Guide

Is a website worth it for a tradesman?

It comes down to one sum: the profit on a typical job against what the site costs. Here it is, with your own numbers.

The short answer

For most trades, yes - and usually after very few jobs, because trade jobs are big. If a typical job leaves you £750 or more in profit, a one-off website pays for itself after a handful of extra jobs, and everything after that is yours. If your jobs are small and your diary is already full from word of mouth, it matters less. Work it out below rather than taking anyone's word for it, including mine.

Put your own numbers in

Use profit, not the price of the job, and be cautious about how many extra jobs you expect. The sum only helps if it's honest.

The site
Pays for itself after
4 jobs
Profit on each job
£750
First year, after paying for the site
-£1,000

Your numbers, not a promise: no one can honestly tell you how many jobs a website will bring. The price is one-off, so once it's covered every job the site brings is profit. With the full build, the dashboard is free for 12 months, then £39 a month if you keep it.

See what each option includes

What the sum leaves out

  • Better-paid work, not just more of it. A site that looks like a firm worth paying properly for changes which jobs you are asked to quote, not only how many.
  • Referrals you would otherwise lose. People recommended to you check you out first. The ones who found nothing convincing never tell you they went elsewhere.
  • Time. Answering “do you cover my area?” and “can I see your work?” on the phone, again and again, is time a good site saves.

When it genuinely isn't worth it

If you are booked solid for months from repeat customers and word of mouth, and you have no wish to grow or move up to better-paid work, a website will not change much for you yet. Keep your Google Business Profile up to date (our guide covers it) and revisit the sum when that changes.

Next: what would it cost you?

The price is fixed and agreed before any work starts, and you own the site outright.

FAQ

More questions on whether a website pays

How many jobs does a website bring a tradesman?

Nobody can honestly give you a number. It depends on your trade, your area, how many competitors there are, your reviews and how quickly you reply to enquiries. That is why the calculator asks you rather than assuming: start with a cautious guess, even one or two jobs a year, and see whether the sum still works.

Should I count turnover or profit?

Profit. A £4,000 job where £3,000 goes on materials and labour leaves £1,000, and that is what pays for the site. Using turnover makes any website look like a bargain, which is how people end up disappointed.

What if most of my work already comes from word of mouth?

A website still earns its keep there: most people recommended to you look you up before they ring. A slow site, an old site or no site at all loses some of those referrals quietly - you never hear about the ones who called someone else.

Is a cheaper website better value?

Only if it does the same job. The cost that matters is the price divided by the jobs it brings: a cheap site that is slow on a phone or hard to find on Google can cost more per job than a better one. Run both prices through the calculator with the jobs you honestly expect from each.

Ready when you are

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