The short answer
A good web design cold email names the business, says the one thing you noticed, links to a demo of their site and asks for nothing hard. Keep it under 80 words. Under CAN-SPAM it must also be honest, say it's a sales message, give your postal address and let them opt out.
What makes a cold email work
Owners get pitched all the time, and most pitches could have been sent to anyone. Yours should be impossible to send to anyone else.
- One business at a time. Write to Dana at Northside Plumbing, about Northside Plumbing.
- One fact you checked today. Something the owner can verify, such as a dead link or a phone number that can't be tapped.
- Something to look at. A demo of their own site answers "what would I get?" better than any paragraph. Build it from facts on their listing, and keep it private until they agree.
- No hard ask. Let them look in private, on their phone, between jobs.
The names below are made up. Replace everything in square brackets, and read each message aloud before you send it.
The rules, in plain words
This is general information about US law, not legal advice. If you plan to contact people in any volume, pay a lawyer for an hour.
Email. CAN-SPAM covers commercial email, and the FTC's guide says it makes no exception for business-to-business mail. It doesn't ask for permission first. It does ask for these things.
- True header details, and a subject line that matches the message.
- A clear statement that the email is an ad.
- A valid postal address. A street address, a registered PO box or a registered private mailbox all count.
- A clear way to opt out, honored within 10 business days, that keeps working for at least 30 days after you send.
The FTC's guide puts the penalty at up to $53,088 per email. Paste this footer under every email below.
This is a sales email from [your name], [your business], [street address or registered PO box, city, state, ZIP]. Reply "stop" and I won't write again.
Texts and calls. These carry more risk than email. FCC rules require prior written consent for autodialed or prerecorded marketing to cell phones, apply the do-not-call rules to marketing texts sent to cell numbers, and limit telephone solicitations to residential numbers to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. the recipient's time.
The FTC exempts most sales calls to businesses from its own do-not-call rule. That's less comfort than it sounds, because a cell phone may not count as a business line. In Chennette v. Porch.com, contractors sued over marketing texts sent to numbers scraped from sites like Yelp, and the Ninth Circuit held that a cell phone used for both work and home, once on the do-not-call registry, is presumed residential. The TCPA lets people sue for $500 a violation, and up to three times that if it was willful or knowing.
States. Some go further. Texas brought text messages into its telephone solicitation law in 2025, with registration duties unless an exemption applies. Check the TCPA and the rules in your state and theirs. Other countries have their own rules, often stricter.
In practice:
- Send by hand, one at a time, to an address or number the business publishes for customers.
- When you can't tell whether a number is personal, email or call a business line instead of texting.
- If you'll call or text many numbers that may be personal cells, check them against the National Do Not Call Registry, which is free for up to five area codes.
- Never use an AI voice or a recording for cold calls. The FCC treats AI-generated voices as artificial, so those calls need consent first.
- Stop at the first no, on every channel, and keep a list so it stays stopped.
Template 1: no website
Use it when the listing has no link and you've searched the name and phone number.
Subject: A website for Northside Plumbing
Hi Dana,
I couldn't find a website for Northside Plumbing, so I built a draft from your public listing: [demo link]
It has your services, your area and a button to call you. It's private, and it's yours to use or ignore. If anything's wrong, tell me and I'll fix it.
Sam Rivera, Rivera Web
Template 2: only a Facebook page
Keep the page in the story. Owners are proud of it, and you're not asking them to give it up.
Subject: Your Facebook page, and customers who search
Hi Luis,
Your Harbor Auto Detail page is active and the photos are good. When someone searches "auto detailing Mesa", though, they need more than a Facebook page to find you and call.
I turned your page's details into a simple site you could run beside it: [demo link]
Worth a look when you have a minute?
Sam Rivera, Rivera Web
Template 3: a weak site
Stick to facts they can check. Never call their site ugly, because a relative may have built it.
Subject: Two things I noticed on your site
Hi Angela,
I opened [their domain] on my phone. The text runs off the screen and the phone number can't be tapped, so a homeowner with a leak has to zoom in and copy it down.
I built a version from your existing services to show what it could be: [demo link]
If your current site is working for you, no problem.
Sam Rivera, Rivera Web
Template 4: a broken site
Lead with the favor. This is the one email that helps them even if they never reply. Check the site twice, on different days, before you send it.
Subject: Your website isn't loading
Hi Priya,
I tried [their domain] on Tuesday and again today, on my phone and my laptop, and got "server not found" both times. Your Google listing still points to it, so anyone clicking through may be seeing that error.
