Websites for builders
Web design for builders: £249.99 to build, then £49.99 a month, no minimum term. Nobody spends fifty thousand pounds on a firm whose website shows no finished work.
Extensions and renovations are among the largest purchases a household makes, and the anxiety is proportionate. The customer is not really asking whether you can build. They are asking whether you will finish, whether the price will hold, and whether they will still be speaking to you at the end.
A builder's website is therefore a reassurance document. Photographs of completed work, in sequence, with honest notes about what was involved, do more than any list of services.
What your customers want answered
- Have you done a job like mine, and can I see it finished
- How long will it take, realistically
- How do payments work, and what happens if the scope changes
- Do you handle planning and building control, or is that mine
- Who is actually on site, your team or subcontractors
Before, during and afterThree photographs of the same job beat thirty of different ones. The during shot is the persuasive one, because it shows the part customers are frightened of and proves you did it properly.
Stock photography
A builder using a stock image of a kitchen someone else built is the fastest way to lose a well-informed customer. They can tell, and it raises the exact doubt you needed to settle.
The site is your portfolio
A building job is a large, slow decision, and most customers will look at your site several times before they ring. What persuades them is evidence: finished extensions, renovations and conversions, ideally with a few words on what the job involved and how long it took. A gallery of twenty good photos of your own work does more than any amount of text about quality.
Group the photos by job, not in one long stream. A customer planning a single-storey extension wants to see three single-storey extensions, start to finish, not to scroll past a garden wall and a porch to find them.
Answer the questions that stop people ringing
People hesitate before contacting a builder because they do not know what happens next. Say it plainly: you visit, you talk through what they want, you send a written quote, and you explain who handles drawings, building regulations and any planning. If you work with architects or can recommend one, say so.
Say how far ahead you are booked, roughly. A customer who learns on the phone that you cannot start for six months feels their time was wasted; one who read it on the site and rang anyway is a real lead.
Trust signals that are actually checkable
Membership of a trade body, insurance, and any guarantee scheme you belong to all help, but only if a customer can verify them. Name the body, show the membership number where there is one, and link to your profile on its site.
Common questions
- What pages does a builder's website need?
- A homepage, a page for each type of work you want more of (extensions, renovations, loft conversions, for example), a gallery or projects page grouped by job, an about page, and a contact page with a proper enquiry form.
- Should I put prices on a builder's website?
- Exact prices rarely work for building, because every job differs. A rough guide to how you price, or typical ranges for common jobs, helps customers decide whether to get in touch.
- How do I show my work if customers don't want their house online?
- Show the work without identifying the property: interiors, details, and exteriors photographed so the street and house number are not visible. Ask permission either way.
- Can you add new projects after launch?
- Yes. Send the photos and a line about the job and I add them as part of the monthly plan.
Other sectors we build for
Tell me about your business.
One message is enough to start. I’ll read it and reply myself, usually with a couple of questions and a clear price.
Liam Tapp, Website Builds