Who might not need a website right now

If you're in any of these situations, a website may not be your most urgent priority:

These are genuinely valid situations where the immediate ROI of a website is lower. If your diary is full and you're turning work away, the marginal value of another enquiry channel is limited.

But even in these cases, "not urgent now" isn't the same as "not needed." Situations change.

The referral ceiling

Referrals are the best leads. The customer already trusts you because someone they trust recommended you. Conversion rates are higher, price sensitivity is lower, and the relationship starts well.

The problem is that referral networks have a ceiling. The people who know your work can only refer so many new customers per year. Your best customers move house, change circumstances, or simply run out of people to recommend you to. The network also doesn't grow automatically — it requires you to keep doing good work and staying in people's minds.

A tradesperson who has relied on referrals for ten years and never needed a website can find themselves suddenly needing new customers — and having nothing. No Google presence, no reviews, no website. Building that from scratch takes 3-6 months to start producing results. If you need work now, that's a long time to wait.

What a website does that nothing else does

A website is the only channel that generates enquiries from people who have never heard of you, at no per-lead cost, passively and indefinitely. Someone searching "plumber in Norwich" at 9pm on a Tuesday who finds your website and calls you the next morning — that lead came entirely from Google. No referral, no directory fee, no ad spend. It just happened because your website was there and ranked.

That channel compounds over time. Rankings improve as your site gets older and collects more reviews. A website you built three years ago might generate twice as many enquiries as it did in year one. That's the opposite of most marketing channels, which cost more over time for the same return.

The build time problem: A new website takes 3-6 months to establish meaningful search rankings. If you start building when you need customers urgently, you'll spend months with nothing coming in. Start when things are good.

Facebook and Checkatrade are not substitutes

Two things tradespeople often use instead of a website:

Facebook: good for social proof and staying visible to existing customers. Doesn't generate search traffic. You're also on a platform Meta controls — algorithm changes have repeatedly reduced organic reach for business pages over the years.

Checkatrade / Rated People: these generate work, but leads are shared. You're competing with other tradespeople on price for every job. The fee is ongoing regardless of results. And when you stop paying, the leads stop. There's no asset building over time.

Neither of these is a website. A website on your own domain is an asset you own. It accumulates value — rankings, reviews, content — over time. The others are rented platforms that work for as long as you pay and play by their rules.

Who definitely needs a website

The last point matters. If you're planning to grow, sell the business, or simply maintain work as your customer base naturally turns over, having an established Google presence is valuable. A business with a website ranking well and 50 Google reviews is worth more than one without.

What the minimum looks like

You don't need an elaborate website to start benefiting from one. The minimum viable trade website needs: a clear homepage stating what you do and where, individual pages for your main services, a contact page with a visible phone number, and a handful of real job photos. Connected to a Google Business Profile with some reviews, that's enough to start appearing in local search results.

You can build from there. Add location pages. Add more service detail. Collect more reviews. The website grows with your business.