Show your pricing. Yes, even though your competitor will see it.

Almost every trades site we look at has the same blank spot: no prices. Ask the owner why, and you'll hear one of three answers.

1. "My competitors will see them."
2. "Every job is different. I can't put a number on it."
3. "I'd rather talk to them on the phone first."

Fair, all three. We've heard them a hundred times. Here is why we still recommend you put at least some pricing on your site.

Your competitors aren't your problem. Your invisible customers are.

A competitor who copies your price changes nothing. They were already charging similar money to similar people. What actually matters is the customer who closed your site because they couldn't tell if you were $200 or $2,000 in their ballpark. You will never know that customer existed. They didn't call. They didn't fill out a form. They just left.

A small price range, or even an hourly rate for service calls, lets that visitor make a decision in five seconds: in budget or not in budget. The ones in budget call. The ones out of budget don't waste your time getting a quote that was never going to work. Your phone rings less, but the calls are warmer. That is a trade most trades owners would take.

"Every job is different" is true. It's also not the point.

Of course every job is different. Of course drilling through drywall isn't the same as drilling through concrete. Nobody is asking you to put a binding quote on the internet. We're asking you to give the customer a place to start.

"Most service calls run $185 to $350, depending on the job."

That single sentence answers more visitor questions than three paragraphs of "we do quality work." It tells them you're a real business. It tells them you respect their time. And it does not lock you into a number.

Marcus Sheridan was right.

The clearest argument for this came from a fiberglass pool installer named Marcus Sheridan. In 2009, with the housing market collapsing, he wrote one of the first blog posts anyone in his industry had ever written titled, roughly, "How much does a fiberglass pool cost?" His competitors thought he was crazy. He thought his customers deserved an answer.

That one post saved his company. He turned it into a book called They Ask, You Answer. The entire premise is simple: if a customer is asking the question, your job is to answer it on your website. Including the money questions.

We didn't invent this idea. We're just nudging you toward the same one a pool guy figured out fifteen years ago.

How to actually put pricing on the site.

Here's the version we recommend to almost every trades business we work with.

• Show a price range, not a fixed number. "$185–$350 for most service calls." Nobody can use that against you and every honest customer can use it to decide.
• Explain the variables. "Drilling through drywall is a different job than drilling through a slab. The price reflects that." One sentence. Done.
• Use real before-and-after photos with the price next to them. Two or three pairs is enough. "Before / After / This job ran $4,200, all-in." Nothing builds trust like a real number tied to real work.
• Lead with the cheapest realistic entry point. "Service calls from $185." Not your most profitable package. The one that gets the phone ringing. Upsells happen on the phone.
• Name the things you don't do. "We don't take same-day commercial work." Saves everyone time, and customers respect the honesty.

What it sounds like in our voice.

We use the same approach on our own pricing page. We list exactly what each website build costs. We explain why our cheapest option isn't always the right one. We show the add-ons with prices. We tell people who shouldn't hire us that they probably shouldn't hire us.

Yes, our competitors can see all of it. That's fine. The customers we want to talk to can also see it. And the ones who aren't a fit don't waste a call. The trade is worth it.