When the site goes live, the obvious thing to do is share it on Facebook. Worth doing — but it's not where the real traffic comes from.
The biggest sources of visits to a new trade website, in order, are:
- Your van. Someone sees it parked on their street, gets curious, Googles you that evening.
- Word of mouth. A neighbour says “I had Hartley out — they were great.” Person Googles “Hartley plumbing” before they ring.
- Quotes and invoices. Customer's already paid you — but next time they need a tradesperson, they find the document, see the web address, and click.
- Google search. People searching “plumber Marlborough” — but this builds slowly over months.
Three of the four require your web address to actually be on something physical. So that's the job.
The van
If you've got space on the back doors, that's the best spot — the people behind you in traffic are the audience. If not, the side panel below the trade name.
Three rules:
- Same height as the phone number. People read them together.
- Lower case is easier to read on the move. hartleyplumbing.co.uk beats HARTLEYPLUMBING.CO.UK.
- Skip the www. Nobody types that anymore.
A signwriter will charge £40–£80 to add it to existing graphics. Worth doing the next time the van's in for anything.
Quotes
Wherever your phone number sits on the quote template, the web address sits next to it. Same font, same size.
Bonus move: at the bottom of every quote, one line — “Examples of recent work: [web address]”. Customers comparing two quotes will click the link on yours. Now they're on your site looking at your work while reading the other quote.
Invoices
Same as quotes, with one addition. At the very bottom, under the payment details:
Happy with the work? A quick Google review would mean a lot: [your review link]
The invoice is the moment they're feeling most positive about you — they've got the finished job and they're paying for it. A polite line on the invoice gets a steady drip of reviews without you having to remember to ask.
Business cards
If you still hand them out, the web address goes on the front, not the back. Address, phone, web — three lines, equally weighted. Nobody looks at the back of a business card.
What about QR codes?
A QR code can work on a van — someone stopped at lights can scan it in two seconds — but it doesn't replace the written address. Some people scan, most don't. Put both, not just one.
I'll generate a QR code for your site for free if you want one. Just ask.
Last updated: May 2026 · If anything in this guide is out of date or unclear, drop me an email — I'll fix it. nick@neobookworm.uk
Tell me what you’re using for quotes and invoices and I’ll suggest where to put the web address.