BUILDER WEB DESIGN + LOCAL SEO
Someone spending £30,000 on a rear extension isn’t picking their builder off a Facebook post. They’re going to spend three evenings on the laptop comparing your work to three competitors’, reading your testimonials, checking whether you’re FMB accredited, and working out if you’ve actually built the kind of extension they want.
Most builder websites don’t survive that scrutiny, three photos of scaffolding, a logo, a phone number, and a paragraph about “commitment to quality”. That’s not a website, that’s a business card with extra steps.
I’m Dan. I build websites for builders across the UK. I run a local service business myself — Detail Valets, a mobile car detailing company in Manchester — and I rank it on page one of Google using the same hands on SEO I’ll use for yours. Different trade, same architecture, same search mechanics.
£995 one-off. £50/month hosting. That’s the whole deal.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Most builders I talk to have some combination of: word of mouth work through architects and previous clients, a Checkatrade or MyBuilder profile for the odd lead, a Facebook page where they post the occasional finished job, a Google Business Profile they don't update, and either no website or one their nephew built in 2018 that still shows the wrong phone number.
That works sort of for the £2,000 bathroom refits and the £800 garden wall jobs. It does almost nothing for the work that actually pays the mortgage. Loft conversions, full extensions, renovations, new builds, commercial fit outs these are decisions a customer makes over weeks, after three site visits, comparing quotes that differ by £5,000 or more. They're not picking on proximity or the cheapest quote, they're picking on trust and the evidence for that trust has to exist online before you ever get on the phone with them.
Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Rated People great for the emergency patch repair customer, fine for the "clear a blocked gutter" enquiry. They put you in a list of four builders ranked by review score and the customer picks on price. Fine for small work. Wrong model for the jobs you actually want to be doing.
Genuinely useful for posting project progress and signalling you're still trading. Doesn't reach the customer planning a £45k extension who's never heard your name. That customer is on Google. Instagram and Facebook don't win you that lead your search ranking does.
Your GBP ranks you for "builder near me" broad, decent intent, but thin. It doesn't rank for "double-storey extension builder [town]" or "loft conversion [town]" because Google wants service specific pages, project galleries, and trade body credentials behind it before it ranks you for the high value searches.
WHAT A PROPER SITE DOES
"Loft conversion [town]", "single-storey extension [town]", "house renovation [town]", "new build builder [town]". Each one a customer with a different brief and a different budget. One page per search, built to rank, built to convert the research phase customer.
FMB, NHBC, TrustMark, CHAS, Build-Check — all tagged with schema markup so Google indexes them as verified claims. Public liability figures, years trading, project values, client testimonials with real names. The customer wants proof you won't disappear mid job.
A proper project gallery each major job with before/during/after photos, captioned with location, scope, timeline and budget does more to win a £30k extension than any sales page. Most builder websites skip this. The ones that don't, win the research heavy customers.
Someone researching a £45k loft conversion isn't ringing on the first visit. They bookmark, come back, send the link to their partner. The site has to look as good on visit two as visit one, load fast, show pricing guidance they're comfortable with, and have a form that doesn't force commitment too early.
WHAT’S INCLUDED
Builder web design has to do a different job than most trades’ sites, you’re not selling a call out fee you’re selling a month long project worth more than most people earn in three.
Every feature below works to a customer who will research you before they ring you, and will send the site link to their partner, their parents, and a mate who “knows someone in construction”.
Not a stock photo carousel. Each major project gets its own mini case study: 6–10 photos (before, during, finished), caption with location, scope ("single-storey rear extension, 28m²"), timeline ("12 weeks from ground-break"), and a client quote if you have one. Organised by project type so the customer can find work matching theirs. The single biggest difference between a site that wins £30k jobs and one that doesn't.
FMB (Federation of Master Builders), NHBC (for new builds), TrustMark, CHAS (commercial), Build-Check, CITB registration, Guild of Master Craftsmen — whatever you're registered with. Logos in the hero, registration numbers in the footer, schema markup so Google reads them as verified credentials. The research phase customer is checking these before they book a site visit.
Extensions (single-storey, double-storey, wrap-around), loft conversions (dormer, hip to gable, Velux, mansard), renovations, new builds, commercial fit outs. One page per service, each properly optimised. "Loft conversion [town]" and "rear extension [town]" are two different Google searches with two different customer intents and two different budget ranges.
