Do I need a website for my trade business?
If most of your work comes from word of mouth, you can get by without one. But there's a good chance the next customer is checking you out online first.
The short answer
Yes, for almost any local trade or service business, a simple website is worth having. Not a fancy one. A page or a few pages that say what you do, where you work and how to reach you.
What people do before they call you
When someone is told “get Dave to look at it”, they usually search for Dave before they ring. If they find nothing, or only a Facebook post from three years ago, some will quietly move on to the next name. A 2021 survey of US consumers by Visual Objects found 76% check a business online before visiting or calling, and Australians are no different.
Plenty of your competitors don't have a site, which is the opportunity. A 2019 YouGov Galaxy survey for GoDaddy found 59% of Australian small businesses had no website at all. Those numbers are a few years old, but the picture hasn't changed much.
What a tradie website actually needs
- What you do, in plain words (“Electrician — new work, repairs and switchboard upgrades”)
- The areas you work in, so people know you'll come to them
- A few real photos of your work
- A phone number people can tap on their mobile, and a simple contact form
- Your licence details and any associations or insurance you want customers to know about
- A Google Business listing that links to the site, so you show up on the map when someone searches nearby
What you don't need
You don't need a blog, a booking system, live chat or a site you have to log into and update every week. Most trade sites change a couple of times a year. If you need a full online shop, that's a different job and a specialist platform like Shopify does it better.
Isn't a Facebook page enough?
A Facebook page is a good extra, but it's not the same thing. You don't own it, you can't control how it looks, and plenty of people who search on Google never see it. A website is yours, it can be found by anyone, and you can point your Facebook page at it.
What to do next
If you'd like to see how simple it can be, read how we build websites for tradies and small businesses, or send us a message telling us a bit about your business.