All Guides
business
Why Directories Aren't Enough Anymore
Directories take a cut of every lead. A proper website gets you the same leads for free. Here's the math.
25 January 2026GMTO Team
Directories take a cut of every lead. A proper website gets you the same leads for free. Here's the math.
Checkatrade. MyBuilder. Bark. Rated People. They all promise leads, and they all take a cut.
Every lead from a directory costs you money. £10-30 per lead adds up fast:
10 leads/month = £100-300/month
That's £1,200-3,600/year
And you're competing with 5 other trades for each job
A website that ranks organically gets you the same leads — without the directory tax. The leads come directly to you. No competition. Fixed monthly cost instead of pay-per-lead.
That's because most trade websites are built as brochures, not SEO machines. They have 3 pages, no schema, and zero local optimization.
A properly structured website can rank for:
"[Service] near me"
"[Service] in [area]"
"Emergency [service]"
One GMTO client (Birmingham Boiler Repairs) went from:
£400+/month on Checkatrade
To 2,775 Google clicks and 699 tracked leads in 6 months
Lead conversion rate: 8.96%
It takes 3-6 months to build organic rankings. Directories work immediately. The smart play? Use directories while your website builds momentum, then phase them out.
Your website might look professional, but if it's not generating calls, it's just an expensive brochure. Here's what actually makes trade websites convert.
Read guideseoWhy do some trade websites rank on page 1 while others are invisible? It's not magic — it's structure. Here's the blueprint.
Read guidebusinessCheckatrade can be useful when you need visibility quickly, but it should not be the only place your enquiries come from. Here's the trade-off.
Read guideWhat's one job worth to you — a hundred quid? Two? If it brings you one extra job a month, it's paid for itself twice over. And you don't risk a penny finding out.
Let us build you a free preview — your actual site, for your trade, in your town. See it before you decide a thing.
© 2026 GetMyTradeOnline. All rights reserved.
A product of Melling Web Studios Ltd.