Guide · Painters and decorators
A website for painters and decorators: from word of mouth to fully booked
Decorators are the trade most reliant on word of mouth, and the trade with the most obvious ceiling on it. A website turns a full diary from luck into something you control.
Most painters and decorators are busy. The problem is that the work arrives in lumps: a recommendation leads to a whole street, then the street is done and the diary has a hole in it. A website does not replace word of mouth. It fills the gaps, lets you choose the jobs you want, and makes sure that when a recommended customer looks you up, they find a professional business rather than nothing. This guide covers what a decorator's website needs, how to present finished rooms so they sell the next one, and how to be found in the towns you actually work in.
Why decorators rely on word of mouth, and where it stops
Decorating is visible. Neighbours see the van, see the finished hallway, and ask for your number. It is the best marketing there is, and it is also slow, local and unpredictable. It does not help when you want to move up from box rooms to whole-house jobs, when you want commercial work, or when you have moved area. And when a recommended customer types your name into Google and finds nothing, some of them quietly ring the decorator who does have a website. The site's first job is to catch those people.
What customers search for
- painter and decorator Solihull and decorators near me
- exterior painting Sutton Coldfield
- wallpaper hanging Shirley and wallpaper installer
- hall stairs and landing decorating cost
- kitchen cabinet spraying Birmingham
- commercial decorators Solihull
- painter and decorator Solihull reviews (they are checking you)
Each of these is a specific job in a specific place. A website with one "our services" page competes for none of them particularly well.
The pages a decorator website needs
Beyond the home and contact pages, give each type of work its own page with photos of that work on it. A general decorator might choose from:
- Interior painting and decorating
- Exterior painting: render, masonry, woodwork and doors
- Wallpapering and feature walls
- Hall, stairs and landing
- Kitchen cabinet spraying and resprays
- Woodwork: doors, skirting, staining and varnishing
- Plaster repairs and surface preparation
- Commercial, office and shop decorating
- Landlord and end-of-tenancy redecoration
- New build and snagging finishes
- Specialist finishes and murals
- Redecoration after water or fire damage
Each page should explain what is involved, how long a typical job takes, how you prepare and protect the home, the paint brands you use, and a guide to price. The hall, stairs and landing page deserves particular care: it is one of the most searched decorating jobs in the country and customers want to know about access, scaffolding and disruption.
Presenting finished rooms
- Daylight, curtains open, lights off unless the room needs them.
- Show the lines: a crisp ceiling line and a clean cut-in around a socket say "professional" better than any paragraph.
- Before-and-after pairs from the same spot, especially for exteriors and hallways.
- The set-up shot: dust sheets down, furniture covered, tape on. Customers worry about mess more than anything.
- Name the colours in captions. People search for them and it makes the photo useful.
- No stock photography. A decorator's website full of showroom images is an empty portfolio.
Service-area pages for decorators
"Painter and decorator Solihull" and "painter and decorator Sutton Coldfield" are different searches with different competitors. A page for each type of work in each area you cover, with photos from that area and genuinely local detail, gives you a page that can compete for each one. Twelve services across twenty areas is up to 240 pages. Our guide to getting found on Google locally explains how those pages work and how to keep them useful; the live demo website shows the structure in use.
Trust signals for decorators
- Schemes and memberships such as Dulux Select Decorators, the Painting and Decorating Association or TrustMark, only where you currently hold them.
- Insurance: public liability, and employers' liability if you have staff.
- Live Google reviews from your Google Business Profile, especially ones that mention tidiness, punctuality and finish.
- Guarantees on workmanship, stated clearly.
- How you work: written quotes, start and finish dates, how you protect the home, how you leave it at the end of each day.
- Company details: trading name, company number if applicable, base town, years trading, and a photo of you.
The tradesman website checklist covers everything else that belongs on each page.
What a decorator website costs
DIY for a small monthly fee and many evenings, a freelancer for a one-off fee commonly in the hundreds to low thousands, an agency for considerably more, or a subscription. Tradesmen's Websites is £59 a month with a £0 setup fee, no long-term contract, and hosting, SSL and a .co.uk domain included if you need one. The tradesman website cost guide compares the routes, including the costs that are not on the quote.
Frequently asked questions
Should I give prices per room on my website? +
Guide prices for a standard room, a hall, stairs and landing, or an exterior front help customers budget and reduce time-wasting enquiries. Say what is included (preparation, coats, materials) and what changes the price, and note that a proper quote needs a visit.
Is Instagram or Facebook enough for a decorator? +
They are good for posting finished rooms as you go, but they do not appear for "painter and decorator" plus your town on Google, you do not control them, and your best work sinks down the feed within weeks. Post there, and give the work a permanent home on a website you own.
Exterior work is seasonal. Does that change anything? +
Yes. Exterior searches start in spring, so the site should be live and indexed by late winter. Use the quieter months to push interior work, and the exterior page to explain the weather windows and why booking early matters.
Do I need a colour consultation page? +
Only if you offer it. If you do, it is a genuine differentiator and worth a page. If you do not, a short paragraph on the interior page about helping customers choose is enough.
Will it get me to the top of Google for "decorators near me"? +
No ethical provider can guarantee rankings. A site with a page for each type of work in each area gives you far more opportunities to appear in local search than a single-page portfolio, but results depend on competition, reviews and time.
Next step
See how the structure looks on the live demo website, then enter the work you do and the areas you cover, see a preview of your own website, and pay £59 for your first month only if you are happy to go ahead. £0 setup fee, no long-term contract.
Ready when you are
See a preview of your own website before you pay anything.
Tell us your trade, the services you offer and the areas you cover. We build a preview you can look at first, then you pay £59 for your first month only if you are happy to go ahead. £0 setup fee, no long-term contract and you can cancel at any time.