Costs & pricing · 6 min read
The cost of no website is the jobs you never hear about
Why word of mouth alone leaves money on the table, and the maths trades usually skip.
The short answer
The cost of no website for a trade business is the jobs you never even hear about, because customers searching online can't find you and book a competitor instead. If one missed job a month is worth £200, that's £2,400 a year — with Fixby's monthly plans (no upfront fee), it pays for itself many times over.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Published · Updated · 6 min read
What the cost of no website actually looks like
It doesn't show up as an invoice. It shows up as silence — the phone that doesn't ring, the enquiry that goes to a competitor whose name comes up first on Google. Work out what an average job is worth to you: for a plumber, electrician, roofer or builder that might be £150, £500 or several thousand pounds. Now ask how many of those you're missing each month simply because you can't be found.
Even one missed job a month adds up fast. At £200 a job, that's £2,400 a year. At £500 a job, it's £6,000. Most trades in Huddersfield and across Kirklees are missing more than one, because the people searching for them never see them in the first place.
Word of mouth only
- — Invisible to new searchers
- — Can't prove you're trading
- — Caps how far you can grow
Word of mouth plus a site
- — Confirms you're legitimate
- — Shows up for cold searches too
- — Captures enquiries properly
Why relying on word of mouth alone isn't enough
Word of mouth still works, and it's still the best kind of lead you can get. But a recommended customer will almost always check you out online before they call — that's just how people behave now. If there's nothing to find, or an out-of-date Facebook page and no proper website, some of that trust evaporates before you ever speak to them. The recommendation gets them to search for you; the lack of a website is what loses them at the last step.
Where the missed work actually goes
- To whichever competitor shows up first on Google when someone searches for your trade and area.
- To the business with a proper Google Business Profile and a website that backs it up with real information.
- To whoever answers the search at 10pm, when you're not checking your phone and can't respond.
- To the firm that looks established, because their site has real photos, clear pricing and reviews.
- To directory listings where you blend in with a dozen other tradespeople, none of whom stand out.
“No website means no way to be found when someone searches for your trade at 9pm.”
The maths trades usually skip
Most trade business owners have never actually sat down and worked out the cost of no website in pounds. It's worth doing properly, because the number tends to be higher than expected. Take your average job value, multiply it by even a conservative estimate of missed enquiries per month, and multiply that by twelve. Compare that figure honestly against what a website would cost to build and maintain.
What a website actually costs
| Package | Price | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Basic site | Monthly plan | Be found, show what you do, get contacted |
| Premium build | Monthly plan | Separate pages per service, more searches covered |
| Fully loaded | Monthly plan | Quotes, bookings and integrations built in |
Hosting and maintenance are included in our monthly plans with no upfront build fee. A basic site is one or two jobs for most trades, and it keeps working every day after that — unlike an ad, it doesn't stop the moment you stop paying for it. A premium build adds individual pages for each service you offer, which is often what actually moves the needle because it lets you rank for more than one type of search.
What a good trade website needs to include
- Your trade and the areas you cover, written in plain English on the homepage.
- A phone number that's tappable, not just written as plain text.
- Real photos of jobs you've actually done, not stock imagery.
- Rough pricing or at least a sense of what a typical job costs.
- A simple way to request a quote that doesn't rely only on email.
How to measure it for your own business
- Track how many enquiries come through your site, phone or Google Business Profile each month.
- Ask every new customer where they found you.
- Add up the value of jobs that came from search or your website specifically.
- Compare that total to what a website and any ongoing SEO work would cost.
Most trades who actually run this exercise are surprised by the number. The cost of no website is rarely small once you total it up properly, and it compounds every month you leave it unaddressed.
Get a website that pays for itself
If you're a trade business in Huddersfield, Halifax, Dewsbury or anywhere across West Yorkshire and you're relying on word of mouth alone, talk to us. Email info@fixbystudios.co.uk or call 07737 067552 and we'll tell you honestly whether a website makes sense for your trade and what it's likely to bring back.
Your questions
- How much does it cost a trade business to not have a website?
- It depends on your average job value, but even one missed job a month at £200 works out at £2,400 a year — usually far more than a website would cost.
- Is a Facebook page enough instead of a website?
- No. A Facebook page doesn't rank well in Google search results and gives customers no reason to trust you the way a proper website with real photos and pricing does.
- How quickly does a trade website pay for itself?
- For most trades, a single won job covers the cost of our monthly plan outright, and everything after that is extra work you'd otherwise have missed.
- Do I need a website if most of my work is word of mouth?
- Yes. Recommended customers still check you out online before calling, and having nothing to find undermines the recommendation before you ever speak to them.
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
Next step
Let's get your business seen.
A free plan for your website: pages, booking and what to fix first.
Fixby Studios builds websites, runs SEO and manages social media for small businesses across Huddersfield and West Yorkshire. Web design in Huddersfield
Prefer to talk it through? Contact Fixby Studios, email info@fixbystudios.co.uk or call 07737 067552.
