Do Brighton tradespeople actually need a website if they're on Checkatrade?

I get asked this on almost every first call with a Brighton trade. "I'm on Checkatrade. Do I actually need a website?" Sometimes the honest answer is not yet. I build websites for a living, so I would rather say that than sell a site you will not use.

Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Rated People and the rest are real sources of work. This is about what a directory gives you, what it does not, and how to decide.

What the listing gives you

You get a page on their website, a place for reviews, and a route for people already browsing that site. You pay for membership, leads, or both. I will not quote their prices. They change, and your login shows the current figure.

If that page is bringing enough work and the fee is fine, keep it. I would not tell you to close a directory because I prefer websites.

What it does not give you

The page is theirs. They choose the layout, the fields, and how an enquiry reaches you. If you stop paying, you cannot keep updating it. If they change the design, your photos sit in whatever template comes next.

When someone types your business name into Google, you want a result you control. A directory profile often appears for that search. You are still a guest on it.

A few other limits:

• Categories and character limits get in the way of explaining the work the way you would on the phone.
• Reviews there are not the same as reviews on your Google Business Profile.
• Some lead sites send one job to more than one trade. Even when the enquiry is only yours, the customer found you inside their product.
• A link on a quote is a weak link if the page disappears when you cancel.

None of that makes a directory a bad idea. It makes it one channel, not the whole business.

Where a website fits

A website is the home base. It is still there if you leave a directory, change your prices, or decide you only want work that comes direct.

Google asks for a website on your Business Profile. You can run a profile without one. Plenty of trades do. The site is where you explain the work, the towns you cover, and how to ask for a quote without someone else's form. When the name on the profile, the name on Checkatrade and the name on the site match, you look like one business. When they do not, people hesitate.

Do not expect the site to replace the directory in week one. The directory is a shop window on a busy site. Yours is where someone goes after a neighbour mentions you, or after they tap your pin on Maps. Local SEO is the slower job of being findable for work you actually do. Neither a directory login nor a website covers that on its own.

Four questions

If you answer no to all of these, spend the money on tools, not on a site.

1. Do people already search your business name? If they do, they should land somewhere that is yours, with your number and your photos.
2. Are you happy for every new enquiry to come through a directory? If a fee increase or a cancelled membership would stop the phone, you are renting the whole pipeline.
3. Do you want to describe the areas you cover in your own words? Brighton, Hove and Shoreham are not the same job. A Brighton page is worth it when you work here and can say so in normal language.
4. Do you have your own photos? A site full of stock hard hats is worse than no site.

If the directory has you booked solid and you do not want more direct calls, a website can wait. Tell me that. I would rather hear it on the first call.

What the site actually needs to do

Most trades do not need a long site. A few pages are enough if they do five things:

• Say who you are, what you do, and where you work.
• Show photos of your own jobs.
• Put a phone number and a simple quote form where people can see them.
• Load properly on a phone, because that is how people arrive from Google.
• Use the same business name as the Google profile and the Checkatrade profile.

That is a small website, hosted and looked after. Add a town later, when you have photos from there. A list of twenty towns on a thin page does not make you local.

Using both

Keep the directory if it earns its fee. Put the website on the Google profile, the van, the invoice and the email signature. People often search your name before they call back. That search should show your site and your Google listing.

Use one phone number everywhere. I still find a different number on Checkatrade, on Google, and on an old Facebook page. Pick one. Write both descriptions in the same voice. If one says roofs only, and the other says kitchens, bathrooms and driveways, the customer does not know who is coming.

A lot of Brighton work starts with a recommendation, then a search of the name. If that search only shows a directory, you are fine until you want to leave or explain a job their categories do not fit. Say which parts of the city you cover, and whether you take small repairs. That beats a paragraph of search phrases.

If you want me to look at the directory profile and the Google listing and tell you whether a site is worth it yet, that is the free website and Google review. If you already know you want the site, get in touch and tell me what you do and where you work.