If you run a trade business in the UK, your website has one main job. It should bring you steady enquiries from people in your patch who need the work you do. This guide shows you how to build a simple site that does that without the bull. It covers page structure, clean design, trust signals, local SEO, and the basic tools that help you spot what to fix next. It is written with Websites for Tradespeople and the Tradesman Website Design in mind, so you can use it as a checklist or hand it to whoever handles your site.
If you want a fast start, my Starter website is £19 per month. Hosting and business email are included. You send your content and I set it up quickly. You can then use this guide to polish and improve it over time. See the Starter plan or compare plans.
Why trades businesses need a site that is built for enquiries
A trades website should answer two questions within seconds. Can you do this job near me? Can I trust you to turn up and do it right? When your pages handle those questions well, three good things happen:
- You attract the right jobs. Clear services and areas cut wasted calls.
- You reduce doubt. Real photos, badges and reviews make the choice easy.
- You win on value, not the rock-bottom quote. Proof beats a race to the bottom.
If your current site is slow or vague, you do not need a full rebuild. Move your content into a clean template, then add proof and detail. If you would like that done for you, start with the £19 per month Starter and I will sort the setup. Get started.
Plan your site structure
Keep the structure tight so visitors can find the right page in one click and contact you in one more. Most small trade firms only need the pages below.
Home
Your homepage should tell people who you are, what you do and where you work in the first screen. Include:
- A short heading with your trade and town, for example: “Gas Safe heating engineer in Swindon. Repairs, servicing and installs.”
- A clear button set. Call, WhatsApp and Request a quote.
- Three to six top services with links to full pages.
- A row of quick proof items. Five-star rating, trade logos, insurance, years in business.
- Areas covered. A short list of towns.
- A few strong reviews and a strip of recent work.
About
People hire people, but the About page should still be about the customer first. Make them the hero of the story. Show that you understand their problems, then position your team as the safe pair of hands that gets them from headache to happy outcome.
How to frame it:
- Start with who you help and the result they want.
Example: “We help busy homeowners in Swindon get safe, tidy heating work with zero hassle.” - Talk about common worries and how you remove them.
Example: “No surprise costs, clear arrival windows, spotless clean up.” - Add proof that you can deliver.
Qualifications, insurance, years in business, photos, short reviews. - Then share a short human story about you.
Why you started, what you care about, how you work. - Finish with a clear next step.
Call, WhatsApp, or a quick quote form.
Example layout:
Headline: The right job, done right, with no fuss
Opening paragraph: You want a reliable tradesperson who turns up, explains things in plain English and leaves your home tidy. That is what we focus on. We plan jobs around your schedule, we keep you updated, and we stand behind our work.
Proof strip: Gas Safe, fully insured, five star rating, established 2016
Our approach:
- Clear pricing before work begins
- Respect for your home and neighbours
- Quality parts and neat finishes
A bit about us: Founded by [Name], a local engineer who wanted better service for local families. We train our team to communicate well, keep sites tidy and solve problems early.
Call to action: Ready to chat about your job? Call us or send photos for a quick quote.
Keep photos friendly and real (no stock images). A simple team photo, a few tidy work shots and one short video can build a lot of confidence.
Service pages
Create one page per service that brings in money. For example: boiler installs, annual servicing, power flushes, emergency call-outs, full rewires, EV charger installs, bathroom fitting, patios, turfing, fencing, loft boarding. On each service page include:
- Who it is for and common problems solved.
- Your process from quote to clean-up.
- Price guidance or “from” pricing if you can give it.
- Two or three mini case studies with photos.
- FAQs about timescales, mess, warranty and parts.
- A call to action with phone, WhatsApp and a short form.
FAQs
Answer the questions that slow jobs down. Do you charge a call-out fee? How soon can you visit? What areas do you cover? Which payment methods do you accept? Are you insured? Do you offer a guarantee? A clear FAQ page trims back-and-forth and builds trust.
Gallery or portfolio
Show tidy finishes, neat wiring, clean pipework, safe scaffolding, drainage on patios and other details that buyers care about. Keep image sizes small so pages load quickly. Add short captions so people know what they are looking at.
Testimonials and reviews
Mix short Google review quotes with one or two longer project write-ups. If you are on trade platforms, add the logos and link to your profile. Pick comments that mention punctuality, tidiness, clear pricing and how you solved a tricky issue.
Contact
Give people three ways to reach you. Phone, Email and a simple form. Add working hours, a line on reply times and a note on emergencies if you take them. A map helps local visitors see you cover their area. If you need a quick, tidy contact setup, the Starter site has this out of the box. Contact me.
Want this structure implemented for you with hosting and business email included? Try the Starter website for £19 per month. Start here.
Design rules that lift enquiries
You do not need fancy visuals. You need clean pages, fast load times and obvious buttons.
Mobile first
Most local searches happen on a phone. Test your site on real handsets. Can you tap to call with one thumb from the homepage? Is the text readable without zoom?
Quick wins:
- Big buttons that are easy to tap. Call, Email, Quote.
- Clear headings every few scrolls.
- No tiny text or crowded layouts.
Fast load times
Slow pages lose leads. Aim for lightweight pages with compressed photos.
Quick wins:
- Compress images before upload. WebP or compressed JPEG is fine.
- Skip heavy background videos.
- Keep fancy animations to a minimum
Clear navigation
Stick to five to seven top-level items. Home, About, Services, Gallery, Reviews, Blog, Contact. On mobile, keep a Call button visible in the header or as a sticky footer.
Strong calls to action
Put a call to action at the top, mid-page and bottom. Don’t be vague, use plain, helpful text such as:
- Call now for a quick quote
- Send photos on WhatsApp
- Get a same-day callback
Link these to your phone number and contact page so visitors can pick their favourite.
