Do you need one?
Does a courier need a website?
A fair question. But the honest answer turns on both markets: urgent customers search and book fast, and businesses vet your reliability online before making you their regular courier.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Does a courier need a website?
The honest answer
Does a courier need a website? If you have all the work you want from another source, and no wish to grow, then perhaps not. But the honest answer turns on the two markets a courier grows on, and how each finds you. One is the urgent one-off: a person or business needing something delivered now, who searches and books whoever they can reach fast. The other is the business account: a company that sends regularly and, before it makes you its regular courier, vets whether it can rely on you. Both run through being found and being credible, the urgent job because the customer searches and books the first reachable courier, the account because the business judges your reliability online before committing. So without a website you are hard to reach for the urgent job and unconvincing for the account, and both go to a findable, reliable-looking rival. The real question, then, is whether you want either market, because a courier without a site catches neither well.
Urgent customers book whoever is found fast
When someone needs a courier now, they are not shopping around, they want it collected and delivered, so they search and book whoever they can reach fastest. That makes being found the whole of being in contention for the urgent work: a courier who appears when they search and is quick to contact is a candidate, and one who does not is invisible, because the customer will not hunt for a name they cannot find when a reachable courier is right there. Speed of contact matters throughout, from being findable to being easy to book, because the customer wants the delivery sorted with minimal fuss. A courier with no fast, findable presence is absent at the moment the urgent customer appears, so however good the service, the one-off work flows to whoever the search turned up. Being findable and quick to reach is the price of catching the urgent jobs.
Business accounts are won on vetted reliability
The account market behaves in the opposite way, and a website matters just as much. A business making you its regular courier is trusting you with ongoing deliveries that its own operations depend on, so it does not commit lightly, it vets your reliability first, and it judges that from your presence. A courier that looks professional and dependable online, with reviews and evidence that other businesses rely on it, wins the account, while one with no credible presence gives the business nothing to trust and is passed over. And even accounts that come through contacts run through this, because a business still checks you look reliable before handing you regular work, so a contact that leads to a weak or absent presence loses ground to a courier who looks the part. So the site does double duty: it catches the urgent job by being findable, and it wins the recurring account by being credible, which are the two ways a courier grows. Being trusted with regular work means looking reliable where the business is vetting, which is online.
So the real answer to does a courier need a website is: yes, if you want both urgent jobs and regular accounts, because urgent customers book whoever is found fast and businesses vet reliability online before opening an account, so being absent means missing each. And finding out costs just £99 up front: I build the site on spec, from £297, and you see it finished before you pay the rest, so you can look at your actual site, ready to catch the urgent job and win the account, and decide from there, knowing the recurring value of a single account covers the cost many times over.
How it works
From message to live in four steps.
- 01
Message me
Tell me your trade and your town on WhatsApp. No forms to wade through, no call to book.
- 02
£99 to start
A £99 deposit gets your build going and comes off your quote. It covers some of the build time.
- 03
I build it, you see it
I build the whole site, framed around your work, and send it to you finished to look at.
- 04
Pay the rest, go live
Happy with it? You pay the balance, it goes live on your own domain, and it is yours to keep.
What you get
What a courier site from me includes.
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Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
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Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
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On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
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Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
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Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
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Looked after
Someone looks after it and changes it when you need. Two small edits a month, your listing kept current.
What it costs
A straight price.
From £297 to build it, first three months of Care included, then £49 a month.
You own the site outright and can stop the monthly plan whenever you like. Hosting is part of Care and Grow, so one of those keeps it online after the first three months, or you host it yourself. See the full pricing.
Common questions
Questions I get asked.
Does a courier really need a website?
If you want both urgent jobs and regular accounts, yes. Urgent customers search and book whoever they find fast, and businesses vet a courier's reliability online before opening a regular account, so both run through being found and credible. Without a site you are hard to reach for the urgent job and unconvincing for the account, so both go to a findable, reliable-looking rival.
Isn't courier work won through business contacts, not websites?
Some accounts come through contacts, but a business still checks you look reliable before trusting you with regular deliveries, and urgent customers search cold. So a contact that leads to a weak or absent presence loses ground, and the urgent market is missed entirely. A site backs your contacts with credibility and catches the searchers they never reach.
Why do urgent customers need me to have a website?
Because when someone needs a courier now, they search and book whoever they can reach fast, so a courier who is not findable and quick to contact is not in the running. The urgent customer will not hunt for a name they cannot find, they will book the first reachable, credible courier. A fast, findable site is how you catch that urgent work.
Why do business accounts need me to have a website?
Because a business making you its regular courier is trusting you with ongoing deliveries, so it vets your reliability before committing, and it judges that from your presence. A courier that looks professional and dependable online wins the account, while one with no credible presence gives the business nothing to trust. A site is where that reliability is shown.
When could a courier skip a website?
Realistically, only if you have all the work you want from another source and no wish to grow. Because urgent customers search and businesses vet reliability online, a courier without a site misses both. In a trade that grows on urgent jobs and recurring accounts, that is a lot to give up.
Is a website worth it for a one-van courier?
Often especially so, because being found fast and looking reliable, not being a big firm, wins both urgent jobs and accounts, and a good site gives a one-van courier both. A fast, credible presence can win a solo courier urgent work and a regular account a business would otherwise give elsewhere. A single account covers the cost many times over.
How much does it cost to find out if a website is worth it?
Just £99 to start with me, and it comes off your quote. I build the whole site first and you see the finished thing before you pay the rest, from £297. So you are not gambling on a maybe, you are looking at the actual site for your courier business and deciding then. Given the recurring value of a single account, the risk of finding out is very low.
Tell me your town and I'll build you a courier site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. Or read A Checkatrade alternative, see the full pricing, or get in touch.