If you are a plumber, sparky, carpenter, painter or any other tradie, you have probably been quoted anything from “free” to several thousand dollars for a website. No wonder it feels confusing. This guide lays out what the pieces cost, what a tradie really needs, and how to avoid paying for things that will never bring you a job.
What a tradie website actually has to do
Your customer is usually standing in a kitchen with a leaking tap or a dead power point. They pick up their phone and search. They want three things fast: do you cover my suburb, can I trust you, and how do I reach you. A good tradie site answers those on the first screen.
That means your phone number as a tap-to-call button, the areas you work in, your licence details, some photos of real jobs, and a short list of what you do. It does not need a video background, a chatbot or twenty pages of waffle.
The three costs to think about
Whatever the quote looks like, it is made of the same three parts. Ask each provider to show you all three, in dollars, before you decide.
The build
This is the one-off cost of designing and building the site and writing the words. Prices range widely because some providers build everything from scratch and others use a tightly scoped template process to keep the price down. A custom build for a large company can run into the thousands. A small trade business rarely needs that.
The domain
Your web address, such as yourbusiness.com.au. It is a yearly renewal, and a .com.au address has its own eligibility rules, including an Australian presence. Make sure it is registered in your name, not the provider’s.
Hosting and looking after it
A website has to live somewhere, stay secure and be backed up. Some providers fold this into a monthly fee. Others charge separately for hosting, security and every small edit. This is where cheap quotes often get expensive, so ask what you will pay in month two, not just on day one.
What we charge, as an example
We will show our numbers so you have something to compare against. At Straight Up Web the build is $500 + GST, one price. That covers up to five pages, the words written for you, a contact form, a news section you can post to, your Google Business Profile and Search Console set up, and one round of changes. The first three months of hosting and care are included. After that, Care is $49 a month + GST, and you can cancel with 30 days’ notice. You own the site and the domain. The full list is on our websites page and the numbers are on the pricing page.
Five pages is plenty for most trades: home, services, about, a gallery or past work page, and contact. If you want more pages, or an online shop with a checkout, that is not something we do at $500. We pass those jobs to our sister studio ClickTheory, who quote up front.
When a bigger spend makes sense
There are tradies who do need more. A larger company with several divisions, a separate page for each service in each suburb, or a quoting tool built into the site will cost more to build. So will a custom booking or job system. If that is you, it is worth paying for, but get a fixed quote in writing.
If you are a one-person band or a small crew, start with the simple site. You can always add to it later. Starting lean is not a downgrade. Most of the work that brings in calls is done by a clear page and a well-kept Google listing, not by extra bells and whistles.
The ongoing cost people forget: getting found
A website on its own is a shopfront on a street nobody walks down. It needs to be found. The cheapest first step is your free Google Business Profile, which we set up as part of the build. Our Google Business Profile guide walks through it.
After that you have two main options. Local SEO builds up over months and costs less over time, and Google Ads can bring calls within days but you pay for each click. Which one suits you depends on how busy you are and how quickly you want calls. Our article on SEO versus Google Ads covers that. Our Grow plan is $250 a month + GST and includes local SEO, two posts a month and free Google Ads management for ad spend up to $1,500 a month. You pay Google for the clicks directly. Details are on our SEO and Google Ads pages.
You do not have to take any of that. Plenty of tradies start with the site and the free Google listing, and get most of their work from referrals and repeat customers.
Quote red flags specific to trades
- A “free” website that comes with a long contract on the monthly fee. You pay in the end, and you may not own what you paid for.
- A domain registered in the provider’s name.
- Pages of generic copy that could belong to any trade in any town. Your suburbs and your licence matter.
- Promises of a number one spot on Google. Nobody can guarantee that.
- A site that is slow or awkward on a phone. Check it on your own phone before you pay.
We cover more of these in cheap website red flags, and the wider picture for all kinds of small business is in our guide to what a small business website costs.
A simple checklist before you pay
- Is the total build price in writing, with GST shown?
- What is the monthly cost after any free period, and can I cancel?
- Is the domain registered in my name?
- Who writes the words, and do they mention my suburbs and my trade?
- How many rounds of changes do I get?
- Can I take the site with me if I leave?
What to send your provider
Whoever builds it, you can speed things up by having a few things ready: your licence numbers, the suburbs you cover, a handful of clear photos of finished jobs, and your opening hours or call-out policy. Photos of your own work, with your van or tools in shot, beat stock images every time. Customers can tell the difference.
Where to look next
If you want to see what a trade site looks like, have a look at our electrician example and the tradies page. If you would like to go ahead, the short form at get started is the first step. There is no pressure, and you are welcome to compare us with anyone else first.