It may be a quick fix with whoever hosts it. If it isn't, I built a stand-in from your listing in case it helps: [demo link]
Sam Rivera, Rivera Web
For a parked domain, change the first line to say what you saw: "The address on your listing shows a page saying the domain is for sale."
Template 5: after they opened the demo
Some pitch links tell you when a page has been opened. Be straight about that, and ask something easy to answer. The best move is often a call while it's on their screen, using the script below.
Subject: The site for Northside Plumbing
Hi Dana,
I can see the link has been opened, so I won't keep nudging. What would you change first?
If it's nothing, I can put it on your own address this week for [setup price] and [monthly price]. If it's a lot, tell me the worst of it and I'll fix that first, so you can judge it properly.
Sam Rivera, Rivera Web
Template 6: a follow-up with something new
Send it three days or so after the first. "Just checking in" gives them nothing, so make a change worth mentioning, and reply in the same thread.
Hi Dana,
One more thing on the Northside Plumbing draft. I moved your emergency line to the top of every page, since that's what people look for first. Same link: [demo link]
Sam
Template 7: the last note
Send it about a week later. It's short, and it leaves the door open. After this, stop.
Hi Dana,
I'll stop here so I'm not filling your inbox. The draft stays up for [number] days if you want it later: [demo link]
Sam
A text version
Read the rules above first. Only text a number the business publishes for customers, and never one that may be a personal cell. Say who you are, and make it easy to stop.
Hi Dana, this is Sam Rivera, a web designer in Dayton. I built a draft website for Northside Plumbing from your listing: [demo link]. Yours to use or ignore. Reply stop and I won't text again.
Web design cold call script
Say who you are, who you're calling for and why in the first breath. It's good manners, and the FCC's rules ask telemarketers to give their name, their business and a way to reach them. Keep it short. The goal of the first call is permission to send the link, or a question about the one they've opened.
The opening
Hi, is this Dana? It's Sam Rivera from Rivera Web in Dayton. This is a sales call and it'll take 30 seconds. Is that OK?
If yes
I couldn't find a website for Northside Plumbing, so I built you a draft from your listing. Can I email you the link? You can look when you're free.
If they've opened the demo
I sent you a draft site for Northside Plumbing. Do you have it in front of you? What would you change first?
"How much is it?"
It's [setup price] to set up and [monthly price] a month, which covers hosting and small changes. Take a look first, then decide.
"I get all my work from word of mouth."
That's the best kind. When someone hears your name, do they search for you? This is what they'd find.
"I have a Facebook page."
Keep it. This sits beside it, for people searching for a plumber who've never heard of you.
"I'm not interested."
No problem, thanks for your time. Would you like me to take you off my list?
If they say yes, or tell you not to call again, say "Done, sorry to bother you", and mark it before you dial anyone else.
Voicemail
Hi Dana, it's Sam Rivera from Rivera Web, at 555-0142. I built a draft website for Northside Plumbing from your listing, and I'll email you the link. There's nothing you need to do unless you like it.
Before you press send
- Is the fact still true? Check it today.
- Is the demo right? Read the phone number, hours and name against the listing, and open the link on a phone.
- Is it private? Don't publish the demo or present it as their site until they agree.
- Will it arrive? Send from your own domain. Google's sender rules ask every sender to set up SPF or DKIM and keep spam reports under 0.3%. Send a few a day, as plain text, with one link and no attachments.
- Are they on your do-not-contact list? Check before each one.
Shingle is built around this loop. It writes these messages from a business's record, tells you when a demo is opened, and lets the business opt out on the page, after which no Shingle team can pitch it. You send every pitch yourself, from your own phone or email. The 7-day trial, at $1, has 100 credits, enough to build and pitch 10 demos.
What goes wrong
- A mail merge they can spot. "I love what you're doing at [Company]" goes straight to the trash.
- A fake "Re:" in the subject. It's a trick, and CAN-SPAM bars misleading subject lines.
- Insults. "Your site is outdated" starts a fight. "The phone number can't be tapped" starts a conversation.
- Wrong facts in the demo. A made-up review or an old address loses the sale, and the FTC's rule bans fake reviews outright.
- Blasting a list. Volume from a new domain lands in spam and raises your legal risk at the same time.
- Chasing forever. Two follow-ups is persistence. Five is why people hate being pitched.
We don't quote reply rates here, because they change with the trade, the town and the message. Count your own sends, replies and calls, and change one thing at a time. For the wider picture, read how to sell websites to local businesses.
