How to get more leads
How to get more leads for your business.
The honest answer: before you go buying more leads, keep the ones you already get. Most trades do not have a leads problem, they have a leak. People find them and do not call, because the profile is thin, the website is vague, or the phone rings out.
So the order matters. Fix the leak, squeeze the free channels you already own, then buy leads that come straight to you. Paying a directory to share leads around should be a stopgap, not the plan. Here is how to work through it.
Start here
You probably have a leak, not a shortage.
It is tempting to think more leads means more advertising. But there are only two reasons you are not getting enough work: people are not finding you, or they find you and do not get in touch. The second is far more common than trades expect. You can be getting plenty of interest and quietly losing most of it.
Pouring more traffic into a leaky bucket just wastes money faster. So the cheapest leads you will ever get are the ones you are already nearly getting, and plugging the leak comes before anything you pay for.
The free stuff first
Start with what you already own.
Four things cost nothing and, for most trades, are the biggest untapped source of work. Do these before you spend a penny on ads or directories.
- Your Google Business Profile. Free, and it puts you on the map for "near me" searches. Fill it in fully, add photos of real jobs, keep your hours right.
- Reviews. The single strongest thing a stranger checks before calling. Ask every happy customer, every time. A steady trickle beats a one-off flurry.
- Answering fast. The trade who replies first usually wins. Ring people back in minutes, not hours, and you will win work off rivals who let it ring out.
- Referrals. Ask. A quick "if you know anyone who needs the same doing, send them my way" turns one good job into the next one, for free.
The one most trades get wrong
Speed beats everything.
When someone needs a trade, they rarely wait. They message a few and go with whoever gets back to them first and sounds sound. You do not need to be the cheapest or the biggest, you need to be the first to pick up. It is the closest thing to free leads there is.
Plug the leak
Turn lookers into callers.
When someone lands on your website, they decide in seconds whether to call. Give them one obvious thing to do. A clear phone number they can tap, a few real photos, your reviews, and a short line on what you do and where. No maze, no waffle, no hunting for how to reach you. A website that converts turns the interest you are already getting into actual leads, which is why it does more for your phone than another advertising channel ever will.
When free is not enough
Buy leads you own, not leads you rent.
Once you have squeezed the free channels and plugged the leak, buying leads makes sense, if you buy the right kind. There are two ways to pay for work, and they are not the same.
Leads you own
Your own Google ads bring people straight to you. Nobody else is sold the same job, so you are not undercutting anyone, and you can turn it on and off as your diary fills.
Leads you rent
Directories sell the same lead to several trades at once. You pay whether you win it or not, and the customer never really becomes yours. Fine as a stopgap, not a foundation.
We dig into both in detail: whether Google Ads are worth it, and whether Checkatrade is worth it. The short version: own the lead where you can, rent it only while you build.
The order that works
The honest ladder.
- Plug the leak. Sort your website and answer fast, so you keep the interest you already get.
- Work the free channels. Google profile, reviews, referrals. The cheapest leads there are.
- Buy leads you own. Your own ads, for work that comes straight to you and nobody else.
- Rent only as a stopgap. A directory to tide you over while the above builds, never the whole plan.
Why us
Why take our word for it?
Because the first things on that ladder are free, and we told you to do them anyway. We build websites and run ads for trades, so we only come in at step one and three, and we would rather you fixed the free stuff first than paid us to paper over a leak. We only do well when your phone actually rings.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask.
- What is the fastest way to get more leads?
- Answer faster and convert what you already get. Most trades lose more work to slow replies and a weak website than to a shortage of interest. Ring people back within minutes, make sure your website has an obvious way to call you, and you will win more of the leads already coming your way before you spend a penny on new ones.
- Is it worth paying for leads?
- It depends how you pay. Paying for a lead that is yours alone, like a click from your own Google ad, can pay for itself many times over. Paying a directory for a lead that is also sold to three or four rivals means you compete on price for work you have already paid to chase. Buy leads you own, not leads you rent.
- How can I get more leads for free?
- The free channels are the ones you own: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady stream of genuine reviews, answering every call and message fast, and asking happy customers for referrals. None of it costs money, and for most trades it is the biggest untapped source of work.
- Why am I not getting enough leads?
- Usually it is one of two things: people are not finding you, or they find you and do not get in touch. The second is more common than trades think. If your Google profile is thin, your website is slow or vague, or calls go to voicemail, you can be getting plenty of interest and still lose it. Fix the leak before you try to pour more in.
- How do tradesmen get most of their work?
- Word of mouth and repeat customers are still the biggest source for most established trades, which is why reviews and referrals matter so much. When that is not enough, or you are newer, the fastest way to top it up is Google: a strong free profile, a website that converts, and ads for leads that come straight to you.
- Are lead-generation sites like Checkatrade a good way to get leads?
- They can get you work quickly when you are starting out, but the same lead is usually sold to several trades, so you are rarely the only one calling. Treat them as a stopgap while you build channels you own, not as your long-term plan. We go into the detail in our guide on whether Checkatrade is worth it.
Ready to keep every lead yours?
Tell us a bit about your business and we'll show you where your leak is and how to fix it. Got a question first? Just message us.