We sell websites to plumbers, so you'd expect us to say yes. The honest answer is: not every plumber does. Here's how to tell which side of the line you're on.
When you don't need one
You can skip the website, at least for now, if one of these is you:
- You're a sub for one or two builders and that's how you like it. Your customers are contractors who already have your cell number.
- You're booked solid on repeat work, you aren't hiring, and you don't plan to. If the phone rings more than you can answer and you're happy with the size of your business, a website solves a problem you don't have.
- You're winding down in the next couple of years and have nobody to hand the business to.
If none of those fit, keep reading.
"All my work comes from referrals"
This is the most common reason plumbers give for not having a site, and it's the best reason to get one.
Think about what happens after the referral. Your customer tells her neighbor, "Call Mike, he did our repipe." The neighbor doesn't call Mike. Not yet. First she searches "Mike's Plumbing" on her phone, because that's what everybody does before they let a stranger into the house.
What she finds decides whether you get the call:
- Nothing comes up. She wonders if she got the name right, or if you're still in business.
- An old Facebook page with a post from three years ago. Same doubts.
- A directory listing you never claimed, with the wrong phone number and a competitor's ad next to it.
- A simple, clean website with your name, your number, your license and a few reviews. She calls.
A website for a referral business isn't there to find strangers. It's there so the people who were already sent to you don't wander off.
"I've got a Google listing. Isn't that enough?"
A Google Business Profile is the first thing every plumber should set up. It's free, it's what puts you on the map when someone searches "plumber near me," and it's where your reviews live. If you only do one thing this month, do that.
But it works better with a website behind it. The profile has a "Website" button, and an empty one is a missed chance. Google also uses your site to understand what you do and where, so a page that says "water heater repair in Brandon, Riverview and Valrico" helps you show up for those searches. And the profile is Google's property, not yours. They change how it looks and what it shows whenever they like.
"What about Facebook, Angi or Thumbtack?"
Facebook is fine for staying in front of people who already know you. It's a poor front door. Lots of customers aren't logged in, the information they need is buried, and you don't control what shows up next to your name.
Lead services like Angi and Thumbtack can fill a slow week, and plenty of plumbers use them. Know what you're buying, though. You usually pay for each lead whether or not it turns into a job, and the same lead often goes to other plumbers too, so you're racing them to the phone. The day you stop paying, the leads stop. A website is the opposite: it costs about the same every month and it's yours.
These aren't either-or. A sensible setup is the Google profile, a website, and maybe a lead service for slow stretches. The website is the piece that makes the others work better, because every one of them ends with someone checking you out.
What a plumber's website needs
Less than you think. If a web company is pitching you twenty pages and a blog, keep your wallet in your pocket. Here's the list:
- Your phone number as a tap-to-call button at the top of every screen. Most plumbing searches happen on a phone, and a lot of them are urgent.
- Your services, by name. Drain cleaning, water heaters, repipes, leak detection, fixtures, sewer lines. People search for the job, not for "plumbing solutions."
- The towns you cover, by name. Same reason.
- Your license number and that you're insured. In Florida you're required to show the license number in your advertising anyway.
- A few real reviews and a few real photos. Your van, your crew, a clean water heater install. Stock photos of models in hard hats fool nobody.
- Whether you take emergency calls, said plainly, in the first line if you do.
That's a three-page site. You don't need more until you're big enough to have someone whose job is marketing.
What it should cost
There are three ways to get one:
- Build it yourself on something like Wix or Squarespace. Roughly $15 to $40 a month plus your evenings. Good option if you like that kind of thing. We wrote up an honest comparison with Wix if you're weighing it.
- Hire a freelancer or agency to build it once. Usually a few thousand dollars up front, then hosting and a bill every time you want something changed. Make sure the domain is registered in your name, not theirs.
- Pay monthly for a done-for-you site. That's what we do: websites for plumbers from $99 a month with no contract, hosting and business email included, and we make the updates when you text us.
Any of the three beats having nothing. Pick the one that matches how much of your own time you want to spend on it.
The short version
If you're a sub, fully booked with no plans to grow, or about to retire, skip it. Everyone else: your customers are looking you up before they call, whether you have a website or not. The only question is what they find.
If you want to see what yours could look like, the free preview takes about five minutes and you don't need a card.