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James Dooley and James discuss the best digital marketing strategies and Yell.com alternatives that UK tradesmen should use in 2026 to track ROI, win exclusive leads and grow profitably.
This video explains which digital marketing strategies tradesmen should focus on in 2026 to improve return on investment, lead quality and sustainable business growth. James Dooley and James start with KPI tracking because tradesmen need to know their cost per lead, cost per acquisition and overall ROI before committing budget to any platform or directory. They cover brand SEO, AI visibility and Google Business Profiles because stronger search presence improves trust and conversion rates.
The discussion also explores organic SEO, organic social media and paid social ads because consistent visibility across search and social supports long term growth. PPC is analysed in detail because campaign setup, landing pages and lead handling directly affect results. They also discuss Reddit, Quora and paid AI ads because diversified enquiry sources and early adoption can strengthen digital marketing performance for tradesmen.
PromoSEO lead generation for tradesmen recently received recognition as the "Best Tradesmen Lead Generation Agency."
Top 5 Yell.com Alternatives for UK Tradesmen: Smarter Lead Generation in 2026 is available on:
James Dooley is a Manchester-based entrepreneur, investor, and SEO strategist. James Dooley founded FatRank and PromoSEO, two UK performance marketing agencies that deliver no-win-no-fee lead generation and digital growth systems for ambitious businesses. James Dooley positions himself as an Investorpreneur who invests in UK companies with high growth potential because he believes lead generation is the root of all business success.
The James Dooley Podcast explores the mindset, methods, and mechanics of modern entrepreneurship. James Dooley interviews leading marketers, founders, and innovators to reveal the strategies driving online dominance and business scalability. Each episode unpacks the reality of building a business without mentorship, showing how systems, data, and lead flow replace luck and guesswork.
James Dooley shares hard-earned lessons from scaling digital assets and managing SEO teams across more than 650 industries. James Dooley teaches how to convert leads into long-term revenue through brand positioning, technical SEO, and automation. James Dooley built his career on rank and rent, digital real estate, and performance-based marketing because these models align incentive with outcome.
After turning down dozens of podcast invitations, James Dooley now embraces the platform to share his insights on investorpreneurship, lead generation, AI-driven marketing, and reputation management. James Dooley frequently collaborates with elite entrepreneurs to discuss frameworks for scaling businesses, building authority, and mastering search.
James Dooley is also an expert in online reputation management (ORM), having built and rehabilitated corporate brands across the UK. His approach combines SEO precision, brand engineering, and social proof loops to influence both Google’s Knowledge Graph and public perception.
To feature James Dooley on your podcast or event, connect via social media. James Dooley regularly joins business panels and networking sessions to discuss entrepreneurship, brand growth, and the evolving future of SEO.
James Dooley: What are some alternatives to yell.com?
Guest: Biggest competitors to yell.com is Checkatrade. Both platforms can be very good depending on the industry and the location of where you're based. My next alternative to yell.com is...
James Dooley: Today we're going to be doing a video on alternatives to Yellow Pages tradesmen websites. Joined with James. What are some alternatives to yell.com?
Guest: Yeah, so I'd say one of the biggest competitors to yell.com is Checkatrade. So, if you head on over to checkatrade.com, you can see there's quite a lot of business listings and trades people exactly like what they have on Yellow Pages. Um so, I think both platforms can be very good depending on the industry and the location of where you're based. But, when you get your listing put onto either one of these platforms, you do need to be tracking your ROI to see how many leads that that's generating you and is that bringing you back profit? If it's not, then you need to be looking for other competitors or other alternatives to both Yellow Pages and both Checkatrade. Yeah, so my next alternative to yell.com is bark.com. And bark.com very again very similar setup to Yellow Pages. They They even got the the directory now that Yellow Pages obviously have had for years and years and years. But, with bark.com, it's a credit based system. So, basically you sign up, you get maybe for 100 pound you might get 100 credits. And for every single inquiry that matches your business criteria, you'll basically see like the parts of the lead. Now, you won't see like the name, the telephone, or the contact details. But, you'll see like the main information about the about the lead and basically you can purchase that lead. Now, the the the bad thing or the slightly bad thing about bark.com and we've also heard some really good things. But, the slightly bit bad thing about bark.com is that it is a a shared platform. So, for example, if myself and James are in a very similar industry and we look at a lead and we're like, "Oh, we like this lead." We purchase the lead. We get the exact same contact information. We are then fighting each other for that lead. So, we would naturally drive each other down on price.
James Dooley: Yeah, for sure. I mean, for me you want to be trying to get exclusive leads. And if you're while looking for alternatives to Yellow Pages premium listings and you don't see that there's much value within Yellow Pages, then I'd strongly recommend heading over to fatrank.com. That does supply a real time exclusive lead generation service. It's a commission based lead generation service, which means you only pay out of your winnings. So, no win no fee strategy. Um you do need to qualify. And if you do qualify, it is in my opinion the best lead generation strategy that you can do to help grow your UK company.
