A website for locksmiths.
Who answers, what it costs, and whether you drill.
Someone locked out at night is not browsing. They want the person who will pick up, the price before the van moves, and whether the lock will be opened or drilled. We design and build your locksmith website around those three answers, then host it and help you keep it current.
From £15/mo, plus a one-off build pack from £29.
The first screen is the phone. The locksmith answers, including at night.
This is a live example of our work, not a customer business.The night call
Three answers, before the van moves.
We read the front page of 80 UK locksmith websites on 25 to 27 August 2026. Other pages were not read. The figures below are those sites, not the whole trade.
Who answers
Of the sites we read, 97.5% put a phone number on the front page. 11.3% say the person who answers is not a call centre. A contact form is on 43.8%, and online booking on 3.8%. At night, the number is the route that can be answered.
What it costs
Write the figure, the hours it covers, and whether VAT is included. A phone number is not a substitute.
The lock
37.5% say they will try to open the door without damage. The service label "non-destructive entry" is on 16.3%, so the words and the menu are not the same count. The drawing is that outcome: the split on the line, not a hole in the cylinder.
5.0% write the words "fixed price".
Four of the 80. A useful line is the figure, the hours it covers, and whether VAT is included. 36.3% say there is no call-out. That is not a price. The words "call-out" appear on 68.8% of the pages, which is also not a figure. 3.8% of the prices fields mention VAT.
18.8% have anything in the prices field
16.3% of the pages have a string that looks like money. Showing a number at all is still uncommon. Do not treat "call for a quote" as the same thing.
3.8% agree the price before they travel
Three sites say the price is agreed before they set off, travel, attend or leave, or before the van. A further 8.8% put a price or a quote next to "on the phone". Do not add those counts together.
The average front page lists 14.9 services. A person locked out does not need fourteen. 82.5% use the word emergency. 62.5% say 24/7 or 24-hour. Say which hours you actually answer. A word like emergency is not a clock.
Daylight work belongs on the same page when you do it. 62.5% mention uPVC. 20.0% mention a snapped or broken key. 13.8% use the label lock changes. 22.5% still list car keys, auto locks or vehicle keys, after auto locksmiths were taken out of this set. 10.0% list safe opening as its own service. A looser "safe" in the services list is not that rate. 96.3% name the towns they cover. 88.8% say they work for both homes and businesses.
Where the page said how big the firm was, 10.0% read as one person and 33.8% as a small team. 53.8% did not say. This page is written for the first two.
Front pages only, 25 to 27 August 2026. Auto locksmiths, alarm firms, safe shops, key-cutting shops and a locations marketplace are not in the 80.
From the same read
Four front pages that state a number, the hours, and the method.
Real UK sites. Regions only. Their prices belong to them. Copy the habit of stating the number, the hours and the VAT. Do not copy a price you do not charge, and do not copy a review.
Teesside
A fixed call-out, agreed before they set off.
Daytime labour, 9am to 5pm, seven days, is from £64.99, with cylinders, handles and multi-point mechanisms priced underneath. They say non-destructive entry first. They are not an MLA Approved Company. The badge list includes the Guild of Master Locksmiths, which is a different body, and a gas registration. A gas registration does not vet the lock work. Do not put it on a locksmith page as if it did.
Norwich
The call-out is on the first screen, plus VAT.
A workshop prints £75.00 plus VAT for a call-out in normal working hours, and says the call-out runs 24 hours across Norfolk. It is a small team. The accreditation field names the Master Locksmiths Association. The same page also shows car keys, motorbike keys, safes and van deadlocks, so a visitor can see this is a workshop, not only a night-time door opening.
Solihull and east Birmingham
Daytime emergency opening, stated as £90.
An independent firm says the daytime emergency home-access service costs £90, and that it is MLA approved and DBS checked. A DBS check is not the same claim as MLA Approved. The page also says it is recommended by a number of people. That is a review claim. Leave it where it is.
Leicestershire
No call centre, and a deposit after 6pm.
