Checkatrade or
your own site?

What directories and lead sites are good at

Sites like Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Rated People and TrustATrader do some things very well:

• Trust. A vetting badge and a page of reviews reassure a customer who has never heard of you.
• Leads when you’re starting out. They already have the visitors, so you don’t have to wait for Google to find you.
• Very little to set up. You fill in a profile and you’re live.

What you give up

• You pay either way. Depending on the site, that means a membership fee, a charge when you’re shortlisted, or a price for each lead. Check each site’s current prices, because they change.
• You’re listed next to your competitors. The customer is one tap away from the next trade on the list, and some leads go to several trades at once.
• Your reviews live on their platform. The reputation you build is displayed on their site, not yours.
• It stops when you stop paying. The visibility is rented, not owned.

What your own website does differently

• It’s yours. It shows one business on every page, with no competitors beside you.
• It can show your prices. A cost estimator answers “how much?” before the customer rings, so the calls you get are from people who already know the number.
• Google and AI assistants can quote it. Mike’s site at Deeside Architectural Design is now quoted by Google’s AI Overview, with his prices, by name. A directory profile rarely gets that. See the proof.
• It keeps working. Every page you add is still there next year, still bringing people in.

The honest answer: it isn’t either-or

For most trades, the best setup is:

1. Your own website as home: your prices, your jobs, your towns.
2. A complete Google Business Profile, with reviews that sit on your own profile.
3. One or two directories for trust and extra leads, kept only while they pay for themselves.

Every quarter, ask where your last ten jobs came from. If a directory brought in two, it’s earning its place. If it brought in none, stop paying for it.