A tradie website has about three seconds to prove two things: that it's the right kind of business, and that calling is easy. Most don't manage either — not because the trade isn't legit, but because the website was never built around how someone actually finds and uses it.
Below is the checklist we work from on every trade business build, followed by how it played out on a real job — Lightning Response Plumbing, a Melbourne emergency plumber.
Everything a local tradie website should have
Every item on this list exists to answer one of two questions faster: "is this the right business?" and "how do I contact them?" If a page element doesn't help answer one of those, it's not earning its place above the fold.
Want this built properly for your trade?
See Custom Web DesignCase study: Lightning Response Plumbing
Lightning Response Plumbing is a Melbourne emergency plumber competing in one of the toughest local markets online — and, before this build, had no website actually working for them.
An emergency plumbing business with no website working for them, in one of the most competitive local search categories there is.
Custom mobile-first design, phone number everywhere it matters, trust signals above the fold, and local SEO structure targeting emergency searches. Hand-coded, no builders.
Briefed, designed, built and live in under a week — sitemap submitted on launch day so Google could start indexing it immediately.
Since launch, we've also wired up Google Ads and conversion tracking for their campaigns — so instead of just knowing the phone is ringing, Lightning Response Plumbing can see exactly which ads and searches are actually generating jobs. That's the checklist item most trade websites skip entirely, and it's usually the one that pays for the rest of the build.
Every checklist item, applied
- Mobile-first hero matched to "emergency plumber" search intent
- Phone number and click-to-call placed above the fold sitewide
- Licensing and trust signals visible without scrolling
- Local SEO structure built around emergency-plumbing search terms
- Sitemap submitted on launch day — indexed from day one
- Google Ads conversion tracking set up post-launch
You can see the full breakdown, including screenshots of the live site, on our portfolio page — or visit lightningresponseplumbing.com.au directly.