Most tradespeople we speak to get the bulk of their work the same way: a past customer passes their number on. So it is a fair question. If the phone already rings, why bother with a website?
The short answer: you probably do not need a website to get work. You need one to win the work you are already being sent, and to get the jobs that go to someone else because you could not be found.
What actually happens before someone calls you
Think about the last time someone recommended a tradesperson to you. You were given a name, maybe a number. What did you do next?
Almost everyone does the same thing: they look you up. They type your name, or your trade and town, into Google. They want to see that you are real, that you do the kind of job they need, and that you cover their area.
If they find nothing, or only an old Facebook page with three posts from 2022, a little doubt creeps in. Some people call anyway. Some ring the second name on their list instead. You never hear about the jobs you lose this way, which is why it is easy to think a website makes no difference.
Who checks you out online
- Homeowners who were given your name and want reassurance before letting you into their house.
- Property managers and letting agents who need a list of reliable trades and will not add someone they cannot find online.
- Main contractors looking for subcontractors who look organised enough to turn up and do the job properly.
- People searching from scratch - "roofer near me", "emergency plumber Leeds", "kitchen fitter Guildford".
The first three already have your name. The website is what turns that name into a phone call. The last group has never heard of you, and a website (together with a Google Business Profile) is the main way they ever will.
"I have a Facebook page, isn't that enough?"
A Facebook or Instagram page is useful, especially for showing finished jobs. But it has limits:
- Plenty of people do not use Facebook, or will not click through to it from Google.
- You do not control how it looks or what sits next to your posts.
- It rarely shows up when someone searches for a trade in their town.
- It does not have a page for each thing you do, so Google has little to match against searches like "flat roof repair Maidstone".
Social pages work best alongside a website, not instead of one. Post your jobs there, and link people back to the site where they can see everything and ask for a quote.
What a good trade website does
A trade website does not need to be clever. It needs to do four jobs well:
- Prove you are real and local. Your business name, what you do, the towns you cover and a way to reach you, on every page.
- Make it easy to get in touch. A call button, a WhatsApp button and a short quote form, all one tap away on a phone.
- Answer the obvious questions. Do you do small jobs? Do you give written quotes? Which areas do you cover?
- Give Google something to show. A page for each service and the areas you cover, so you appear when people search for exactly that.
Notice what is not on the list: fancy animations, a blog you never update, or claims you cannot back up. A plain, honest site that answers those four needs beats a flashy one that does not.
The cost of not having one
It is hard to measure the jobs you never got. A better way to think about it: if a website helps you win one extra job a year, it has almost certainly paid for itself. For most trades it is a lot more than one, because every customer who has been given your name now has something to land on.
Getting one without the hassle
The reason many trades put this off is not the cost. It is the time and the faff: choosing a template, writing the words, working out what goes on which page.
That is exactly why we built SiteForTrades. You answer a few questions about your business, we write three complete websites for you, and you pick the one that feels right. It is live the same day, and you can change anything later.
Whichever way you go, the important thing is to have something solid for people to find when they look you up. They are already looking.