Accessible design
Good access helps all users and often helps SEO as well.
- Keep colour contrast high. Dark text on light backgrounds is safe.
- Use real text for headings. Do not flatten headings into images.
- Use descriptive link text, for example “View boiler installs,” rather than “click here.”
- Add alt text to images that says what is in the photo.
Build trust with proof
Proof beats big claims. Stack these items through your site.
Accreditations and memberships
Show trade body logos that matter for your work. Gas Safe, NICEIC, FENSA, HETAS and similar. Add your registration number and link to your public profile if possible.
Insurance and guarantees
State that you are insured, list the cover amount, and explain your workmanship guarantee in plain language. If parts have a manufacturer warranty, mention it.
Real reviews
Lift a few reviews from Google. Short quotes are fine. Pick ones that talk about turning up on time, tidy work, fair pricing and how you handled a problem. Link to your full Google profile for those who want to check.
Case studies with photos
For each key service, post a short case study. This shows the customer you know what you’re doing, you’ve done it before. Use a simple format.
- The brief. What the customer needed.
- Issues found. Old wiring, low water pressure, poor drainage and so on.
- What you did. Steps taken and parts used.
- Outcome. Time taken, warranty and before or after photos.
Team photos and work-in-progress shots
Add a team photo in uniform plus a few photos taken on the job. People like to see who will turn up and that you keep things tidy.
SEO basics for trades websites
You do not need complex tactics. Get the core parts right and you will be ahead of most firms in your area.
Keyword research with a local angle
Focus on simple service plus location phrases. Pick the jobs you want more of and pair each one with the towns you cover. Write naturally and keep it useful for real people.
Examples to use across pages:
- Boiler service Swindon
- Emergency electrician Royal Wootton Bassett
- Patio installer Marlborough
- Loft boarding Cirencester
Where to place them:
- Page title and H1
- First paragraph
- Image alt text
- URL slug
Avoid cramming keywords. If a sentence sounds odd, rephrase it in plain English.pic.
Meta titles and descriptions
Write a clear meta title of up to 60 characters and a helpful meta description of roughly 155 to 160 characters. Example:
- Title: Boiler service in Swindon | Gas Safe, fixed price
- Description: Annual boiler servicing in Swindon by Gas Safe engineers. Fast slots, tidy work and fixed price. Call for today’s availability.
Local signals
- Keep your name, address and phone number consistent across your site and your Google Business Profile.
- Embed a map on your contact page.
- List nearby areas on service pages.
- Add photos to your Google profile. Fresh images help show you are active.
Schema markup
Add Local Business and Service schema so search engines can read your business type, opening hours, areas and review data. If that sounds like a headache, I handle it on my plans.
Helpful content
A short blog or advice section brings in long-tail searches and proves you know your craft – like this one. Keep posts practical and local.
Ideas:
- Boiler pressure keeps dropping. Five quick checks.
- How long does a full rewire take?
- Patio drainage. Do you need it and what is the cost?
You can find examples and free downloads here. Free stuff.
Tools that help you improve conversions
Once your site is live, watch what people do and fix the weak spots.
Analytics
Set up a simple analytics tool. Track:
- Top landing pages
- Calls or form submits per page
- Towns your visitors come from
- Devices used, mobile versus desktop
This shows which pages make the phone ring and which need work.
Heatmaps and recordings
A heatmap shows where people click and how far they scroll. If your main button sits in a cold area, move it up. If most visitors tap your phone number on mobile, make that button larger or sticky. Small tweaks like this add up.
A/B testing
Test one change at a time and give it enough traffic to judge. Here are a few tests worth trying:
- A headline that names your town against a broader headline.
- “Call now” as the main button against “Request a quote.”
- Review stars near your top call to action against a version with the stars further down.
Pick a winner and move on to the next test. Keep it simple.
On the Starter plan at £19 per month and the higher plans, I set up your site to be quick and trackable, so you can see what works and what needs a tweak. See pricing.
Your conversion checklist
Tick these items off as you build or improve your site.
- Clear headline with trade and town on the first screen
- Phone and WhatsApp buttons visible without scrolling
- Separate pages for your main services
- Proof row with accreditations, insurance and years in business
- Five to ten strong reviews on the home page and service pages
- Case studies with before and after photos
- FAQs that cut common objections and time-wasting
- Quick load times with compressed images and minimal extras
- Local keywords in titles, headings and copy
- Local Business and Service schema in place
- Analytics and heatmaps installed
- One clear call to action per section
If you want this list implemented for you, the Starter website for £19 per month covers the lot. Hosting, business email and a clean template are included. Start here.
Example homepage layout that converts
- Header: logo, phone, location, “Get a quote”
- Hero section: “Gas Safe engineers in Swindon. Repairs, servicing and installs.” Two buttons, Call and Quote, plus a proof row with Google rating, Gas Safe and “Fully insured”
- Services grid: four to six cards that link to service pages
- Why choose us: a short list such as fast response, tidy work, clear pricing and guarantees
- Recent work: a four-image gallery strip with captions
- Reviews: three short quotes with a link to more
- Areas covered: a short list and a map
- CTA strip: “Send photos for a quick quote” with WhatsApp and a form
- Footer: opening hours, company details and links to policies
This keeps the key info near the top on mobile and gives visitors several simple ways to reach you.
Where to go from here
- If your current site feels messy or hard to update, shift the content into a clean template and improve it a little each week.
- Add short case studies and local service pages. Each one opens a new door for searchers.
- Re-use website content on social. Before and after photos, quick tips and snapshots of recent jobs all work well.
When you want a site that brings in calls without a headache, I can set it up for £19 per month and keep it running smoothly. From there, we keep improving the pages that matter most.
Many thanks for reading. If you would like help turning this guide into a live site, send me a message and I will sort it.
