Trades
What a tradesman's website needs to win the job: the pages, the proof and the price
A good website for a tradesman does four jobs: it shows up when someone nearby searches for your trade, it proves you are real and qualified, it gives a price or a range, and it makes ringing you a single tap. With us, a one-page trade website starts at £995 and a multi-page site at £1,495.
Looking impressive is not one of the four jobs. Most trade sites fail on the dull ones. If you would rather have it built for you, see our website design and SEO for tradesmen.
Does a tradesman actually need a website?
If your diary is full from word of mouth, maybe not yet. But nearly every customer who hears your name checks you online before they ring, and the first thing they find decides whether they do. A Facebook page and a directory listing help, but neither is yours, and neither ranks for the specific jobs you want more of.
The real question is which work you want. A website earns its keep when you want more of a particular job, in particular towns, at a price that makes sense. That might be boiler installs rather than call-outs, or full rewires rather than socket moves. Those are planned searches, and planned buyers read websites.
What should a trade website have on it?
Fewer things than most have, done properly. These are the parts that turn a visit into a call:
| Part | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A tap-to-call number at the top of every page | Most trade searches happen on a phone, and an urgent customer will not hunt for your number |
| One page for each job you want more of | A list of services on one page cannot rank for six different searches |
| The towns you cover, named plainly | Customers check you come to them, and so does Google |
| A "from" price or a range for common jobs | It filters out the wrong enquiries and reassures the right ones |
| Your registrations, with a link to check them | Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT or TrustMark, where they apply, are what a careful customer looks for |
| Photographs of your own jobs | A stock photo of a stranger in a hard hat proves nothing |
| Reviews that name the job and the town | They answer the question "has this person done my sort of job near me?" |
| A short enquiry form that takes a photo | A photo of the leak or the fuse board saves you a wasted visit |
Everything else is optional. A blog is optional. An animated homepage is optional. A page for every village in the county is worse than optional, because thin pages that only swap the town name read as spam.
Why do so many trade websites never bring in work?
Usually for one of three reasons. The site was built once and never connected to the Google Business Profile, so it never appears in the map results. Or it has a single "Services" page, so it cannot rank for any one job. Or it looks fine on a laptop and falls apart on a phone, which is where the customer actually is.
Google is open about how local results are chosen. Its help page says they are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity" (Google Business Profile Help). A clear page for each job makes you relevant. Reviews and mentions make you popular. Distance is the one part you cannot change, which is why the other two matter so much.
How much does a website for a tradesman cost?
It depends mostly on how many pages it needs. Our prices are published on the price list, and these are the ones trades firms usually need:
- A one-page website, for one main service in one area: from £995.
- A multi-page website, with a page for each service or each main town: from £1,495.
- A redesign of an existing small site, keeping what already ranks: from £495.
- Maintenance, with updates, backups and security patches: from £49 a month.
Whoever builds it, make sure you own the domain name and can take the site with you. A "free" website that comes with a lead subscription often stops working the day you stop paying, and the reviews on it were never yours.
Should the website do more than take calls?
Once the phone is ringing, the next bottleneck is usually the paperwork. Quotes go out late, nobody chases them, and the invoice waits until Sunday night. A website can feed a quote form straight into your job software or your accounts, so the details are typed once.
That is a separate job from the website, and it should be. Our guide to why quotes go cold explains where trades firms lose work after the enquiry, and job management software or a CRM covers which tool fits a trades business.
What should a tradesman do first?
Before spending anything, fill in your Google Business Profile completely and ask your last ten happy customers for a review. Those two cost nothing and often move more than a new website does. Our local SEO guide for trades covers both in detail.
Then decide which two or three jobs you want more of, and build the site around those. If you already have a site and are not sure whether it is the problem, a free SEO audit (normally £495, free for a limited time) will tell you before you spend money on a new one. For the trade-by-trade detail, we have guides for electricians, plumbers, gas engineers, roofers and builders.
Questions tradesmen ask about websites
How much does a website cost for a tradesman in the UK?
With Werehouse Media, a one-page trade website starts at £995 and a multi-page site, with a page for each service or main town, at £1,495. Maintenance starts at £49 a month. Every price is published on the price list.
Is a Facebook page enough for a tradesman?
It helps people who already know your name, but it rarely ranks for a specific job in a specific town, and you do not own it. A simple website with a page per main job, linked to your Google Business Profile, does that work better.
What pages should a tradesman's website have?
A homepage, one page for each job you want more of, an areas section naming the towns you cover, a page showing your registrations and reviews, and a short contact page with a tap-to-call number and a form that takes a photo.
Can I update my own trade website?
You should be able to change prices, photos and opening hours yourself without ringing anyone. Ask any builder how that works before you sign, and make sure you own the domain name.