It is 8pm in Bendigo. Sarah's hot water system has just died. She opens three plumber websites on her phone. Two of them tell her nothing useful. The third one answers her questions before she has to ask them. She rings that one.
Sarah never mentioned the design. She wanted answers, and one site gave them. Here are six facts that go missing from tradie websites. Below is what to put there instead.
The Six Things People Look For
1. A Rough Price
People want a ballpark before they ring you. No price at all reads as expensive. You do not need to publish a fixed quote. A range, a call-out fee, or a starting price is enough.
"Call for a quote." She has no idea if you are $150 or $1,500. So she rings three tradies just to find out. You are now one of three quotes on her kitchen bench.
"Call-outs from $120. Tap repairs usually run $180 to $350." She knows what she is in for. She rings you first, and often no one else.
Keep your ranges honest. The ACCC has rules on price claims. A "from" price must be one you actually charge.
2. What Happens After They Hit Send
"We'll be in touch" is a shrug. It tells people nothing. Spell out exactly what happens next.
Try this instead. "I read every enquiry myself. You will get a call back within 2 hours, Monday to Saturday." Then repeat that same line on the thank-you page.
That one sentence stops people ringing your competitor while they wait. For more on wording like this, read our guide on how to write website copy that turns visitors into customers.
3. Who Is Actually Turning Up
Sarah is about to let a stranger into her house at night. She wants to know who.
A real photo and a first name do more work than any logo. "Chris, licensed sparky, 12 years in Geelong" beats a stock image of a bloke in a hard hat. Put the face of the person who drives the ute on the page.
4. Proof You Are Legit
Add your licence number, your ABN, and your insurer. One line in the footer covers all three.
This takes ten minutes to add. It quietly settles the doubt that stops people booking. Plenty of trade websites skip it, so it makes you look like the safe pick.
5. An Answer For After Hours
Hot water systems do not break at 10am on a Tuesday. They break at night and on weekends. People go looking then, and your website is on its own.
Give those visitors something. A booking link, a text option, or an AI receptionist. Any of them can book the job while you sleep. We covered that setup in how AI answers your phone for you.
6. The Jobs You Do Not Take
This one feels backwards. Say what you do not do.
"We do not do new builds." "We do not service south of the river." Two lines like that kill the calls that waste your afternoon. The people who do ring are the ones you actually want.
What Does It Cost To Fix This?
Not much, in most cases. A price guide, a footer line, and a real photo are free. You need an hour and the will to do it.
A full rebuild in Australia runs from about $3,000 for a basic service site. Save that for a site that is slow or broken on phones. If the bones are fine and only the facts are missing, fix the facts first. If you do want a rebuild, that is what our website development work is for.
Will This Actually Win Me More Jobs?
Yes, because it changes who rings you. Right now you get calls from people who are still shopping around. They ring five tradies because no website told them enough to stop.
Give people the price, the promise, and the face. The ones who ring have already made up their mind. You spend less time quoting and more time on the tools.
Wrapping Up
Go and open your own website on your phone tonight. Read it like Sarah would at 8pm with a flooded laundry. If it does not answer her six questions, you know what to add.
Want a hand working out what your site is missing? Book a free strategy call and we will go through it with you.