If you are a plumber, electrician, roofer, joiner, plasterer or decorator in Oldham, most of your work probably comes from word of mouth, a Facebook page and your Google listing. That works until someone who has never heard of you searches for a trade in their area and has to choose between you and the firm with a website. This guide covers what a trade website needs, what it should cost, and how to get one without a big upfront bill.

Why a Facebook Page and a Google Listing Are Not Enough

Both are worth having. But on their own they leave gaps:

  • People check before they call. A customer who gets your name from a neighbour will usually look you up first. A website with your services, photos of your work and your reviews answers their questions before they pick up the phone.
  • Your Google listing has a website button. If you have no website, that button is missing from your listing, while the firms listed next to you have one.
  • You do not control Facebook. Not everyone uses it, posts get buried, and your page sits beside adverts for other firms.
  • A website can show up for more searches. A page for each service and each area you cover gives Google something to show when people search for those jobs.

What a Good Trade Website Needs

It does not need to be big. Five pages done properly beat twenty thin ones:

  1. Home: what you do, where you work and how to get in touch, visible without scrolling.
  2. Services: each type of job you take on, in plain words.
  3. Your work: photos of finished jobs. Before and after pictures do most of the selling.
  4. Reviews and accreditations: your Google reviews, plus Gas Safe, NICEIC, Checkatrade or whichever apply to you.
  5. Contact: a click-to-call phone number, a short enquiry form and the areas you cover.

It also has to load quickly and work well on a phone, because that is where most people will see it.

What Should It Cost?

A bespoke brochure site from an agency typically costs £1,000 to £2,500, plus hosting. That is a lot to find in one go when you are also paying for a van, tools and materials.

Our Website Plan is built for exactly this. It is £49 a month with no setup fee:

  • A professional website of up to 5 pages, built on our own Codevall theme and tailored to your business: your logo, colours, photos and wording
  • Your own login to add photos of new jobs and edit text yourself
  • On-site SEO set-up, and a link to your Google Business Profile
  • UK hosting, an SSL certificate and a business email address
  • A contact form with spam protection

After 12 monthly payments the website is yours. Keep it hosted with us for £25 a month, or take it wherever you like. If you would rather pay once, it is £495 upfront and yours straight away, with hosting at £25 a month.

You can see an example trade website built on the plan. There is more detail in our guide to how pay monthly websites work.

What You Need to Get Started

Less than you might think:

  • Your business name, logo if you have one, and the colours on your van or cards
  • A list of the jobs you do and the areas you cover
  • Ten or so photos of your work, straight off your phone
  • Your accreditations and insurance details

We write the wording with you, so you do not need to be a writer. Most Website Plan sites are live within two to three weeks of us receiving your content.

Based in Oldham, Working Across Greater Manchester

We are a local business ourselves, based in Oldham and working with trades and small firms across Oldham, Rochdale, Tameside and Manchester. You deal with the person building your site, in plain English.

Start your website online, see all plans and prices, or get in touch if you would like to talk it through first.