If you’re a young tradesperson trying to build your client base, you’ve probably heard the same advice on repeat:
“Just do good work and the referrals will come.”
And they do — eventually. But relying on word of mouth to grow your business is like hoping it rains every time your van needs a wash. It works sometimes. But you can’t control it, and you definitely can’t scale it.
The tradespeople who are winning right now — booked out weeks in advance, picking and choosing their jobs, charging what they’re actually worth — are doing something different. They’re showing up online. And in this guide, we’re going to show you exactly how to do the same.
Here’s the honest truth: if someone searches “electrician in Maidstone” or “bathroom fitter near me” right now, you probably don’t come up. And it’s not because your work isn’t good enough. It’s because nobody’s set you up properly online.
Most tradespeople are still relying on:
The problem isn’t your trade. The problem is that customers who don’t already know you have no way to find you, trust you, or contact you.
That’s the gap Trade Spotlight was built to close.
There are three things that move the needle when it comes to getting discovered by homeowners in your area.
Not just any website — one that’s been built with local SEO in mind. That means your pages are optimised for the searches your ideal customers are actually typing in. Things like “kitchen fitter Kent” or “emergency plumber Lewisham.”
A good trade website doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to:
When someone searches for a tradesperson near them, the first thing they see isn’t a website — it’s the map pack. That row of three local businesses with star ratings, photos, and a call button.
Getting into that map pack is one of the highest-leverage things a local trades business can do. It means someone searching for your service, in your area, right now, sees your name first.
To get there, you need your Google Business Profile set up properly, kept updated, and consistently getting reviews from happy customers.
Which brings us to the reviews question.
Ask yourself this: when was the last time you used a tradesperson or local service without checking the reviews first?
Your customers think the same way.
The issue is that most tradespeople do great work, get a happy customer, and then never ask for a review. They rely on the customer to think of it themselves — which most don’t, not because they don’t want to, but because life gets in the way.
The fix is simple: you need a system. At Trade Spotlight, we set our clients up with a five-star review system that makes it easy to collect reviews consistently without having to chase people or feel awkward about asking.
More reviews means more trust. More trust means more enquiries.
The Content Question: Do You Actually Need to Post on Social Media?
Short answer: yes, but not in the way you think.
You don’t need to be a content creator. You don’t need to be on camera talking to the lens. You don’t need to learn editing or spend your evenings filming yourself explaining stuff.
What you do need is to document what you’re already doing.
A quick clip of a bathroom before and after. A few seconds of cable routing on a rewire. A time-lapse of a garden taking shape. This kind of content does something powerful — it shows homeowners what working with you actually looks like. It builds trust before they’ve even spoken to you.
The tradespeople getting the most enquiries on Instagram and TikTok right now aren’t the ones with the fanciest setups. They’re the ones posting consistently, showing real work, from real jobs.
The challenge is most tradespeople don’t have time to edit, caption, schedule, and post. That’s exactly what we do for our clients. You send the clips — we handle the rest.
Here’s what changes when you have a proper online presence:
You stop chasing work and start attracting it. Enquiries come in from people who’ve already seen your work, already trust you, and have already decided they want to call you specifically — not just whoever comes up first.
You can charge more. When you look like the premium option — professional website, great reviews, active social presence — price becomes less of the conversation. Customers who find you online are buying trust, not just a service.
You’re not dependent on any one source. Referrals dry up. Checkatrade changes its pricing. But a well-set-up online presence keeps working for you month after month.
Trade Spotlight is a done-for-you marketing service built specifically for tradespeople working in homes across the South East — Kent, Sussex, Essex, and SE London.
For £399 a month on a rolling monthly contract, we handle:
You keep your focus on the work. We keep your name in front of the people who need it.
After 12 months, you own your website outright. No long contracts, no hidden fees — one month’s notice to leave at any time.
Not ready to dive in yet? That’s fine — and there’s still something in it for you.
We’re launching a free online community for tradespeople, built around a free course that covers everything from finding better-paying customers to setting up your Google profile and getting more reviews — without changing the type of work you do.
It’s not live yet, but spots on the waitlist are open now. People who join early will get first access when we launch, plus any early-member benefits we put together.
It costs nothing to get on the list.
If you’re a tradesperson in Kent, Sussex, Essex or SE London and you’re tired of being invisible online, Trade Spotlight was built for you.
Book a free call — no pressure, no jargon, just straight answers about what’s possible for your business.
