Originally published August 2019 ยท Updated October 2026 · By SM Web Development
Building your own website is tempting, and it’s easier than it used to be. Wix, Squarespace and similar builders let you pick a template, drop in your logo and have pages online in a weekend.
They’re fine if you only need pages online and have time to run them. Plenty of businesses start that way. But if you want the site to bring in work, there are a few things worth weighing before you commit your evenings to it. Here are five.
1. Showing up on Google takes more than a template
Most builders give you the basics: a page title, a description, a sitemap. That’s a start. Showing up when someone in your area searches for what you do takes more.
For a local service business, that usually means:
- A page for each main service, written in the words customers actually search, like “furnace repair” or “basement renovation”
- Clear mention of the towns and neighbourhoods you serve
- A Google Business Profile that matches your website, with the same name, phone number and service area
- A steady trickle of fresh Google reviews
None of this is secret, and you can do it yourself. Our SEO basics post covers the starting points. It just takes time and a plan, and that’s the part a template doesn’t give you.
2. A website is never finished
The web keeps moving. Phones change, Google changes how it shows results, and the things customers expect from a website change too. A site that looked current five years ago can look tired today.
Builders handle the hosting and the software updates for you, which is a real plus. You’re still the one who has to keep the content current: new services, new photos, prices, holiday hours, the tradesperson who left. If nobody owns that job, the site slowly drifts out of date.
Whoever builds your site, plan for who will look after it once it’s live.
3. First impressions happen on a phone
Most people looking for a trade find you on their phone, often standing in a cold basement or looking at a leak. They decide in seconds whether to call you or go back to Google.
Before you build, think through what they need to see right away:
- Your phone number, as a button that starts a call when tapped
- What you do and where you work
- Proof you’re the real deal: reviews, your licence and WCB coverage, your warranty
- A quick way to ask for a quote, ideally with a spot to attach photos
Templates are built to look good on a desktop screen in a demo. Check yours on your own phone before you call it done. Our post on making sure your website looks great across devices covers what to look for.
4. Getting what’s in your head onto the page
You know your trade and your customers better than anyone. The hard part is getting that across to a stranger who has never heard of you.
That’s where a second opinion helps, even if you end up building the site yourself. Someone outside your business can ask the questions a customer would ask, spot what’s missing, and help you decide what goes first. Often the most useful advice is about what to leave out.
5. Your time has a price
This is the big one. A builder’s monthly fee is low, but the real cost is your hours. Learning the tool, writing every page, finding photos, fixing the layout on mobile, and then keeping it all current can easily take many evenings.
If those hours would otherwise go to quotes, jobs or family, it’s worth doing the maths. For a lot of owners, paying someone to build and look after the site costs less than the work they’d give up doing it themselves.
So when does DIY make sense?
Building it yourself can be the right call if:
- You’re just starting out and mostly need to look legitimate
- You enjoy this kind of work and have time for it
- Most of your work comes from referrals, and the site just needs to confirm you exist
It’s probably time for help if the site is meant to bring in new calls and quote requests, if it hasn’t been touched in a year, or if you’re spending more time on it than on the business. If you’re a trade in the Edmonton area, Trades Launch is our fixed-price option: we write and build the site, then look after it every month.
Get a second opinion first
Whether you build it yourself or hire someone, ask for a free website review of your current site. We’ll look at your site on a phone, the way your customers do, and tell you the three things we’d fix first. You can take that list and do the work yourself if you like.