A sole trader website needs less than most people think. One clear page that explains what you do and how to book you, backed up by a few reviews, is enough to start, as long as it sits on a domain you own. Blogs, booking systems and extra pages can wait until the work asks for them.
Do sole traders really need a website?
There were 3.2 million sole proprietorships in the UK at the start of 2025, 57% of all private sector businesses, according to the Department for Business and Trade’s business population estimates. The same release found that 75% of them employ nobody but their owners. That’s a lot of one-person businesses chasing the same customers.
When someone’s choosing between two of them, the one with a clear website tends to look more established. It also works when you can’t. If you’re with a client when someone looks you up, the site still answers their questions and takes the enquiry.
What does a sole trader website need?
The list of must-haves is short. Get each one right before adding anything else.
- A headline that says what you do and where. “Bookkeeping for small businesses in Huntingdon” tells a visitor more in one line than “Welcome to my website” ever will.
- A bit about you, with a real photo. People hiring a one-person business are hiring you, so show your face.
- Proof. A handful of reviews, a few examples of your work and any qualifications that matter in your field.
- How your pricing works. A starting price, a package or an hourly rate. If you can’t publish a figure, explain what affects it.
- Contact options you’ll actually answer. Pick the one or two you check most, whether that’s a phone number, email, a booking link or a short form, and say how quickly you reply.
- A privacy notice if you collect enquiries. The ICO’s advice for sole traders is that you need to let people know what you’re doing with their data, and the easiest way is a privacy notice, which can sit on your website. The ICO also has a generator to help you write one.
What can a sole trader leave until later?
Plenty of features sound essential but can wait. Most of them take time or money to keep running, and a site full of half-used features looks worse than a simple one.
- A blog. Only worth starting if you’ll keep writing. A blog that stopped two years ago makes the whole site look abandoned.
- Online booking. Worth it if appointments are the business, such as personal training or dog grooming. Otherwise a contact form does the job.
- Live chat. When there’s only you, a chat box nobody answers makes you look absent.
- An online shop. Only if you sell products. Most service businesses don’t need a checkout.
- Video backgrounds and animation. They slow the site down and rarely win anyone over.
- A big site. More on that below.
Do you need one page or five?
A single well-built page can be enough to start. Five pages make sense once you have more than one thing to explain. Here’s how they compare.
| One page | Five pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | One main service, with most work coming from referrals or your local area | Several services, or different types of customer |
| What’s on it | What you do, about you, reviews and contact, all on one scroll | A home page, a page for each service, about and contact |
| Being found in search | Can rank for your main service and area | Each service gets its own chance to show up in search |
| Writing time | An afternoon | A few days, or pay someone to write it |
| Upkeep | Very little | A bit more, mostly keeping services and prices current |
| Time to move on | You find yourself explaining the same thing on every call | You add a new service or start working somewhere new |
Start with one page if you do one thing and most people arrive already knowing your name. Go for five if people search for different services, or you’ve got too much to fit on one. You’re not deciding forever. Our sole trader websites are built on WordPress, so you can add pages as the business grows without starting again.
Why should your website and email use your own domain?
Your domain is your address online, such as yourname.co.uk. Free builder addresses like yourname.wixsite.com look temporary, and you can’t take them with you if you move. A domain you own stays the same on your cards and invoices, whoever hosts the site.
Register it in your own name, on an account you control rather than your web designer’s. If they ever vanish, you don’t want your domain vanishing with them.
Email works the same way. A Gmail address is fine in your first week, but hello@yourname.co.uk looks like a business that plans to stick around. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both offer email on your own domain for a monthly fee.
Do sole traders need a Google Business Profile and reviews?
If you meet customers in person, yes. A Google Business Profile is free, and it’s what appears when someone searches your name or looks on Google Maps. Check you qualify first. Google’s rules say a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours, and online-only businesses aren’t eligible. A copywriter who never meets clients won’t qualify, whereas a mobile dog groomer who visits customers should.
Reviews matter just as much on your website as on Google. When there’s one of you, reviews are your reputation in writing. Ask every client once the work’s done, and pull a few recent ones onto your site where people decide whether to get in touch. Use the client’s first name and town if they’re happy for you to.
When isn’t a free page or social profile enough?
A social profile is worth having. Ofcom found that 89% of adult internet users use at least one social media platform. But you don’t own it. The platform decides who sees your posts, and it can close your account.
The same Ofcom research found that 54% of UK adults now use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini. Those tools can only draw on what they can read, and plenty of social content sits behind a login. A clear site on your own domain gives them, and Google, something solid to work from.
It’s time for a proper site in these cases.
- new clients keep asking questions a website would have answered
- you’re losing work to competitors whose websites look more professional
- you want work from people who don’t already follow you
- you’re putting your prices up and need to look the part
- your free site carries someone else’s adverts or branding
Not sure whether to buy a finished design or have one built? Our comparison of ready-made and custom websites sets out the trade-offs, and local SEO for small businesses covers getting found nearby.
Common questions about sole trader websites
How much does a sole trader website cost?
Our ready-made websites are £795 +VAT if your words are ready, or £995 +VAT with copywriting, SEO setup and five custom images. They launch on Foundation hosting at £89 a month +VAT. A bespoke Standard site with up to five pages is £1,495 +VAT, or three monthly payments of £498.33.
How long does it take to build?
We build sole trader websites within 14 working days. The clock only runs whilst the work is with us, not whilst we’re waiting on your content.
Can I build my own sole trader website?
Yes. Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com all let you do it yourself. The cost is your time, and getting the headline, reviews and contact details right matters more than the tool you use.
Is a one-page website bad for SEO?
Not if it’s focused. A single page can rank for your main service in your area. It just can’t target as many different searches as a site with a page for each service. If that’s what you need next, look at our websites for sole traders.
