Do plumbers, electricians and other trades need a website?

Yes. Plenty of trades do, on referrals and repeat customers. Google doesn't make you have a website. Its guidelines ask a business profile to list a phone number that connects to your business or a website that represents it.¹ They also say a service-area business, one that goes to customers instead of receiving them, should hide its address.¹ That fits most trades.

What you give up is the next step. In the same BrightLocal survey, 97% of consumers said they lean on reviews to decide, and 41% said they always read reviews when they look for a business.² After reading positive reviews, 54% visit the business's website and 24% visit its social media pages.² A business with no site gives those people only a profile and social pages to look at.

The FTC's advice to homeowners is a checklist. Get recommendations from people you trust, read customer reviews, check the contractor's license with your state or county, consider only contractors who are licensed and insured and ask for proof of insurance, and get more than one estimate.⁴

The same page tells them not to choose the lowest bidder automatically.⁴ A website can answer several of those points before the phone rings: who you are, what you do, which towns you serve, your license and insurance. Reviews matter too. BrightLocal found that 85% of consumers say positive reviews make them more likely to use a business, 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher, and 80% are likely to use a business that replies to all of its reviews.²

People are also asking AI tools. BrightLocal reports that use of AI tools for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45% in a year, making them the third most used source after Google and Facebook.²

A profile gives you a name, hours, a phone number, reviews and photos. A website gives you room: a full list of what you do, the towns you serve, your license and insurance, a few answers to common questions, and pictures of your work, in your own words and on an address you control.

Our Plumber, Electrician and Heating & cooling kits are built that way. Each has a page for your services, an About page, customer reviews, and a credentials and coverage section. Every Classic kit also has tap-to-call links, so a customer on a phone can call you with one tap.

• A phone number people can tap. Google asks for a local number you control, not a call-center line.¹ If the phone is not ringing, see why isn't my website getting calls or leads.

• What you do, in plain words. List each service with a real price or "Call for an estimate." Our kit's fill-in sheet asks for exactly that.

• Where you work. Name the towns you serve. If you go to customers, don't publish your home address. Google says service-area businesses should hide their address,¹ and our kit guide says the same.

• Your real hours. Include the days you are closed.

• How you give estimates. The FTC says a written estimate should describe the work, the supplies, the timeline and the cost.⁴ Say on your site how you give one, and what the customer should have ready when they call.

• License and insurance, only if true. The FTC tells homeowners to check both.⁴ Our kits have a slot for your license number and one for an insurance statement. The guide says to delete them if they don't apply, and never to imply a credential you don't hold.

• Photos of your own jobs. Our kit guide tells you to make sure you have the right to use every photo.

• A few reviews, and replies to the ones people leave on Google. To ask for them the right way, see how to get more Google reviews.

They should say the same things. Google says your profile name should reflect your business's real-world name, and that unnecessary information in it isn't permitted.¹ It also says the phone number must be under the direct control of the business.¹ Use the same name, phone number and hours on your website.

Our kit guide says the same when you set up the profile: use exactly the same business name, public address and phone as your website, add your website address and your hours, complete the verification Google asks for, and do not make a duplicate profile.

If you go to customers' homes and don't receive them at yours, set the profile up as a service-area business with the address hidden, and leave your street address off the website too.¹ If your profile is not showing at all, see why isn't my business showing up on Google.

It depends on your state and your trade. California is one clear example. Its contractors board says licensed contractors must include their license number in all forms of advertising, and it counts "any website or post that solicits business on the Internet" as advertising. A first offense carries a civil penalty of $100 to $1,000.⁵

The same board says contractors can't advertise work outside their license classification, and that the law bars saying in an ad that you're bonded.⁵ Those are California rules. Other states and cities have their own, so ask your licensing board what counts as advertising and what it requires.

Where a number is required, put it where customers will see it, such as the footer and the contact page. Our trade kits have a license slot for that. Delete it if your trade needs no license where you work.

What it costs depends on who builds it. See what a small business website costs for each way to get one. Our Classic kits for trades are $39.99 once, for one business, with no monthly fee from us.

Kits for trades: Plumber, Electrician, Heating & cooling, Plumbing, electrical & HVAC, Roofing, Painting, General contractor, Landscaping and Tree service. The whole list is at website kits.

Already have a site? Our free website check shows how it does on a phone. If you'd rather have a site built for you, tell us about your business.

We sell website kits and build sites, so we have a stake in this answer. The survey numbers come from BrightLocal and Clutch. BrightLocal sells local search software and Clutch runs a directory of agencies, so both have an interest in how the numbers read. The advice on licenses and insurance comes from the FTC and from California's contractors board. The kit facts come from our own store and kit files, which we checked. A survey of consumers or small businesses in general doesn't say what a plumber's customers do, so treat the numbers as a guide, not a measure of your trade.