Start with the jobs you want, not the number of clicks

A local trade business does not need enquiries from everywhere. It needs suitable work within a sensible travelling distance, at prices that cover delivery costs and leave enough to run the business. Before changing your marketing, write down the services you want to book, the areas you actually cover and the capacity available over the next few weeks.

For example, a fictional decorator might want two interior repainting projects within 15 miles, rather than more requests for work outside their area. A fictional roofer might want planned repairs rather than emergency calls they cannot answer. These are planning examples, not results from real businesses.

Use that brief to judge every channel. An attractive profile is useful only if a visitor can understand the offer, check the service area and make contact. Set a manageable goal such as testing whether one channel produces suitable enquiries, rather than promising yourself a particular number of bookings.

Build a business profile that answers the buying questions

Describe what you do in plain language. A customer should be able to find your main services, coverage, contact details and the next step without decoding a long introduction. Separate what you offer from what you do not offer, particularly emergency availability, specialist work and minimum job sizes.

Use genuine photographs of your work, with permission where needed. Explain what the photographs show. Include real qualifications or memberships only when they apply to the business and can be checked; do not borrow a trade body's logo or imply approval from appearing in a directory. Reviews should come from real customers, without invented testimonials or promises about outcomes.

Keep your business name and contact details consistent wherever you list them. Where customers visit you, provide accurate location information. Where you travel to customers, explain the service area and avoid presenting a home address as a staffed shop. Google's Business Profile rules distinguish storefront and service-area businesses, so check the applicable guidance before setting up or changing a profile.

Combine a useful website with relevant local listings

Give your own website a clear service page, a useful explanation of the work and an obvious way to request a quote. It gives you a place to answer questions that a short directory profile cannot cover. For eligible businesses, a Google Business Profile is another way to present accurate local information. Choose additional directories because they serve relevant customers and places, rather than collecting links for their own sake.

Trade Register is a UK trades directory organised by trade, county and town. Its published guidance says standard listings are free and customers contact businesses directly through the details on the listing. A profile can include services, a description, contact information and a photograph or logo. Submissions are reviewed for suitability; a directory listing is not professional accreditation or an endorsement of workmanship.

If that format suits your business, prepare the details once and submit an accurate profile. Link to the page on your website that helps that customer take the next step. Check Trade Register's current listing options and review timings before submitting. Neither a listing nor an upgraded placement guarantees enquiries, bookings or search rankings.

Set a spending limit that respects cash flow

Decide how much cash you can commit before choosing paid promotion. Include subscription renewals, photography, printing, advertising and any help with the website. Record your own time separately: a free listing can still require an hour to prepare and occasional updates. There is no universal marketing percentage that makes a channel affordable for every trade business.

Keep annual commitments visible even if you compare their cost on a monthly basis. A yearly payment leaves the bank at once, while the hoped-for jobs may arrive later or not at all. Use the finance tools on this site's main guide to test the timing alongside wages, materials, tax and other obligations.

An illustrative £150 monthly test might allocate £100 to one measured promotion, £25 to website costs and £25 to a reserve. That is a planning example, not a recommended price or budget. Start smaller or postpone paid activity if cash is tight. Define the maximum spend and review date before you begin, and compare actual costs with the plan.

Keep an enquiry log you can actually maintain

Ask each new customer how they found you and record the answer without making the conversation awkward. Keep a short log with these headings: enquiry date; source; requested service; area; suitable or unsuitable; quote value; booked or declined; completed job value; direct job costs; and follow-up needed. Use an enquiry reference rather than spreading personal details across several files.

An example entry might read: 7 October; directory; interior painting; local area; suitable; £600 quoted; awaiting decision; no completed revenue yet. Another might read: 9 October; referral; small repair; local area; booked; £180 received; £70 direct costs. These are fictional entries to demonstrate the record, not customer enquiries or benchmark prices.

Keep unknown sources marked unknown. Someone may see a listing, later search for your name and then call, so the last recorded click is not always the whole journey. At review time, compare enquiry quality, bookings and money collected, rather than treating page views as sales. Limit access to customer information and keep only what you need for the purpose.

Compare marketing cost with job contribution

A simple worked example makes the distinction between revenue and return clearer. Suppose a fictional business spends £120 on a promotion. It receives eight enquiries, quotes five jobs and completes two. Those two jobs produce £600 in revenue and £360 in direct delivery costs, leaving £240 contribution before overheads. After the £120 promotion cost, £120 remains towards overheads and profit.

In that example, cost per enquiry is £120 divided by eight, or £15. Cost per completed job is £120 divided by two, or £60. Contribution per job is £120, so one equivalent job covers the promotion cost before overheads. That does not mean the business has made £120 net profit: premises, insurance, administration and other costs still matter.

Use comparable figures and include a realistic labour cost, including your own time, when estimating delivery costs. If you are VAT registered, avoid mixing VAT-inclusive sales with VAT-exclusive costs. A single successful job does not prove that the promotion caused it or will repeat. Review a sensible period, allow for delayed decisions and compare against your normal enquiry pattern before increasing spend.

Review the results and keep the details current

Use a monthly review to decide what to maintain, change or stop. Look at enquiries received, suitability, quotes, completed jobs, contribution and cash collected. Write down whether you had capacity to respond and deliver the work. Poor response handling can waste otherwise useful enquiries, while a full diary may make extra promotion unnecessary.

Check listings after a phone number, website, service area or business detail changes. Trade Register describes an emailed edit-link process rather than an account password; use its current instructions when updating a listing. Check your contact links and remove services you no longer offer.

Choose one specific improvement for the next period, such as clarifying the area you cover or adding real project photographs. Keep a record of the change so you can interpret subsequent results. Avoid changing every channel at once, and do not scale spending just because impressions or page views increased.

FAQ: How much should a small trade business spend on marketing?

Start with affordable cash and a clear objective, not a fixed percentage copied from another business. Account for delivery capacity, margins, existing commitments and the time needed to manage enquiries. Set a capped test budget and review date. If the forecast cannot support the payment, improve existing free profiles and customer-facing information first.

FAQ: Is a free directory listing worth creating?

It can be worth testing when the directory fits your trade and area, provides useful business information and lets customers contact you. Keep preparation time in the budget and track suitable enquiries. Trade Register currently offers free standard listings, but that offer does not establish how many enquiries your business will receive.

FAQ: Does appearing in a directory mean a tradesperson is accredited?

No. A listing and a review for directory suitability are different from a recognised qualification, professional registration or independent assessment of work. Trade Register explicitly says listings are not endorsements or accreditation. State real credentials accurately and give customers a way to check them where relevant.

FAQ: Should I pay for featured placement immediately?

First make sure the profile is complete, contact details work and you can respond to suitable enquiries. Check the actual placement, billing period, renewal terms and cancellation process. Treat paid placement as a bounded experiment rather than guaranteed work, and assess completed-job contribution alongside enquiry numbers.

FAQ: What should I measure if I do not have website analytics?

Start with a manual enquiry log. Ask where the customer found you, record whether the job fits your services and area, and follow the enquiry through quotation, booking and payment. Include the marketing spend and direct job costs. This will not perfectly attribute every customer journey, but it is more useful for a spending decision than guessing from visits alone.