“My handyman doesn’t have a website — is that a red flag?” is a question homeowners keep asking in forums, and on 23 September 2026 the first page of results for it was those forum threads and lists of warning signs, none with a number in them. So I counted: of the contractors a search actually shows in West Michigan, how many list no website, how many list one that does not work, and what a homeowner can check instead.
Not by itself. On 23 September 2026 I read the first ten local listings Brave Search shows for seven trades — roofers, plumbers, heating and cooling companies, electricians, landscapers, painters and remodelers — in seven West Michigan towns: 384 contractors, each counted once. 76 of their listings (20%) name no website at all, from 19 of 60 electricians to 2 of 54 roofers, and 4 more link a Facebook or Instagram page instead. A missing website tells you more about the trade than about the work.
Two things tell you more. First, whether the website a listing names actually works: of the 304 it names, 24 did not show the business when I tried them — a domain that no longer exists, a page that errors or times out, or a page that is not theirs at all (3 parked domains, 2 redirects to someone else's site and 1 placeholder page). Second, the licence: Michigan licenses the trades homeowners hire most — residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors (MCL 339.2401; projects under $600 are exempt, MCL 339.2403), plumbers (MCL 339.6107), electrical contractors (MCL 339.5737) and the mechanical contractors who do heating and cooling (MCL 339.5809), all read 23 September 2026 on legislature.mi.gov — and the state’s public lookup shows any licence in a minute.
If you are the contractor reading this: 104 of the 384 (27%) leave a homeowner with no working site to look at, so a plain one that answers the first questions puts you ahead of a large part of your trade. Our Starter Site is from $999 for up to three pages.
A website is not a licence, a reference or a warranty. Plenty of good tradespeople run on referrals and a phone number, and plenty of bad ones have a slick site. What a website does is let a stranger check you before calling, and what its absence does is move that checking somewhere else — to the licence, the reviews and the written estimate. This page counts how common the missing or broken website really is in West Michigan, then lists the checks that matter more, with the law they rest on.
On 23 September 2026 I asked the Brave Search API for its local results for “<trade> <town> MI” for seven trades in eight towns — Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Kentwood, Grandville, Walker, Holland, Muskegon and Kalamazoo — and took the first ten listings each time. These are Brave’s local listings, not Google’s map pack. Walker returned no listings for any trade and painters returned none in Grand Rapids, so those are not in the numbers. A contractor listed in several towns, or twice under the same name, counts once. For every listing that names a website I fetched the homepage once with curl and checked whether it actually shows the business. “No website” below means the listing names none — the business may still have one the listing does not show.
| Trade (23 Sep 2026) | Contractors | Listing names no website | Links Facebook or Instagram instead | Names a website | Website worked | Did not show the business |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roofers | 54 | 2 (4%) | 0 | 52 | 46 | 4 |
| Plumbers | 54 | 12 (22%) | 0 | 42 | 37 | 4 |
| Heating and cooling | 54 | 10 (19%) | 0 | 44 | 43 | 1 |
| Electricians | 60 | 19 (32%) | 0 | 41 | 38 | 0 |
| Landscapers | 62 | 13 (21%) | 2 | 47 | 43 | 3 |
| Painters | 48 | 10 (21%) | 2 | 36 | 30 | 5 |
| Remodelers | 52 | 10 (19%) | 0 | 42 | 34 | 7 |
| All seven | 384 | 76 (20%) | 4 | 304 | 271 | 24 |
“Did not show the business” counts domains that no longer resolve, links to pages that no longer exist, pages that timed out or returned an error, and domains that now show a parked page, a blank page, a placeholder or someone else’s site. It leaves out 9 sites that refused an automated fetch or are drawn by script after they load, because those usually work for a person.
The spread is wide. Electricians are the most likely to have a listing with no website (19 of 60); roofers are the least (2 of 54). I did not measure why, and there are several ordinary explanations — some trades get most of their work through general contractors, commercial accounts or repeat customers, and never needed a public website to fill the calendar. The practical point for a homeowner is that in some trades a listing without a website is normal, so on its own it is weak evidence of anything.
