If you build websites for local trades, painters are a good client: they have real work to show and a clear goal, which is booked estimates. But they are easy to over-scope. Here is how I break down a painting contractor site so the budget goes where it earns leads.
What the site actually has to do
Four jobs, in this order:
- Show finished work (the gallery is the conversion driver)
- Prove the contractor is safe to let inside (license, insurance, warranty, reviews)
- Collect estimate requests
- Be findable for local searches
Painting is planned work, not an emergency call, so the estimate form matters more than a giant phone number.
Typical price ranges (US dollars, general market ranges)
| Route | Typical upfront cost |
|---|---|
| Builder, set up by the owner | $0 to $400 plus monthly plan |
| Freelancer on a template | $1,200 to $3,500 |
| Freelancer, custom design | $3,500 to $7,000 |
| Agency | $6,000 to $15,000 and up |
For most one to three crew companies, the template route is enough if the photos are good.
Where the hours go
- Gallery (before and after pairs, grouped by job type, short captions): the highest-value feature
- Service pages: one per job type, with prep process, paint systems, warranty and an estimate button
- Estimate form: name, contact method, interior or exterior, rough size, photo upload, timing, notes
- Speed work: image-heavy galleries need resizing, compression and decent hosting
- Local setup: business profile links and structured data
Skip: heavy animation, a daily blog, online color visualizers and dozens of near-identical town pages.
The form is where bugs cost money
Test the estimate form on a phone, confirm the notification email arrives, add spam protection that does not block real customers, and send an auto-reply. A form that quietly lands in spam is the most expensive bug on a contractor site.
FAQ
Is WordPress a good fit? Usually yes. Galleries, service pages and forms are all easy to do, and the client can move hosts or developers later.
Do they need professional photos? Not always. Clear, well-lit phone photos of real jobs work. Pay for a shoot if the client sells premium or commercial work.
What are the running costs? Hosting, domain renewal and maintenance, commonly a few hundred dollars a year if the owner handles updates, more with a monthly plan.
What should I ask the client to own? The domain and the hosting account, so switching later is not a fight.
I wrote the full breakdown, including three sample budgets and seven questions for comparing quotes, here: Painting Contractor Website Cost, Itemized
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