Resource
"I get work through word of mouth." Good. That's exactly why you need this.
Referrals are still how most trades get work. But when your mate's cousin gives someone your number, they don't just call. They Google you first.
Referrals are still how most trades get work. But here's the bit that gets missed: when your mate's cousin gives someone your number, they don't just call. They Google you first. What they find in those ten seconds decides whether the phone actually rings, or whether they quietly try someone else instead.
The numbers, not the sales pitch
The search happens whether you've got a website or not.
76%
of UK homeowners search online before hiring a tradesperson, not after they've decided. Before.
Mostly mobile
Nearly all of that research happens on a phone. Someone standing in their kitchen, deciding who to call right now.
Most homeowners will shortlist three or four businesses before calling. If they were recommended, they typically still check you out online before they call: reviews, a working phone number and recent photos all reduce the friction between 'interested' and 'booked'.
By trade
Where it shows up, trade by trade.
Plumbing & Heating
Boiler replacements, bathroom installs and full re-plumbs are big-ticket jobs, often £1,500 to £6,000, and customers research them properly before picking up the phone. The planned, higher-value work goes to whoever they found and trusted online first. Google now accounts for roughly half of all new enquiries for plumbers in urban and suburban areas. Word of mouth still matters, but increasingly it's the first step, not the last.
Electrical
Same pattern. A recommended electrician still gets Googled before the call happens. No listing, no site, no reviews to find, and a warm lead quietly cools off with no explanation given. You never hear about the job you didn't get; it just goes to the electrician who showed up in that search.
Roofing & Building
This is the trade where reviews matter most: 81% of homeowners check Google reviews before hiring a roofer, and the businesses in the top three map results capture around 70% of the clicks. Roofing and building work is high-value and high-trust. People want real photos of real jobs, and to confirm you're not a 'storm chaser' before they let you near their roof or their savings.
Landscaping & Cleaning
Lower price-per-job, but higher frequency, which means more chances every month for someone to check you out before booking. The same research happens: a quick search, a look at your reviews and photos, a decision made in seconds. No website means you're relying entirely on people already knowing your name, which caps how much you can grow.
What this actually costs you
You'll never see the job you didn't get.
Nobody messages you to say "found someone else, couldn't find your website." It just goes quiet. If you get even a handful of referrals a month and a portion of them quietly go cold at the research step, that's real jobs, every month, going to someone else. Often someone with a less impressive van but a better Google presence.
What a good website actually does
Not a brochure. Not decoration. Three jobs only.
Answers the phone when you can't
A clear contact form and a tap-to-call button catch the enquiry that comes in at 9pm on a Sunday, when you're not picking up.
Passes the ten-second check
When someone Googles you, referred or not, it confirms you're legitimate, local, and worth calling, before they've spoken to you at all.
Turns 'maybe' into 'call now'
Real photos of your actual work and real reviews do more to convince someone than any amount of clever copywriting.
Your referrals are already working. This just makes sure all of them actually turn into a phone call, not a quiet "I'll think about it" that goes nowhere.
Tell us your trade and your town. We'll do the rest.
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