In the competitive world of trades, whether you’re a joiner, carpenter, plumber, builder, glazier, tiler, roofer, electrician or decorator, every single lead matters. With online advertising costs climbing higher and higher and Google’s algorithm constantly changing its mind, the way you grow your business online can mean the difference between being fully booked or waiting by the phone, scared you cant pay everyone.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Should I keep pouring money into paid ads or build something more sustainable with SEO?” - you are not alone. This guide breaks down the real pros and cons of both paid advertising and search engine optimisation (SEO), with real-world advice tailored specifically for UK tradespeople looking to grow their business the smart way!
Paid advertising, whether it’s through Google Ads, Facebook, or even Instagram or Reddit can be a tempting quick fix for tradespeople who want leads now. We’re talking the fast-track approach. You pay Google to jump the queue and land your business right at the top of the page when someone types in something like “electrician near me” or “fitted wardrobes (town name)”.
For new businesses just starting out, or for those quieter months when work dries up, this can feel like an absolutelifeline. A few clicks, a couple of hundred quid, and boom, the enquiries start trickling in quick. But only if the campaign is set up properly and this only works while you pay, as soon as you stop, your site is de ranked again.
According to Wordstream’s Google Ads Benchmarks, the average Google Ads conversion rate is around 4.4 percent across industries. But when it comes to home services, trades and local work, the number is often lower, especially if you’re using broad or generic keywords like “builder UK” instead of specific, local ones like “bathroom fitter Margate” or “roof repair in Bromley”.
The real problem here is? The cost-per-click (CPC) in home improvement services can range from £2.50 to over £8 per click. That’s not per lead, that’s per click. Even if they don’t fill in a form or ring you. Once your ad budget runs dry, your name vanishes from the top of Google faster than a roofer when the tea goes cold.
If you’re a local tradesperson, whether you do windows, electrics, kitchens or plastering, that means you’ll always be paying just to stay visible. You stop paying andthe traffic stops. It’s like hiring a billboard that disappears every time you miss a payment.
For short-term bursts, paid ads can definitely work. But for sustainable, long-term growth, you need something that sticks around without rinsing your wallet every single month.
If paid ads are like renting a billboard on the motorway, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is more like owning the plot of land it stands on. It takes longer to build, but once it’s up and running you’re not constantly reaching into your wallet every time someone clicks your business name.
Instead of paying Google to appear when someone searches “kitchen fitter near me” or “emergency plumber in Maidstone”, SEO helps your website earn its way up the rankings naturally and stay there. That means when someone searches exactly what you do, in exactly your area, you appear near the top without shelling out money for every click.
According to Backlinko’s Organic CTR Study, the #1 organic result in Google gets a whopping 27.6 percent of all clicks. By contrast, most paid ads only see 2 to 3 percent. That’s a massive difference and it’s exactly why SEO is a smart investment for tradespeople who want more than just short-term wins. SEO isn’t just about visibility, it ALSO builds Web authority and trust too. When your website is packed with helpful information, such as; case studies, blog posts, photo galleries, FAQs and service pages that actually explain what you do, people feel confident calling you.
Imagine this: a potential customer finds your article titled “10 Signs Your Roof Needs Replacing”, learns something useful and then clicks your Get a Quote button. You didn’t pay for that click, and you might keep getting similar clicks from that one blog post for years. Paid ads could never.
SEO helps:
Bottom line: SEO turns your website into a long-term lead machine that keeps working in the background (even when you're off the tools and down the pub!).
Both paid ads and SEO come with distinct pros and cons, especially when applied to the Trade ndustries.
Paid advertising offers the benefit of immediate visibility. It allows businesses to show up at the top of Google for high-intent search terms like “sash window repairs near me” or “bespoke joinery services Kent” almost instantly. You can also fine-tune ads to target specific locations, age groups, and even household incomes, ideal for premium specialists. However, this approach requires a constant budget. Once the spend stops, so does your visibility, and the cost-per-click in this industry can quickly become unsustainable without a solid landing page and conversion strategy.
SEO and organic marketing, on the other hand, take longer to build but offer far greater long-term value. Optimising your website and content for local terms such as “Victorian sash window replacement Sevenoaks” or “traditional timber joinery in Whitstable” can steadily improve your rankings and bring in traffic every month, with no ongoing ad costs. Organic listings are trusted more by users and tend to attract warmer, higher-intent leads who are looking for quality and expertise over speed or price.
