Blog>Trade>You spoke, we listened: we're making improvements
Last updated: 8 March 2024
You spoke, we listened: we're making improvements
For 25 years, we've been helping tradespeople to manage their reputation and win more work. We're as committed as ever to making the service we offer even better, so we'll be updating you each month with what we're specifically doing to respond to your ongoing feedback.
December 2023 update
Manage your jobs on the Trade App
Following feedback from members, we're rolling out some changes to the jobs area of the Trade App. It will now be easier for you to organise your jobs and keep track of which stage you're at for each lead.
Once you register interest in a job, you will be able to view the job under the ‘interested’ tab.
After you've contacted the homeowner you can then move the job accordingly to ‘quoted’, ‘booked’, ‘completed’ or ‘lost’ depending on the outcome.
If you're not interested in a job you will still need to decline it and it will then be moved to the ‘archive’.
This improvement is being rolled out gradually whilst we continue to test and make sure it's working perfectly, so if you haven't already got access to it, you will very soon.
Create your Quotes and Invoices for free
To save you time on admin, we’ve developed a new Quoting and Invoicing feature which is completely free for you to use. We’ve been working on improvements over the last few months to make sure it’s faster than ever for you to generate your quotes and invoices. We’ve also given a revamp to the documents you can create to make sure they look as professional as possible for your customers.
Find out more here or watch our video guide below.
Become part of our member research panel
We're offering you the exclusive opportunity to apply to take part in feedback sessions which you can join remotely from your mobile, tablet or desktop. As a thank you for your time, you could be sent £10 for a 15 minute study, and more for a longer session.
Before taking part, please read the UserTesting Terms of Service here and Privacy Policy here.
Once you sign up, you'll receive instructions on how to provide feedback remotely.
You can log in to your account to see which tests are available. Check in once a week to see the latest available tests.
You’ll be asked a couple of questions to check that you’re suitable for the test.
If selected, you will be rewarded for each session you complete via Paypal. You can take part in more than 1 study.
Feel free to contact research@checkatrade.com with any questions.
November 2023 update
Revamped profile pages
Making your profile pages look appealing and easy-to-digest is essential for encouraging more homeowner leads for our members. The improvements we’ve made have seen an increase of over 4% more leads coming directly from profile page views. The improved look and feel includes:
Your skills and services are now ordered in a way which is personalised to what each homeowner is looking for, making it easier for them to see if you're the right member for the job
Your reviews and company information sections are now clearer, making sure that all-important information is as visible as possible
Keeping track of your membership performance
We recently launched the Insights Area, which gives you access to all the stats you need to track your membership performance, including details on how your leads are coming to you. That means you can monitor the calls, and messages you're getting. Click here to login and check your stats now. We’ve also included a handy video below to talk you through exactly what you’ve now got access to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqh9GhNg1zU
August 2023 update
This months' launch brings the Insights Dashboard, your new app experience to help you keep track of your membership performance.
What are the benefits of the Insights Dashboard?
We're giving you access to all of the stats you need to track your membership performance; including detail on how your leads are coming to you. That means you can monitor the calls, and messages you're getting.
We believe giving you access to this valuable information, alongside prompts on how to improve your profile, will help us to support you in getting the best value from your membership.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqh9GhNg1zU
How can I help my membership perform better?
Building a complete profile, including photos and a compelling search description, is essential for making sure your company appeals to homeowners. Whenever we see that things could be done to improve your profile and presence on Checkatrade.com, we'll tell you. You'll find helpful nudges on the Insights Dashboard page guiding you to which tasks you need to complete.
When will it launch?
It's available now! You can access the Insights Dashboard when you login to the Trade App. Why not click below now to check out your stats?
July 2023 update
It's now easier to manage your job categories
Being specific about which jobs you do is essential for making sure you get relevant leads – so we’ve made it simple for you to control which search categories your business appears in.
Instead of needing to call us, you can now use the Trade App or Member Area to view and amend the list of jobs categories available for you to advertise within your trade categories. You can tick or untick them to suit your business needs as often as you like.
Find out more by watching our how-to video here.
Why not head over to the Trade App to review your job categories now? It may be time to give them a refresh.
We're working hard to encourage homeowners to leave you reviews
Collecting regular and recent reviews is an essential part of membership – they build your reputation and encourage potential customers to contact you. We want to make it as easy and appealing as possible for homeowners to leave you reviews -
We've simplified the pages where homeowners submit reviews, meaning it's far more likely for homeowners to complete them. By narrowing down the process to single page we’ve seen a 9% increase in the number of homeowners successfully submitting their review. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be testing even more new features and design improvements, continuing to make it as easy as possible for homeowners to leave you reviews
We’re launching a new incentive to encourage homeowners to leave reviews of your work. From now until 31st July, when homeowners leave a verified review that can be published, they'll automatically be entered into a monthly prize draw to win 1 of 4 £200 Amazon.co.uk Gift Cards.* When you’re asking your customers to leave you a review, make sure you let them know about the monthly Prize Draw – it’s a win-win for both of you
* Restrictions apply, see www.amazon.co.uk/gc-legal. For competition terms click here.
