Having an online presence is no longer optional for any business — including trades. A well-designed website serves as your digital shopfront, allowing potential clients to find you, understand what you do, see your past work, and get in touch. Here’s how to approach building one that actually generates business.
Start with Your Goals and Audience
Before choosing a platform or hiring a designer, be clear about what your website needs to do. Are you trying to generate enquiry calls? Showcase your portfolio? Target a specific type of client — residential homeowners, commercial builders, or other subcontractors? Your answers determine what content you need and how the site should be structured.
Most trades businesses need the basics: what you do, where you work, photos of past jobs, a way to get in touch, and trust signals (reviews, qualifications, associations). If you’re trying to stand out in a competitive market, a clear niche — “heritage home specialists” or “commercial tiling throughout Canterbury” — helps the right clients recognise you immediately.
Choosing a Platform
WordPress is the most widely used platform in the world and offers the best combination of flexibility, SEO capability, and long-term control. It requires a little more technical setup than alternatives but gives you full ownership of your content and better search engine performance over time.
Squarespace and Wix are simpler to set up and maintain yourself, with drag-and-drop editors and built-in hosting. They’re a reasonable choice for trades businesses that want something up quickly and don’t have the time or budget for a WordPress build. The trade-off is less flexibility and slightly weaker SEO capability.
Domain and Hosting
Choose a domain name that is clear, easy to spell, and reflects your business. A .co.nz domain is preferable for New Zealand trades businesses — it signals local relevance and performs better in NZ search results. Keep hosting with a New Zealand provider for faster page load times, which matters for both user experience and search ranking.
The Non-Negotiables
Whatever platform you use, make sure your site has:
- A mobile-responsive design (most of your clients will view it on a phone)
- Fast page load times (slow sites lose visitors and rank poorly)
- A clear call to action on every page — a phone number, a contact form, or a quote request button
- Photos of your actual work, not generic stock images
- Your service area clearly stated
Getting Found on Google
A website that no one can find is not much use. Basic SEO — using the words your clients search for in your page headings and descriptions, having your address on your site so Google knows your location, and building links from local directories — will get you most of the way there for a local trades business. Claim your Google Business Profile and make sure it’s consistent with your website.