A starter website for a trades business has one job: when a stranger lands on it, they should know within five seconds what you do, where you do it, and how to reach you. Everything else is secondary. For a first-year owner that usually means five or six pages, real photos and your phone number in large, tappable type at the top.
Who this is for
This service is for owners who have a verified Google Business Profile and some early customers, and now keep hearing "do you have a website?" It also suits owners who paid for a site that looks nice but brings no calls.
It is probably not for you yet if:
- you have not set up your Google profile (do that first, it is free)
- you are still deciding what services to offer
- you have no photos of your own work at all (start taking them on every job now)
What a starter website includes
Keep it small and finished, rather than large and half-empty. A typical first-year structure looks like this.
| Page | What it must answer |
|---|---|
| Home | What you do, the towns you serve, your number, two or three photos of real work |
| One page per main service | What the job involves, what affects the price, what the customer should expect on the day |
| Service area | The towns and neighbourhoods you actually reach, in plain words |
| About | Your name, your photo, your trade background, why you started the business |
| Contact | Your phone number, that you accept texts, your hours and how quickly you reply |
Each service page should be written for a homeowner, not for another tradesperson. "We replace the faucet and check the shut-off valves" is more useful than a list of brand names.
Avoid the things that slow small sites down or confuse visitors: autoplay video, sliders, pop-ups and pages of stock photos. On a phone, a visitor should be able to call you with one thumb.
Trust details people look for
Customers want to know you are legitimate before they let you into their home. Show the facts you can prove:
- your registered business name
- your trade certification, if you hold one, in the words your provincial body uses
- whether you carry liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage, if you do
- real photos of you and your work
What you are required to show, or not allowed to claim, depends on your trade and province. We do not give licensing advice. Our areas pages link to the right provincial bodies so you can check directly. And keep every claim true: the Competition Bureau can act on misleading advertising, including on small business websites.
Timeline
Most of the time goes into content, not code. A realistic schedule for a small site:
- Week 1: agree the pages, gather photos, list services and towns.
- Week 2: write the pages in plain language, using your own words where possible.
- Week 3: build, test on several phones, connect it to your Google profile.
- After launch: add one new photo or short project note every couple of weeks.
If you choose a Trades.Agency monthly plan, the Elite plan includes 50% off Trades.Agency website design packages and the Enterprise plan includes a website design and build. Details are on our pricing page.
How results are measured
A website is measured by calls and texts, not by how it looks. We set up basic, privacy-friendly analytics so you can see how many people visited and how many tapped your phone number.
Add a "found you on our website" column to your call log. After two or three months, compare it with your Google profile. If the site brings visitors but no calls, the problem is usually the words on the page or a number that is hard to find, both of which are easy to fix.
Mistakes to avoid
These are the ones we see most often with first-year trades websites.
- Domain registered in someone else's name. If a cousin or a former web designer owns the domain, you do not own your website. Fix this first.
- No service area. Visitors and search engines both need to know where you work.
- Copying another company's text. It looks lazy to customers and can cause problems with search engines. Write about your own work.
- A contact page with no phone number. Make it big, make it tappable, and say that texts are welcome.
- Paying for a 30-page site in month one. Start small and add pages as you learn which jobs you want more of.
If you want to see how a website fits with everything else, our first-year DIY marketing plan shows where it sits in the order of priorities. To talk about a site for your business, get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Do I even need a website if I have a Google profile?
Not on day one. Get the profile verified first. But many customers, property managers and general contractors look for a website before they call, and it gives your profile somewhere to send people, so most owners add one within the first few months.
Who owns the website and the domain?
You should, always. The domain name should be registered in your name or your company's name, and you should have the logins. We will not build on any arrangement where you cannot take your site with you.
Can I build it myself on a website builder?
Yes, and for some owners that is the right call. Our checklist on this page works whether you build it yourself or pay someone. The structure and the words matter more than the tool.
How long does a starter website take?
The building is usually quick. What slows it down is gathering photos, writing about your services and confirming your service area. If you have those ready, a small site can be live within a few weeks.