What a trade website actually needs
Most trade sites fail on the same six things. None of them are about how the site looks.
A trade website needs six things to win work: a headline that states the trade and the area, a phone number and enquiry form visible on every screen, one page per service and per key area, real proof in the form of job photos and reviews, honest pricing signals, and a fast mobile experience. Design quality matters far less than whether a customer standing in a wet kitchen can call you in two taps.
Start with who is actually looking
Trade buyers arrive in two moods. The first is urgent: something is leaking, sparking or not working, and they will call the first credible number they find. The second is planned: a new bathroom, a rewire, a roof, and they will compare three or four firms over a week.
Urgent buyers need speed, a phone number and immediate reassurance that you cover their area. Planned buyers need proof, detail and pricing. A site that only serves one of them leaves work on the table, and most trade sites serve neither because they open with a paragraph about the company being established in 2009.
The six essentials
1. A headline that says trade plus area
"Emergency electrician in Bristol and Bath, usually same day" tells a visitor in one line that they are in the right place. "Quality you can trust since 2009" tells them nothing. The headline is also the strongest on-page signal you have for local search, so use the words your customers actually type.
2. Contact that is impossible to miss
A tappable phone number in the header on mobile, a short form on every service page, and your hours and coverage stated plainly. Long forms lose people: name, phone, postcode and a short description of the job is enough to call them back. If you offer WhatsApp, put it on, because a lot of customers prefer sending a photo of the problem to explaining it.
3. One page per service and per key area
A single "Services" page listing twelve things ranks for none of them. Split them: boiler repairs, boiler installation, landlord gas safety certificates, and so on. Each page should cover what the job involves, what it typically costs, how long it takes, what you need from the customer, and one relevant example of the work.
Do the same for the three or four areas that matter commercially, and make the pages genuinely different. Mention the housing stock, the parking, the typical jobs, the response time from your base. A page about working on Victorian terraces in Bedminster is useful. A page that says "we also cover Bedminster" is filler.
4. Proof a stranger will believe
In order of persuasive power: photographs of your own finished work, reviews with specifics in them, named accreditations with numbers, guarantees and insurance details, and years trading. Twelve before and after photos beat any amount of copy about craftsmanship.
Show the accreditations that matter in your trade, such as Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, TrustMark or a manufacturer approval, and include the registration number so it can be checked. Never invent or imply one you do not hold.
5. Honest pricing signals
You do not have to publish a full price list. You do have to give people something to anchor on. A callout charge, an hourly rate, a from price per common job, or a worked example of a recent quote with the assumptions listed. This is also excellent material for AI search, which frequently pulls pricing tables into answers.
6. Speed and mobile first
Most trade traffic is mobile, often on a poor signal, often standing next to the problem. Every second of load time costs you enquiries. Compress the photos, drop the sliders, drop the video background, and make sure the phone number is reachable without scrolling.
The local search groundwork
For most trades the Google Business Profile drives more calls than the website, and the two work together. The basics, in the order they pay off:
- Complete the profile properly. Correct primary category, service list, hours, service area, and photos added regularly rather than once.
- Ask for reviews systematically. A short text with a direct link, sent the day the job finishes. Steady flow beats a burst. Reply to all of them.
- Keep name, address and phone identical everywhere. Website, profile, Checkatrade, Facebook, directories. Mismatches suppress local rankings.
- Mark up the site correctly. LocalBusiness and Service schema, so search engines and AI assistants can read your coverage, hours and services without guessing.
- Answer the questions people ask. A handful of genuinely useful guides beats a blog nobody reads.
What to leave out
- Stock photos of models in hard hats. Everyone recognises them.
- An auto-playing carousel that pushes your phone number below the fold.
- A "Welcome to our website" opening paragraph.
- A gallery of manufacturer logos with no context.
- Pages for towns fifty miles away that you would not actually drive to.
- A live chat widget nobody is staffing.
Audit your current site in ten minutes
Open it on your phone on mobile data. Can you call the business in two taps? Is your main service and area in the first line? Can you find a price signal, a real photo of your own work and a review? Does a page exist for the service you most want more of? If any answer is no, that is your next job, whoever builds it. See how we handle it onwebsites for trades, or get afree mockup that answers all six in 3 days.
What each element is actually for
Build in this order. Everything above the line earns work; everything below it is decoration.
| Element | Job it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| HEADLINE | Confirms trade and coverage in one line | Essential |
| TAP TO CALL | Captures the urgent buyer instantly | Essential |
| SERVICE PAGES | Gives search something to rank | Essential |
| AREA PAGES | Wins nearby towns you actually serve | High |
| JOB PHOTOS | Proves the standard of the work | High |
| REVIEWS | Removes the risk of choosing you | High |
| PRICE SIGNALS | Filters and reassures before the call | High |
| SCHEMA MARKUP | Feeds local and AI search correctly | Medium |
| GUIDES | Earns trust and long tail traffic | Medium |
Trade website questions
How many pages does a trade website need?+
Between eight and fifteen for most trades. One home page, one page per core service, one page per main town or area you cover, an about page with real proof, a reviews or work page, a contact page and a couple of useful guides. Fewer than eight and you have nothing to rank; far more than fifteen at the start and you have thin pages competing with each other.
Do I need a separate page for every town I cover?+
For the towns that genuinely matter to you, yes, and only if the page says something specific about working there. Ten near-identical area pages with the place name swapped is the oldest thin content pattern there is and it stopped working years ago. Three strong area pages beat fifteen empty ones.
Is a Google Business Profile more important than a website?+
For phone calls today, often yes. The profile is what wins the map pack and the map pack sits above everything. But the profile ranks partly on the strength of the website behind it, and it is the website that answers the questions that turn a call into a booked job. Do both; start with the profile if you have to choose an order.
Should a trade website show prices?+
Show something. A callout charge, a from price, a typical range for common jobs, or a worked example. Buyers filter on price whether you publish it or not, and silence pushes them to the competitor who was upfront. It also filters out enquiries you were never going to win, which saves you the phone call.
Do I need photos of myself and my team?+
You need proof, and photography of finished work is usually stronger proof than portraits. Clear before and after shots, tidy job sites and visible workmanship do more for trust than a stock image ever will. Whatever you use, it must be your own work rather than a photo library.
How long before a new trade website brings in work?+
Enquiries from people who already know your name start immediately, because the site finally answers their questions. Search visibility for competitive local terms typically builds over three to six months, faster for niche services and slower in crowded categories such as general building. Anyone promising page one in weeks is selling you something else.