How to Choose the Right Domain Name
Choose a clear website address, check it properly and keep control of your business domain.
Read guide →Guides
Straightforward advice for tradespeople.
Practical guides on websites, Google, marketing and running your business.
All Guides
72 guides found.
How to Buy Your Domain and Give Us Access
Buy your website address in your own account, with GoDaddy or another domain company, then give us access. No passwords shared.
Read guide →What If My Web Designer Owns My Domain?
Check who controls your website address, get it back from an old designer who won't reply, and keep your email working.
Read guide →Website Hosting Explained
Understand what keeps your website online, what support includes and how to choose your hosting.
Read guide →Business Email: Why and How to Set It Up
Why an email on your own domain wins trust, what it costs, and how to set up Google Workspace, yourself or with our help.
Read guide →Google Business Profile: Get on Google Maps
Get on Google Maps and search, keep your home address private, get verified and add help without sharing passwords.
Read guide →Photos for Your Website: What to Take and How
What to photograph, how to get a good photo on your phone, and how to send them so they stay sharp.
Read guide →Offering Finance to Your Customers: How It Works
The two ways a trade business can offer customers finance, what the FCA needs, what it costs and what your website can say.
Read guide →How to Go Self Employed as a Tradesperson
Going self employed in a UK trade, step by step: when you're ready, how to set up, telling HMRC, pricing, first customers and the mistakes that cost money.
Read guide →Sole Trader or Limited Company: Which Is Right for You?
Sole trader or limited company? The real differences for a UK trade business in plain English: risk, tax, paperwork and changing later.
Read guide →How to Choose a Business Name for Your Trade
How to choose a clear business name for your trade, and the free checks to do before you spend money on a logo, van signs or workwear.
Read guide →How to Register With HMRC When You Start a Business
How to register with HMRC as a sole trader or a limited company, step by step: when to do it, what it costs, and the other things you might need.
Read guide →Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) Explained
CIS in plain English for UK tradespeople: who it applies to, the 20% and 30% deductions, and what contractors and subcontractors have to do.
Read guide →Do I Need a Business Bank Account as a Sole Trader?
Do sole traders need a business bank account? Why it helps, what to compare, how to open one and how your money is protected, in plain English.
Read guide →What Insurance Does a Tradesperson Need?
Which insurance a UK trade business needs by law, which cover to think about, and the small print that catches people out, in plain English.
Read guide →VAT Explained for Tradespeople: When to Register
VAT for UK tradespeople in plain English: the £90,000 threshold, how to check it, when to register, what it does to your prices, and the reverse charge.
Read guide →Bookkeeping for Tradespeople: A Simple Guide
Simple bookkeeping for tradespeople: what to record, a weekly routine, Making Tax Digital deadlines, and how long to keep your records.
Read guide →Business Accounts Explained for Tradespeople
The difference between bookkeeping, accounts and tax returns, explained for tradespeople, with company deadlines and how to read your numbers.
Read guide →Do I Need an Accountant as a Tradesperson?
Does a tradesperson need an accountant? When it's worth it, what to check before you pick one, and what stays your responsibility.
Read guide →Self Assessment Tax Returns for Tradespeople
Self Assessment for tradespeople: registering, the deadlines, penalties, payments on account, and how to avoid a nasty surprise in January.
Read guide →Allowable Expenses for Tradespeople: What Can I Claim?
What tradespeople can claim as allowable business expenses, what you can't, how vans and tools work, and what evidence to keep.
Read guide →How Much Does a Trade Website Cost?
What a website for a tradesperson really costs in the UK, what changes the price, what you keep paying for, and how to compare quotes fairly.
Read guide →What Pages Does a Trade Website Need?
The pages a tradesperson's website actually needs, what each one is for, and when a service or town deserves its own page.
Read guide →How Long Does a Website Take to Build?
How long a website for a tradesperson takes to build, what slows it down, and what you can get ready to speed it up.
Read guide →What Happens After Your Website Goes Live?
What to check once your trade website goes live, who looks after it, and how to keep it working for you.
Read guide →Can You Move Your Website to Another Provider?
How to move your website to a new web designer or host without losing your domain, your email or your place on Google.
Read guide →How to Set Your Service Area on Google
How to show the towns you cover on Google without showing your home address or pretending to have branches you haven't got.
Read guide →How to Verify Your Google Business Profile
How to pass Google's check that your trade business is real, including how to film the verification video without showing anything private.
Read guide →Why Isn't My Business Showing on Google Maps?
The usual reasons a trade business doesn't show up on Google Maps, and what to check, step by step, before you assume it's broken.
Read guide →How to Ask Customers for Google Reviews
A simple, fair way for tradespeople to get more Google reviews, with message examples, and the things Google bans.
Read guide →How to Respond to Good and Bad Reviews
How to reply to Google reviews as a tradesperson: thank people properly, handle bad reviews calmly, and never give away a customer's details.
Read guide →What to Add to Your Google Business Profile
What to fill in on your Google Business Profile so customers trust you and ring you: name, category, description, services, photos and hours.
Read guide →SEO Explained for Tradespeople, Without the Jargon
What SEO actually is, how Google finds your website, what helps a trade business show up, and what nobody can honestly promise.
Read guide →Local SEO for Tradespeople: Show Up Where You Work
How tradespeople show up for customers nearby on Google, without fake offices, copy and paste town pages or ranking promises.
Read guide →How Long Does SEO Take?
How long it takes for a trade website to show up on Google, what affects it, and why a fixed deadline is a warning sign.
Read guide →Can Anyone Guarantee Page One on Google?
Why nobody can guarantee you page one on Google, the tricks behind those promises, and the questions to ask an SEO company.
