We started out like most trade businesses—thinking a nice-looking website would be enough. We paid over £1,000 for a polished-looking site, assuming that meant it would rank and bring in work. It looked professional... but barely showed up in search results.
That’s when we learned a hard truth: most web agencies build fast, hand it over, and disappear. No SEO strategy. No updates. No plan for ranking. Just a good-looking shell and that’s exactly what Google punishes.
You might rank okay for a few weeks, but without the right content and structure, your site quietly drops further and further down the rankings. Google isn’t looking for flashy designs it wants depth, trust, relevance, and fresh content.
If your website isn’t updated regularly, isn’t loaded with genuinely helpful information, and doesn’t have strong technical SEO—it will eventually vanish from Google.
That’s what happened to our first website. It looked the part, but lacked everything Google actually cares about.
And, well... that’s exactly what happened to our first website. It looked nice. But it had none of what Google actually wants.
To climb to page 1 of Google (without throwing money at ads), your website needs a lot more than a pretty face. It needs:
🔁 To be updated frequently with useful, original content
📚 Offer in-depth answers to real customer questions
🧱 Have proper on-site and off-site SEO foundations
🤝 Build trust and authority over time
We didn’t have any of that... and the result? A nice-looking website that didn’t bring in a single enquiry.
That was the turning point. We went back to the drawing board and created a completely different kind of website, one that works the way Google wants it to. No shortcuts, no gimmicks, and most importantly, no need for paid ads.
Today, we help other trade businesses do the same, get to page one of Google organically and generate real leads without spending a penny on Google Ads.
After hours of digging through competitor websites, patterns became clear. Most of the top-ranking sites followed the same formula minimalist layouts, light colours, stock photos, and 5–10 basic pages. A few featured case studies or blog posts, but many hadn’t been updated in years. Testimonials were static, generic, and rarely verifiable.
In short, everything looked the same.... and also felt forgettable.
That’s when we made a decision: we weren’t going to blend in. We wanted to build something people would remember.
While other websites played it safe with soft, polished designs, we went bold. We chose a dark theme with strong yellow branding—something distinctive that gave the site energy and presence. We wanted visitors to recognise us instantly and feel compelled to come back.
This wasn’t just about looks. It was about building a modern, fully optimised platform that felt fresh, active, and alive - a true representation of the business behind it. Not just another digital brochure lost in Google’s back pages.
Once we'd spent a good few hours diving into competitor websites, some patterns started to jump out. Most of the high-ranking sites had light, minimalist designs, all soft tones and stock photos. A few included project examples, but oddly, none of them were dated. Some had blogs, though most hadn’t been updated in years. Customer testimonials were everywhere, but they were all static, there was no way to know if they were real or just nicely written fiction. On average, the sites were between 5 and 10 pages long.
What We Wanted Our Site To Do Differently:
1. Weekly Updates That Show Real Work:
One of the most important ideas from the start was to keep things fresh. We committed to posting weekly updates, whether it’s a job we're currently working on or something interesting going on in the workshop. This turned out to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. People often message us saying they saw a specific door or balcony we restored and want something similar. These updates also help with SEO, Google loves fresh, dated content and rewards us with better visibility.
2. More (and Better) Ways to Get in Touch:
Our previous site just had a phone number and a basic contact form. That wasn’t cutting it. Now, we’ve added WhatsApp chat and even allow customers to upload photos through our webform. It’s made a massive difference. In fact, nearly half of our enquiries now come via WhatsApp and these aren’t just small fixes. We’ve had major projects worth £20,000 to £50,000 start from a quick message, including full glazing upgrades on farmhouses and even work on listed buildings in Mayfair. If you’re not using WhatsApp for customer enquiries, you're probably missing out.
👉 If you’re not offering WhatsApp for customer contact, you could be losing out on serious work.
3. Live Facebook Feed on the Homepage:
To keep your website as active as your business, we embed your Facebook business feed directly on your homepage. That means every time you post, whether it’s a job update, before-and-after photos, or a customer review, your website updates itself automatically.
It’s a simple but powerful feature that helps keep the site fresh with new content, which Google rewards, and customers trust. No extra effort needed, just keep doing what you’re already doing on social media.
