For groundworks contractors
Groundworks websites that show the work before it disappears
Groundwork ends up under concrete, tarmac and houses, and the people who hire you are often developers and main contractors who never search Google for a subcontractor. The website still earns its place, as the proof behind a tender and as the way in for self-builders and small developers who do search.
Your best work is underground by the time anyone looks
A finished groundworks job looks like a flat slab or a new road. The quality is in the trench depths, the reinforcement, the falls on the drainage and the bedding round the pipes, and all of it is buried within days. If nobody photographs it, nobody but building control ever sees it.
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Make photographing each stage part of the job. The same pictures that prove quality on the website also protect you if a question comes up later. Organise them by stage and type of work, so a developer can see a drainage run before backfill as easily as the finished estate road.
Developers read the capability list
A developer or main contractor scanning your site wants a list they can hold against the job in front of them. Write it as one, and only include what you genuinely do.
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- Foundations: strip, trench fill and raft, plus ground beams and pile caps on piled sites
- Drainage: foul and surface water, SUDS, soakaways and attenuation tanks
- Adoptable work: Section 104 sewers and Section 38 or 278 highway works, if you do them
- Kerbing, sub-bases, service ducts and reduced level digs
- Plant owned and operated, and typical gang size
- CSCS, CPCS or NPORS cards, NRSWA street works qualifications, and SSIP accreditation such as CHAS or SMAS
The self-builder is a buyer too, and a nervous one
Self-builders and small developers search online in a way large contractors do not, and they have the most to learn. Many do not know the order of work, when building control needs to see the excavations, or what is and is not included in a groundworks price.
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A page that walks through a typical self-build package, from setting out and excavation to foundations, drainage and the oversite slab, and explains what you need from them (drawings, a site investigation if there is one, the structural engineer's details), turns a nervous enquiry into a useful one. The form should let them upload drawings rather than describe them.
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Tender invitations, supply chain registers and where the website fits
Much commercial groundworks is won through relationships, invitations to tender and supply chain registers, so the website rarely wins the work on its own. The estimator who has your name will still look you up, and a thin or neglected site can quietly lose you a place on the list.
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Case studies do the heavy lifting. For each project give the client type, the scope, the main difficulty and how it was solved, with photos. If a client will not be named, describe the sector instead. Keep them coming: a project list that stops three years ago suggests the firm did too.
Searches a groundworker can realistically win
Broad terms like “groundworks” are crowded with directories and larger contractors. The searches you can win are specific: groundworks contractor with your county, drainage contractor, SUDS or soakaway installation, self-build foundations. A page for each, plus a Google Business Profile set up as a service-area business, is a sensible base.
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Google Ads rarely make sense for commercial groundworks, because that buyer does not search that way. For self-build and domestic foundations they can, with exclusions for groundworker jobs, courses and plant for sale. Either way, adding each finished project is the ongoing work that keeps the site credible, and it is the kind of update Growth Care exists for.
What the Growth Audit looks for on a contractor site
Our free Growth Audit reads a contractor site the way an estimator would. Is the capability list specific, or does it stop at “all aspects of groundworks”? Are the accreditations on show still current? Can someone send drawings without hunting for an email address? Does each project photo say what it shows?
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None of those are design questions, and all of them cost you with exactly the people who were already inclined to use you. The audit is written down and yours to keep, whether or not you go ahead with a rebuild.
What it costs
From £1,400, one-off.
That is the whole Growth Website™ rebuild for a groundwork business, up to 6 pages. It covers the audit, rewriting how you explain the work, design, build, the conversion and local search groundwork, tracking, speed and launch. It is about 14 working days from agreed direction to launch, and you own it outright.
Growth Care™ is optional: £149 a month. Cancel any time, with a month’s notice. Every price is fixed and published, so you know the cost before you speak to us.
In our clients’ words
What our clients say.
Questions
The ones that come up.
Does a groundworks company need a website if most work comes through tenders?
Yes, though its job is different. Estimators and developers who have your name will check you online before inviting you to price, so the site is part of your pre-qualification whether you like it or not. A current capability list, accreditations and recent case studies make that check easy, and the site also brings in self-builders and small developers who do search.
What accreditations should a groundworker's website show?
Whatever the buyer will ask about: CSCS cards for the team, CPCS or NPORS cards for plant operators, NRSWA street works qualifications if you work in the highway, and SSIP accreditation such as CHAS, SMAS or Constructionline. Add your insurance cover, and say if you carry out adoptable sewer or highway works, because developers shortlist for those specifically.
How can a groundworker show work that ends up buried?
Photograph each stage before it is covered: excavations, reinforcement, drainage runs before backfill, bedding and falls, the slab before it is poured. Organise the photos by project and stage on the website so a developer can judge the hidden work. The same images also give you a record of the job if a question comes up later.
Is it worth targeting self-builders online?
Often, because self-builders search online in a way large contractors do not, and they need a lot of guidance. A page that explains a typical self-build groundworks package, the order of work, building control inspections and what you need from them brings in better-prepared enquiries. Let them upload drawings and any site investigation report through the form.
Should a groundworks firm use Google Ads?
For commercial work, rarely, because developers and main contractors do not find subcontractors through ads. For self-build foundations and domestic drainage, a small, tightly targeted campaign can work. Exclude searches for groundworker jobs, training and plant for sale, send each ad to the matching page, and track calls and forms so you only keep paying for what brings in enquiries.
Where to next
Also for groundworks:
Related trades we build for:
Groundwork websites
Find out what your website is costing you.
A free Growth Audit™: a written, prioritised audit of your website, with the three fixes worth making first. It is yours to keep whatever you decide.
We take on a limited number of builds at once, so there is usually a short wait before a new one starts. Once yours starts, it is about 14 working days from agreed direction to launch.