that answers three questions before they are asked. What gets retrofitted? How does it work? What does a site measure cost? The third question is the awkward one, and it is the reason many firms never build the page at all.
The answer does not have to be a price. It only has to be honest: that the measuring happens at the customer's property, how long it takes, whether it is charged and whether the amount is credited against the order. That settles the question, and the visitor can concentrate on the substance.
- An address that carries the occasion rather than the product group - the visitor searches for what happened to them, not for the label in the catalogue.
- A heading in which window grille, door security, cellar shaft or retrofit appear literally, because those are the words being typed.
- Four to six sections, one per opening type, each with a photograph from the firm's own work.
- A paragraph on the process: call, site measure, quote, fabrication, installation - with realistic timings instead of a promise that cannot be kept in summer.
- A paragraph on the basis: which standards the firm works to and why the substrate decides the effect.
- A closing section with two routes, phone number and form, both without a detour via a general contact page.
This page does not replace the overview; it sits beneath it. The overview remains the place where a construction client sees the breadth of the firm. How to separate the two without repeating the same sentences twice is described in detail in the article on service pages instead of one combined page.
The first screen: call, place, occasion
Somebody searching after an incident is rarely patient. Three things have to sit in the first screen: a phone number that can be tapped, the town or catchment area, and the occasion in one sentence. Everything else - company history, machinery, welding processes - comes below. How many calls are lost to a badly placed number is written up in our article on why trade businesses lose calls.
The number as plain text is not enough. It belongs marked up as a link so that a tap starts the call, and it needs opening hours next to it. If nothing is stated there, nobody calls at seven in the evening - and they do not write either, they are simply gone. If it says when the office is staffed and what happens outside those hours, the contact survives.
- Phone number tappable, with hours beside it and one sentence on what happens outside those hours.
- One sentence on the occasion using the visitor's own words: window grille, door security, cellar shaft, retrofit.
- The catchment area as text, not only as a map - a map loads slowly and does not answer the question of whether the firm drives to the next village.
- A second route right beside it: the form, visible as a button, not as a link in the footer.
- No image area that fills the whole first screen and pushes the phone number below the fold.
The word people search for is rarely the word in the catalogue
The form for retrofit work
A general contact form with name, email and message produces exactly one call-back for a retrofit enquiry, in which everything is asked that could have been in the form. That costs time twice: for the firm and for the customer. Which fields an enquiry form in the trades should carry is covered generally in the article on trade enquiry form fields; for retrofit work four further details are needed, without which no quote can be produced.
Those four details are opening type, dimensions, substrate and mounting location. They are not red tape but the condition for being able to calculate at all. On retrofitting, the German police crime prevention service states that a sufficiently solid basic construction is a precondition - and whether that is the case is decided by the substrate, not by the product.
| Field | Why it is needed | What happens without this field |
|---|---|---|
| Opening type | Window, patio door, cellar shaft and front door lead to different systems | Call-back asking what exactly should be secured |
| Dimensions in centimetres | Width and height decide between a standard size and a special size | Quote with a range the customer cannot compare |
| Substrate | Masonry, concrete, timber frame and external insulation need different fixings | Measuring appointment that ends without a result |
| Mounting location | Ground floor, cellar shaft or upper floor determine access and scaffolding | Calculation that has to be redone at the appointment |
| Photo of the opening | Shows hinge side, profile and condition at a glance | Three messages back and forth before a date is agreed |
Five extra fields sound like a hurdle but are the opposite: they sort. Whoever fills them in is serious; whoever does not want to fill them in calls - and that is exactly what the number beside the form is for. The only thing that matters is that no field is mandatory which a layperson cannot answer. For the substrate, therefore, the selection should include an option saying not sure.
Photos in a form are personal data
A measuring sheet that fits into a form
Many firms have had a measuring sheet for years - on paper, in the van, copied in triplicate. The step towards the website consists of reducing it to the fields a layperson can fill in without instruction. Everything that needs a folding rule and experience stays with the appointment. What the customer knows themselves belongs in the form.
This is what such an enquiry looks like when it arrives in the inbox. The structure is deliberately plain so that it can later be carried over into a quote without anyone retyping it:
{
"received": "2026-10-02T08:14:00+02:00",
"occasion": "retrofit",
"opening_type": "cellar_window",
"quantity": 3,
"size_cm": { "width": 80, "height": 60 },
"substrate": "masonry",
"mounting_location": "cellar_shaft",
"photo": "enquiry-4711-1.jpg",
"town": "31137 Hildesheim",
"call_back": "morning",
"contact": "enquiry@metallbau-musterstadt.invalid"
}Eleven lines, and the firm knows whether it can calculate. The field names are deliberately lower case and free of special characters because they end up in processing rather than on the page. What the visitor sees are written-out labels with examples underneath.
Dimensions with an example
Below the field it says what is being measured: the clear opening, not the frame. One sentence is enough, and half of the follow-up questions disappear.
Phone number beside it
Every longer form needs a visible way out. Anyone who gives up at the third field should be able to call instead of closing the page.
