If you’re looking for more work for your trade business, one option worth looking at is an online trade directory.
But are these directories worthwhile? There are dozens (maybe hundreds) of online directories just in Australia, so listing on every one of them is not an option if you actually want to get some work done!
We originally put together a guide on trade directories back in 2010, and now it’s time to publish an updated and far more comprehensive guide that will hopefully save you some time and get you some more work.
Types of Directories
There are two main types of directories available to tradies.
The first type is your traditional directory which simply allows you to enter your business details, which people can then search for.
The second type really goes beyond being a directory, and allows members of the public to post details of the work they need done, which are then sent as leads to the tradies who are registered with the website.
Even these types of websites are split into a number of different categories, with some just sending you the lead for you to action on your own, and others requiring you to submit quotes for the work via the website.
They Come and Go…
As with all different types of websites, trade directories come and go.
In our original 2010 guide (which you can view here) we listed 18 different directories.
Only 13 of those directories are still online, and a number of them still have barely a handful a tradies listed.
The point here is that although there are plenty of trade directories online, many of them are really not worth bothering with. Hopefully this guide will help you to pick the good ones from the bad ones.
Our Directory of Directories
In no particular order, here is our directory of trade directories.
PS. You can click on the image to view each website.
| Website | Details | Listings* | Cost |
HomeImprovementPages.com.au |
Home Improvement Pages is one of the biggest tradie directories in Australia. It can be used as a standard directory as well as allowing visitors to post their job requirements. |
39,636 | $298 per year |
TradePlatform.com.au |
TradePlatform has an online tradesman directory as well as the ability for visitors to post jobs which are then sent to tradies via email. | Unknown | Currently free |
TradeConnect.com.au |
TradeConnect.com.au allows visitors to enter their job requirements, which are then sent to registered tradies via SMS. (This site appears to have been shut down) |
n/a |
$14.95 per month (currently being promoted as free) |
TradesLocator.com.au |
TradesLocator.com.au is a traditional directory site, however it does allow tradies to display a large amount of information about their business including photos. | 449 | $138 per year |
HiredHelp.com.au |
Hired Help is a directory website which lists a range of services included trades. Each listing contains contact details, a blurb about the business and in some cases photos. (This site appears to have been shut down) |
72 | $52 per year |
Tradies.net.au |
Tradies.net.au appears to have a decent number of listings, however there is no way that we can see for visitors to easily search for a tradie. (This site appears to have been shut down) |
Unknown | Unknown |
eTradesman.com.au |
This is a decent looking site, but we found the search function to be a little lacking, and some of the results not relevant. | Unknown |
$99 per year for a standard listing $149 per year for a premium listing |
TradesXpress.com.au |
TradesXpress.com.au offer a standard directory service as well as a jobs board. The search function is quite good and there are plenty of listings. | Unknown | $95 per year |
Trades Services |
This is a good looking site with decent search functionality, but not a huge number of listings for the searches we undertook. | Unknown |
Free basic listing Up to $550 for six months for the premium package |
TradesmanUploads.com.au |
TradesmanUploads.com.au has a slightly confusing name and limited search functionality, but to its defence it does state that it’s still under development. | 23 | $1 per listing |
Trades Check |
Trades Check appears to be a service to check a tradesperson’s licence, but it also contains a directory. Search functionality isn’t great, but there seems to be a decent number of listings. |
Unknown | Free |
TrustYourTradie.com |
This is a great looking site, but we did a few searches for common trades in the Brisbane area and could not get any results. | Unknown | Unknown |
Service.com.au |
Service.com.au has a good search function, thousands of listings and plenty of information. It also appears to be free to list on. | Thousands | Free |
TradeCritic.com.au |
This website is more about letting people review tradies (hence the name), but it also has a very handy directory with plenty of listings. | Hundreds | Free |
* The number of listings has been worked out to our best ability using the information available on each website.
There are many more tradesman directories out there, but we have limited our list to a dozen for now.
If you run a directory or know of one that you think should be listed here, please contact us and let us know.
Is it Worthwhile Listing?
If the directory is free and the sign-up process is relatively simple, then listing your business can’t hurt.
Personally I wouldn’t bother listing on a website if there weren’t many other listings, but you may feel differently if you have some downtime and want to get your name out there.
When it comes to the paid directories, I would definitely only go with the big established sites that look professional and have plenty of other listings.
A good way of judging the usefulness of a certain directory is to search on Google for terms like ‘find a tradesman’ and ‘tradesman directory’ etc.
If the directory is showing up high in the Google rankings then it’s worth listing on. If the site doesn’t rank, then no one is finding their way to the site and it’s probably not worth listing on.
From my personal experience and from talking to other tradies, you shouldn’t expect that listing on a few directories is going to result in a heap of extra work, but it doesn’t hurt to get your name out there in more places.
For more information on marketing your trade business please check out our other guides:
