What should a tradesperson's website include?

What does a customer need to see in the first few seconds?

Three things, before they scroll: what you do, where you do it, and how to get hold of you. Something like "Electrician in Leicester and Loughborough" with a call button and a quote button underneath does more work than any slogan.

Most people looking for a trade are on their phone, often with a problem they want sorted. If they have to hunt for your number or work out whether you cover their town, they go back to the search results and try the next one.

Which pages does a trade website need?

It does not need many, but each one should have a clear job:

• Home page: what you do, where, why you, and how to get in touch.
• A page for each main service, such as boiler installation, rewiring or roof repairs, with what is involved and what affects the price. These are the pages that match what people search for.
• Areas covered: the towns and villages you work in, stated plainly.
• Your work: photos of real jobs, ideally with a line on what was done and where.
• About: who you are, how long you have been working, and the accreditations you genuinely hold.
• Contact: phone, a short quote form, and your hours.

What builds trust on a trade website?

Proof that you are real, local and good at the job. Photos of your own work beat stock images every time, because customers can tell the difference. Reviews help most when they mention the job and the town, and when they match what people see on your Google Business Profile.

List accreditations and memberships only if you hold them and they are current, and link to your entry on the scheme's own site where one exists, so customers can check. Your business name, address or service area, and phone number should match everywhere you are listed. Our Google Business Profile checklist covers why that consistency matters.

Should I put prices on my trade website?

It depends on the work. Fixed, repeatable jobs, like a boiler service or an EICR, can carry a guide price, and many customers appreciate it. Bigger or variable jobs are better explained than priced: say what affects the cost and how you quote.

Either way, tell people what happens after they get in touch: whether you visit to quote, how quickly you reply, and whether the quote is free. That alone answers the question many visitors leave without asking.

What makes a quote form actually get filled in?

Keep it short. Name, phone or email, postcode, and a box for what they need is usually enough to start. Let people add a photo of the problem if it helps you quote, but don't make it compulsory.

Put a call button and, if you use it, a WhatsApp button next to the form, because plenty of people would rather talk. If you collect personal details, say how you will use them in a privacy policy. The ICO's guidance on the right to be informed sets out what that needs to cover.

What technical basics should be in place?

The customer never sees most of these, but they decide whether the site gets found and whether it works on a phone:

• Fast loading on mobile. You can test any page free with PageSpeed Insights.
• A clear title and description on every page, written for the search it should appear for.
• Structured data that tells Google and AI tools your business name, services and area.
• Google Search Console connected and a sitemap submitted, so new pages are found.
• Your own domain and a business email address on it.
• Security updates and backups, if the site runs on a platform that needs them.

Google's SEO Starter Guide is a good plain-English reference for the rest.

Where can I see this done properly?

Our page on websites for trades shows how we plan a trade site page by page, and our guide on what drives the cost of a website explains how to compare quotes. You can also see how our website builds work, or ask for a tailored quote.