What is a trades website actually for?
One thing: turning a visitor into a phone call or a quote request. It is not a brochure and it is not there to win design awards. Every part of the page should either help someone decide to contact you, or help Google and AI assistants understand what you do and where.
That test makes most decisions easy. If something on the site does neither job, it can go.
What are the twelve things every trades website needs?
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| 1. A tap-to-call number on every page | Many visitors are on a phone and want to ring, not hunt for a contact page. |
| 2. What you do and where, in the first screen | A visitor should know within seconds that you do their job in their area. |
| 3. A page for each service | One page per job lets Google match you to searches for that job. |
| 4. A page for each main area | Gets you shown when a town name is in the search. |
| 5. Photos of your own work | Real jobs build trust. Stock photos take it away. |
| 6. Reviews | Recent reviews that name the job answer the question "can I trust them?" |
| 7. Accreditations and insurance | The registrations for your trade, shown clearly and kept current. |
| 8. A short quote form | For people who look in the evening or cannot ring from work. |
| 9. Fast loading on a phone | A slow page loses the visitor before they have seen anything. |
| 10. Clear answers to common questions | Saves you phone time, and gives Google and AI something to quote. |
| 11. Structured data | A label in the code that tells machines your business type, area and contact details. |
| 12. The same details as your Google profile | Name, area and phone number should match everywhere, word for word. |
What should go on a service page?
A service page is where a search turns into an enquiry, so it is worth getting right. Each one should cover:
- What the job is, in the words a customer would use.
- What is included, and what is not.
- How it works: the visit, the quote, the job and the tidy-up.
- Roughly how long it takes.
- Photos of that job, done by you.
- A review or two from customers who had that job done.
- The areas you cover for it.
- A call button and a quote form at the bottom.
Aim for a page a customer could read in two minutes and come away knowing what happens next.
What should you leave off a trades website?
- Stock photos of smiling models in clean overalls. Customers can tell.
- Sliding banners. They slow the page and hide your message.
- A long "welcome to our website" paragraph. Say what you do instead.
- One services page listing everything. It gives Google nothing specific to rank.
- Badges for schemes you have left. Careful customers check.
- Music, pop-ups and video that plays by itself.
- A contact form with ten boxes. Name, phone, postcode and the job is enough.
What does a website need for Google and AI search?
The same things that help a customer help a search engine: clear pages, plain words and real detail. Google says its AI answers have no extra requirements beyond a page being indexed and following normal good practice, and that no special files are needed. That is in its guide to AI features and your website.
In practice that means:
- Text that is written out on the page, not locked inside images.
- Headings that say what each section is about.
- Structured data that matches what the page shows.
- Nothing that blocks search engines from reading the site.
The rest of the work happens off the site, in your Google profile, your reviews and your listings. Our guide on ranking on Google Maps covers that side.
How can you test your own website in five minutes?
- Open it on your phone, on mobile data. Count how long before you can read it.
- Hand it to someone who does not know your business. After five seconds, ask what you do and where.
- Try to ring yourself. Is the number on screen, and does tapping it start a call?
- Search Google for your main job plus your town. Is there a page on your site about exactly that?
- Send yourself a quote request. Does it arrive, and how quickly?
If any of the five fails, that is the first thing to fix. If you would like it handled for you, this is what we do on our websites for tradespeople plan.