Websites for cabinet makers

A kitchen or a wall of wardrobes is a big spend, so people look at a lot of finished work before they ring anyone. They want to see whole rooms, close-ups of door fronts and drawers, and a clear idea of how a job runs from the first measure to the last hinge. For a cabinet maker the site is mostly a portfolio, so the photos and the captions carry it.

Some work comes straight from homeowners and some from builders and designers who send drawings. The two read the site differently. A homeowner wants materials, finishes and an idea of how messy the install will be. A trade client wants to know you read drawings properly and finish what you start. Give each a page, and put your workshop and your own crew in the photos.

What the site carries

• A gallery sorted by room, with the material and finish named under each photo.
• Close-ups of drawer fronts, edges and the inside of the cupboards, since that's where a careful buyer looks.
• A way to send a floor plan, room measurements and a few phone photos with the first enquiry.
• What happens after the first call, step by step: measure, drawings, sign-off, build, install.
• Home work and builder or designer work on separate pages, each with its own contact line.
• A plain account of what you make yourselves and what you bring in, such as stone benchtops, plumbing and electrical.
• Wardrobes, laundries and vanities on pages of their own, since people search for each by name.
• Photos of your own workshop, machines and people, so a buyer can see who is making the job.
• How deposits and progress payments work, in one short paragraph.
• Whether the workshop takes visits or only appointments, and which areas you install in.
• Your warranty on hardware, finish and workmanship, written in words a customer could hold you to.

The work your customers look for

• kitchens
• laundry cabinets
• bathroom vanities
• built-in wardrobes
• walk-in robes
• entertainment units
• butler's pantries
• study desks and shelving
• shop and office joinery
• kitchen door replacements
• bar and rumpus room units

What they type

• "cabinet maker"
• "custom kitchens"
• "built-in wardrobes"
• "kitchen cabinet makers near me"
• "joinery"
• "laundry cabinets"
• "kitchen door replacement"
• "walk-in robe builder"

Where your state licenses this work, put the number beside the business name on every page and leave it off rather than showing a placeholder.

If you show a from price for a kitchen, the total including compulsory charges has to be at least as prominent as any part price, under the ACCC single price rule.

Photos of finished jobs should be your own work, because Australian Consumer Law treats a borrowed photo presented as yours as misleading.

Words like custom, handmade and made in our workshop need to be true of the job in front of the customer.

A review shown on the site should be a real customer's own words, not an edited or invented one.

How the rules differ across Australia for cabinet makers

New South Wales	Whether a cabinet maker in New South Wales needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Building Commission NSW. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, advertising for licensed residential work carries the licensee's name, the licence number with its category of work, and a phone number, and the rule reaches the internet.
Victoria	Whether a cabinet maker in Victoria needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the Building and Plumbing Commission. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, domestic building advertising carries the practitioner's name and registration number, print and online, social media included.
Queensland	Whether a cabinet maker in Queensland needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the QBCC. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, websites head its list of advertising that carries the licensee's name and number, and the name has to match the licence, so a trading name alone can fall short.
Western Australia	Whether a cabinet maker in Western Australia needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Building and Energy. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, the Building Services (Registration) Act asks for the registration number in any advertising.
South Australia	Whether a cabinet maker in South Australia needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Consumer and Business Services. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, building work advertising carries the name and the licence number.
Tasmania	Whether a cabinet maker in Tasmania needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with CBOS. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, the site shows the licence number.
ACT	Whether a cabinet maker in the ACT needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with Access Canberra. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, the site shows the licence number.
Northern Territory	Whether a cabinet maker in the Northern Territory needs a licence depends on the work and the size of the job, so check with the Building Practitioners Board. If your work as a cabinet maker is covered, the site shows the licence number.

Rules change. Have your licence and wording checked against your regulator before the site goes live.

• A gallery of wide shots with no captions, so nobody can tell laminate from two-pack.
• Overseas stock kitchens whose appliances and layouts don't match an Australian home.
• A contact form that asks for a budget before it has shown a single finished job.
• Every kind of joinery on one page, so a buyer after a vanity scrolls past forty kitchens.
• Photos taken before the handles, lighting and benchtop went in, which makes good work look unfinished.
• A showroom address with no word on whether you take walk-ins.