Marketing agencies for sole-trader tradesmen: six that fit one van

The sole-trader test we put every agency through

A sole trader has three problems an agency rarely understands. You can't spend £800 a month on management fees before ad spend. You can't sit on weekly calls. And you can't chase leads at 2pm because you're plastering a ceiling.

So we scored on four things: can you afford it on one van's turnover, is there a contract that traps you, does the agency handle the follow-up for you, and will a real person answer when something breaks? A few well-known names failed on the first point alone.

If you haven't yet decided whether to hire anyone at all, read what to sort out before you pay an agency a penny first. Half of it you can do yourself in a weekend.

1. Riley Marketing

Best for: Sole traders who want the whole lot, website to follow-up, for one fixed fee

Riley Marketing sells one thing to trades: a foundational growth system for a fixed £149 a month at the time of writing. That covers an SEO-focused website with service and location pages, Google Business Profile optimisation, Google review automation, missed call text back, and a CRM that tracks lead status and sends branded quote pages on your own domain.

The bit that matters for a sole trader is the order of events. The site gets built before you pay anything, there's no setup fee, revisions are unlimited and you can cancel any time. If you don't like what turns up, you walk away having spent nothing.

The missed call text back and review automation are the two features a one-man firm feels most. Miss a call on the tools and the customer gets a text straight away rather than ringing the next number on Google. Finish a job and the review request goes out without you remembering to send it. There's a longer look at the first problem in why missed calls quietly cost sole traders jobs.

It's founder-led, so you deal with Tom Riley, who has ten years in search and lead generation and previously led organic growth at an insurtech. He has built sites for an industrial painting contractor and an Essex building firm among others. Google Ads and Meta ads are available as add-ons if you later want them.

2. Websites 4 Trades

Best for: The cheapest credible pay-monthly website if you only need a site

Websites 4 Trades, founded in 2021 by Carl Hancock, builds websites for trades only and charges £30 a month flat with nothing upfront. You buy your own domain. The standard package includes build, hosting, maintenance and unlimited changes, with an SEO service and logo design available as extras.

Hancock's background is plastering and labouring, then marketing, then growing and selling a large carpet cleaning business, which is a more relatable CV than most agency founders have.

There are no written case studies, just a logo wall linking to live client sites across roofing, plumbing and cleaning. Have a click through a few before you commit. What you won't get is review automation, call handling or a CRM, so this is a website rather than a system.

3. The Build Agency (Orbit Lead Generation)

Best for: Sole traders ready to chase commercial work rather than domestic jobs

Based in Maidstone, The Build Agency does something different: cold email outreach to contracts and procurement managers, backed by social media, SEO, web design and its own CRM. The pitch is winning tenders, and it offers a 30-day guarantee to keep working free until a genuine tender opportunity arrives.

Its one published case study is a plumbing contractor, covering sales, tender pipeline and PQQs. Pricing isn't published.

For a sole trader this is a specific choice. If you want to step up to subcontract and commercial work, it's one of the few agencies on this list geared for it. If you want more kitchens and bathrooms locally, look elsewhere.

4. LeadFly

Best for: Answering the phone and chasing quotes when you physically can't

LeadFly in Watford works only with UK trade businesses and sells AI reception and follow-up rather than ads: AI voice agents for 24-7 answering, website chatbots, and workflow automation for quote chasing, reminders and review requests.

Prices are published per product, for example chatbots at £99 a month and an AI receptionist at £299 a month plus setup. There are no published case studies, just one unattributed savings claim, so treat the sales copy with some caution.

Where it earns a place is the specific sole-trader pain of answering the phone while you're on the tools. If that's your biggest leak, this plugs it, though you'd still need a website and reviews from somewhere else.

5. Digital 4 Trades

Best for: North West sole traders who want a small team and to own the site outright

Digital 4 Trades is a small in-house team working from Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool. Its line is 'you stay on the tools, we do the marketing' and it covers website design, logo and brand design, SEO, social media and Google Ads.

You buy the website outright or pay it off over about a year, with content management from a couple of hundred pounds a month. It makes a point of no lock-in rental contracts and not holding a website hostage, which is a real risk with some mates who do websites on the side.

Case studies cover a roofing firm and a taxi firm, with a portfolio across joinery, locksmiths, groundworks and heating.

6. FJ Digital

Best for: Sole traders who want their Instagram and Facebook looked after

FJ Digital, founded in 2022 and based in St Albans, is a social media specialist for construction and trades. Services are social media management and content creation, profile refreshes and hourly consulting. It's an FMB Associate Member and a local award winner.

No prices are published and there are no formal case studies, just client Instagram examples and a results page. This is organic social, not lead generation, so expect a better-looking profile rather than a fuller diary on its own.

For a sole trader whose work photographs well, a tidy Instagram does help conversion once someone has found you. Pair it with photos that actually sell your work and it earns its keep.

What you pay and what you get

Picking one when it's just you

If you want one supplier and one bill, Riley Marketing is the obvious first call because it covers the site, the reviews, the missed calls and the quotes in a single fee, and you see the site before paying.

If money is genuinely tight and you just need to look legitimate online, Websites 4 Trades at £30 a month does that. Add LeadFly later if missed calls are killing you.

If you're bored of domestic work and want to tender, The Build Agency is the specialist. Digital 4 Trades suits anyone in the North West who wants to own their site. FJ Digital is for when the phone already rings and you want the socials to match.

Whatever you do, work out how much a sole trader should actually spend on marketing before you sign anything.

Frequently asked questions