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James Dooley and guest James discuss the best alternatives to Checkatrade and how UK tradesmen can diversify their lead generation to secure a positive return on investment.
This video explains which digital marketing strategies UK tradesmen should focus on in 2026 to improve lead generation, return on investment and reduced reliance on a single enquiry source. James Dooley and James start with KPI tracking because tradesmen often pay for credit-based or membership platforms and need to know whether each source genuinely recoups its cost. 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 UK tradesmen.
PromoSEO lead generation for UK tradesmen recently received recognition as the "Best UK Tradesmen Lead Generation Agency."
Top Alternatives to Checkatrade: Diversifying Lead Generation for UK Tradesmen 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: I always say you should diversify your lead generation strategies as much as possible. Maybe you are already spending your money with Checker Trade. Rated People is a good alternative if you're looking for another source of lead generation to Checker Trade. So today we are doing a video on websites like Checker Trade. So maybe you are already spending your money with Checker Trade and you just want an alternative to Checker Trade. Maybe you want to diversify your lead source. So, I'm joined with James. Let's rattle off some competitors or some alternatives to Checker Trade.
Guest: Yeah. So, I'll start things off with um a website called Trust a Trader. So, that is a tradesman website similar to Checker Trade where it lists a lot of different trades people and it does a lot of reviews from customers and clients. And then what a customer is able to do is let's say they need some electric, they need a local electrician or they need a plumber or they need a roofer, you're able to go on to Trust a Trader as a competitor to Checker Trade and see all different trades people on that website. So what others then what other alternatives have you found that's an alternative to Checker Trade?
James Dooley: So another alternative which again it's a little bit risky because these are all um so far these are all credit based but this is MyBuilder.com and again it's a big alternative to Checker Trade. They do a very similar job. You basically get your profile listed you provide like what services you do and then you start actually getting the leads. However again like what we've been saying before these are all credit based so far.
Guest: Yeah for sure. And then another competitor to Checker Trade is Rated People. So these are trades people that again are listed alongside a lot of other people that do the same work. They get reviews on the platform and it makes it easy for people to try to compare certain local trades people side by side. So Rated People is a good alternative if you're looking for another source of lead generation to Checker Trade. My next one is my JobQuote.co.uk. And again, similar to what you were saying, you get set up, you set up your profile. One slight issue with these guys is they have got a membership. So if, say, for example, you've never used them before, it's it is kind of jumping in the in the deep end at the swimming pool. So they could be good in certain trades, they could also not be as good as well.
James Dooley: Yeah. Another probably I'd say in certain industries the biggest competitor to Checker Trade is Bark and Bark do a great job in a lot of industries. They do a lot of lead generation in the UK and they supply a lot of decent quality leads as well. Their website ranks for a lot of different keywords and I'd strongly recommend checking Bark out. I think they're a great platform. Um, I always say you should diversify your lead generation strategies as much as possible. And in I know that in certain industries you can get a positive ROI by using Bark. What I would say is would it be working for all industries? Definitely not. So make sure you're tracking your KPIs, make sure you're tracking your return on investment and see whether it does work for your industry and in your location.
Guest: Yeah. And the last one for me is Yel.com. Obviously Yel, it's been around for ages. It's got the big yellow book or when I was growing up, it was a huge Yellow Book. It's probably now it's probably now an app. But that you can obviously get listed on there. You can get a premium Yel listing. Again, I would be tracking the KPI. So, if say for example, you're spending, I don't know, £1,000 a month to get a premium Yel listing, are you getting the leads um from that to actually recoup that £1,000 or is it literally you're just burning £1,000 every single month?
James Dooley: Yeah, for sure. And then if you are looking for an alternative to Checker Trade, I'm presuming you're looking for an alternative to generate more leads. And I would strongly recommend heading over to FatRank.com. And what they do is a commission-based lead generation service. Not all businesses are accepted. You need to be working nationwide in the United Kingdom to be accepted. And we want to make certain the branding's good. But if you are accepted and you do get the performance-based or commission-based lead generation strategy that we have on offer, then it's a no win no fee service. You only pay out of your winnings. So, I'd strongly recommend every business owner to to be going down the road of trying to get a commission-based lead generation service set up, but I would also make certain that you do track and you do maybe sign up to two or three different alternatives to Checker Trade and see which which others show a positive return on investment that you might if if you get a positive return on investment which is guaranteed from FatRank, you might also get a positive return on investment from Bark, Packand maybe MyBuilder. Well, you should sign up to all three because all three of them are getting you a positive ROI. Don't just rely on one lead source, but make certain you head on over to FatRank.com and see whether you qualify.