What homeowners actually check before they ring a tradesperson
Between finding your name and dialling your number, a homeowner spends perhaps ninety seconds deciding whether you are worth the call. That decision follows a surprisingly consistent pattern. This explainer walks through it in the order it happens, from the first glance to the moment the thumb hovers over Call.
Second one to ten: are you real and are you near
The first check is almost unconscious. Does this business exist, and is it local? On a Google Business Profile that means a real-looking name, a photo that is not a stock image, a town in the address or service area, and a phone number that looks like a mobile a tradesperson would carry.
A trading name that is just a first name and a trade ("Mark Plumbing") passes this test more easily than a grand one with no evidence behind it. Homeowners are not looking for a corporation. They are looking for a person who turns up.
Second ten to twenty: the rating and the dates
Next comes the star rating, read in a glance, and then something trades underestimate: the date of the most recent review. A 4.9 from forty reviews with one last week beats a 4.9 from two hundred with the last one in 2023. The homeowner is asking "are they still good", not "were they ever good".
They will also skim one or two negative reviews, if there are any, and the owner's reply. A calm, specific reply to a complaint does more for trust than a dozen five-star reviews. A defensive one does the opposite. Our piece on why review velocity matters more than review count covers the ranking side of this.
Second twenty to forty: do you do my job
Now the homeowner clicks through, to the website if there is one or to the profile's services list if not. The question is specific: do you do the thing I need? Not "plumbing" but "bathroom refits". Not "electrical" but "EV charger installation".
Sites that list services as a single paragraph of comma-separated words fail here. Sites with a page per service, each with a few sentences and a photo of that kind of job, pass. This is also where the local SEO question arises, since a page per service per town is what ranks, and we weigh the arguments in service area pages: useful local SEO or doorway spam.
Second forty to fifty-five: whose photos are these
Homeowners have learned to spot stock photography. A gleaming American kitchen or a model in an unmarked hi-vis vest tells them nothing. Phone photos of real jobs, slightly imperfect, with recognisably British houses in them, tell them a lot.
Before-and-after pairs are the strongest format, which brings its own obligations about customer consent and what is visible in the frame, set out in our guide to using job photos in marketing. A dozen genuine photos beat a hundred polished ones.
Second fifty-five to sixty-five: are you allowed to do this
For gas, electrical and glazing work in particular, the homeowner looks for a badge they recognise. Gas Safe, NICEIC or NAPIT, FENSA or CERTASS. Some know what the badges mean; most just know they should be there.
A badge displayed with a registration number, and ideally a line explaining what it entitles you to certify, passes. A badge pasted in with no number is a yellow flag to the minority who check, and more homeowners check than trades expect. The marketing side of accreditation is covered in accreditation badges as marketing: FENSA, Gas Safe, NICEIC and the rest.
Second sixty-five to seventy-five: who will turn up
A photo of the actual person or team, a first name, a sentence about how long they have been doing it. This is the point at which the homeowner decides whether they would be comfortable letting you into the house. It is hard to overstate how much an About section with a real face does, and how little a paragraph about "our commitment to excellence" does.
Sole traders have an advantage here. The person on the site is the person in the van. Larger firms need to show the people who actually attend, not just the owner.
Second seventy-five to ninety: how do I reach you, and will you answer
Finally, the contact decision. The homeowner wants a phone number they can tap, and increasingly a WhatsApp option so they can send a photo instead of describing a problem they do not understand. A contact form is fine as a third option; as the only option it loses the ones who want to talk now.
They also want some signal about response. "We reply to all enquiries the same day" is a promise that gets tested, so only make it if it is true. What happens when the call is not answered is a separate and expensive problem, worked through in the real cost of a missed call for a one-van trade.
The ninety-second checklist
None of this is expensive. Most of it is a Sunday afternoon with a phone and the folder of job photos you already have. The trades that lose the call are not losing on price or skill. They are losing on the ninety seconds before the homeowner ever finds out what they charge.
- A real name, a real photo and a local address or service area on the Business Profile.
- Recent reviews, and replies to the negative ones.
- A page or clear section for each service, not a list of words.
- Your own job photos, including before-and-after pairs where you have permission.
- Accreditation badges with registration numbers.
- A face and a first name for whoever turns up.
- A tappable phone number and a messaging option, with an honest line about response times.
Frequently asked questions
Do homeowners really read reviews before calling a tradesperson?
Most glance at the rating and the date of the latest review, and skim any negative ones and the owner's reply. Few read more than a handful.
Does a tradesperson need professional photos on their website?
No. Phone photos of real jobs do better than stock images, because homeowners can tell the difference.
Should a trade website have a contact form or a phone number?
Both, with the phone number and a messaging option first. A form on its own loses people who want to speak immediately.