A photo instead of a description
A picture of the opening answers questions no form field asks - hinge side, profile, condition of the frame, type of glazing.
A confirmation with content
The confirmation email repeats the details and names the call-back window. That gives the customer something in hand so they do not call again the same day.
How such a form is connected technically, so that the enquiry neither lands in spam nor sits on somebody else's server, is part of building the site. The framework for that is described on our page about having a trade website built.
Photographs that show the difference
With retrofit work the execution decides the outcome, and execution can be photographed. The German police crime prevention service notes that installed security devices can only develop their full effect when fitted properly. That is the sentence which justifies a close-up: the anchoring in the masonry, the weld on the grille frame, the fixing in the cellar shaft. No catalogue image can replace that, because in a catalogue there is no wall.
Two kinds of image work differently here. The before-and-after pair shows the state and the result; it convinces private customers. The close-up shows the joint between component and substrate; it convinces anyone who has ever seen a badly fixed grille. How to build a project gallery that carries both is described in the article on before-and-after photos for trade websites.
- One image per opening type, taken at the same property as the matching close-up.
- The anchoring in shot: the point where component and substrate meet, filling the frame.
- No photograph in which the house number, the name on the bell or a number plate can be read - that applies to the page as much as to the form.
- A caption naming material and fixing so that the image also stands on its own without the text.
If there are no photographs of your own yet, start with the next job - with the customer's consent and a phone held steady. What usually goes wrong with photographs taken on site, and how to avoid it, is set out on our page about photos for trade websites.
Two entry points, without disturbing the B2B track
The most common objection from inside the firm is: if we move retrofit work to the front, construction clients will see us as a small outfit. The objection is fair and still solvable. The home page separates the two routes in the first section, and from there they run in parallel: one track for private customers with retrofits, repairs and railings, one track for construction clients with structural steel, gate systems and maintenance.
The split happens on the website, not in the business. Both tracks end at the same phone number, both forms arrive in the same inbox - only with different subject lines, so that the office can sort them without asking. What such a site looks like as a whole is shown on our page for metalwork websites.
- Two entry tiles in the first section, the same size, with clear labels instead of icons.
- Two forms with different fields but a shared recipient and separate subject lines.
- One phone number for both routes - two numbers confuse visitors and double the upkeep.
- Keep references apart: single-family houses and commercial properties in separate sections, so each audience sees its own kind of work.
- Both routes as their own items in the navigation, not retrofit as a sub-item under services.
- No duplicated copy: whatever applies to both tracks lives on one page and is linked from the other.
Other trades face the same task with different occasions. For carpentry firms it is the long lead time of the building permit, described in the article on timber firms online; for tiling contractors it is the step-free bathroom, described in the article on the step-free shower page. The pattern is the same every time: an occasion with a short decision path gets a page of its own.
Sort the occasions
Write down which enquiries came in last quarter and how long each took until it was awarded. Anything under two weeks is a candidate for a page of its own.
Build the page
One address, a heading using the visitor's word, four to six sections by opening type, photographs from your own work, a process with timings.
Set up the routes
Phone number in the first screen, form with opening type, dimensions, substrate and mounting location beside it, confirmation email with a call-back window.
Look again after four weeks
Count calls and form submissions separately. If nothing comes through the form, a field usually lacks an explanation or the page cannot be found in the menu.
Write down which enquiries came in last quarter and how long each took until it was awarded. Anything under two weeks is a candidate for a page of its own.
One address, a heading using the visitor's word, four to six sections by opening type, photographs from your own work, a process with timings.
Phone number in the first screen, form with opening type, dimensions, substrate and mounting location beside it, confirmation email with a call-back window.
Count calls and form submissions separately. If nothing comes through the form, a field usually lacks an explanation or the page cannot be found in the menu.
What the firm decides for itself
A website cannot invent the technical framework, it can only reflect it. Which systems a firm offers, which standards it works to and where it draws the line is a decision for the firm. The German police crime prevention service recommends installing retrofit systems in line with DIN 18104 parts 1 and 2, and for new builds and conversions it points to tested burglar-resistant doors and windows to DIN EN 1627ff. from resistance class RC 2 upwards. Whatever of that is part of the scope of work belongs on the page - no more and no less.
What is not claimed matters just as much. A retrofit increases resistance; it does not rule anything out. Wording that promises an outcome is legally exposed and technically wrong. Naming the standard that is applied and explaining why the substrate is decisive comes across as more credible than any promise.
- Which opening types are covered and which are not, for example roller shutters or light wells.
- Whether retrofitting follows DIN 18104 and what that means for the substrate.
- How far the firm travels - as a list of towns, not as a radius in kilometres.
- Whether the site measure is charged and credited against the order.
- Which delivery time is realistic in the current quarter, with the date of the last update.
The third point is the one most often done badly. A radius tells nobody anything; a list of towns answers the question immediately - and it pays into visibility: Google's documentation on the business profile states that local search results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. How to present a catchment area cleanly, without building a separate page for every neighbouring village, is described in the article on showing your service area. What building such a site costs is stated openly on our pricing page.
Sources for this article
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