NZ Trades Website Benchmark 2026: What 150 Trade Websites Show

In October 2026 I tested the websites of 150 NZ trade businesses: 25 each in plumbing and gasfitting, electrical, building, roofing, painting and decorating, and landscaping. This is the short version. The full results, charts, method and the businesses doing it well are on the benchmark page.

What most of them got right

• 83% have a quote or contact form. On the homepage or the contact page.
• 63% show testimonials or reviews on the site.
• The basics are mostly there. 96% have HTTPS, 92% have a sitemap and 86% have a meta description.

Where most of them fall short

• Phone on a phone. Only 51% show a tap-to-call button on the first screen, even though 75% have one somewhere on the mobile homepage.
• Reply time. 6% say how fast they reply, and 5% offer online booking or a quote tool.
• Trust signals. 34% state a licence or registration (in the trades where one applies), 36% show a trade association and 9% mention insurance.
• Mobile speed. The median score is 57 out of 100, and 29% score under 50.
• Local SEO. Only 40% have local business markup.
• Reviews. The median is 36 Google reviews at 4.9 stars, and 47% have fewer than 30.

How it was done, and the limits

Each homepage was loaded once on a phone-sized screen, with one contact page, and speed was measured with Google PageSpeed Insights on mobile. Businesses were found through Google Maps searches and three public trade registers, so this is a benchmark of a stated sample, not a census. EightySix Digital sells web design, SEO and lead-capture help, and I also run the TopChoice directory. Both conflicts are disclosed on the benchmark page, along with the method, weights and limitations.

Check your own site

If you run a trade business, you can get a free private scorecard showing how your site compares and what to fix first, whether or not you were one of the 150 tested. Related: digital marketing for tradesmen and web design for tradesmen.