For most Australian tradies, the best website platform is a DIY builder such as Squarespace or Wix if you want to be online this month for under $600 a year, or WordPress built by a developer if you plan to add services and suburbs over time. A fully custom build only makes sense for larger trade businesses with booking, quoting or job-management integrations. The platform matters less than what the site does: show your services, your suburbs, real photos, your licence and a big call button.
TL;DR:
- DIY builders are the cheapest and fastest. Squarespace's Australian plans start at A$17 a month billed annually, and Humming Web puts a DIY site at roughly $500 to $3,000 a year all-in.
- WordPress suits growth. More control over pages and search, but someone has to handle updates, security and speed.
- Custom builds start around $15,000 and are overkill for most sole traders and small crews.
- Phones decide. ACMA found 97% of Australian adults went online on a mobile phone in 2025, so the site has to work one-handed on a job site.
- Queensland trades must show their licence number in website and social media advertising, according to the QBCC.
What Does a Tradie Website Actually Need to Do?
A tradie website has one job: turn a stressed homeowner into a phone call. Before comparing platforms, it helps to be clear on what that homeowner wants to know in the first ten seconds, because any platform that makes these four answers easy is a good fit.
- Do you do the job I need? Clear service names, not clever slogans.
- Do you cover my suburb? A named list of the areas you actually service.
- Can I trust you? Your licence, insurance, reviews and photos of real work.
- How do I contact you right now? A tap-to-call button that stays visible on a phone.
Almost all of this happens on a phone. ACMA's 2026 research found 97% of Australian adults used a mobile phone to go online in 2025, up from 95% the year before, and 92% did so every day.1 Someone with water through the ceiling is not sitting at a desktop comparing plumbers. They are tapping the first result that looks legitimate, so any platform you choose has to load quickly and read cleanly on a small screen.
What Are the Main Website Platform Options for Tradies?
There are four realistic routes for an Australian trade business in 2026: a DIY website builder, WordPress, a fully custom build, or relying on directory profiles. Each has a different mix of cost, effort and control, and the right one depends on whether you want to manage the site yourself and how much you plan to grow it.
Squarespace, Wix and Other DIY Builders
DIY builders are drag-and-drop tools with ready-made templates. Hosting, security certificates and mobile layouts are included in a monthly or yearly fee, so there is very little to maintain.
Squarespace's official pricing for Australia, checked on 2 November 2026, is:2
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Annual total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | A$24 | A$17 | A$204 |
| Core | A$39 | A$28 | A$336 |
| Plus | A$69 | A$49 | A$588 |
| Advanced | A$149 | A$109 | A$1,308 |
For a tradie who only needs a brochure-style site with a contact form, the Basic or Core plan is usually enough. The higher plans add online selling features most trades never use. Wix works in a similar way; check its current Australian pricing before you commit, because builder prices change regularly.
Good for: sparkies, plumbers, painters, carpenters and cleaners who want something clean and simple that they can update from their phone.
Watch out for: you are limited to what the platform allows, and you pay for as long as the site exists. If you stop paying, the site goes offline. You also do not own the template, so moving to another platform later means rebuilding.
WordPress
WordPress is the most widely used website system in the world, and almost any web developer in Australia can work on it. The software itself is free; you pay for hosting, a domain name, a theme, and either your own time or a developer's time for setup and maintenance.
Humming Web, an Australian web agency, estimates hosting and domain costs at $50 to $600 a year, and a semi-custom build from a developer or small agency at $5,000 to $12,000 upfront, plus ongoing hosting and maintenance.3
Good for: trade businesses that want to grow into a larger site with a page for every service and suburb, or that want tight control over how pages are set up for Google.
Watch out for: WordPress needs looking after. Plugins and the core software need regular updates, and a site loaded with heavy plugins can end up slower than a simple builder site. Ask who will do the updates before you choose it.
Fully Custom Builds
A custom website is designed and coded specifically for your business, often with features such as online quoting, job booking, or integration with job-management software. Humming Web puts complex builds at $15,000 and above.3
Good for: larger trade businesses with several crews, a service area spanning multiple regions, or genuine integration needs.
Watch out for: paying for features you will never use. Most sole traders and small crews do not need a custom build to win local work.
Directory Profiles (hipages, Airtasker and Similar)
Lead directories are not websites, but many tradies rely on them. They can bring in work, but you usually pay per lead or per job, you compete on the same page as rival tradies, and you do not own the customer relationship. Treat them as an extra channel on top of your own site, not a replacement for it.
How Do the Options Compare Side by Side?
The quickest way to choose is to match the platform to how much time you have and how big you want the site to get. This comparison uses the cost ranges above; treat them as a guide rather than a quote.
| Platform type | Typical cost | Your effort | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder (Squarespace, Wix) | About $500 to $3,000 a year | Low | Getting online quickly with a simple site |
| WordPress, developer-built | $5,000 to $12,000 upfront, plus hosting and upkeep | Medium | Growing into many service and suburb pages |
| Fully custom | $15,000 and up | Handled by the developer | Larger businesses with integrations |
| Directory profile only | Pay per lead or job | Low | A top-up channel, not a standalone strategy |
What Features Does Every Tradie Website Need?