Read guide →Why Service Pages Help Your Trade Website Show Up
Why each main service on a trade website deserves its own page, what to put on it, and when not to bother.
Read guide →Common SEO Myths That Waste Tradespeople's Money
The SEO myths tradespeople get sold most often, and what actually helps your website show up on Google.
Read guide →SEO for Plumbers, Electricians and Other Trades
A practical SEO plan for plumbers, electricians and other trades, built around the jobs you want, the area you cover and real proof of your work.
Read guide →Before and After Photos for Tradespeople: Do It Right
How to take fair before and after photos of your trade work, and write a caption that sells the job honestly.
Read guide →Which Photographs Should Go on Your Website?
Which photos a tradesperson should put on each page of their website, and which to leave out.
Read guide →Why Blurry Photos Hurt Your Trade Business
Why blurry photos cost tradespeople work, what causes them, and the quick fixes on any phone.
Read guide →What Logo Files Does My Business Need?
Which logo files a trade business needs for its website, van, workwear and print, and what to ask your designer for.
Read guide →What Should Go on a Tradesperson's Business Card?
Exactly what to put on a tradesperson's business card, what to leave off, and how to check it before printing.
Read guide →How to Make Your Van, Workwear and Marketing Match
How to make your van, workwear, website and paperwork all look like the same business, without crowding any of them.
Read guide →WhatsApp Business for Tradespeople: How to Set It Up
How tradespeople can set up WhatsApp Business to handle enquiries, keep work and personal chats apart, and stay on the right side of the rules.
Read guide →How to Price Your Work as a Tradesperson
How tradespeople work out a day rate or job price that covers every cost of running the business, not just time on the tools, and quote it clearly.
Read guide →How to Win Repeat Customers as a Tradesperson
How tradespeople win repeat work and recommendations by doing the basics brilliantly, without constant discounts.
Read guide →How to Deal with Difficult Customers as a Tradesperson
How tradespeople can handle complaints and difficult customers calmly, know the customer's rights, keep the right records, and know when to get help.
Read guide →Time Management for Tradespeople: Plan a Realistic Week
How tradespeople can plan a realistic week, stop paperwork eating every evening, and keep the promises they make to customers.
Read guide →How to Invoice and Get Paid as a Tradesperson
What a tradesperson's invoice must include, when to send it, and how to get paid on time and safely, step by step.
Read guide →Cash Flow for Tradespeople: Busy But Skint?
How a trade business can be busy and profitable but still run out of money, and how to plan your cash week by week to avoid it.
Read guide →How to Chase Late Payments as a Tradesperson
How tradespeople can chase late invoices step by step, when you can charge interest and recovery costs, and what changes are coming.
Read guide →How Much Tax Should I Save as a Tradesperson?
How tradespeople can put money aside for tax, avoid a shock January bill, understand payments on account, and get ready for Making Tax Digital.
Read guide →Hiring Your First Employee: A Guide for Tradespeople
What it really costs to take on your first employee in a trade business, and what has to be sorted before they start, step by step.
Read guide →How to Grow Your Trade Business the Right Way
How to grow a trade business in a way that makes more profit and gives you more time, not just a busier diary, one step at a time.
Read guide →Reviews and Reputation for Tradespeople: The Rules
How tradespeople build a good reputation with honest reviews, stay within the law on reviews, reply to bad ones professionally, and learn from feedback.
Read guide →ChatGPT for Tradespeople: A Simple, Safe Guide
How tradespeople can use ChatGPT and other AI assistants to save time on messages, checklists and paperwork, without getting caught out.
Read guide →Using AI to Write Customer Emails
How tradespeople can use AI to write clearer customer emails and texts, without it inventing facts or making promises.
Read guide →Using AI to Write Better Quotes and Job Descriptions
How tradespeople can use AI to make quotes clearer, without it adding work, changing prices or guessing.
Read guide →Using AI for Social Media Posts as a Tradesperson
How tradespeople can use AI to write social media posts about real jobs, without fake claims or bland filler.
Read guide →What Information Should You Never Give to AI?
What a trade business should never type into ChatGPT or any AI tool, how to strip out personal details, and what to do if you slip up.
Read guide →Useful AI Tools for Small Trade Businesses: How to Choose
How to pick AI tools that actually save a trade business time, test them properly, and avoid getting tied in.
Read guide →17 Low Cost Marketing Ideas for Tradespeople
17 cheap, practical ways for a tradesperson to get more work, and how to tell which ones are actually paying off.
Read guide →Google or Facebook Ads: Which Is Best for Tradespeople?
Should a tradesperson advertise on Google or Facebook? How each works, what to spend, and how to tell if it's paying.
Read guide →Is Checkatrade Worth It?
How to work out whether Checkatrade, or any lead site, is worth it for your trade business, with the questions to ask before you sign.
Read guide →Do Business Cards Still Work?
Do business cards still work for tradespeople? What to put on them, when to hand them out, and how to tell if they bring in work.
Read guide →What to Include on Your Van Signwriting
What to put on your van signwriting so people can read it at a glance, and what to leave off.
Read guide →Using Service Stickers to Generate Repeat Work
How service stickers bring repeat work for heating engineers and other trades, what to write on them, and the rules to stick to.
Read guide →QR Codes on Invoices and Marketing Materials
How tradespeople can use QR codes on cards, invoices and vans safely, and what they should always link to.
Read guide →How to Follow Up Previous Customers (Legally)
How tradespeople can get repeat work from past customers by text, email or WhatsApp, and stay within the marketing rules.
Read guide →How to Ask for Reviews Without Feeling Awkward
Simple, natural ways for tradespeople to ask customers for reviews, with a message you can copy, and the rules to stay within.
Read guide →Rather we just did it for you?
A website, Google profile and business email, set up by someone who knows the trade.
