Built by a working tradesman
Your reputation is better than your website.
I run a 65-year family plumbing shop. When an agency billed me $1,930 a month for a website that never rang the phone, I tore it up and rebuilt it myself. Now I build fast, honest sites for small shops whose reputation has outgrown their website — from one person who actually does the work.
No stock, no templates, no trackers — just one person who builds it and answers when it matters.
And the craft holds up
The story sells it. The page has to back it up.
The rebuild is the reason to trust me; this page is the proof I can actually build. Don't take my word for it — run it through Google's own Lighthouse. Then check the rest yourself: no third-party trackers, valid structured data, zero third-party fonts, and it loads in under a second. If a claim on this page isn't true, it doesn't belong here.
This very page, right now
Measured on mobile with Google Lighthouse
What's different
Most sites chase rankings. I build the ten seconds that decide the call.
It's not laziness — it's the wrong target. Most sites optimize for traffic with generic keyword copy and templated pages. I rebuild the moment that actually books the job: when someone taps you from the map and sizes you up before they dial.
Your real work, not stock
Every photo is your actual work — not a stranger's kitchen from a stock library sitting on top of your page. Real earns trust; stock quietly kills it.
Honest words, your voice
I pull the specifics out of your head and write them plainly. No "trusted industry-leading experts." Just what you do, why it's done right, and what it costs.
Fast, because ten seconds decide it
Lean code, no bloated builders, images sized right. The page loads before they lose patience — in the exact moment they're deciding whether you're worth the call.
How it works
Four steps. No mystery, no runaround.
I figure out your real engine
Where your best customers actually come from — and I build to convert that, instead of chasing vanity clicks.
I pull it out of you
A conversation and your real photos. The details only you know become the raw material for the whole site.
I write it straight
Honest copy in your voice, drafted for you to sharpen. Nothing goes live that you wouldn't say out loud.
I ship it fast
A quick, clean site that's cheap to run — plus a small plan that keeps it healthy and current.
Who it's for — and who it isn't
A good shop with a weak website.
A new site only produces a real win when the site is the actual bottleneck. So I'm straight about fit — for both our sakes. If your Google Business Profile is the problem, a beautiful site won't save you, and I'll tell you so.
This is for you if…
A real local name, and a website that isn't keeping up.
- ✓ You're a small trade or local shop — one truck, one chair, a practice of one
- ✓ You've already got real reviews and a live Google Business Profile
- ✓ Your website is the weak link — dated, slow, or says nothing true about you
- ✓ You'd rather point at your work than hide behind buzzwords
This isn't the fix if…
I'd rather lose the sale than take a job that can't win.
- × Your Google Business Profile is the real problem — unclaimed, no reviews, wrong info. Fix that first.
- × You want to rank #1 nationally for broad terms — that's not what a site does
- × You want templated pages and traffic numbers to point at in a report
- × You need it for free — honest work built by a person isn't
Project logs
Not a portfolio. A build log.
Two honest teardowns from the person who does the work — my own plumbing company, and this very site. No stock testimonials, no invented case studies. When I take on an outside client, they become the third.
The site that started Handbuilt.
A 65-year family shop was paying an agency $1,930 a month for a site that didn’t bring in work. I fired it and rebuilt around the lead engine that was already working.
Read the log →The site you’re standing on.
This very page, taken apart — every real build decision and why it’s there, from the hand mark to the 98 PageSpeed score to pricing in the open.
Read the log →Pricing
Real money, plainly stated.
Someone has to keep it online, patched, and watched. That's this.
- ✓ Hosting, SSL & uptime
- ✓ Security patches & backups
- ✓ I fix it if it breaks
- ✓ Kept fast & healthy
Changes to your words or photos are billed at $125/hr — or they're covered on the plan below.
The site's the closer — your Google profile and reviews are the engine. This keeps it running, and shows you it's working.
- ✓ Call tracking — see which calls your site brings in (your real number stays put on Google)
- ✓ Google Business Profile posts & upkeep
- ✓ Review requests that keep new ones coming — every customer, honestly
- ✓ An hour of site edits each month
- ✓ Hosting & upkeep, included
- ✓ Priority — one real person, fast
The build is yours the day it ships. Hosting is required while I host it — but you're never locked in: drop the care plan anytime, or take the whole site and go. Nothing held hostage.
Questions
The stuff people ask.
Who is Handbuilt for? +
Small trades and local shops already earning real reviews and calls, whose website is the weak link. If your Google Business Profile itself is the problem, a new site won't fix that, and I'll tell you so before you spend a dollar.
Who actually builds it? +
Me — one person. I run Tom Falk Plumbing & Heating, a 65-year family shop, so I've sat exactly where you are: paying an agency every month for a site that didn't ring the phone. I'm a tradesman who learned to build sites, not a marketer. When you email, you get me.
Why does it load so fast? +
I hand-build lean sites: no bloated page builders, no third-party font requests, images sized properly. Fast pages keep people from bouncing — which is exactly what matters in the ten seconds after someone taps you from Google and sizes you up.
What does it cost? +
A one-time build fee of $5,000 — by check or bank transfer, so you're not handing a card company a cut for nothing. Then $49/month to keep it live: hosted, patched, backed up, monitored, and me on call if it breaks (edits to your words or photos are billed separately, or covered on the plan below). The fuller $249/month plan keeps your whole lead engine running — call tracking so you can see which calls your site brings in, Google Business Profile posts, review requests, and an hour of edits a month. You own your site and can leave anytime — nothing held hostage. And to be plain: the monthly isn't a server I'm reselling. It keeps your site live and keeps me watching it. I don't hand you a login and walk off.
Do I have to write the content? +
No — I pull it out of you. A conversation, your real photos, and the specifics only you know become honest copy in your own voice. That first-hand material is exactly what makes the site work.
Will it actually rank? +
Here's the honest version: a website doesn't rank you in Google's local map results — your Google Business Profile and your reviews do. What a site does is convert the people that profile and your ads already send you, and hand Google clean, structured signals that back you up. I build every page fast, structured, and schema-correct to do exactly that. No tricks, no vanity blogs about nothing.
Tell me about your shop.
A few lines is plenty. I'll take a look at what you've got now and tell you straight whether I can help — and if I can't, I'll say so.