Trade Guides

How a Website Helps NZ Painters Win More Jobs

6 min read

Painting and decorating is one of the most visual trades there is. The quality of your work is immediately visible — clean lines, smooth finishes, well-prepared surfaces, and beautifully transformed spaces. A website is the perfect medium to showcase that quality to potential clients.

Yet most painters in New Zealand still rely entirely on word of mouth and maybe a Facebook page. That's a missed opportunity, because homeowners are actively searching for painters online — and the ones with professional websites featuring great before-and-after photos are winning those jobs.

Painting Is the Ultimate Before-and-After Trade

Nothing sells painting services better than before-and-after photos. A tired, peeling weatherboard exterior transformed into a crisp, freshly painted home. A dated lounge with scuffed walls transformed into a modern, inviting space.

These transformations are visually dramatic and immediately convey value. On a website, you can organise these photos into a gallery that potential clients browse at their leisure — unlike Facebook, where they'd need to scroll through months of posts to find them.

Photo tips for painters

  • Take before photos in the same lighting and angle as after photos
  • Photograph both interior and exterior work
  • Include detail shots: clean cut-ins, smooth roller finishes, neat trim work
  • Show a variety of colour schemes and styles
  • Capture the full room or full house exterior, not just close-ups

These photos do more selling than any written description ever could.

What to Include on Your Painter's Website

1. Before-and-after gallery (your most important page)

Organise your projects by type: interior, exterior, residential, commercial, heritage/character homes, new builds. Each project should have multiple photos and a brief description: "Full exterior repaint of a 1920s villa in Devonport. Surfaces stripped, primed, and finished in Dulux Weathershield."

2. Services list

  • Interior painting — residential and commercial
  • Exterior painting — house repaints, weatherboard, brick, plaster
  • Wallpapering
  • Roof painting (if applicable)
  • Deck staining and finishing
  • Surface preparation and repair
  • Colour consultation
  • Commercial painting and maintenance contracts

3. Brands and products you use

Homeowners care about paint quality. If you use Dulux, Resene, or other premium brands, mention it. If you're a Dulux Accredited Painter or Resene Eco.Decorator, display that prominently. These affiliations build trust and show you use quality materials.

4. Service area

List every area you cover. "Interior and exterior painting services across Auckland's North Shore, including Takapuna, Devonport, Milford, Birkenhead, Northcote, and Albany."

5. Testimonials that mention specific jobs

"Dave and his team repainted our entire 3-bedroom villa in Ponsonby (interior and exterior). Immaculate preparation work and the finish is flawless. Highly recommend." — Sarah M., Ponsonby

Specific, detailed testimonials like this are far more convincing than generic "great painter" comments.

Local SEO Keywords for Painters

Here are the types of searches homeowners make when looking for a painter:

  • "house painter [city]" — e.g., "house painter Wellington"
  • "exterior painter near me"
  • "interior painter [suburb]"
  • "commercial painter [city]"
  • "roof painter [region]"
  • "best painter [city]"

When your website naturally includes these terms in your service descriptions and location pages, Google can match you to these searches. You don't need to stuff keywords — just describe your services honestly and mention where you work.

Why Facebook Isn't Enough for Painters

Facebook is great for sharing individual project photos and getting likes from friends and past clients. But it has serious limitations for winning new jobs:

  • Your best project photos from last year are buried in your timeline
  • Facebook pages rarely appear in Google search results for "painter [city]"
  • You can't organise photos into a proper gallery by project type
  • The algorithm limits how many people see your posts (unless you pay)

A website solves all of these problems. Your gallery is always organised, always accessible, and always visible to Google.

The Investment

A single exterior house repaint might earn you $5,000 to $15,000. A professional website costs from $299 at SiteSorted. If your website brings in even one extra job a year, it's paid for itself ten times over.

That's not a cost — it's one of the best investments you can make in your painting business.

How to Get More Painting Jobs

Painting work is visual and trust-based. Customers compare options quickly, so your online presence matters. Here's what to focus on:

  • Create separate pages for interior and exterior work
  • Add before-and-after images with short job notes
  • Use one clear quote CTA on each page
  • Track phone clicks and form submissions weekly

Most painters lose leads because they don't have service-specific pages or strong photo proof. Fix those two things and you'll see more enquiries.

Get Your Painter Website

Your work speaks for itself — but only if people can see it. A professional website puts your best projects in front of homeowners who are actively looking for a painter.

See painter website examples at SiteSorted →

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