What to put on a tradesperson's website: a checklist

Put your trade, main services and normal working area near the top of the homepage. Be more specific than property services. A visitor should be able to tell whether you repair leaks, fit bathrooms, inspect electrical installations or lay patios without opening a gallery.

List the towns or postcode areas you actually cover. Explain any travel limits or extra travel charges. Do not suggest you have a local office in every town you visit. A service area is not the same as a business address.

• Name your main trade and the work you want enquiries about.
• Say whether you work for homeowners, landlords, businesses or a combination.
• List your normal service area and explain how someone outside it can check availability.
• Only advertise emergency or out-of-hours work if you genuinely provide it. State the hours and contact route separately from routine enquiries.

Give each main service enough detail for a customer to recognise their job. Explain what is included, any important exclusions and whether you need a site visit before pricing it. Group related work on one page when that gives a clear answer. Separate pages are useful when the services need different explanations.

Use the terms customers use, then explain specialist terms where they matter. A list of technical qualifications does not explain whether you can replace their consumer unit. Link each service to the right enquiry route rather than making people return to the homepage.

A decorating page could explain whether the service includes surface preparation, ceilings, woodwork and supplying paint. It should also say whether exterior work is offered and what information is needed to arrange a visit.

Check every badge against your current registration or membership. The CAP Code, which sets rules for non-broadcast advertising, prohibits displaying a trust or quality mark without authorisation. A qualification, a registration and a trade association membership are different things. Describe each accurately rather than grouping them all under approved.

If your business is Gas Safe registered, show the correct business registration details and give customers a route to the official register. HSE says a gas engineer must be registered and competent in the particular work. The back of the engineer's Gas Safe ID card shows the types of work they are qualified to do. A website badge does not replace that check.

For NICEIC, use the exact scheme name you hold, such as Approved Contractor or Domestic Installer. These are distinct schemes. NICEIC makes its logo assets available to certified businesses through its customer portal. Use the authorised artwork and follow the scheme's current brand rules, rather than copying a badge from another website.

• Check that the registered business name matches the business providing the work.
• Use a current registration or membership number where appropriate, with a link to the official checking service.
• Remove badges when registration, membership or permission to use them ends.
• If a specialist subcontractor provides regulated work, explain that arrangement. Do not present their registration as your own.

Choose photographs that help someone judge the kind of work you do. Show the finished job and, where useful, the preparation or repair that made it possible. Add a short caption explaining the work. An unlabelled wall of pictures leaves the visitor guessing.

Use photographs you own or have permission to use. Ask the customer before publishing images from their property. Check for people, addresses, vehicle number plates, paperwork and other identifying details. Avoid publishing a precise location unless the customer has agreed. Do not describe stock photographs as your completed jobs.

Keep the work visible when you crop the image for a phone. Add a short text description for meaningful images so people using a screen reader can understand them. Before-and-after photos should show the comparison honestly, not hide defects or exaggerate the result.

You do not need to invent a fixed price for work that needs inspection. Explain what affects the cost and what the customer must provide before you can price it. State whether the next step is a phone discussion, photographs or a site visit, and whether that visit costs anything.

If you publish prices aimed at household customers, include VAT where payable and unavoidable charges that apply to all or most buyers. CAP's price rules also require clarity about charges that cannot be calculated in advance. A starting price must be genuinely available, not a low figure for a job you rarely offer.

• Say what a listed price includes, including materials where relevant.
• Explain call-out charges, minimum charges and how additional work is priced.
• Make clear whether a figure is an estimate or a fixed quotation, and state its scope and conditions.
• Only describe a quote or visit as free if there is no charge for it.
• Do not promise a turnaround time unless you can meet it. Explain how you confirm availability instead.

Make your phone number easy to find and tap. Add a quote form or email route for people who cannot call during working hours. Offer WhatsApp only if you use it for business enquiries and can manage the messages. More buttons are not useful if nobody checks where they lead.

Start a quote form with the information needed to assess the job. This often means a name, one way to reply, the job location and a short description. Ask for photographs only when they help, and explain what they should show. The ICO's data minimisation principle requires you to collect no more personal information than the purpose needs.

• Use a specific button label, such as Request a quote, rather than a vague link.
• Say what happens after an enquiry and when the phone is normally answered.
• Explain what to do if an urgent message will not be monitored. Do not present a routine form as an emergency service.
• Give form fields clear labels and distinguish required fields from optional ones.
• Put a privacy notice link beside the form and explain how enquiry information is used.

Explain who provides the service, how customers can reach you and whether they can visit your premises. If you work from home and do not receive visitors, do not present it as a showroom. Keep your trading address, registered office and service area clearly labelled where they differ.

For a UK limited company, GOV.UK says the website must show its registered company name, number, registered office and place of registration. A trading name alone is not enough. Sole traders and partnerships have different disclosure obligations, so check the requirements for your own business structure.

If you describe insurance, guarantees or warranties, check the wording against what you actually provide. Explain the relevant cover or terms instead of making an unsupported claim that every job is fully guaranteed.

Before publishing, open the site on your phone and follow the route for one real service you offer. You should be able to check the work, confirm the area, see relevant evidence and request a quote without hunting through the menu. Ask someone unfamiliar with your business to try the same task.

• Read the service details and check that they match the jobs you currently accept.
• Check badges, registration numbers and links to official registers.
• Review every photograph for accuracy and permission to publish.
• Tap the call button and check the number without placing a call.
• Arrange a test enquiry using your own details, then check that the business receives it and the customer sees a clear confirmation.
• Assign someone to update the website when your services, coverage, prices or registrations change.