What to Include on a Tradie Website
A tradie site doesn't need to be big. It needs to answer a handful of questions quickly on a phone, and show the licence details your regulator expects to see. Here's what goes where, what to leave out, and what to have ready before you ask anyone to build it.
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The short version
Strip a trade website back and it has five jobs. Within a minute on a phone, it should show a customer that you're licensed, that you do the work they need, that you come to their suburb, that your work is good, and how to get a price. Everything beyond that is optional.
Those five line up with the checks government consumer agencies tell homeowners to make before hiring: look up the licence, check the ABN, read reviews or ask for references, compare written quotes. We go through that advice in do tradies need a website? A site that answers those checks before the customer goes looking saves them a search and saves you a phone call.
Below we work through each part of the page, the licence rules that decide what must appear, how to handle prices, reviews and forms, and what to gather before you contact a web designer, whether that's us or anyone else.
Top to bottom: what each part of the page needs
Whether the site is one page or eight, the same pieces turn up in roughly this order:
| Part | Include | Leave out |
|---|---|---|
| Top of the page | Business name, your trade, the area you cover in a few words, and a phone number that rings when tapped | A slideshow, a long welcome message, a video that plays on its own |
| Services | Each job you want more of, named the way customers say it, with a line on what's involved | Work you'd rather not take on, or every small task you've ever done |
| Service area | The suburbs and towns you actually travel to, grouped by region if the list is long | "All areas", or a whole state you'd never drive across |
| Your work | Photos of your own jobs, each captioned with the job and the suburb | Stock photos, supplier brochure shots, or anyone else's work |
| Reviews | Real reviews, word for word, with where they were posted | Anything you can't trace back to a real customer |
| About | Who turns up on the day, how long you've been in the trade, licence and insurance | A mission statement |
| Pricing | How you price: quotes, call-out fees, totals including GST, payment methods | Prices you can't stick to |
| Contact | Phone, a short quote form, hours, whether you take after-hours work, email | A form as the only way to reach you |
| Footer, on every page | Licence number, ABN, business name, phone and email | Links to social accounts you no longer post on |
The order matters more on a phone than on a computer. Someone with water through the ceiling won't scroll past three paragraphs to find your number, so the phone number belongs at the top and should stay within thumb's reach as they scroll. Someone pricing a new deck will scroll, but they'll look at the photos before they read a word.
For trade-specific detail, see our checklists for electricians, plumbers and roofers.
Licence numbers: what the rules say in each state
For many trades, the licence number on your website isn't just a trust signal. Several regulators require it in advertising, and some say outright that websites and social media count. Here's what the regulators' guidance and the legislation say in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia:
| State | Who | What has to appear | Online named? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Licensed contractors advertising residential building work over $5,000, or specialist work of any value (electrical wiring, plumbing, draining, gas fitting, air conditioning and refrigeration) | The licensee's name or registered business name, and the licence number, in all advertising. Specialist work can't be advertised at all without a current contractor licence | Yes, internet advertising |
| QLD | QBCC licensees, such as builders, trade contractors and plumbers | The name you're licensed under, a statement that you're licensed under the QBCC Act, and your licence number. A trading name can only appear alongside the licensed name | Yes, websites and social media pages |
| QLD | Electrical contractor licence holders | The name you're licensed under (or your registered business name), a statement that you're licensed under the Electrical Safety Act, and your electrical contractor licence number (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, section 188) | Any advertisement about the business |
| VIC | Registered building practitioners offering domestic building work | The name you're registered under and your registration number, on any advertisement or written statement offering domestic building work (Building Act 1993, section 169H) | Any advertisement or written statement |
| VIC | Registered electrical contractors | REC registration number on all promotional material, including advertisements | All promotional material |
| WA | Registered builders, painters and building surveyors | Registration number in advertising | Yes, website advertisements |
| WA | Electrical contractors | EC licence number, displayed conspicuously, in any advertisement for the contracting business | Yes, web pages, and free directory listings |
An easy way to cover all of these is to put your licence or registration number, written in full, in the footer of every page and again beside your contact details. If your licence is held by a company, use the licensed name with it rather than only a trading name. If you hold more than one licence class, list each one you advertise work under.
