A tradie website has one big moment to get right: someone is standing in their kitchen with a phone in one hand, deciding whether to ring you or the next bloke. Everything on the page either helps with that decision or gets in the way.
Here's what earns its place, roughly in the order it matters.
1. Your number, big, on every screen
Make it a button they can tap with one thumb, visible whether they're at the top of the page or halfway down it. Don't bury it in the footer or behind a menu.
People ringing a tradie are usually mid-problem. If your number is hard to find, some of them will go back to Google and try someone else. Of everything on the page, this matters most.
2. What you do, in the words customers use
"Quality workmanship, competitive rates, fully licensed" tells them nothing. It's what every other site says.
Write the actual jobs: blocked drains, hot water systems, switchboard upgrades, bathroom renos, decks and pergolas, driveways. People search for the job they've got, not for your trade in general. Google reads those words too, and they help it work out which searches to show you for.
3. Where you work
Write out your suburbs and towns: the names of the places people actually live in, rather than "servicing the greater metro area".
Two reasons. It stops calls from two hours away, and it tells Google which local searches you belong in. If you cover a region, say the region and name the main towns.
4. Photos of your own work
No stock photos. Nobody is fooled by the smiling model in a clean uniform holding a wrench.
Ten photos off your phone of jobs you've finished beats any stock library. Before-and-afters are the best of the lot. Good photography sells your work better than any adjective you could write about it.
5. Proof you're the real deal
Licence number, ABN, insurance, how long you've been going, the brands or builders you work with. Small details, but they're what someone checks when they're about to let a stranger into their house.
And reviews. Your Google reviews on the site, in the customer's words. Never written by you: real ones or none. If you haven't got many yet, ask every customer for one from now on. It's one of the most useful things you can do, for trust and for Google.
6. A form that emails you, and gets answered
Some people won't ring. They'd rather type it out at 9pm once the kids are down. Give them a short form: name, phone, what they need. Nothing more. Every extra field is another reason to give up.
Then answer it fast. A same-day reply can win jobs that a two-day reply would lose.
7. Speed
The site should load on a phone, on mobile data, in a couple of seconds. Huge photos straight off a camera are what usually kills it. If it's slow, some people give up before it finishes loading.
8. The padlock
If the browser says "Not secure" next to your address, some people stop right there. It comes free with decent hosting. There's no excuse for it being missing.
9. A Google Business Profile that matches
It isn't part of the website, but it's the other half of the job. Your profile is what shows up in "plumber near me" and on Maps, and the details on it should match the website exactly: same business name, same phone number, same address format.
The two work together. The profile is what people see on Maps, and the website is where they go to check you out. You want both.
What you don't need
- A big slider with three photos rotating. Nobody waits for slide two.
- A stock photo of a handshake. Or a clipboard. Or a hard hat on a laptop.
- An "our process" section with six steps. People just want to know you'll turn up.
- A blog you'll never write. An empty blog looks worse than none.
- Pages that say nothing. Five good pages beat fifteen thin ones.
- A pop-up before they've read a word.
- Music. Ever.
The five-page shape that works
- Home: what you do, where, your number, a few photos, reviews.
- Services: the actual jobs, in their words.
- Work: photos, with a line about each job.
- About: who you are, how long, licence and insurance.
- Contact: number, form, areas, hours.
That's it. Everything above fits in those five pages, and every one of them can be read with one thumb, standing in a kitchen, deciding whether to ring you.
Want a website built for you, with nothing to pay upfront?
ONYA builds your site, sets up your web address and looks after it for a monthly fee. You pay nothing until it's live and you've approved it. Sites are usually live within 7 days of getting your photos and details. No lock-in: a month's notice to cancel.
$0 upfront · From $49/month