Guide

Website budget for a new trade business

When you go out on your own, everything is competing for the same money. Van, tools, insurance, stock. The online side still matters, but the order you do it in makes a big difference to how quickly the phone starts ringing.

Do this first and it is free

Set up your Google Business Profile before anything else. It is free, it puts you on the map results, and for a lot of local searches it is the first thing people see.

Fill it out properly. Real business name, one consistent phone number, the areas you cover, your hours and photos of your own work. Then start asking every happy customer for a review.

Then get a proper place to send people

A profile with nowhere to click is a half job. People check the website before they ring, even for a small job, because they want to see you are real and see the standard of your work.

This does not have to be big. A homepage, a services page, an area page and a contact page will carry you a long way if they are written properly.

What can wait

Logos, brochures, printed flyers, paid ads and social media schedules can all wait until work is coming in. None of them fix the problem of not being findable.

Ads in particular are a bad first spend for a new trade. You are paying for clicks that land on a site that is not ready to convert them.

Keeping the first year affordable

The reason we build for free and charge €59.99 a month on a 12 month minimum is exactly this situation. Starting out, a four figure invoice for a website is the thing that stops it happening at all.

A flat monthly cost sits alongside your insurance and your phone bill and you can plan around it.

What to do in your first three months

A simple order of work that keeps the spend low.

  • Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
  • Get a site up with your services, your areas and your number
  • Photograph every job you finish, even the small ones
  • Ask for a review after every job that went well
  • Add a page for each new service or area as you take them on

Common questions

Do I need a website when I am just starting out?

Yes, because most people check before they ring. A small, well written site plus a completed Google Business Profile is enough to start.

Should I run ads before I have a website?

Generally no. Ads send people to a page that has to do the convincing, so the page needs to exist and be good first.

Where to go next

Want us to sort this for you?

We build the site for free and look after the hosting, the updates and the local SEO for €59.99 a month on a 12 month minimum. Have a chat with us and see if it suits.

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