4. Live Google Reviews Instead of Static Testimonials:
Let’s be honest, static testimonials can feel fake. Anyone can type one up and slap it on a page. That’s why we integrate a live Google Reviews feed directly into every site we build.
These reviews pull straight from your verified Google Business Profile and update automatically. For visitors, it builds trust. For Google, it’s a ranking signal! it proves your business is real, active, and reliable.
So whether you're a roofer, plumber, or builder, Google reviews are the gold standard. Ditch the outdated quote blocks and show your actual 5-star ratings in real time.
5. More Pages, More Depth, More Value:
If you want to rank high, your website needs real substance. After analysing top-performing competitors, we committed to building content-rich pages that are better structured, better researched, and more useful than anything else out there.
We don’t stop at basic “Services” or “About Us” pages. Our trade websites now feature deep-dive pages on specific topics, whether it’s explaining roofing felt options, comparing boiler systems, or showcasing joinery profiles.
Our current top-performing site includes 40+ dedicated service and product pages, and we’re constantly adding more. More content means more keywords, more relevance, and more chances to appear in “near me” searches.
6. Hundreds of Unique Local Pages That Drive Real Results:
This is where things really took off.
We quickly realised that people don’t just search for a trade, they search for one near them. Searches like “joiner in Ramsgate” or “plumber in Sevenoaks” are where the real local traffic happens. So instead of relying on one generic service page, we built individual landing pages for every town, village, and city across Kent and London, each one tailored with localised, original content.
We now have 486+ unique, fully written location pages for sash windows alone, each containing 1,000+ words of original copy. These aren’t spun or reused, they’re written for SEO, designed to rank, and built to convert.
But we didn’t stop there.
We applied the same strategy to secondary glazing, wooden doors, and other high-converting services. That’s pushed our total page count to well over 1,000 pages, all structured to show up in “near me” and local search results and it works.
We frequently earn multiple top spots on Page 1 of Google for a single keyword, thanks to the depth, scale, and uniqueness of our content. We can even track which pages bring in the most leads and guess what? Many of our best enquiries start on these local landing pages.
This phase of dreaming up the site and getting it built was all about doing things differently. And more importantly, doing things better. We’re not interested in just being “one of the options.” We’re building a brand and a site that customers remember, trust, and return to. And judging by the results so far we’re on the right track.
Once the flagship site was live, the real momentum begins in Stage 3.
Once the site went live, the real work began. This stage is about keeping your site active, visible, and converting, not just sitting online gathering dust. Regular updates, smart SEO improvements, and content expansion are what fuel long-term success.
A major tool in our process is the weekly job journal. Every week, we post real project updates—complete with photos, client briefs, and locations. It’s a powerful way to keep your website alive and authentic while also building trust with both Google’s algorithm and your potential customers.
We also publish SEO-optimised blog posts focused on topics that your ideal clients are actually searching for, whether it's comparing uPVC vs timber windows, explaining heating system upgrades, or answering trade-specific questions. Each article is written with clear SEO intent, helping your site gain visibility on long-tail and question-based searches.
We don’t just publish and walk away. We monitor keyword rankings weekly, analyse how different pages perform, and adjust strategy where needed. In many cases, our flagship sites now rank on page one for multiple local keywords—and in some cases, we’ve seen two different pages rank on page one for the same phrase (e.g. a service page and a local landing page).
We also work on building strong backlinks through trusted trade directories and local listing platforms. This helps increase your domain authority, giving your site the power it needs to climb Google’s rankings and stay there.
Stage 3 is where short-term results turn into long-term success and by actively feeding the site with fresh content and strategic SEO, we keep pushing it forward every week.
This isn’t about short-term hacks. It’s about building long-term growth and credibility. In just 12 months, our lead website grew from almost zero to over 240,000 search impressions. With constant blog content, page expansion, backlink development and SEO tracking, we’re seeing those early indicators of sustained ranking success.
Some of our location-based pages are now ranking at the top of page one, and a few even show up twice for the same search term—a strong signal that Google sees the site as a genuine authority in its space.