In essence, paid ads give you speed, but SEO gives you stability and trust, then volume then increases long term. Most successful window and joinery businesses benefit from combining the two, using SEO to build a strong foundation and paid ads to boost visibility during quiet periods or targeted campaigns.
When it comes to growing your trade business online, whether you’re a window fitter, roofer, joiner, decorator, plumber, or anything in between, it often boils down to this: should you go for paid ads or invest in SEO?
The answer isn’t always straightforward. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses and understanding how they work (and when to use them) can make a massive difference to your incoming enquiries and your bank balance.
Let’s start with paid advertising, platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads offer immediate visibility. Want to be seen when someone types “plumber near me” or “roof repair Canterbury”? Pay a bit of money and you’re at the top, just like that. It’s brilliant for:
Paid ads even let you filter by age, income, location, and interests. So if you’re selling bespoke oak staircases or heritage window restoration, you can fine-tune your audience and speak directly to the folks who actually want that kind of craftsmanship.
But here is the big catch: as soon as your budget runs dry, your visibility disappears. The cost-per-click (CPC) in most trade sectors can range from £2.50 to £8 or more, depending on how competitive your keywords are. If your website isn’t optimised to convert traffic, you can burn through hundreds without a single job booked.
On the other hand, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is like building a brick wall instead of chucking up a pop-up tent. It takes longer to see results, but once your site is properly set up and optimised, it starts to pull in leads month after month, without constant spending.
You can rank for local keywords like:
Once your pages climb the Google ladder, they stay there, bringing in steady traffic, building trust, and helping your business look professional and established. According to BrightLocal, most people trust organic listings more than adsm especially for home services, where experience and reputation count.
It’s not an either-or situation. The most successful local tradespeople use paid ads at first and long term SEO in the background (if you can afford it!"):
SEO builds your foundation. Paid ads give you short bursts of visibility. Together, they make your business much harder to ignore.
Let’s ditch the theory for a second and talk about what actually happens when tradespeople start taking SEO seriously.
One of our clients, a NOW well-known sash window specialist in Kent, came to us after spending nearly £1,500 a month on Google Ads with little to show for it. They were paying for clicks but visitors were bouncing off the page quicker than a roofer spotting dark clouds.
The issue? Their site wasn’t built to convert. No proper landing pages. No local focus. Just a few pictures, vague text, and a phone number buried in the footer.
We rebuilt their site with SEO in mind. That meant weekly blog posts targeting ultra-specific long tail phrases like:
Within 6 months, their organic traffic had increased by over 300 percent, and they were receiving regular leads from Google, not from throwing money at ads, but from clever, well-targeted content that matched what people were actually searching for.
📈 And here’s the stat that backs it all up: According to HubSpot’s 2023 marketing report, around 70 percent of searchers skip paid ads entirely and head straight for the organic results. That’s a lot of potential customers who’ll only ever find you if your site is properly optimised.
And it’s not just sash window companies.
We’ve seen similar results with:
If you want long-term traffic and leads that don’t rely on a monthly ad budget, SEO wins the race. Every time.
Here’s the honest truth.... whether you're fitting kitchens in Croydon, rewiring homes in Ramsgate, restoring windows in Whitstable, or tiling bathrooms in Bexley: SEO should be your foundation and paid ads are the cherry on top.
Search engine optimisation builds a solid base that keeps your business visible 24/7, even while you’re on-site or enjoying a cuppa. It brings in warm, high-intent leads from people actively searching for what you do, where you do it. That means less cold calling, less hustling and more of the work you actually want.
Then when it’s time to shout a bit louder, like during a quiet season or a new service launch, that’s where paid ads can help boost your visibility, but only if they’re backed up by a proper SEO-friendly website that converts traffic into quotes.
If your website isn’t appearing for key searches like:
…then chances are you’re handing those jobs straight over to your competitors, no questions asked.
Don’t wait until you’re the last one on Page 3 og Google, get your SEO sorted now, before the other trades in town beat you to it.
👉 Book a free consultation today and let’s build you a site that ranks, converts, and actually brings in work.
At Local Trades Websites, we build high-converting websites and SEO strategies that actually bring in work, not just views. Whether you're a plumber in Portsmouth, a joiner in Kent, an electrician in Essex, or a roofer in Reading, we know how to get your business ranking on Google and looking professional online.
We don’t do generic templates or copy-paste strategies. We tailor every website and SEO plan to suit your trade, your service area, and your goals, so you can dominate local search results and fill your diary with the right kind of work every week.
👉 Book a free downloadable SEO report or a one-to-one consultation today and take the first step toward building a local trade website that works just as hard as you do.
