# Websites for builders

> Websites for building firms, built around finished-project photography - because an extension is bought with the eyes long before anyone reads a word.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/industries/builders
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-27

There are 60,460 domestic construction firms across 377 UK local authorities (ONS UK Business Counts, SIC 41202, 2025, OGL v3.0).

## How customers choose

A homeowner planning an extension or a loft conversion is spending a large sum on something they cannot see in advance, so they are buying reassurance. They will look at your finished work for several minutes, then at whether the projects resemble their own house, then at whether other people survived the experience. They typically shortlist three builders over several weeks, and the shortlist is drawn almost entirely from photographs. Very few of them call first - they email, usually in the evening, often with photographs of their own house attached.

## What most websites in this trade get wrong

Builders take excellent photographs of finished work and then put six of them in a cramped gallery grid at the bottom of the homepage. The work deserves the whole page. The second failure is showing only the finished room with no context - a customer wants to see that you handled a Victorian terrace like theirs, which means before-and-after, and it means saying what the job actually involved. The third is the enquiry form that asks for a phone number and nothing else, when this customer wants to describe their project at length.

## What the website has to do

- **Detailed project enquiry by email** - This buyer wants to explain their project, not be rung back.
- **Time spent in the project gallery** - Gallery engagement is the strongest predictor of an extension enquiry.
- **Confidence in scale and insurance** - Large spend needs visible evidence you will not disappear halfway.

## Pages

- **Home** - Lead with the single best finished project, full width.
- **Projects** - The real sales tool - filterable, generous, properly photographed.
- **Extensions** - The most-searched high-value job.
- **Loft conversions** - Distinct search, distinct buyer anxiety.
- **Renovations** - Whole-house work with a long sales cycle.
- **How we work** - Stages, timescales and payment structure reduce the fear.
- **Contact** - A form that lets them describe the project and attach photos.

## Features that matter

- **Full-width project photography with before-and-after** - The entire purchase decision is visual, and context sells more than the finished shot alone.
- **Individual project pages with scope, timescale and materials** - Lets a customer recognise their own job in yours.
- **Enquiry form with a long description field and file upload** - This buyer wants to explain and show, not fill in six boxes.
- **Clear statement of insurance, warranties and guarantees** - Large irreversible spend needs de-risking.
- **A written explanation of the build process and payment stages** - Uncertainty about money is the biggest unspoken objection.

Trust signals: Finished project photography; Public liability and works insurance; Trade body membership; Structural warranty provision.

Seasonality: Extension enquiries build from January through spring as people plan for summer work.

## Local authorities with the most

| Local authority | Businesses |
|---|---|
| Cornwall | 835 |
| Barnet | 805 |
| Buckinghamshire | 765 |
| Ealing | 750 |
| Enfield | 680 |
| Hillingdon | 675 |
| Redbridge | 665 |
| Birmingham | 605 |
| Brent | 595 |
| Somerset | 580 |

## The offer

- **Monthly**: £299 upfront, £99/month (the upfront is a setup fee), 12-month minimum term. We build it, host it and look after it - and after 24 monthly payments, it is yours.
- **Own It**: £1,795 upfront, £49/month, no minimum term. Buy the website outright. It is yours to keep, move or cancel.
- **Pro**: £6,950 upfront, £299/month, 12-month minimum term. No limits. For large, multi-site and fast-growing businesses.
- Payment: The setup fee is paid when you book, and it starts the design. Monthly fees are collected by Direct Debit, covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee, from the day your site goes live.
- Guarantee: You see your finished design on your phone and approve it before anything goes live, with two full rounds of changes included. Nothing launches until you are happy with it. The Monthly plan runs for 12 months from launch.
- Bolt-ons: Google Business Profile management £29/month; Local SEO pack £49/month; Business email £5/month. Coming soon, not yet on sale: Missed-call text back, Review booster.
- VAT: We are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add to these prices.

## Questions

### What if I do not have photographs of my work?

Start taking them now, on your phone, before and after every job. Photographs of your own finished work convert better than any stock image or any amount of copy, and in the trades they are the single biggest factor in the size of job you get asked to quote for. We will lay out the site to work with whatever you have and improve as you build up a library.

### How important is photography, really?

In visual trades it is the entire decision. Customers shortlist from photographs and read the words afterwards, if at all. It is worth paying a photographer for half a day once a year - it will change the size of the jobs you are asked to quote for more than anything else you could spend the money on.

### Should I list every town I cover?

List the towns you genuinely work in and would happily travel to. A short honest list produces better enquiries than a long optimistic one, and it stops you spending your day quoting for jobs ninety minutes away that you were never going to take.