Website tips for Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians and the trades
Friday, December 4, 2009 at 1:14PM 
If you're a Carpenter, Plumber, Electrician, Painter and Decorator, Plasterer, Builder or other skilled tradesperson and you're thinking about creating a website for your business, you might well find this article helpful.
We're in the process of developing a website for James Astell Carpentry, and it made me realise that there isn't a lot of help out there for you in terms of web advice.
You know your business, you know you're great at what you do, and you make a good living out of it. But in these times of economic recession, it's essential that you market yourself as widely as possible with minimum hassle. And that's where the Internet comes in very handy.
The web might seem daunting, but if you get the right advice and if you're well prepared, setting up a website is as easy as ABC. Here's a handy list of what you need to do:
Domain names
Start researching domain names and buy the ones that you need. For example of you're an electrician and you're name is Fred Smith, you could look for www.fredsmithelectrical.co.uk or similar. Or you might be happy with plain old www.fredsmith.co.uk. Here's a good place to research and buy the domain names you want.
Pictures
If you have pictures of the work you've done, get them together in one place ready. If you don't, start taking some or ask your customers to send you photographs if they have time. Make sure they're clear and well framed.
Whether you have photographs of kitchens you've fitted, boilers you've installed, houses you've built or rooms you've decorated, they will help convince people browsing your website that you're the person they should call for their project.
Customer feedback
You'll need testimonials too - call or email your customers and ask them to write a brief paragraph about the work you've done for them and how pleased they are. Make sure you check that your customers are happy to be named on your new website - anonymous feedback never looks authentic.
Website pages and text
Think about the pages and text you'd like on your website. You'll need some strong text for the homepage, a page about the services you provide, another with more details about you and your skills/qualifications/memberships, one with photographs and descriptions of your work, and a page on how to contact you as a minimum. You don't have to write it yourself necessarily, but write down bullet points to make sure you cover everything that's needed to convince people to use your services.
A photograph of you
Would a photograph of yourself help to make potential customers feel at ease with you? If you're happy to do this it's always a bonus. Just make sure you pick a photograph where you're smart, presentable, and look approachable!
Your business image
Think about the image you would like to convey to customers. Are you conservative? Traditional? Formal? High end? Cheap and fast? Well established? A new and exciting business? Fun, creative and quirky?
Budget
What would you like to spend on your website? You'll need to work out how much you can afford, and be realistic. If you want a decent site, which will achieve good results on Google and the other search engines, you should be willing to spend at least £500.
Who should build and manage your website?
The next stage would then be to go about selecting someone to build your website for you. Obviously your first port of call should be manage my website (!) but if it isn't, you need to look at examples of the designer's work to make sure you'll be happy with the final result. You also need to talk to them about how they'll make sure your website shows up on the first page for search results in your local area. For our tips on search engine optimisation, click here or there are more here. If you can, contact their other clients to get some honest feedback.
Once you've found someone you feel comfortable with, and if you're prepared with all the information listed above, building your new website should be a very straightforward process!
And finally...
Now that your website is ready, you or your web designer need to register it with Google, add yourself to Google's Local Business Center, and put your new website address on any internet directories you're listed on, e.g. Yell or Free Index.
If you're not listed on any directories, make sure you do it as soon as possible as many of them are free. Why not Google your trade and area, then check which directories come up on the first page? You can then register with them and ensure you're right there with your competitors. Here are some other directories you should look at:
*Please be aware that once you've added yourself to the various directories, you will very probably receive numerous cold calls from companies trying to sell you advertising or search engine services. Ignore them!! If your website has been set up properly and you follow the steps listed above, you should not need to part with even more of your hard earned cash to make it work for you.*
You could also join a website that not only gives you leads, but also allows your customers to rate you. This, in turn, will help you get further work. Try Rated People.
I hope this has helped you on your quest for a website. If you're from a skilled trade and would like to learn more about manage my website's services and how we can help you, please get in touch. We promise there won't be any hard sell!
Reader Comments (6)
NIce writeup, but £500 for a website? i would advise to look for a cheaper website and do the SEO yourself its very easy, and doesnt take to much of your time to do properly
Thanks for your feedback.
I don't think these important decisions should be made on price alone. A decent electrician for example, charging let's say £150 per day would pay off a £500 website within 3 to 4 days. They would then be in profit for any work the website brought in after that.
We have plenty of clients who have come to us for a website rebuild after paying next to nothing for a shoddy site and then regretting it. The key is to have a good look at client testimonials and examples of other work the agency or freelancer has done. As for SEO, I totally agree that it's easy to do it yourself, but how many busy tradespeople have (a) the time or (b) knowledge?
I think with websites, if you do your homework & use some common sense, you absolutely get what you pay for. £500 is an absolute bargain for a website which looks after you for years to come! A poorly designed and rarely updated website is such a turn off.
I don't have a website in this area, but so much of this info can be applied to any website. It seems so obvious when it's written down in front of you, but during the stress of the process it is so easy to lose sight of.
Wow this a very useful tips for tips for Carpenters, Plumbers, Electricians and the trades. I really like the way you blog. The page is well developed and the subject are understandable. Very good post of yours. Keep up the good work.
That's pretty nice that you encourage people to make a website for their business. Through the internet you can market yourself as widely as possible. There is less hassle also if you choose to create a website for business purposes. Now I have an idea on what to do to my business as an electrician.
I agree, but most of the builders do not have time especially when comes to SEO.