Hiring a plumber web designer: what to ask before you pay
If you're searching for a web designer for your plumbing business, you're about to get quotes that range from £200 to £5,000 for what sounds like the same thing. This page is the checklist I'd give a mate: the questions that separate designers who'll grow your business from ones who'll grow their invoice.
I build plumber websites myself, so read this knowing where I stand - but every question below is worth asking whoever you hire, including me. You can see how I answer them and judge for yourself.
The questions that expose a weak designer
Ask these before any money changes hands. Good designers answer them instantly; weak ones get vague.
- Who owns the site when it's finished? If the answer involves 'our platform' or 'our licence', walk away
- What happens if I stop paying the monthly fee? You should keep the site, the domain and the content
- Have you built for plumbers or trades before? Ask to see a live example, not a mockup
- What exactly does the monthly fee cover? 'Maintenance' should mean named things: hosting, updates, edits, backups
- How fast will it load on a phone? If they can't answer in numbers, they haven't measured
The ownership trap
Here's the thing I think plumbers get burned by most, and almost nobody warns them: agencies that rent you your own website. The £30-a-month deal sounds cheap until you realise the site lives on their platform, the domain is registered to them, and leaving means starting from zero. That's not a service - it's a hostage situation with a nicer logo.
It's why my one-off option exists: £595 and you own everything - site, domain, hosting account, the lot. The managed option at £795 plus £49 a month is for plumbers who'd rather never think about any of it, but the ownership terms are the same: cancel any time and the site is yours.
What a fair process looks like
A designer worth hiring will scope your job in writing before taking a deposit: what pages, what features, what price, what timeline. With me that starts at the website enquiry form - you'll have a scope and fixed price within one working day, and nothing is billed until you've agreed it.
One more signal worth checking: does the designer bring anything beyond the site? I also run Planning Leads, a weekly email digest of approved planning applications in your area with letter templates included - so the same person building your site is also finding you the jobs.
Three ways to get your site built.
Fixed prices, agreed in writing before any work starts. No VAT added.
One-off build
We build it, you own it. No monthly fee, no strings. Hosting set up in your name.
Get a quote →Managed
We build it, host it, maintain it and make your edits. You never touch a dashboard.
Get a quote →Managed + triage
Everything in Managed, plus an after-hours triage system that sorts urgent enquiries from ones that can wait.
Get a quote →Full details, add-ons and what's included: the plumbing websites service
The only web designer who also finds you the jobs.
Your site is built by the same person who runs Planning Leads - a weekly email digest of approved planning applications in your area, filtered for plumbing work, with a ready-to-personalise letter template for every lead.
Questions plumbers ask us.
How much should a plumber pay a web designer?+
For a sole trader site done properly, roughly £500 to £1,200 as a one-off, or a build fee plus £40 to £60 a month if it's managed for you. Quotes far below that usually mean templates you don't own; quotes far above usually mean agency overheads you're funding.
Should I own my plumbing website?+
Yes, and it's the single most important contract term. Whoever builds it, confirm in writing that the domain is registered in your name and the site transfers to you if you stop paying. Our one-off build hands over full ownership at £595.
What's the difference between a freelancer and an agency for a plumber website?+
Usually price and distance from the person doing the work. Agencies add account managers and overheads; the build itself is one person on a laptop either way. What matters more than the label is trade experience and ownership terms.
How do I check a web designer is any good?+
Look at a live site they built, on your phone. Does it load fast, is the number tap-to-call, does it read like it understands the trade? Then ask their last client whether edits actually got made after launch - that's where cheap designers disappear.
Tell us about your business.
Your trade, your area, the jobs you want more of. You'll have a scope and a fixed price within one working day - no calls unless you want one, no obligation.