Do Plumbers Need a Website If You're Already on Checkatrade?

The short answer: yes, and Checkatrade's own numbers are why. Checkatrade's pricing page lists a free listing, an Approved plan at £30 a month, and Growth plans "from £59/mo" once you start paying for more enquiries, on top of a search fee some trades pay per enquiry. That's a membership fee you pay every month whether the phone rings or not. We work with plumbing and heating install firms, and the objection we hear most is some version of "I'm already on Checkatrade, why do I need a site too."

Key takeaways

• Checkatrade's own pricing page lists Approved membership at £30 a month and Growth plans "from £59/mo" for more enquiries, paid monthly regardless of how much work comes in.
• BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found 54% of consumers visit a business's own website after reading a positive review, up from 32% when the same question was asked in 2019.
• The same survey found only 40% of local businesses have a dedicated website, meaning most are invisible at exactly the point over half their prospects go looking.
• Checkatrade gets you found and reviewed. It doesn't own the moment someone checks you out before calling, that's your own site's job.
• For plumbing and heating installs, pay per booking means you pay us nothing until we reach the booked visits we agree in writing, then £60 for each booked install quote visit. You fund the ads direct with Google.

What does Checkatrade actually do?

Checkatrade is a directory with vetting and reviews built in. Homeowners search a trade and a postcode, compare a handful of profiles, and can call, request a quote, or book straight from the app. That's a real, useful job, and for many plumbers it brings in genuine enquiries.

What it charges for is access to that search. Checkatrade's own breakdown is plain about it: membership is a fixed monthly cost, and more enquiries or wider coverage areas push the price up from there. Your profile lives inside their directory, using their layout, priced by how much traffic you want from it. Estate agents face the same question with Rightmove, which we went through in do estate agents need a website if Rightmove gets buyers.

What do people do after they find you there?

This is the part that gets missed. Finding a plumber on Checkatrade is usually the middle of the decision. BrightLocal's 2026 survey asked consumers what they do after reading a positive review: 66% go on to do more research before buying anything, and the single most common next step, chosen by 54% of them, is visiting the business's own website. That's up sharply from 32% when BrightLocal last asked the same question in 2019.

The same survey found only 40% of local businesses have a dedicated website at all. Put those two numbers together and the gap is obvious: most of the people who just read your Checkatrade reviews go looking for your own site next, and most tradespeople don't have one for them to find.

What does a plumber's own website need to show?

• A phone number and callback form on every page, since emergency searches go to whoever answers the phone first.
• Your call-out area stated plainly, so someone with a burst pipe at 11pm knows in three seconds whether you cover their postcode.
• A page per job, boilers, bathrooms, leaks, landlord certificates, each answering what that specific job costs and involves. Landlords are legally required to get an annual gas safety check from a Gas Safe registered engineer, a job worth its own page rather than a line buried in "services."
• Reviews front and centre, Checkatrade and Google both, since 47% of consumers in the BrightLocal survey won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
• Real job photos, because a directory listing shows the same layout as every competitor next to it; your own site is the one place that's unmistakably yours.

What does it cost to have this ready?

For plumbing and heating installs, pay per booking sets up your Google ads, your Google Business Profile and a page for the jobs you want, answers the calls you miss and chases every quote. You pay us nothing until we reach the booked visits we agree in writing, then £60 for each booked install quote visit. If you'd rather buy the pieces, here are the real prices, same as everywhere on our site.

Extra pages and other one-off extras are half up front, half at launch. Starter is £39 a month, starting the day your site goes live.

Run your current site through our free scanner at buildmydigital.co.uk/scan. It checks the trust, content and technical basics, including whether your reviews and call-out area are actually visible, and takes about a minute with no email required. See every price before you talk to anyone.

Common questions

Do plumbers need a website if they're already on Checkatrade?

Yes. Checkatrade gets you found in a search and gives you somewhere to collect reviews. It doesn't cover what happens next: BrightLocal's 2026 research found 54% of people who read a positive review go on to check the business's own website before doing anything else.

How much does Checkatrade actually cost?

By Checkatrade's own pricing page, Approved membership is £30 a month and Growth plans start "from £59/mo" for more enquiries, on top of any per-enquiry fees for your trade. It's a recurring cost regardless of how much work lands that month.

What should a plumber's own website show?

A phone number and callback form on every page, your call-out area stated plainly, a page per job (boilers, bathrooms, leaks, landlord certificates), and your reviews front and centre rather than buried in a directory.

What does fixing the gaps cost?

Under pay per booking, nothing until we reach the booked visits we agree in writing, then £60 for each booked install quote visit. Bought separately, the website is built free, extra service pages are £89 each, and a Google Reviews Engine setup is £299 with £49 a month after. Every number is on the price list, same as everyone else pays.

Read next: Roofer Websites: What Homeowners Check Before They Call.