This is a summary of public guidance, not legal advice, and the rules differ by trade. Check with your own regulator. In South Australia, building work contractors are licensed through Consumer and Business Services, so check its guidance before you publish; in Tasmania, the ACT or the Northern Territory, ask your licensing body what applies there.
Prices, call-out fees and GST
Most tradies can't publish a fixed price for every job, and don't need to. What helps is explaining how your pricing works, because those are the questions people ask on the phone anyway. WA Consumer Protection tells customers to confirm whether a quote includes GST, calls showing a total that includes GST best practice, and says that if a call-out fee isn't included in the quote, they don't have to pay it. A short pricing section can answer:
- Do you charge to come out and quote, and is that taken off the job if the customer goes ahead?
- Is there a call-out fee for urgent or after-hours work, and roughly what is it?
- Are you registered for GST, and do the prices you mention include it?
- Do you work to a fixed quote, an hourly rate, or either depending on the job?
- Which payment methods do you take, and when is payment due?
If some jobs do have a set price, such as a standard service, a like-for-like hot water swap or a gutter clean on a single-storey house, a short list of those with "from" prices cuts out a lot of back-and-forth. Only list a price you're happy to honour on the day. business.gov.au's guidance on displaying prices says the total price must include all compulsory charges and taxes, such as GST, and where you show part of a price, the total has to be at least as noticeable.
Reviews and photos: keep them genuine
Reviews and photos do more persuading than anything you write about yourself, which is why consumer law covers them. NSW Fair Trading's guidance on false or misleading representations says it's against the law to make false or misleading testimonials and reviews, because they can persuade customers to buy something they might not have.
In practice that means:
- quote reviews exactly as customers wrote them, and say where each was posted, such as Google or Facebook;
- ask before putting a customer's name on your site, and use first name and suburb rather than a full name;
- don't write reviews yourself, or have friends and family post them as if they were customers;
- show photos of jobs you did, not stock images or pictures from a supplier's catalogue;
- ask homeowners before showing their place, and crop out house numbers, number plates and faces;
- keep before-and-after pairs honest: same angle, similar light, and nothing beyond cropping.
Phone photos are fine. Shoot in daylight, step back so the whole job is in frame, then take one close-up of the detail you're proudest of. Our guide to before-and-after photos versus project pages covers how to lay them out.
The quote form, and the details you collect
A quote form should ask for what you need to price the job and nothing more. For most trades that's:
- name and phone number;
- suburb, rather than the full street address at this stage;
- the type of job, picked from a short list;
- a few lines on what's going on;
- photos, where the job can be judged from them;
- how soon they need it done.
Keep a tap-to-call number next to the form, since plenty of people would rather ring, and make sure the form sends to an inbox someone checks every day. When a customer presses send, show a message saying when you'll be in touch, then do it.
Forms gather personal details, and photos can show the inside of someone's home. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner explains which businesses the Privacy Act covers: most small businesses with an annual turnover of $3 million or less aren't, though there are exceptions. Whatever applies to you, a line under the form saying what the details will be used for, and that they won't be passed on, is a simple courtesy.
Fitting it onto one, three or eight pages
Everything above fits on a single scrolling page, and for a sole trader or small crew that's usually the right place to start. Extra pages earn their keep when particular jobs or areas deserve room of their own.
| Size | How it's laid out | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| One page ($399) | The parts above as sections, in that order, with a tap-to-call button on mobile and a link that jumps to the quote form | Sole traders and small crews with a handful of core jobs |
| Up to 3 pages ($899) | A home page with the overview, area and reviews; a services page with more detail and photos for each job; a quote and contact page | Crews with two or three distinct kinds of work, such as new installs and repairs |
| Up to 8 pages ($1,499) | A page for each main service with its own photos and quote button, plus home, about, gallery and contact | Businesses with several services customers search for separately, or more than one region |
Two sites we've built show either end. M.J. Debney Plumbing & Gas in Queensland is a single page: a six-service overview, a 13-photo project gallery that swipes on a phone, client testimonials, a protected contact form and tap-to-call. SA Painting Professionals in Adelaide sits at the other extreme, with 12 detailed service pages, region pages across South Australia, a suburb and postcode search and an online quote form. Most trades sit much closer to the first. Our guide to one-page versus multi-page sites helps you choose.
