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Why Directories Aren't Enough Anymore
Directories take a cut of every lead. A proper website gets you the same leads for free. Here's the math.
25 January 2026·GMTO Team
1 min read — 7 sections
Contents
business
Directories take a cut of every lead. A proper website gets you the same leads for free. Here's the math.
1 min read — 7 sections
Contents
Checkatrade. MyBuilder. Bark. Rated People. They all promise leads, and they all take a cut.
Every lead from a directory costs you money. £10-30 per lead adds up fast:
10 leads/month = £100-300/month
That's £1,200-3,600/year
And you're competing with 5 other trades for each job
A website that ranks organically gets you the same leads — without the directory tax. The leads come directly to you. No competition. Fixed monthly cost instead of pay-per-lead.
That's because most trade websites are built as brochures, not SEO machines. They have 3 pages, no schema, and zero local optimization.
A properly structured website can rank for:
"[Service] near me"
"[Service] in [area]"
"Emergency [service]"
One GMTO client (Birmingham Boiler Repairs) went from:
£400+/month on Checkatrade
To 2,775 Google clicks and 699 tracked leads in 6 months
Lead conversion rate: 8.96%
It takes 3-6 months to build organic rankings. Directories work immediately. The smart play? Use directories while your website builds momentum, then phase them out.
What's one job worth to you - a hundred quid? Two? If it brings you one extra job a month, it's paid for itself twice over. And you don't risk a penny finding out.
Let us build you a free preview — your actual site, for your trade, in your town. See it before you decide a thing.
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