A directory like Checkatrade, MyBuilder or Rated People rents you reach and borrowed trust: useful, especially early on, but every enquiry comes with a fee and a list of competitors beside you. A website of your own is the opposite trade-off: you have to earn the trust on the page, but the enquiries cost nothing extra and nobody else is on it. Most established trades end up with both.
Side by side
Each platform works a little differently and changes its terms from time to time, so check the current details with the directory itself. The broad trade-offs hold across all of them.
| What matters | Trade directory | Your own website |
|---|---|---|
| Where the customer finds you | On the directory, in a list of other firms in your trade and area, usually side by side. | On Google, from a referral, or from your van and cards - on a page with nobody else on it. |
| How you pay | A membership fee, or a charge per lead or per job you express interest in, depending on the platform. | A one-off build, then whatever you choose to spend keeping it current. No charge per enquiry. |
| Your reviews | Live on the directory. They count while you are a member and you cannot take them with you. | Your Google reviews follow your business wherever it goes, and your site can show them. |
| Trust with a stranger | Strong: vetting checks and a recognisable name do some of the convincing for you. | Has to be earned on the page - real photos, real reviews, your registered details, a fast site. |
| Competing on price | The customer is invited to compare you with the next firm on the list, often on price. | The customer is looking at your work and your standard, not a comparison table. |
| If you stop paying | The listing, its reviews and its enquiries stop. | It keeps working. You own it. |
Where a directory genuinely helps
- When you are new and nobody knows your name, its vetting and brand vouch for you.
- It brings people who are actively looking for a trade right now, not just browsing.
- There is nothing to build: you can be listed and taking enquiries quickly.
- A steady stream of reviews in one place is reassuring to customers who use that directory.
What relying on one alone costs you
- Every enquiry has a price on it. Whether it is a membership or a fee per lead, work through what each job actually cost you once you include the enquiries that came to nothing.
- You are one name in a list. The customer is invited to compare you with the next firm, and the easiest thing to compare is price. The firm worth more has the hardest time showing it.
- The reviews are not yours to keep. Years of good feedback stay on the platform if you ever leave.
- Your work depends on their rules. Fee changes, ranking changes or a dispute about one job are all out of your hands.
The sensible way to use both
Treat a directory as a way to fill the diary, not the foundation of the business. Alongside it, build the things that are yours: a website that shows your real work and the areas you cover, and a Google Business Profile with reviews from happy customers (our guide to getting more Google reviews covers how). Over time, more of your work arrives directly, at no cost per enquiry, and the directory becomes a top-up you can take or leave rather than a bill you cannot stop paying.
A site that works alongside the directories
I build hand-coded websites for UK trades at a fixed price agreed before any work starts, and you own them outright: no fee per enquiry, ever. Directory customers who look you up before they ring find a site that backs up everything your listing says.