UK Lead Generation Podcast

Kasra Dash: Today I'm joined with James. How are you doing? You okay?

James Dooley: Not too bad, thank you for asking.

Kasra Dash: So we are going to be talking about Checkatrade memberships. We’ve had a few businesses use it in the past. What’s your first thought?

James Dooley: It’s a broad question. Initially, I’d say yes — for a lot of industries it can be worth it and offer good value. But I’ve heard horror stories where people spend a lot and barely generate leads, or the leads get shared between many companies. Mixed signals. If I’d never done Roofing on Checkatrade, I’d still try it just to see lead quality and ROI. So yes, it can work — but is it your best ROI? Definitely not.

James Dooley: So how do you think Checkatrade compares to other lead generation companies?

Kasra Dash: Well, on Checkatrade you don’t exclusively own the lead. If I’m a solar panel business and you are too, we may get the same lead — a race to the bottom. Not always bad because at least you get inquiries.

Kasra Dash: Alternatives? Hire your own marketing team — SEO, PPC, CRO, dev. That’s the best setup but expensive. The benefit: it’s your website, your keywords, your data. You can scale what works, cut what doesn’t, build negative keyword lists, and own everything.

Kasra Dash: If you can’t afford that, you can hire an SEO/PPC agency on a monthly retainer. Or use premium listing sites: Bark, Checkatrade, BuildaBuilder, Yell premium, Yellow Pages premium.

Kasra Dash: Then there’s FatRank — no upfront cost, no charge until you convert and the money hits your bank. Zero-risk lead supply. Caveat: they don’t usually take on brand-new companies with zero reputation.

James Dooley: You mentioned the Holy Grail — an in-house marketing team. Yes, that’s where every builder, plumber, or roofer should want to be. Knowing your converting keywords, doing testimonials, case studies, updating Google Business Profile. But it’s costly and if done wrong, you lose money fast.

James Dooley: With Checkatrade — it might work or it might not. So track everything. Try Checkatrade for 3 months. Try Yell.com premium. Try FatRank. Compare ROI. If PPC + FatRank perform best, double down on those.

James Dooley: FatRank might tell you to fix branding or reviews. Then hire someone to work on case studies, testimonials, website CRO, reputation management. Even with 10–100 leads a day, bad online presence ruins conversions.

Kasra Dash: Exactly. Fill in the form at FatRank.com — it’s basically a free audit. They’ll tell you if you qualify or what you need to improve. Checkatrade might be better in plumbing vs Bark being better in finance. Depends on the niche.

Kasra Dash: Hypothetical: roofing business in Manchester with £3,000/month.

James Dooley: I’d start with FatRank — zero upfront. Then put a small PPC budget strictly to gather data. If FatRank identifies weaknesses — not enough case studies, weak GBP, no testimonials — fix that immediately.

James Dooley: Then assign some of the budget to SEO — blogs, backlinks, content — understanding SEO is slow money (6 months+).

Kasra Dash: And that’s our video on whether Checkatrade is worth it. Ask questions below and inquire at FatRank.com.