Does a builder need a website?

A builder needs a website the moment he wants work from people who don't already know him. If you are full on word of mouth and happy with the jobs you get, you don't need one. If you want bigger jobs, commercial clients or regular work from property managers, you do.

Who actually checks a builder's website?

Not the neighbour who saw your van. The people with the good work.

A property manager adding a contractor to her list. A homeowner about to spend six figures on an extension. An architect deciding who to recommend. A main contractor looking for a subbie he can rely on.

None of them will ring a mobile number off a Facebook post without looking you up first. When I was winning maintenance work from letting agents and housing associations, I assumed every one of them searched the company before they replied. I was right to.

Isn't Checkatrade or Facebook enough?

They help. They aren't yours.

A directory puts you on a page next to five competitors and charges you for it. Facebook shows your post to a fraction of the people who follow you. Either one can change the rules tomorrow.

Use them. Just don't let them be the only place you exist. The website is the bit you own, and it's where the directory profile and the Facebook page should point.

What does a builder's website need?

Less than you think.

• What you do and where you do it, in the first screen.
• Real jobs with real photos. Before, during, after. Your own, not stock.
• Reviews with names.
• Proof you are legitimate: company details, insurance, accreditations if you have them.
• A phone number you can tap and a short form.

That's a weekend of gathering photos and one decent build. It does not need to win design awards.

What makes a builder's website useless?

Stock photos of men in clean hi-vis pointing at a tablet. Everyone can tell.

A list of every service under the sun. If you do loft conversions, say loft conversions. A site that says you do everything tells a client you specialise in nothing.

And no way to act. I see sites with a gallery and no phone number on the page. That's dead. The whole point is the call.

Will a website bring in work by itself?

Some. Mostly it stops you losing work you had already half won.

Someone recommends you. The client searches your name. A proper site with real jobs on it confirms what they heard, and they ring. Without it, the recommendation leaks away and you never hear about it.

If you want it to bring in strangers too, add a Google Business Profile with photos and reviews, and a page for each main service in each area you cover. That's how you show up when someone searches for a builder near them.

What does it cost?

A proper small site for a trade firm is not a big bill, and it should not come with a monthly fee you don't understand. The numbers are in how much websites cost.

The expensive site is the one that looks nice and doesn't ring.

So what should you do?

If you're busy and happy, carry on. Nobody needs a website to stay the same size.

If you want the next size up, get the site, the Google profile and ten real jobs with photos on both. Then fix how fast you reply, because that's where the work is really won. I covered that in how construction companies get more work.

We build sites like this for construction firms. If you want yours looked at, send it to me.