Website for Tradesmen: What to Include and UK Costs
A website for tradesmen has one job: turn a search or a van sighting into a phone call or a quote request. You need clear services, your coverage area, real job photos and a number that is easy to tap on a phone. This guide covers the pages that work, typical UK costs, and the trade-offs between a one-off build and a pay monthly plan.
What the site must do in the first five seconds
Most visits come from a phone. If the first screen does not show who you are, what you do, where you work and how to call you, people bounce. Put the trade in the headline, not a slogan. Example: Roof repairs and new roofs in Maidstone and mid Kent, not Quality you can trust.
The phone number should be in the header and clickable. Add a short form for people who will not call. Do not hide the number behind a contact page only. Emergency or same-day work should say so in plain English, with hours if you actually answer out of hours.
Pages that get work, not filler
Skip the long About story until the basics are done. These pages earn their keep:
- Home: trade, area, three to five core jobs, proof (reviews or photos), call button.
- Services: one page per main job if you sell them separately (boiler service, rewire, loft conversion). Each page needs what you do, typical timescale, what you need from the customer, and a call to action.
- Areas: towns and postcode districts you actually cover. Name them. Thin town pages with no content waste time; a honest coverage list plus a map is enough for most firms.
- Gallery or recent jobs: before and after, with the job type and town in the caption. Phone photos are fine if they are sharp and well lit.
- Reviews: Google reviews linked or embedded. Fake or unnamed quotes hurt more than they help.
- About: who turns up, insurance, qualifications (Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, CSCS as relevant), years trading. Keep it short.
- Contact: number, email, form, hours, and a note on how fast you reply.
If you do commercial and domestic, say so and split the examples. If you only do domestic, say that too so you do not get the wrong enquiries.
Speed, mobile and calls
Google and customers punish slow sites. Aim for the main content to show in under about 2.5 seconds on a mid-range phone on 4G. Compress photos. Avoid auto-playing video on the home page. Test the tap targets: the call button should be large enough with a thumb.
Click-to-call is not optional. WhatsApp can sit next to it if you actually use it. Do not force people through a chatbot before they can ring you. Track which pages lead to calls if you can; even a simple note of how people found you on the first job of the week is useful.
Google, maps and the van
The website and Google Business Profile should match: same name, same number, same towns, same photos. Inconsistent NAP (name, address, phone) confuses maps. If you are mobile-only, use a service area rather than inventing a shop front.
Reviews on Google do more than a testimonials page. Ask after a clean job, once, without scripting five-star language. Put the same logo and colours on the van, invoices and site so people recognise you when they search later.
Photos that look like your work
Stock kitchens and American trucks look fake. Shoot the van on site, the finished job, and one detail (flashings, consumer unit, pointing). Blur house numbers if the customer prefers. Ten honest photos beat fifty generic ones.
Typical UK costs in 2026 terms
DIY builders (Wix, Squarespace and similar) often sit at £15 to £30 a month plus your time. A basic template can look acceptable, but forms, speed and local pages still take work. A freelancer or small studio one-off site for a local trades firm commonly lands around £1,500 to £4,500 depending on pages, copy and photo work. More complex booking or customer portals cost more.
Pay monthly website plans usually mean a setup fee then a monthly price that covers hosting, updates and ongoing management. That suits firms who do not want a lump sum and do not want to log in. One-off builds suit you if you already have hosting, someone who can update copy, and cash up front. I build both ways for small businesses; for current figures see arlowebstudio.com rather than treating any guide as a quote.
| Route | Typical UK range | You still need to supply |
|---|---|---|
| DIY builder | £15 - £40/month plus your hours | Copy, photos, hours, and you own the mess if it breaks |
| One-off custom or WordPress | £1,500 - £4,500 typical for a small trades site | Hosting and updates unless you buy a care plan |
| Pay monthly (setup + monthlies) | Setup plus a monthly fee; hosting and updates included on many plans | Job photos, service list, areas, insurance details |
Cheap one-off quotes under about £500 often mean a template with your logo dropped in, no real service pages, and you paying extra the first time Google or a plugin breaks. Maintenance on a self-hosted WordPress site in the UK often runs £20 to £80 a month if you outsource updates and backups; ignore it and you get hacked or slow.
Copy that sounds like a tradesperson
Write how you speak on the doorstep. List what is included and what is not. If you charge a call-out, say the starting figure or the conditions. Vague we beat any quote lines attract tyre-kickers. Specific we cover ME15 to TN24, no job too small for repairs is clearer.
Each service page should answer: do you do this, in my town, roughly how long, and what happens next. That is enough for most searches. You do not need a blog unless you will actually write useful notes (how to stop a leaking overflow, what a consumer unit upgrade involves).
Legal and practical extras
Privacy policy and cookie notice if you use analytics or a form. VAT number if you are VAT registered. Insurance and scheme logos with membership numbers, not just icons. Accessibility basics: readable text, contrast, labels on form fields. None of this needs to look corporate. It needs to look competent.
A simple build order
- Write a one-line offer: trade, area, main jobs.
- List 4 to 8 services and the towns you cover.
- Gather 10 to 20 real photos and your insurance details.
- Decide one-off versus pay monthly based on cash and whether you want hands-off hosting and updates.
- Build home, services, areas, gallery, contact first. Launch. Add About and extra towns later.
- Connect Google Business Profile, turn on click-to-call, ask for reviews after the next three jobs.
Do not wait for a perfect brand film. A fast, clear site with a working number beats a pretty one that takes three seconds to load and hides the phone.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages does a tradesman website need?
Seven is enough for most firms: home, services (or a few service pages), areas, gallery, about, reviews or a reviews block, and contact. Add more service pages only when you actually sell those jobs as separate searches.
Should I use Wix or pay someone?
Wix and similar are fine if you will spend evenings on it and accept template limits. If you will not, a one-off build or a pay monthly plan with hosting and updates included is usually cheaper in time, even if the monthly fee is higher than a DIY subscription.
Do I need a blog?
No, not to get calls. Service pages, photos and Google reviews matter more. Write articles only if you will keep them accurate and useful.
What about online booking?
Most emergency and quote-led trades do better with click-to-call and a short form. Booking diaries help if you sell fixed slots (MOTs, boiler services). Do not add a calendar until you will keep it up to date.
How fast should the site be?
On a normal phone on 4G, the main content should appear in a couple of seconds. Compress images and keep the home page simple. Speed affects both Google and whether someone stays long enough to ring you.
One-off or pay monthly?
Choose one-off if you have the budget and someone to handle hosting and updates. Choose pay monthly if you want setup then a monthly fee that includes hosting, updates and management so you do not touch the admin. Compare total cost over two or three years, not just month one.