Whichever platform you pick, these six features separate a site that brings in calls from one that just exists. All four platform types can deliver them, so use this list to test any template or developer quote.
- A tap-to-call button that stays visible on mobile. The single most important element on a tradie site.
- A named service area. List the suburbs you really cover, in plain text, not just a map image.
- Photos of real jobs. Before and after shots of your own work beat stock photos every time.
- Your licence details. In Queensland, the QBCC says licensees must include their name and QBCC licence number in advertisements, and its definition of advertising includes websites and social media pages.4 Other states have their own rules, so check with your licensing body.
- Reviews. Link to or display your Google reviews so people can see what past customers said.
- A fast load time. Compress photos before you upload them, because a phone photo straight off the camera is often several megabytes.
Does Your Choice of Platform Affect Your Google Ranking?
Not directly. Google does not rank Squarespace sites above WordPress sites or the other way around. What Google looks at is the content and experience of the page, and every mainstream platform can produce a site Google is happy to rank.
Two things do matter. First, Google uses mobile-first indexing, which means it primarily uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking.5 If your mobile layout hides services or suburbs that appear on desktop, Google may not see them. Second, Google's Core Web Vitals set out what a good page experience looks like: the main content should load within 2.5 seconds and the page should respond to a tap within 200 milliseconds.6 A bloated WordPress theme can fail this as easily as a cluttered builder template, so the setup matters more than the brand name.
For most trades, the bigger ranking lever sits outside the website entirely: your Google Business Profile. We cover how to get that right in Google Business Profile Optimisation: What Actually Matters, and how trades can show up without paying for ads in How Local Trades People Can Rank on Google Without Paying for Ads.
How Do I Choose the Right Platform for My Trade Business?
Answer three honest questions and the choice usually makes itself. The right platform is the one you or your developer will actually keep up to date, not the one with the longest feature list.
- Will I update the site myself? If yes, a DIY builder is the easiest to live with.
- Do I want to add more services and suburbs over the next year or two? If yes, WordPress gives you more room to grow.
- Do I have the time to manage updates and security? If not, either choose a builder or pay someone to maintain a WordPress site for you.
Here is a hypothetical example. A sole-trader electrician on the North Shore who mainly gets work from word of mouth and Google Maps could be well served by a Squarespace Core site with five pages: home, services, areas, about and contact. A plumbing business with three vans covering several council areas, wanting a page for each service in each region, is a better fit for a developer-built WordPress site.
What Mistakes Do Tradies Make With Their Websites?
The most common mistakes are not about the platform at all. They are about what goes on the site and who controls it.
- Not owning the domain name. Make sure the domain is registered in your business name, not your web designer's.
- Paying for features you do not need. Online shops, member areas and animations add cost and slow the site down.
- Hiding the phone number. If it takes more than one tap to call you, people will call someone else.
- Using stock photos only. Customers can tell, and real job photos are one of the strongest trust signals you have.
- Building it and forgetting it. Old prices, old phone numbers and services you no longer offer cost you work.
If you are hiring someone to build the site, our list of questions to ask before hiring a web designer will help you compare quotes properly, and our Australian website cost guide explains what is fair to pay.
Pick a platform, build the five essential pages (home, services, areas, about and contact), and link your Google Business Profile to your site. You can always upgrade later. At OZ Media Digital, our web development service builds fast, simple websites for Australian trade businesses, set up so your phone number, services and suburbs are front and centre. Book a free session and we will tell you honestly which setup suits your trade, even if that is a DIY builder you run yourself.
FAQ
How much does a tradie website cost in Australia?
A DIY website on a builder such as Squarespace or Wix typically costs about $500 to $3,000 a year all-in, according to Humming Web, while a developer-built WordPress site usually runs $5,000 to $12,000 upfront plus hosting and maintenance. Squarespace's own Australian plans start at A$17 a month billed annually.
Is Squarespace or WordPress better for tradies?
Squarespace is better if you want a simple site you can update yourself with almost no maintenance. WordPress is better if you plan to grow into many service and suburb pages and are happy to pay someone to handle updates, security and speed.
Do tradies need a website if they are on hipages or Airtasker?
Yes. Directory profiles can bring leads, but you pay for them and compete side by side with rival tradies on the same page. Your own website and Google Business Profile are the channels you control and do not pay per lead for.
Do I have to show my licence number on my website?
In Queensland, yes. The QBCC says licensees must include their name and QBCC licence number in advertisements, and it treats websites and social media pages as advertising. Other states have their own rules, so check with your licensing body.
Does my website platform affect my Google ranking?
Not directly. Google does not favour one platform over another. What matters is that the mobile version of your site contains all your content, because Google uses mobile-first indexing, and that pages load and respond quickly.
How many pages does a tradie website need?
Five is enough to start: home, services, the areas you cover, about (with your licence and insurance) and contact. Add a page per main service and per key suburb once the basics are working.
