Website Design for Tradesmen in Wales.
The honest guide for builders, plumbers, electricians, roofers and landscapers. Why you need your own site, what it must do, and what it costs. Proper websites from £899.
By Chris Convy, Founder · Published 21 June 2026
The Short Version — Own Your Leads, Look Legit, Keep the Profit
If you're a tradesman in Wales relying on Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark or a Facebook page, you're renting your customers off someone else. A proper website is the one place online you actually own — no commission, no per-lead fees, no middleman skimming the top. Here's exactly why you need one, what it has to do, and what it costs.
A tradesman needs their own website because it's the one channel they own outright — no commission, no per-lead fees, no platform that can switch you off. Built right, it gets you found on Google for "trade near me" searches across your patch, makes you look established, and pays for itself in a single job. Proper trade websites start from £899, one-off.
Why Every Tradesman Needs a Website.
Let's be straight. You can get work without a website — word of mouth, a van sign, a few quid to Checkatrade. Plenty of trades have ticked over that way for years. But "ticking over" and "growing a proper business" are two different things, and the gap between them is almost always a website.
Here's the thing nobody tells you about lead sites and social media: you don't own any of it. Checkatrade owns your reviews. MyBuilder owns your enquiries. Facebook owns your page and can throttle your reach or shut you down whenever it fancies. You're building your reputation on rented land, and the landlord takes a cut every single month.
A website is the one place online that's yours. When someone in Newport searches "emergency plumber" or "roofer near me", a properly built site puts you in front of them — and when they land on it, there's no competitor sitting next to you and no commission coming off the job. It's just you, your work, your reviews, and a phone number. That's the difference between paying for leads forever and owning the channel that brings them in.
It also makes you look legit. A customer about to spend three grand on a new bathroom or five grand on a re-roof checks you out first. A tidy website with real photos of your work, genuine reviews and a proper contact page tells them you're an established business who'll still be around if something goes wrong. A half-finished Facebook page tells them the opposite. The trades winning the bigger, better-paid jobs are the ones who look the part. If you want the full breakdown of services aimed squarely at trades, our websites for tradesmen page lays it all out.
Website vs Checkatrade & MyBuilder.
This is the question every tradesman asks. Here's the head-on answer: they do different jobs, but your own website wins long term — and the smartest trades use both, with the website at the centre.
Lead sites like Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark are a marketplace. You pay a monthly membership, sometimes a fee per lead on top, and in return you get listed alongside every other trade in your area. The problem is right there in that sentence: alongside every other trade. When a customer opens a lead site, they see ten plumbers on one screen, all fighting for the same job. The only way to stand out is to be cheapest, and a race to the bottom on price is no way to run a business.
Your own website flips that completely. When someone lands on it, they're looking at you and only you. No competitors on the page. No bidding war. No commission off the job. They've already decided to find out more about your business specifically — that's a far warmer lead, and you keep 100% of what it's worth.
| Lead Sites | Your Own Website | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Model | Monthly + per lead | One-off from £899 |
| Commission | Yes, every lead | None |
| Competitors On Page | Loads of them | Just you |
| Who Owns The Customer | The platform | You |
| Who Owns The Reviews | The platform | You |
| Can They Switch You Off | Yes, anytime | Never |
Our honest advice? Use the lead sites if they bring in work — but treat them as a top-up, not your foundation. Point everything at your own website: your van, your business cards, your quotes, your Google listing. That's where you turn a one-off enquiry into a customer who calls you direct next time, with no fee attached.
What a Trade Website Actually Needs.
Forget the fancy stuff. A tradesman's website only needs to do a handful of things, and it needs to do them properly. Here's the lot.
Mobile-First
Most people search for a trade on their phone, often standing in the leaking bathroom. If your site's a mess on a phone, you've lost them. Mobile comes first, always.
Fast Load Time
Half your visitors leave if a page takes more than three seconds. We build every site to load in under a second, so nobody bounces before they've seen your work.
Clear Services
Spell out exactly what you do — bathrooms, rewires, flat roofs, block paving, whatever your trade is. Vague sites don't rank and don't convert.
Service Areas
List the towns you cover. It tells customers you're local and helps you show up when someone searches your trade plus their town — the searches that actually convert.
Gallery of Real Jobs
Before-and-after photos of your own finished work. Nothing sells a trade better than proof. Stock photos fool no one — show what you actually do.
Genuine Reviews
Real words from real customers. Reviews are the single biggest trust signal for a trade. We pull them in from Google so they're current and believable.
Contact Form & Number
Phone number visible on every page, plus a dead-simple form. Make it stupidly easy to reach you, because the easiest trade to contact usually gets the job.
Local SEO Built In
A site nobody finds is just an expensive business card. Proper local SEO gets you ranking for "trade near me" across your whole patch.
Built to Last
No clunky WordPress to maintain. We build on Google Firebase — fast, secure, and nothing to update. It just works.
