About this site
I'm Elliot Blackler. I build websites for tradespeople through Local Ladder, from the UK, and I run this site on my own time.
What it is
Handsome Local is a gallery of real websites for plumbers, electricians, roofers, builders, heating firms and landscapers in the UK and US. I pick every site by hand. Each entry has a full-page screenshot, one paragraph on what the site gets right, tags, and a credit for whoever built it.
Why it exists
Most web design galleries skip the sites that do the most work. A plumber's site with the phone number in the header and 300 Google reviews under it will never win an award, but it earns its keep every day. I have an affection for that kind of site, and I wanted one place that collects them, with a screenshot and a short note on what each gets right.
How sites are chosen
I pick them myself. No scoring sheet, no checklist. A site goes in when I look at it and think it is well built, that it would turn a visitor into a call or a quote, and that the design is doing a job rather than decorating. That tends to show in small things: where the phone number sits, whether the reviews carry a count, whether the photos are of the firm's own van. None of those is required, and plenty of sites have all three and still look like a template. Each paragraph is my own reading of the page.
My own builds
Some of the sites here were built by me. They are labelled "Built by Local Ladder (Elliot's own work)" so you can tell which, they were picked the same way as everyone else's, and they never get a better spot on a page for being mine. Nothing on this site links to Local Ladder and nothing here is for sale.
Removal
The screenshots belong to the firms that own the sites. If your site is here and you want it gone, say so through the contact form and it comes down within 2 working days, no questions asked. The same form takes a broken link or a wrong credit.
No endorsement
Being featured is not an endorsement of this site by the firm shown, and my paragraph is not an endorsement of the firm. I have no commercial relationship with any business or agency here unless the credit line says so.