May 2023 update
We've made it easier for you to request reviews
It’s now as simple as two clicks to prompt your customers to leave you reviews. You'll find it right next to the Job Details on the Trade App or Member Area. Homeowners use reviews to help pick the right tradesperson for their job, and the more recent your reviews, the higher you will appear in search results. So, what are you waiting for? Request reviews from your customers here.
Choose how you want to receive job requests
We’ve updated the Jobs section to give you more control over how you receive jobs, including being able to toggle SMS on and off.
To be alerted to new job requests instantly, download the app and enable push notifications. Then manage how you receive new job notifications in the ‘More’ menu in ‘Notification preferences' by clicking here.
Improved profile pages
We've been enhancing members' profile pages to highlight the key information homeowners need when choosing a trade. We’ve been testing what makes a difference to customer behaviours and then made significant improvements to design and useability across reviews, photos (including adding album titles), and showing relevant services and skills more clearly. These have all seen a positive impact, improving homeowner engagement, and meaning there’s a greater likelihood of a profile page view ending in customers contacting Checkatrade members. The newly improved profile pages will be fully rolled out later this month.
January 2023 update
1. Improving the leads your membership brings
We’ve redesigned the page where homeowners search for Checkatrade members on their mobile. This is designed to encourage homeowners to look through the search listings, select the member that they really want to work with and call or message them directly. This should help you win more leads from homeowners who specifically need and want your expertise.
We’re working hard to get you more detailed information when homeowners submit job requests. We’re rolling this out gradually, starting with trade categories where we’ve had feedback that job requests aren’t clear enough.
Previously, homeowners could search for a trade by town rather than postcode – which sometimes meant they weren’t finding the most local trades. Now, homeowners have to specify postcodes when looking for trades, which should bring you more relevant leads.
We’ve reintroduced the Whatsapp and SMS feature to make it easier for you to contact potential customers and you can now view the location of a job on a map – just click on the postcode. And it’s now clearer to see how many unread job leads you have, as they’re marked with a red dot.
2. Improved photos feature
One of our most requested improvements: We’ve made it easier for you to manage your photos and galleries. Multiple image upload is now simpler in our app and on the Member Area and it’s also easier to rotate them. You can manage the order of your albums and individual images by drag-and-drop as well as delete multiple images or albums at a time.
November 2022 update
When a homeowner starts a search for an approved and guaranteed Checkatrade member, our search algorithm kicks in to help them find the best tradesperson for the job. But with 47,000 members to choose from – how do we make sure homeowners only see the right trades for the job?
You told us you’d like to know more about our search algorithm, and we’ve listened. Read on to find out more.
How does search work?
Just like Google, our algorithm uses a lot of different factors to determine search position. But unlike Google, you can’t pay to appear in position number one all the time.
So, what things can influence your search position?
Your membership type: Depending on your business size and lead needs, you’ll either be on our Lite, Standard or Pro membership level. If you’re a Standard or Pro member, you’ll appear higher in search results for longer than members on Lite, to make sure you get the leads you need and are paying for. If you’ve been a member for a while, then you might not be on our Lite, Standard or Pro membership quite yet.
Search rotation: It wouldn’t be fair for us to keep the same trades at the top of the search all the time – so our search rotates every few hours to ensure more members appear in the top search positions.
How can I improve my search performance?
Search position only counts for so much – it increases the chances of a homeowner seeing your business, but your reviews, search description and profile page content are the things that persuade them to call you. And make sure to keep your PLI insurance updated too, as we also display the status of this on your search page too. Not sure your profile is measuring up? Check out our handy online guide for our top tips.
What about Request a Quote?
Homeowners like to use ‘Request a Quote’ – in fact, it’s the preferred choice for one in three of them. This is because it’s quick and convenient, as they trust Checkatrade to send up to three messages to suitably skilled members that we’ve selected for them.
Want more success with Request a Quote? Make sure you respond quickly to every message with ‘I’m interested’ or ‘this job is not for me’. We’ll send the homeowner an automated message – this saves you time, plus it means we can send the job to another member who does want it. It also helps the homeowner get their job done so that they come back to Checkatrade again in future.
What if I’m an 'Approved’ member?
If you’re on our most basic membership package (Approved or Affiliate), then you won’t be appearing in searches – you’re simply paying for us to add our good name to yours. Want to start receiving leads too? Give us a call.
October 2022 update
Improving your flow of calls and messages
You’d been telling us that you receive too many calls and messages in one go. So we’ve made big improvements to make sure you receive a steadier flow of leads through the month. This means you can manage your time and workload more conveniently month to month and be able to deliver the best jobs for homeowners.
Driving homeowner jobs
As the economic environment continues to be challenging, we’ve increased our marketing activity to drive more leads to trade members. Since the start of this year, we’ve more than doubled our investment in digital marketing specifically and this resulted in more website visits and job leads in August and September than ever before.
Reducing spam calls and messages
We’ve made further improvements to our spam filter technology so it’s increasingly more effective. This means we’re better able to identify potential spam as we aim to remove it before it reaches you.
WE NEED YOU! You can help this process by telling us if a spam call has slipped our net. Just email: reportspam@checkatrade.com with the telephone number you’ve received spam from, and we’ll do the rest.
https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/trade/checkatrade-approved-and-guaranteed/