Most builders work a 20 mile patch but only rank for the town they're based in. Each town gets its own page built to rank for "builder [town]" and "[service] [town]", linked internally to the main service pages. This is where most builder websites leave thousands of pounds of potential work on the table.
"Great work, thanks!" from A.B. means nothing. "Mark and his team built our single-storey rear extension in Altrincham over 12 weeks, came in on budget, dealt with the building regs themselves, snagging sorted properly" — that means the next £45k customer in Altrincham is half sold before they ring.
"Extensions from £30k", "loft conversions from £45k", "renovations from £65k" does two jobs: filters out the £5k customer you don't want, and makes the serious customer comfortable enquiring because they know you're in their range. I'll advise on what to show based on your work and your local market.
Project type (dropdown), approximate budget range, timeline ("planning phase" / "ready to start" / "flexible"), property postcode, and space for them to describe what they're thinking. Filters out time wasters. Gives you enough to turn up to the first site visit properly briefed instead of spending 20 minutes figuring out what they want.
If you work with specific architects, structural engineers, or interior designers, a partners page linking to them and asking them to link back is one of the best local SEO moves a builder can make. Reciprocal links with trusted local partners rank higher than any paid backlink campaign. Most builders don't do it.
PRICING
Same transparent pricing as the rest of the site. One number to get it built. One number to keep it running.
Custom WordPress build on Elementor Pro. Typical builder setup is Homepage, About, Extensions, Loft Conversions, Contact — plus one extra page of your choice (usually Renovations, a Projects/Gallery page, or your first area page). Full on page SEO foundations, schema markup, mobile optimisation, and a live handover session. First month of hosting included.
Managed WordPress hosting, daily backups, plugin and theme updates, security monitoring, uptime checks, and minor content tweaks enough to add a new project to your gallery each month without paying extra. Rolling contract — 30 days' notice to cancel, no 12 month lockins.
£150 each — Additional pages. Usually Renovations (if not one of the initial five), New Builds, Commercial, or your top 2–3 area pages.
£50 one-off — Email setup on your domain. name@yourbusiness.co.uk configured and tested.
Payment is 50% deposit to start, 50% on launch. That's the full pricing conversation.
FAQ
Yes — and for a builder, it’s the single most important feature on the site. Each major project gets its own mini case study with a photo gallery, a short write up (location, scope, timeline, budget range), and a client quote if you have one. Organised by project type so the customer can find work matching theirs. The difference between “this bloke seems fine” and “this is clearly the right builder for this job” is that gallery.
The enquiry form includes a project type dropdown. If someone ticks “new build” and you only do extensions, you can reply with a polite decline instead of getting on a call. Saves hours over a year. Works the same for out of area enquiries a postcode field lets you pre-qualify location before committing time.
Builders rarely show full pricing because every job is bespoke, but showing “price from” guidance works well — “single-storey extensions from £30k”, “loft conversions from £45k”. Does two jobs: filters out the cheap quote customers, and makes the serious enquirer comfortable knowing you’re in their range. I’ll advise on what to show based on your typical jobs and what your competitors are doing.
If you regularly work with specific local architects or structural engineers, building a partners page that links to them and asking them to link back is one of the highest leverage local SEO moves a builder can make. Reciprocal links from trusted local professionals rank higher than almost anything else you can do organically. Most builders don’t bother. The ones who do get called first when their partners have enquiries they can’t take.
The on page foundations are put in at launch schema, service pages, area pages, GBP optimisation, internal linking, mobile performance. Local ranking for builder terms is more competitive than most trades because every town has 30 odd builders going after it. That makes the off page work, reviews, citations, trade body links, partner links more important, not less. I set you up properly and tell you what to focus on after launch. Nobody promising page one rankings is telling the truth.
The site’s designed so a one-page update adding a new project to the gallery, swapping a hero photo for a current one takes under 15 minutes. The £50/month hosting plan covers up to 30 minutes a month of minor tweaks, which is enough for most builders. You’ll also get an Elementor walkthrough at handover so you can do the edits yourself if you prefer. Nothing worse for trust than a builder’s site with a “latest project” from 2021.
OTHER TRADES I BUILD FOR
NEXT STEP
30 minutes on the phone or Zoom and I’ll tell you what your current website is doing wrong (or if it’s worth improving rather than replacing), what the builder sites ranking in your specific area are doing right, and whether I’m the right person to help you sort it. No pitch, no slide deck, no agency waffle, if I’m not the right fit, I’ll say so and point you towards someone who is.