A common shape for a trades website: a header photograph of a van, the phrase "domestic and commercial", a list of six services without detail, and a contact form at the foot of the page asking for twelve pieces of information.
It is not poorly made. It is built for a reader who is browsing at leisure and comparing suppliers on general claims.
The more typical reader is holding a phone, standing in a room where something has gone wrong, and will call one of the first few numbers that answers their questions. This post covers what that reader needs to see, in what order, and which additions tend to reduce the number of calls.
The area covered comes first
It is the fastest way for a visitor to rule a business in or out, and it is one of the most commonly missing facts on a trades website.
Somebody two counties away reading the full services list is spending time on both sides for nothing. And somebody three streets away who cannot tell whether the business covers their street may well assume it does not, since assuming no costs them nothing.
It is worth stating plainly, near the top, in the place names people use — neighbourhoods, towns, "within about 20 miles of", postcode prefixes. "The surrounding areas" leaves the question open.
List the jobs rather than the category
"Domestic and commercial" describes almost any trade business. "All aspects of plumbing" has the same difficulty: it is written to avoid ruling anything out, and it ends up describing little.
Specific jobs are what people search for and what they are checking the business does: EV charger installation, consumer unit replacement, flat roof repairs, power flushing, MOT and diagnostics.
Six specific jobs carry more information than a paragraph about coverage, because each one corresponds to something somebody types into a search box.
The less common jobs in particular
The jobs most worth naming are often the ones competitors leave out: a niche installation, an awkward property type, work that others decline.
Those searches have less competition, and the person searching for a specific unusual job has usually already decided to have it done and is choosing who does it.
Evidence carries more than adjectives
Trades websites often use the same handful of words — reliable, professional, quality, trusted. They appear on most sites in the trade, which is why they do little to distinguish one from another.
Photographs of finished work carry the information instead. A before-and-after of the same job shows the change rather than only the result, which is closer to what is being bought.
This is where effort tends to pay: an afternoon photographing six completed jobs generally does more than a rewrite of the copy.
Accreditations, and only the ones held
Gas Safe, NICEIC, trade body memberships, public liability insurance, a DBS check where the work is in homes with children. These belong near the top with the other facts that decide a call, rather than in the footer.
Only the ones actually held. Registrations are checkable in about thirty seconds, and displaying one that is not held is a legal problem in most trades rather than a marketing one.
Reviews that already exist
Genuine reviews from Google, Checkatrade, Trustpilot or anywhere else belong on the site, in the customer's words and attributed as they were left.
New ones should not be written. An invented testimonial is a claim about a customer who did not make it, and it is difficult to withdraw once published.
Keep the quote form short
Three to five fields: the job, the address or postcode, and a phone number.
Longer forms are completed less often, and the enquiries lost are disproportionately the urgent ones. Somebody with a leak is unlikely to complete twelve fields when the search results are still open.
Most of the remaining detail is easier to gather in the call that follows.
- What the job is — a short description, in the customer's words.
- Where it is — a postcode is enough to confirm the area is covered.
- How to reach them — a phone number rather than only an email, since the reply is usually a call.
- Optionally, how urgent it is, where emergency work is offered and priced differently.
Make the phone number a link
On a phone, a tappable number is often the most-used element on a trades website.
Two things commonly prevent it. The number is inside an image, so it cannot be tapped or copied; or it is text but not marked up as a telephone link, so tapping it does nothing and the visitor has to copy eleven digits by hand.
It is worth having in the header and next to each form. For most trades the call is the goal and the form is the fallback.
Say something about price, even where it varies
The common objection is that every job is different, which is true and is not the same as having nothing to publish.
A callout fee, an hourly rate, a typical range for a common job, or a worked example of a recent job and what it cost. Any of those tells a visitor whether they are in the right place, which is what they are trying to establish before calling.
Where no figure is given, a frequent assumption is that the price is high, and the visitors who assume that generally do not call to check.
Emergency work belongs near the top
Emergency work brings a different visitor: higher intent, less patience, and often searching late at night.
Where emergency callouts are offered, that belongs on the first screen along with the hours the phone is actually answered. A "24 hour callout" claim on a line that goes to voicemail after six is likely to cost more than it gains, since somebody who reaches voicemail during an emergency generally calls elsewhere.
Precision helps here: "someone answers until 10pm, seven days" is more useful than "24/7" where it is the accurate one.
How this works on a Sitemo site
From a description of the business — the jobs taken, the area covered, the certifications held — those are built into the page in that order, which for a trade is the order they tend to be needed in.
The services become a list held as data, so "EV charger installation" is a line that can be found rather than a phrase inside a paragraph. Gallery and before/after sections are planned in for trades where the work is visual, rather than left as an empty section to fill.
The quote form is built short, and each submission arrives as an email and is kept as a record, so a quote request from three weeks ago can be looked up rather than searched for in an inbox.
The bottom line
Coverage area, specific jobs, evidence, and a short form with a tappable phone number — in that order, on the first screen, on a phone.
The two most costly habits are the vaguest ones: "domestic and commercial" in place of the actual jobs, and "contact us for a quote" in place of any figure. Both are attempts to avoid ruling anything out, and both make the business harder to choose.
Adjectives are available to every business in the trade. Photographs of finished work are not.
Frequently asked questions
- How specific should my services list be?
- Specific enough to match what people type. "EV charger installation" and "consumer unit replacement" are searched for; "electrical services" is not. The less common jobs are worth naming, because they have less competition and the searcher has usually already decided to have the work done.
- Do I have to publish prices?
- Not a fixed price for every job, but some figure — a callout fee, an hourly rate, a typical range or a worked example. Where there is no number at all, a common assumption is that the price is high, and those visitors generally do not call to check.
- How long should my quote form be?
- Three to five fields: the job, the postcode, a phone number, and optionally urgency. The enquiries lost to a longer form are disproportionately the urgent, ready-to-book ones.
- Should I show my accreditations?
- Near the top rather than in the footer — Gas Safe, NICEIC, trade bodies, insurance. Only the ones actually held: they are checkable in seconds, and displaying one that is not held is a legal problem rather than a marketing one.
- Do I need photographs of my work?
- They are among the highest-return work available for a trades site. Six finished jobs photographed on a recent phone in daylight carry more information than a rewrite of the copy, and a before-and-after of the same job carries more still.
- Is it worth claiming 24/7 emergency callout?
- Only where it is accurate. Somebody who calls during an emergency and reaches voicemail usually calls elsewhere, and may mention it in a review. A precise claim such as "someone answers until 10pm, seven days" is more useful than an overstatement.