What should a small building firm's website have on it?
A homeowner wants to know what you do, where you work, what your work looks like, and how to reach you. Cover those plainly, keep every claim true, and add the legal details the law asks for.
Say what you do and where you work
Put your services on the site in the words a customer would use: extensions, loft conversions, barn conversions, roofing, kitchens, whatever you really do. Give each main service a short page with a photo.
Name the towns and villages you cover, and say what is too far. The list should match the service areas on your Google Business Profile.
Real photos, real reviews, real accreditations
Use your own photos of your own finished jobs, with a line on what the job was. Ask the customer before you publish pictures of their home. Stock pictures or other firms' work give a false impression.
GOV.UK says you cannot mislead consumers with false or deceptive messages or by leaving out important information. So show only reviews from real customers, and do not write your own or give money or gifts for positive ones. Show an accreditation or trade body badge only if you currently hold it, and say what it covers. If a membership lapses, take the badge down.
Contact details on every page
Put your phone number, email and the area you cover at the top or bottom of every page, not only on a contact page. On a phone the number should be a tap-to-call link, a link written as tel: followed by the number. Tap it on your own phone to check it works.
Keep any enquiry form short and ask only for what you need to reply.
Page titles, descriptions, speed and phones
Each page needs its own title and a short description saying what the page is and where you work, for example the service and the town. That is what Google and customers see first.
Most people will open the site on a phone. Resize photos before you upload them, because large camera files make pages slow. Test the site on your phone using mobile data, not your home wifi. Google's Search Console has a Core Web Vitals report that shows how pages perform for real visitors, mobile and desktop separately.
A privacy notice if you collect details
If a form, email address or phone number on your site means you collect names, phone numbers or addresses, you are handling personal data. GOV.UK says that when you collect it you must tell people who you are and how you will use it, including if it is shared with others, and that they have the right to see it, correct it and ask for it to be deleted. It also says to keep it secure and tell the Information Commissioner's Office how your business uses personal information.
The usual way is a privacy notice page linked from the enquiry form: what you collect, why, who sees it, and how to ask for a copy.
The legal business information
If you are a limited company, the Companies House guidance says the company must show its registered name on its website. GOV.UK adds that business letters, order forms and websites must show the company's registered number, its registered office address, where it is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland), and the fact that it is a limited company, usually by spelling out the full name with Limited or Ltd. A home address used as the registered office is public on the register anyway.
If you are a sole trader, GOV.UK says to include your own name and your business name, if you have one, on official paperwork such as invoices and letters. It does not list website requirements for sole traders. The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, regulation 6, list what a business providing an online service must make available: its name, the address where it is established, contact details including an email address, and its VAT number if it has one. Check with Trading Standards whether a plain brochure site is covered; putting these on the contact page costs nothing.
Update the page when any of this changes. If you would rather not do it yourself, Sitehelm builds and looks after websites for builders.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Running a limited company, signs, stationery and promotional material
- GOV.UK: Incorporation and names (Companies House guidance)
- legislation.gov.uk: Companies, LLP and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015, Part 6
- GOV.UK: Set up as a sole trader, choose your business name
- legislation.gov.uk: Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, regulation 6
- GOV.UK: Data protection and your business
- GOV.UK: Marketing and advertising, regulations that affect advertising
- GOV.UK: Reviews, guidance for businesses and agencies
- Google: Core Web Vitals report (Search Console Help)