What to gather before you ask for a quote
Whoever builds your site, these are the raw materials. Having them ready shortens the time from enquiry to a live site:
| What | Where to find it | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Licence and registration numbers | Your licence card, or your regulator's online register | Include every class you advertise work under |
| ABN and business name | ABN Lookup | Use the name exactly as it's registered and licensed |
| The jobs you want more of | Your invoices from the last few months | Mark the ones that pay best, and any you'd rather drop |
| Suburbs and towns you cover | Where you've worked in the past year | Note any areas you only travel to for bigger jobs |
| 10 to 30 photos | Your phone's camera roll | Send the original files, not screenshots, and mix finished jobs with close-ups |
| 3 to 6 reviews | Your Google profile, Facebook page, or thank-you texts | Get the customer's OK before using their name |
| Insurance, warranties and memberships | Your certificates and association details | List only what's current |
| Hours, after-hours work and call-out fees | You | Say plainly if you don't take emergency jobs |
| Logo | Your signwriter, or the file used for your business cards | No logo yet? We'll help with one at no charge |
The words can be rough. A list of jobs in your own language, a few sentences about how you work and answers to the questions customers ask most is plenty. You supply the words and photos, and we arrange and format them into the page.
There's no deposit: we build the draft, you ask for as many changes as you like, and you pay once you approve it. Most sites are live within 5–10 days of us getting your words and photos; bigger sites (up to 8 pages) take 2–3 weeks. To compare what other kinds of provider charge, see the tradie website cost guide.
What a tradie website costs with us
Fits everything on this list
One page
$399
Every part of the checklist on one scrolling page: services, suburbs, gallery, reviews, pricing notes, quote form and licence details in the footer.
Up to 3 pages
$899
A home page, a services page with photos for each job, and a separate quote and contact page.
Up to 8 pages
$1,499
A page for each main service or region, each with its own photos and quote button.
- Payment. No deposit. We build your draft first, you ask for as many changes as you like, and you pay once you approve it. If you don't go ahead, you owe nothing.
- GST. WebCraft Studio isn't registered for GST, so no GST is added.
- Timing. Most sites are live within 5–10 days of us getting your words and photos; bigger sites (up to 8 pages) take 2–3 weeks.
- Hosting. After launch, hosting is $30 a month: hosting, security monitoring, backups, email support and unlimited text and image changes on your existing pages. New pages or features are quoted first. No contract, cancel anytime.
- Domain and email. We register your domain in your name (about $20 a year), connect it to your site and set up your business email.
Questions about what goes on a tradie website
Should a tradie put prices on the website?
Explain how you price even if you can't list prices: whether quotes are free, any call-out fee, whether GST is included and how customers can pay. Set prices for standard jobs are worth listing too, as long as you'll honour them and show the total including GST and any compulsory fees. Those are the questions customers ask first, and WA Consumer Protection tells people to check GST and call-out fees before accepting a quote.
How many photos does a tradie website need?
Somewhere between 10 and 30 good ones is enough for most one-page sites. A dozen clear photos of finished jobs, with a caption naming the job and suburb, do more than a hundred blurry ones. Add a few close-ups that show the quality of the finish, and a before-and-after pair if your trade suits it.
Should a tradie website list every suburb?
List the suburbs and towns you actually travel to, grouped by region if there are a lot. Leave out places you'd only go to for a big job, or say so next to them. A plain, accurate list answers the question customers have before they ring, which is whether you come to them.
Is it OK to use stock photos on a trade website?
For anything presented as your work, no. Customers look at job photos to judge the quality of your work, so pictures of someone else's job give them the wrong idea. If you're short on photos, start taking them on every job from now on; a site can launch with a few and the gallery can grow, with changes to existing pages included in our hosting.
Should the ABN be on a tradie website?
It's worth including in the footer. The NSW Government's guide to choosing a tradesperson tells homeowners to verify a business's ABN using ABN Lookup, and having it on the site saves them asking. Put it near your licence number and business name.
Do you write the words for the site?
No. You supply the words and photos, and we arrange and format them into the pages, so the site sounds like you. Dot points are fine: a list of the jobs you do, the areas you cover, a few lines about how you work and the questions customers ask most.
Got your list together?
Send us your trade, the suburbs you cover and whatever you've gathered so far. We'll reply with a fixed price, build the draft from your words and photos, and you pay only once you're happy with it.
We reply within 24 hours. Prefer email? info@webcraftstudio.com.au