Do Tradesmen Need a Website If They're on Checkatrade?

The short answer: Most tradesmen who rely on a directory profile still need their own website. A profile only reaches people who are already searching inside Checkatrade or MyBuilder, but a website can be found by anyone who searches Google for your trade and your town, and it stays yours whatever happens to a directory's rules or prices. If Checkatrade already sends the work you want, you can wait.

Is a Checkatrade or MyBuilder profile the same as a website?

No. A Checkatrade or MyBuilder profile sits on an address the directory owns, and a website sits on a domain you register and control.

That one difference drives most of what's in this guide. When a directory owns the page, it sets the rules for Checkatrade members, sees the enquiry data and decides what happens if you stop paying.

One honest limit before we go on. Checkatrade blocked our research tools and we haven't reviewed MyBuilder's membership terms, so we can't speak to either directory's terms. Nothing here covers what Checkatrade or MyBuilder charge, or how they handle leads. Before you decide anything that involves them, read their current terms on the Checkatrade and MyBuilder sites.

What do customers do before they ring a tradesman?

Customers check more than one place, and TrustMark, the government-endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home, tells homeowners to do the following:

• Get three quotes before work starts.
• Ask friends and family for recommendations.
• Take up references and speak to previous customers.
• Make sure the tradesperson is registered with TrustMark for the specific trade they need.

On its logo misuse page, TrustMark says customers "no longer take accreditations on face value", and that they check with schemes, trade associations and governing bodies to see whether a business has the right to use them.

For gas work, HSE says Gas Safe registered engineers carry an identity card showing a photograph, a registration number and an expiry date, and consumers are encouraged to ask for it. Once a customer has your name, they look you up on Google or somewhere else.

Because a Checkatrade profile is only one place they might look, your website is where you decide what they find. You can't control the rest.

What can your own website do that a profile might not?

Since we haven't reviewed Checkatrade's or MyBuilder's terms, we won't say what a profile can or can't do. Here's a checklist you can hold any Checkatrade or MyBuilder profile up against instead. Check your own profile on each line. A website gives you a yes on all 6.

Those last rows matter for search too. As Google puts it, it "costs nothing to appear in our organic search results", which means the free, non-advert listings. But Google can only show a page that exists. If you want to be found for "electrician in Bolton", someone has to publish a page about electrical work in Bolton, and for many trades that page can only be your own.

Which searches does a website win that a directory doesn't?

Searches that name your trade and your town, like "boiler service Salford" or "flat roof repair Wigan".

When someone types "plumber Bury", they want a business, not a list of businesses. Your website and your Google Business Profile are how you show up for them. Our guide on how to rank higher on Google Maps covers the profile side, and our local SEO service handles it for you.

If you want the full picture of what a UK trade site should include, see our page on website design for tradesmen.

When can a directory profile be enough?

Sometimes, and we'll be straight about it. A profile alone can be enough if:

• You're fully booked and the directory already sends you the work you want.
• You don't mind that the directory, not you, controls the page, and you aren't worried if its rules change.
• You've no plans to take on more staff, more areas or more services.

Even Google says that if you run a small local business, you can "probably do much of the work yourself". A Starter site needn't be big, and it needn't be expensive to be useful. A five-page site from £995 is enough to start, and our website design page shows how it works.

What's a five-minute test to see where you stand?

Run these on your phone, the way a customer would on Google.

1. Search your business name and town. Note which result comes first: your own site, a directory or something else.
2. Search your main service and your town, for example "plumber Bury". Write down who appears and what kind of site each one is.
3. Search your Gas Safe, NICEIC or TrustMark number on that scheme's own register. Check that your details are right.
4. Look at your best profile page. Count how many taps it takes to reach your phone number.
5. Ask one recent customer how they found you. Their answer tells you more than any guess from us.

If step 1 shows a directory above your own name, or step 2 shows you nowhere, a website is your next job. Want Renozer to run the check for your trade and towns? The free AI visibility audit covers it, and since we work remotely there's no visit and nothing to arrange.

What should you do next?

Start with the five-minute test. Then decide whether the gap matters to you, since it doesn't matter to everyone.

If it does, skip the template. Plan the site around searches in your own towns, such as "plumber Bury", and the proof customers check. Our page on website design for tradesmen shows what Renozer includes, and our cost guide for a tradesman website sets out the prices before you speak to anyone. We don't guarantee positions. No one can, as Google says, and we'd walk away from anyone who does, and that's a promise.

Questions people ask

Sources

• TrustMark: homepage, the process to consider when hiring a tradesperson
• TrustMark: Protect yourself from logo misuse
• HSE: Gas Safe Register
• Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO professional?
• Renozer's own prices: pricing

Checkatrade returned an access error to our tools on 10 November 2026, and we didn't review MyBuilder's terms, so none of either directory's terms or fees appear here.