Your website is live. Here is how to get the first 10 jobs.

A new trade website does not turn into a queue of calls because you pressed publish. The first ten jobs arrive because the right people find it at the moments they are already looking for reassurance: a referral checking you out, someone comparing two Google Maps listings, a past customer passing your number to a neighbour. The good news is that you do not need to wait six months for that to start.

In the first 90 days, a practical site can earn its keep from channels you already have while Google learns what it is about. The target is not vanity traffic. It is ten genuine conversations with people who need your service, in an area you can serve, and a simple way to see which actions brought them in. Here is the order I would use if the site went live this morning.

First, make the site ready for a real customer

Before sending anyone to a new trade website, check it on a phone as if you were a customer in a hurry: the service, area, proof and phone number should all be obvious in the first minute.

Most early traffic is precious. Do not waste it with a number in an image, a contact form that does not arrive or a homepage that does not say what you actually do. Ask one person who is not involved in the build to find your number and tell you what services they think you offer. Their hesitation is the work list.

Run the five-minute mobile check

Give customers one clear route

For an emergency plumber, the route is normally a call. For a kitchen fitter, it might be photos by WhatsApp followed by a visit. Do not make a customer choose between six vague buttons. State what happens after they contact you, then make that route easy.

Make Google Business Profile the first bridge to the site

A verified Google Business Profile is usually the quickest route from a local search to a new trade website, because it puts the site alongside the phone number, reviews, opening hours and directions customers use to decide who to call.

Many first enquiries will begin on Google Maps rather than a normal search result. Claim or verify the profile, use the exact trading name and phone number shown on the site, add the website link, select honest categories and upload recent work. Google’s own Business Profile guidance is the place to start if the listing is not verified.

Link to a useful page, not just the home page

If Google lets you add a link that points to a service page matching the category, use it. A customer looking for boiler repairs should land on the page that explains boiler repairs, shows the area and gives a call button. Relevance makes the next decision simpler.

Keep the facts aligned

The business name, address or service area, phone number and opening hours should agree across the profile, website and invoices. Do not invent a shop address to look bigger. Local trust is built from boring consistency.

Use existing customers and referrals before waiting to rank

The fastest first jobs from a new website often come from people who already know the business, because a good site turns a referral or a repeat customer into a confident call instead of making them hunt through an old Facebook post.

Send the link where it genuinely helps. Add it to the WhatsApp Business profile, quote template, invoice footer, van QR code and email signature. When a completed project is worth showing, send the specific page to the customer and ask whether they would be comfortable sharing it with someone who asks for a recommendation.

Share proof, not an announcement

“New website, please share” is easy to ignore. “Here are the before and after photos from the bathroom we finished in Hove, including the actual job brief” gives a customer something useful to pass on. One good project page can do more than five generic social posts.

Ask for honest reviews at the right moment

Ask just after you have solved the problem and the customer has seen the result. Give them a direct link, thank them either way and never script a five-star review. Google’s review policy expects genuine experience, and customers can smell manufactured praise from a mile away.

Build the first 90 days in three simple phases

The first 90 days should move from launch checks, to proof and local pages, to measuring which enquiries turn into jobs, because a new website needs both immediate distribution and time for search engines to understand it.

Days 1 to 14: connect every existing channel

Finish the mobile check, verify the Google Business Profile, update every link you control and collect two or three genuine reviews if you have not asked before. Put one real project on the site. Do not obsess over rankings yet. You are building the evidence a first visitor needs.

Days 15 to 45: add useful local proof

Publish clear service pages and, where it is real, sensible pages for the main areas you cover. Add new project photos, answer the questions customers actually ask on calls and follow up missed enquiries quickly. See how to rank a trade website locally for the practical details.

Days 46 to 90: measure and tighten

Check Search Console, but also count calls, form starts and WhatsApp messages. Ask “where did you find us?” when you speak to people. If one service page brings conversations, improve it. If people visit but never contact you, read why a trade website gets no calls and fix the leak.

Do not buy traffic before the page can convert it

Paid ads can help a new trade website win work quickly, but only after the landing page proves the service, area and next step clearly, otherwise every paid click simply pays to expose a conversion problem.

Google Ads is a tap, not a foundation. It can be useful in a quiet spell or for a specific high-margin service, but you should know the enquiry value and answer the phone. Google explains that search campaigns are generally charged per click, so the spend continues whether every visitor becomes a job or not (Google Ads Help).

Run a small, narrow test if you need speed

Choose one service, one tight area and one page designed for that service. Track the calls and messages. Do not send traffic to a generic homepage then call the result “Google Ads did not work”. The page and the follow-up are part of the campaign.

The long game still matters

Paid ads stop the moment the budget stops. Reviews, useful pages, referral proof and an accurate Google profile keep earning their place. The sensible blend is to use ads only as a measured top-up while the owned assets get stronger.

The goal is ten good jobs, not ten random leads

A new trade website is working when it helps the right local customer decide to contact you, so track qualified calls and booked work rather than celebrating visits that never turn into a conversation.

Ten rubbish leads are not a milestone. Ten conversations with people who have the right job, in the right area, at a time you can serve are. Keep a simple note of source, service, outcome and job value. Within a few months, you will know where to put more effort instead of guessing.

Keep the first ten as a feedback loop

Notice the questions people ask before booking. Those questions become better page headings, clearer photo captions and FAQs. Notice what made them call. That becomes the proof you put near the top of the page. A website improves fastest when it listens to real enquiries.

Build it, then keep it alive

If you want the work handled with you, I will build a free mockup first. Sitework plans start from £50/month, billed every four weeks, with zero setup fee and a three-month minimum. Hosting, SSL, security and unlimited small edits are included. You keep doing the jobs, and I keep the site useful enough to help win the next ones.

Give every early enquiry a quick, human response, even when the answer is that you are not the right fit. The call that becomes a polite referral today is often the customer who remembers your name when the right job comes up. A website gets you into the conversation. The way you handle that conversation is what turns the first ten into repeat work and recommendations.