How a Trade Website Gets You Work.
A website only earns its keep if people find it. The good news: trades are one of the easiest businesses to rank locally, because the searches are simple and the intent is red-hot. Someone typing "emergency electrician Newport" isn't browsing — they want someone there today.
The recipe is straightforward. A fast, mobile-first site. A page for each main service. A page or section for each town you cover. A Google Business Profile linked to your site. Genuine reviews flowing in. Do that, and you start showing up in the map pack and the search results for exactly the people looking to hire — every one a warm lead you pay nothing per enquiry to reach.
We build trade sites across South Wales and know these patches inside out. Whether you're after work in Newport, Bridgend, Caerphilly or Cwmbran, we build the local pages and structure that get you ranking where your customers actually are. For more on speed, search and running a proper business online, have a dig through our guides and blog.
What It Costs — From £899.
No mystery, no "call for a quote" runaround. A proper trade website starts from £899. That's a clean, fast, mobile-first site with your services, service areas, gallery, reviews and a contact form — everything in the list above. It's a one-off payment. You own it outright.
Put that next to what lead sites cost you. Many trades hand over £100 to £300 a month to Checkatrade, MyBuilder or Bark — that's £1,200 to £3,600 a year, every year, for leads you don't own and competitors sitting right next to you. A one-off £899 website usually pays for itself in a single job. One re-roof, one rewire, one bathroom, and the whole thing's covered — then it keeps bringing in work for years with only a small hosting cost (typically under £10 a month) to run it.
No emojis, no jargon, no nonsense — just a tidy website that makes you look the part and brings the phone calls in. Tell us your trade and your patch and we'll show you exactly what we'd build.
Tradesman Website Questions.
Does a tradesman really need a website in 2026?
Yes. A website is the one place online you actually own. Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark rent you leads and take a cut; a Facebook page can be throttled or deleted overnight. Your own website lets customers find you on Google, see your work and contact you directly with no commission and no middleman. For most trades in Wales it pays for itself within a handful of jobs, because a single roofing, rewiring or extension job is worth more than the entire build cost.
Website versus Checkatrade or MyBuilder — which is better for a tradesman?
They do different jobs, but a website wins long term. Checkatrade and MyBuilder charge a monthly membership plus per-lead fees, and you compete head-to-head with every other trade on the same page, racing to the bottom on price. Your own website has no commission, no monthly lead fee and no competitors on the page — when someone lands on it, they are looking at you and only you. The smart move is to use the lead sites if you want, but drive everyone to your own site, where you own the customer and keep all the profit.
How much does a website for a tradesman cost in Wales?
A proper trade website starts from £899 for a clean, fast, mobile-first site with your services, service areas, gallery, reviews and a contact form. That is a one-off payment, not a monthly subscription. Compare that to roughly £100–£300 a month you might hand to Checkatrade or MyBuilder for leads you do not own. One decent job usually covers the whole cost of the website outright.
What does a tradesman's website actually need?
The essentials are a mobile-first design (most people search for a trade on their phone), a fast load time so visitors do not bounce, clear service pages, your service areas, a gallery of real finished jobs, genuine reviews, your phone number and a simple contact form. You also need basic local SEO so you show up when someone searches "plumber near me" or "electrician in Newport". Anything beyond that is a bonus — those are the parts that win you work.
Will a website actually get me more leads?
It will if it is built to be found. A fast, mobile-friendly site with proper local SEO, service-area pages and a Google Business Profile gets you showing up for "trade near me" searches across your patch. Every one of those searchers is a warm lead actively looking to hire — and unlike a lead site, you pay nothing per enquiry. Speed matters too: slow sites lose visitors before the page even loads, which is why we build every site to load in under a second.
Do I need to keep paying every month for a website?
No. We build trade websites for a one-off fee from £899, and you own the lot. There is a small ongoing hosting cost — typically under £10 a month — but no plugin subscriptions, no per-lead charges and no surprise renewals. That is a world away from lead sites that bill you every month whether the work comes in or not.
Can I update my website myself, or do I have to call you?
Either way works. We can build you a simple admin area so you can add new gallery photos, update services or post reviews yourself — log in, change it, it goes live. Or, if you would rather be on the tools and leave it to us, we handle updates for you. Most tradesmen want photos of recent jobs going up regularly, so we make that part dead easy.
Why does a website make me look more legit to customers?
Because a customer about to spend thousands on a job checks you out first. A tidy, professional website with real photos, real reviews and a proper contact page tells them you are an established business, not a one-off. A profile buried on a lead site or a half-finished Facebook page does the opposite. The trades that win the bigger jobs are the ones that look the part the moment a customer lands on them.
Ready for a website that's properly yours?
Stop renting leads off Checkatrade. Get a tidy, fast website that makes you look the part and brings the work in — from £899, one-off, and you own the lot. Tell us your trade and we'll show you what we'd build.
