Checkatrade alternative that you actually own

Looking for a Checkatrade alternative usually means one of three things. The annual bill hurts. The leads get sent to other firms as well as you. Or you have paid for years and still do not have a website of your own.

A directory is a rented slot. You pay to stay in someone else’s list. Stop paying and the slot goes. That is not a trick. It is the product.

The alternative that lasts is not always another directory. For most UK sole traders and small firms it is three things you control: a Google Business Profile, genuine reviews, and a website that is yours. Quote requests on your own site come to you. They are not shared with the next firm on the list.

Here is how that works in practice, and what you can do this week.

What a directory costs you besides the fee

For a busy plumber or roofer a directory can still pay off. For others it is a lot of money for a listing you do not own.

People do not stop at the listing. After reading positive reviews, many consumers check the business’s website (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, US consumers, not UK data). If they cannot find you, or they land on a page with no photos and a phone that does not tap-to-call, they ring the next name.

Another directory is the obvious Checkatrade alternative. It can be cheaper. You are still on a list you do not own, and quote requests can still go to other firms. If that is all you change, you have changed the landlord, not the house. You still need somewhere that is yours.

Directory listing vs a website you own

	Directory listing	Your own website
What you get	A profile on their platform	Pages you keep
Who sees the quote request	Often you and other trades	You
If you stop paying	The listing comes down	You still have the files
Reviews	Sit on their site	You add genuine ones, word for word
Towns you cover	Their categories	Your own pages, in your words

You can use both. Many firms do, at least for a while. The mistake is treating the directory as the whole plan.

What to do this week

None of this needs a marketing course. Do it on your phone between jobs.

1. Sort your Google Business Profile

This is the free profile that shows on Google Maps. Sign in with the Google account that should own the listing. Use your real trading name, a phone you answer, and only the towns you actually cover. One main category that matches the work. Then add the extra services you offer: boiler repair, rewires, loft conversions, whatever you really do.

Set hours. If you do out-of-hours call-outs, say so. If you do not, do not pretend.

Upload photos of real jobs, the van, and you on site. Skip stock pictures. Homeowners can tell. When you finish a job, post one photo and two lines from the van. Ten minutes, once or twice a week, is plenty.

If the profile is claimed by someone else, or the address is wrong, fix it before you spend another pound on ads or directories. This is the listing most people already use, and it costs nothing.

2. Ask for genuine reviews, nothing else

Text customers who were happy. Give them the Google link. Keep the message short so you actually send it. “If you were happy with the job, a Google review helps a lot” is enough.

Do not write reviews yourself. Do not invent them. Do not show only the glowing ones. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans fake and selectively shown reviews. Real words from real customers, or leave the space blank.

Ask while you are still on site, or the same day you get paid. Waiting a fortnight means it never happens.

3. Quote quickly

Speed beats a fancy brochure. A same-day “got it, I will price this tonight” keeps you in the running. Put your number at the top of every page on your site. Add a short form: name, phone, town, what they need. On Hi-Vis the emailed quote form needs Hi-Vis hosting; without hosting the site has call, WhatsApp and email buttons instead (https://hivissites.co.uk/faq).

If you are still on a directory, answer those leads the same day too. A slow reply is how you pay for a lead and then watch it go to someone else.

4. Photograph the next three jobs

Before and after. A boiler change, a consumer unit, a roof, a driveway, a room you have just painted. Phone photos are fine if they are sharp and honest. Daylight helps. Wipe the lens.

Note the town in the caption so the next person in that town can see you work there. “New bathroom, Stockport” does more work than “project 12”.

Get the customer’s nod before you post a photo of their house. Most people are fine if you ask.

5. Give each town its own page

If you cover more than one place, do not hide the names in a footer list. A page for each town, with the work you do there, is what a good trade site needs. Customers type the town. Your site should answer them in plain English.

You do not need a novel. What you do, where you do it, a photo, the phone number. Repeat for the next town.

What that website needs to have

Keep it short. A tradesperson’s site has to work on a phone, in a van, with wet thumbs.

• Your trade and area in the first screen
• A number that calls on tap
• The jobs you take, in the words you would use on the doorstep
• Photos of your own work
• Hours, and whether you do call-outs
• Registrations you actually hold. Gas Safe, NICEIC, TrustMark: only if they are yours
• A quote form that emails you, not a shared inbox. On Hi-Vis the emailed quote form needs Hi-Vis hosting; without hosting the site has call, WhatsApp and email buttons instead (https://hivissites.co.uk/faq)
• One page per town you cover

That is the Checkatrade alternative that does not disappear when a subscription ends.

Hi-Vis is for this job. It is not a directory. Vic, the site assistant, builds your homepage three ways from a few answers, free. You compare them, pick one if you like it, and pay once from £39. You can change anything yourself, host it with Hi-Vis, or download the files and put them anywhere. The walkthrough and what you see before you pay are explained at https://hivissites.co.uk/how-it-works.

Do not cancel in a mood

If the directory still sends work that covers the fee, keep it while you build the rest. For one month, jot down every enquiry: where it came from, whether you won it, what you paid. Then you have a number, not a feeling.

Leave in a huff and you can have a quiet month. Build the Google profile and the site first. Then decide.

What you should not skip is Google and a site of your own. That is how you stop being only a rented name in someone else’s list.

See the site before you spend

Hi-Vis does not share your quote requests with other trades. You own the words and photos you add. Nothing goes live until you check it.

See your homepage three ways, free. If it is not for you, walk away. It costs nothing.

Start the walkthrough at https://hivissites.co.uk/start