A listing whose website shows someone else’s page is a stronger warning than a listing with no website at all.
The more telling cases are the listings that name a website that does not show the business. 24 of the 304 named websites (8%) failed that way on 23 September: 9 domain names that no longer resolve, 2 links to a page that no longer exists, 3 that timed out on every try, 4 that returned an error or refused the connection and 6 that load but are not the business’s own site (3 parked domains, 2 redirects to someone else's site and 1 placeholder page). A lapsed domain is the common thread: when a business stops paying for its domain, someone else can buy it, and the listing keeps sending customers there. For a homeowner, a listing that points to a dead or taken-over domain says the business is not watching its own details — which is worth a question before you hand over a deposit. For the contractor, it means the search listing is sending people to a stranger.
None of those four needs a website, and each one says more than a website does. None of this is legal advice; it is what the statutes say, with the date I read them, and I am not a lawyer.
| What you find | How common (of 384) | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| The listing names no website | 76 (20%) | Little on its own. Common in some trades; check the licence and reviews instead. |
| The listing links a Facebook or Instagram page | 4 | The same as no website, with photos. Check the licence. |
| The website named does not show the business | 24 of 304 named | A real warning sign: the business is not watching its own listing. Ask before paying anything. |
| A working website | 271 | A way to check before you call — not proof of good work. Still check the licence. |
The numbers cut the other way for you. 104 of the 384 contractors in this reading (27%) give a homeowner who wants to check them no working website at all, so a simple site that shows your licence number, your service area, your reviews and a way to reach you already puts you ahead of a large share of your trade. Check that your listing still points at a domain you own — the lapsed ones above were still sending customers somewhere. Our Starter Site is from $999 for up to three pages, or $149 a month for twelve months, and what a roofing website should have shows what the sites that do exist carry.
The sweep. Brave Search API local results for seven trades in eight West Michigan towns, first ten listings each, read 23 September 2026; each named homepage fetched with curl the same day, failures and non-business pages re-checked by hand. Raw rows: ops/search/measurements/local-sweep/<trade>-west-michigan-2026-09-23.json. Business names stay in those files; this page publishes totals only.
The statutes. Michigan Occupational Code MCL 339.2401 and 339.2403, and the Skilled Trades Regulation Act MCL 339.5731, 339.5737, 339.5809 and 339.6107 (legislature.mi.gov), read 23 September 2026.
The licence lookup. LARA online services, “Find / Verify a Licensed Professional or Business” (michigan.gov/lara/online-services), read 23 September 2026.
Page one. Brave Search web results for “contractor has no website red flag”, read 23 September 2026: forum threads asking the question and lists of warning signs, none with a count.
Not by itself. Of 384 West Michigan contractors read on 23 September 2026, 76 (20%) have a search listing that names no website, and in some trades that is normal. Check the Michigan licence in LARA’s public lookup, the reviews on their Google listing, a written estimate and an insurance certificate instead.
A listing whose website does not show the business. On 23 September 2026, 24 of the 304 websites named by West Michigan contractor listings did not: dead domains, failed servers, parked or blank pages, placeholders, and lapsed domains that now show someone else’s site. It means nobody is watching the listing, which is worth a question before any deposit.
Ask for the licence number and look it up in LARA’s “Find / Verify a Licensed Professional or Business” service (michigan.gov/lara/online-services, read 23 September 2026). Michigan licenses residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors (MCL 339.2401; projects under $600 are exempt, MCL 339.2403), plumbers (MCL 339.6107), electrical contractors (MCL 339.5737) and mechanical contractors (MCL 339.5809).
Send me your business name. I'll check what your Google and Brave listings link to, whether it loads, and whether it shows your licence number and service area — and tell you what to fix first.
Works whether or not you end up working with me.