Best Lead Generation Sites for UK Tradespeople

“Best reason to test” is an editorial recommendation, not a promise of results. Availability, competition and customer behaviour differ by trade and postcode. Ask each provider what is included in the exact plan offered to your business, then compare that answer with your own margins.

Checkatrade now describes several routes for tradespeople. Its trade support pages distinguish an Approved profile from Fixed Plan options, while its campaign guidance covers fixed-plan and pay-as-you-go campaigns.

That makes it closer to a profile-and-visibility product than a simple job board. You can choose work categories and postcode areas, and pay-as-you-go campaigns use a monthly budget. Fixed plans are sold in tiers linked to expected lead volume. The exact offer matters: an Approved profile alone does not appear in standard Checkatrade search, according to Checkatrade's current guidance.

Good fit to investigate: a trade business that wants consistent visibility in defined areas and is willing to maintain its profile and reviews.

Question to ask: which product are you actually buying, what counts towards the plan or budget, and what happens to billing when a campaign is paused?

Posted-job services charge at different points in the enquiry. A paid contact is not a won job.

MyBuilder: tradespeople express interest in a posted job. Under the current MyBuilder trade terms, a non-refundable Shortlist Fee becomes due when the customer shortlists you. The amount is displayed before you express interest and is based on the job's size and value.

MyJobQuote: jobs have a credit price. Its fees guide says credits can come through a rolling monthly subscription or be bought pay as you go, and that credits expire after six months. The live monetary price is shown in the account.

Rated People: its newer tradesperson help page says memberships closed and new leads route to Checkatrade. Checkatrade's Opportunities Board is free to join with a charge to unlock a selected lead; its fixed lead plan is a different offer. Ask which route and commitment you are buying.

Bark: you use credits to contact leads you select and receive their contact details. Bark says there is no commission on work won. Its seller guide explains the process, while its credit help page carries the current credit price and expiry rules.

Good fit to investigate: a business prepared to review opportunities regularly, qualify them quickly and measure every fee against completed work.

Question to ask: at exactly what point do you pay, how many other businesses can contact the same customer, and does unused spend expire?

These are better understood as trust and directory products than as streams of individual job alerts.

TrustATrader sells annual membership. Its join page says it limits membership by trade and area and charges neither commission nor a fee for each lead. Applicants go through checks and build a profile with customer reviews.

Which? Trusted Traders uses an assessment before membership. Its programme explanation describes an assessment by trading standards professionals, followed by access to the endorsement and directory for businesses that pass and join.

The return is therefore harder to judge by counting unlocked contacts. Look at direct enquiries attributed to the profile, whether the badge helps customers choose you elsewhere, and whether the membership still makes sense at renewal.

Good fit to investigate: an established business that values an assessed or reviewed reputation signal and can support it with consistent customer service.

Question to ask: what checks, ongoing requirements and profile visibility are included, and is there space for your trade in the areas you cover?

A large job feed is not the same as a large number of suitable customers. Before joining, define the work you want: job types, minimum sensible value, travel radius, diary gaps and the person responsible for replying.

Then keep a simple platform scorecard:

• Total platform cost: membership, campaigns, credits and shortlist fees.
• Usable enquiries: opportunities that match your trade, area and availability.
• Quotes sent: genuine quotes, not automatic acknowledgements.
• Jobs won and paid: the outcome that funds the next month.
• Gross profit after acquisition: gross profit from won jobs less the cost of acquiring them.
• Later direct value: repeat jobs and referrals from customers first met through that platform.

Review by source and job type over a fixed period. A roofing business pursuing large planned work may tolerate a very different acquisition cost from a handyman doing short local jobs. The meaningful comparison is the cost relative to gross profit, not whether one platform's individual fee looks cheaper.

It is also reasonable to pause a test that cannot be measured. If staff are recording every platform contact simply as “website lead”, fix the source tracking before buying more exposure.

Lead sites are rented distribution: useful access to an audience somebody else has assembled. Your website is owned distribution: a direct address where customers can understand your services, see the areas you cover, check your work and contact your business.

The strongest owned setup starts with a verified Google Business Profile. Google says the free profile controls how your business appears on Search and Maps and can show your phone number, service area and website. The website then gives people somewhere to assess the business in more depth and make a direct enquiry.

Ownership does not end when the form is submitted. Record the source, customer and job; respond while the enquiry is current; keep useful job history; follow up appropriately; and ask satisfied customers for reviews and referrals. A website improves distribution. Those customer records and habits improve retention.

That is the practical balance: let a platform help win the first job, but make it easy for a happy customer to come back to you directly for the second. You keep the relationship even if a plan changes, a credit price rises or a profile stops receiving the same visibility.

If you do not want another website project to manage, Tradehand can build and run a website for your trade business around your real services, locations and reviews, with web chat for enquiries. Tradehand can sit alongside whichever lead source is currently earning its keep.

Our guides to Google Business Profile for trade businesses and practical electrician marketing go deeper on building that direct route.

Download the free lead-platform return worksheet (CSV). Use a fixed period and one source per row. Keep revenue and job-cost VAT basis consistent; show unpaid work separately. Spread annual membership over the period you evaluate, and count expired/unused credits as cost.

Fictional one-month test: platform spend £240; 12 usable enquiries; 8 quotes; 3 jobs completed and paid. Paid revenue is £2,400 and direct delivery costs are £1,500. That leaves £900 before acquisition and fixed overhead. Quoting/admin took 6 hours at a chosen internal cost of £25/hour, or £150.

The £510 is not net business profit: fixed overhead and tax remain. If quoting time is already in job costs, do not subtract it twice. A job won but unpaid is tracked separately; an enquiry is not revenue. Add later repeat work when observed, rather than assumed.

Compare another source over a similarly defined period and job mix. One small sample does not prove a platform is permanently best. The worksheet's empty rows let you use actual spend, paid jobs, delivery cost and time before renewing.