A website for a Lauder exterior cleaner, from form to live

Jamie Smith runs Target Exterior Cleaning from Lauder: driveways, patios, decking, roofs, gutters, fascias and soffits for homes across the Scottish Borders. He filled in my form on a Thursday morning. By Friday afternoon he had a website live on his own address. Here's what we built, why, and what a trades website in the Borders actually needs.

Where Jamie started

Jamie is good at what he does and he already had the hard part sorted: real customers, a Facebook page with his logo and photos, a five-star review, and a Google Business Profile he keeps up to date. What he didn't have was a website. That matters more than it used to, because when someone in Earlston or Galashiels types "gutter cleaning near me" into Google, or asks ChatGPT who cleans driveways near Lauder, a Facebook page alone often doesn't come up.

He also told me straight away that he isn't technical. That's normal, and it's exactly who I build for. My job is to do the techy bits so he can get on with the cleaning.

A concept the same morning

Instead of sending Jamie a list of questions, I built a first version of his site from what was already public: his logo, his before and after photos, and his customer's review from Facebook. He had a link to it the same morning he got in touch. He looked at it on his phone, said it looked good, and told me he'd send better photos once he'd finished a driveway he was re-gritting.

That's the point of showing a concept first. It's much easier to react to something real than to answer "what would you like on your website?".

What's on the site, and why

Every trades website I build has the same job: make it obvious what you do, where you do it, and how to get a price. For targetexteriorcleaning.co.uk that meant:

• The services, in plain words. Driveways, patios, decking, roofs, gutters, fascias and soffits, each with a short line saying what Jamie actually does.
• A before and after slider. Jamie photographs every job, so the site lets you drag across the same driveway, before and after. For a cleaning business, that's more convincing than any sentence I could write.
• Where he works. Lauder and up to about an hour around it, with the towns named: Earlston, Galashiels, Tweedbank, Melrose, Selkirk, Kelso, Stow and Peebles. That helps people see he covers them, and helps Google and ChatGPT understand his area.
• A free quote form and a call button. On a phone, his number sits at the bottom of the screen the whole time. Enquiries from the form go straight to his inbox.
• Answers to the questions people ask. Do you cover my area? How much is a driveway clean? Why clear gutters before winter? Short, honest answers, written so they can be picked up in search.

If you run a trade, I wrote more about this in what a trades website in the Borders needs.

Live on his own address the next day

Jamie said yes on a call the next day. I registered targetexteriorcleaning.co.uk, put the site live with the padlock (the security certificate), connected the enquiry form, and sent a test enquiry through to check it arrived. The whole thing, from his first form to a live website, took two days, and he didn't have to touch a single setting.

What happens next

A website isn't a one-off job. Over the coming months, Jamie's site gets:

• A new blog post every month, about his work and written for homeowners in his area. The first one, on getting driveways and patios ready for a Borders winter, is already up. Each post gives Google and ChatGPT another reason to send local people his way.
• His Google Business Profile linked to the site, so the two work together.
• A Google review kit, so happy customers can leave a review in a few seconds. If you want to know why that matters, read how to get your first 10 Google reviews.
• New photos swapped in whenever he has them, as part of his monthly changes.

Could your business be next?

If you're a tradesperson, a shop or a service business in the Borders and you're relying on Facebook and word of mouth, a simple, well-built website is one of the most useful things you can add. Have a look at Jamie's site on your phone, then ask me for a free concept of yours. You'll see it within 7 days, with no commitment.