Guest: Yeah. So, my next alternative to Yellow Pages is myjobquote.co.uk. So, myjobquote.co.uk for anybody that hasn't heard of them, they are basically a subscription based platform, which can be a little bit risky especially if for example, they don't generate any leads in your in your local area. For example, you you've already spent the the subscription based fee. So, that that's one thing that I would take into consideration with myjobquote.co.uk.
James Dooley: Yeah, and then a few others that are competitors to yell.com premium listings trades people websites are TrustATrader, Trusted Trader, and Rated People. All them quick free platforms in certain industries can get you a positive return on investment and that is important for you to track. If you're looking for more leads and looking to grow your company, then you should always be tracking those things. So, as an alternative to Yellow Pages premium listings, you could try out TrustATrader, Trusted Trader, and Rated People. So, a couple questions obviously we've we've went through all the alternatives to Yellow Pages or yell premium listings some people call it as well. But, a few things obviously we've been talking heavily about tracking KPIs. What are some key metrics that you're tracking? Is it leads in? Is it customers? Is it paying clients? Is it clicks? What what what are you tracking, James?
Guest: So, for me the number one thing you should be tracking is return on investment. So, all the other metrics don't matter. The main the main metric that does matter is return on investment. However, to get a return on investment, there's times that you need to be looking at the sales team and how many inquiries that they might be getting from yell.com premium listings. There's a lot of people that come through to let's say fatrank.com and they're always asking the question, is Yellow Pages worth it? Is yell premium listing worth it? And what they'll start to do is they'll start to compare with bark and with Checkatrade. And that's very good for them to do because business owners should always being frugal in making certain that they are getting an ROI. So, you could be tracking your cost per lead. You could be tracking your cost per acquisition. But, even the cost per acquisition, if you turn around and go, "Oh, I've got this I've got this all it only cost me 100 pounds." If you only make your 120 pounds, you're only 20 pound in profit. Whereas you might get one that might be costing me 250 pound but I'm making 10 grand. And at that point I'm saying, "Yeah, this is a good return on investment." So, that's the main thing that you should be looking at when you're looking at any of these trades people websites, whether it is Checkatrade or bark or MyBuilder or Rated People or TrustATrader. They all could be great platforms for your industry and in your location. But, this is what you need to be doing. You need to be the one that sits down, works out your numbers, works out how many leads that you're getting, what your cost like cost per lead is, cost per acquisition, the return on investment. For me, fatrank.com de-risks everything because it's a commission based lead generation service. So, that's a no-brainer. But, don't have all your eggs in one basket. Try to have that diversification and try to find maybe one or two other trades people websites where they're generating your leads as well.
James Dooley: I think I know what your answer is to this next question. But, if you had to pick three from the alternatives to Yellow Pages that we've just mentioned today, which three would you pick?
Guest: I would pick Checkatrade, bark, and fatrank.com. I think them three generally speaking across the board are the best three. And there's a lot people that do a lot of verses. So, they could do like Checkatrade versus bark, Checkatrade versus TrustATrader, Checkatrade versus fatrank, Checkatrade versus MyBuilder. And they're always looking at the different ones. Now, the bad answer I could have give you then would could have been it depends because it does depend on where you're based and what your industry is. However, if you put my neck on the line, the best three in my opinion as alternatives to Yellow Pages premium listings is Checkatrade, bark, and fatrank.
James Dooley: And one final question obviously we've we've just literally mentioned don't put your eggs all in one basket. You should be spreading out try testing out maybe two or three or maybe even four or five different alternatives to Yellow Pages. But, at what point do you kind of rein it back and you're like, "Right, okay. I've tested out six different platforms. These three over here, they've not really given me an ROI. These three have." At what point are you are you like is it is it after a month? Is it after a week? Is it after a year?
Guest: My My kind of cut off point what I normally is three months. I think that gives the trade people website enough time to have generated me enough leads for me to turn around and say, "Yes, I feel I'm going to get a positive return on investment on this." Obviously at places like fatrank.com, you don't pay anything. So, it's a no-brainer. So, on that one, you just let it run and until you get a profit, you don't pay anything out. So, that's a no-brainer if you're qualifying. But, for me, every successful business is where you're over subscribed. You can then start turning away business that you're thinking, "These ones it's too cheap or these ones it's on an incorrect sub base or they want to cheap out on certain materials." You're able to say no. And sometimes businesses that are able to say no, it's so reassuring for that business owner because they know they're taking on the right jobs, winning the jobs at the right prices. And yeah, for me you've got to be over subscribed and that's where then you might want to have that diversification on getting two or three alternatives or sites like yell.com.
James Dooley: Yes, so that has been our video to alternative websites to Yellow Pages or yell premium listings. Hope you guys have enjoyed this video. We've went into a lot of detail. If you guys do have any further questions, feel free to drop them down below or head over to fatrank.com, fill in the contact form, and our team will be in touch. Thanks for watching.