10 Things Every Tradesperson's Website Needs

1. Your phone number at the top, tappable

Put your number in the header of every page. On a phone, it should be a button that rings you with one tap. Many people who find a trade on Google never get past the top of the page. If your number isn't there, they ring the next name.

2. What you do, in plain words

The first line should say what you do and where. "Plumber in Mullingar and all of Westmeath" beats "Quality solutions for your home". Be specific about the jobs you want more of.

3. The towns and areas you cover

List every town you'll travel to. Google uses this to match you to local searches, and customers use it to check you'll come to them. A short "Areas we cover" page works well.

4. A separate page for each main service

One page per service, such as boiler repair, rewires or extensions, gives Google a clear page to show for each search. It also lets you add photos and a price guide for each job.

5. Photos of real jobs

Photos of your own work sell better than any stock image. Before and after shots are best. Name the town in the caption, such as "Kitchen rewire, Tullamore". You don't need a professional photographer. A phone in good light is enough.

6. Your registrations and insurance

Show the registrations that matter in your trade, with numbers people can check.

• ✓Electricians: Safe Electric registration
• ✓Plumbers and gas fitters: RGII registration for gas work
• ✓Builders and roofers: CIRI registration where held, and Safe Pass
• ✓Everyone: public liability insurance

7. A short quote form

Some people prefer not to ring, especially in the evening. A form with four or five fields (name, phone, town, job, photo) is enough. Make sure it sends to your phone so you can reply fast.

8. Reviews from Google

Link to your Google reviews, or show a few on the site. Ask for a review as soon as you finish a job. Never write fake ones.

9. A price guide

You don't need fixed prices. A guide such as "Boiler service from €X" or "Most extensions cost between €X and €Y" saves both of you time and makes people more likely to ring.

10. Fast loading on mobile signal

Your customers are often standing in a flooded kitchen or a dark hall with one bar of signal. The site should load in under three seconds on a phone. That means small images and no heavy extras.

Bonus: things you can leave out

Plenty of trade websites are cluttered. You don't need these:

• ✓Long "mission statement" pages
• ✓Stock photos of people in hard hats
• ✓Pop-ups and sliders
• ✓Social media feeds that slow the page down
• ✓A blog, unless you'll actually write for it

What it should cost

A trade website covering the ten points above doesn't need a big budget. Most land between €500 and €1,500 with a freelancer or small studio. Add €100 to €400 a year for the domain, hosting and email. Be wary of monthly fees with long contracts for a basic site.

Keep it up to date

A site with last year's prices, an old phone number or a van you sold three years ago puts people off. Set a reminder every three months to check your hours, prices, services and photos.

Add a few new job photos each time. It takes ten minutes, and it shows customers and Google that you're busy and still trading.

If you'd rather not do it yourself, a care plan covers small changes like these.

How Google decides which trades to show

For local searches, Google looks at three things: how relevant you are to the search, how close you are to the person searching, and how well known and trusted your business looks.

You can't change where you're based, but you can control the other two. Relevance comes from naming your services and towns clearly on your site and your Google Business Profile. Trust comes from reviews, a complete profile, matching contact details everywhere, and a site that works well on a phone.

This is why the ten points above matter. Each one helps either the customer or Google, and most help both.

A quick test you can do today

Pick up your phone, open your own website and time how long it takes to find your number and ring it. If it's more than five seconds, or you have to zoom or scroll to find it, customers are giving up too.

Then search for your main service plus your town, such as "electrician Tullamore". Note who shows up on the map and on the first page. Look at their sites. Most of the time, the ones at the top do the basics on this list well. None of it is complicated, it just has to be done.

Putting it together

A five-page site covers all ten points for most sole traders: home, services, areas covered, about and contact. That's our Starter package at €599. If you want a page per service and a bigger gallery, the Business package at €899 gives you up to 10 pages.

Every site we build includes the phone button, the quote form, a Google Business Profile set-up and fast loading as standard. Most go live in 7 working days.

Frequently asked questions