A family firm of more than 30 years says there is no call centre, and offers a 24-hour emergency service and uPVC door repairs. Call-outs after 6pm need a non-refundable card payment of £50, taken as a deposit. The useful part is that the night visit has a figure before anyone argues at the door. They are not MLA.
The example
One man, one van, and the price before he drives.
Kubiak Locks is an example build for a fictional business in Walsall, established 2009. It is one page. The figures on it are his, from the brief, not ThemeSmith's fees and not a rule for the trade.
The opening says it is answering hours in Walsall, and that the locksmith answers, never a call centre. Before the van moves he gives a fixed price on the phone. He says the quote is the bill, with nothing added at the door, and that there is no charge if he cannot open it. The page also states £2m of public liability. We have not read a policy. Hours are printed as Monday to Sunday, midnight to midnight.
The jobs are a lock-out, day or night; a break-in made safe the same day; a snapped key or a failed uPVC gearbox; and new locks, key safes and spare keys. The van's line is named: Walsall town centre, Bloxwich, Willenhall, Darlaston, Aldridge, Brownhills, and the streets around them. If you are outside that line, the page says he will tell you. It does not pretend one van is a nationwide network.
The same page prints a Google rating and a review count. Those are invented. They are not shown here, and they are not a testimonial you should copy. The example does not say MLA approved, and it does not say police approved.
Before you publish
Badges are not a licence. Say the one you actually hold.
Checked on 6 October 2026 against the Master Locksmiths Association, Secured by Design, and gov.uk. If a rule was not on the page we opened, it is not here.
Locksmithing is not a licensed trade.
The Master Locksmiths Association says the locksmithing industry is not regulated, and that anybody can trade as a locksmith irrespective of competence, background or motive. It contrasts that with door staff and keyholding companies, which are government licensed. The MLA's own figures, "around 6,500 unlicensed locksmiths" and "ONLY 340+" MLA Approved, are the MLA's figures, not a census we made. The same page says there is no price structure, so a locksmith can charge what they want.
MLA Approved is a company category.
Of the sites we read, 16.3% name the Master Locksmiths Association, or the letters MLA, in the accreditation field. The same share uses those words somewhere on the page. Do not add the two counts. One firm names the Guild of Master Locksmiths instead. That is why a looser search for "master locksmith" is not the MLA count.
An MLA Approved Locksmith Company is vetted, inspected, and employing someone who has passed the MLA qualification, and is listed on the association's find-a-locksmith page. The association says that category gets full use of the logo on the website, the van and clothing. Personal members, a Registered or QML member, and affiliate suppliers are other categories. Do not blur them, or a training certificate, into "MLA approved".
Police do not approve locksmiths.
6.3% of the front pages say "police approved". The MLA says there is no such thing as a police approved or police registered locksmith, and that the claim is usually a warning sign. It quotes the Metropolitan Police: the MPS does not allow companies to refer to it on websites, because that can be read as a commercial endorsement, and the MPS does not provide such endorsements. That is the MLA quoting the Met, on the MLA's page. We did not find a gov.uk page that calls the phrase a criminal offence, so this page does not say that.
Three accreditation lists use the words "South Yorkshire Police approved locksmith register". A search on 6 October 2026 did not confirm that register on a police page. Do not treat it as a scheme.
Secured by Design is different, and 6.3% of the pages mention it. It is the official police security initiative, owned by the UK Police Service, founded in 1989. Police Preferred Specification is a product accreditation for doors, windows and locks. The scheme says it is the only way for companies to obtain police recognition for security-related products in the UK. Fitting an accredited lock, or selling one, does not make the locksmith police approved.
An SIA licence is not a locksmith qualification.
Gov.uk, updated 29 January 2026, lists manned guarding, key holding, and vehicle immobilisation in Northern Ireland as the licensable activities. Key holding means security work that involves keeping, or controlling access to, any key or device for operating a lock. The front-line key holding licence is a letter, not a photocard. Opening a door or changing a lock is not on that list. A locksmith who also keeps keys as security work may need the key holding licence. Everyone else should not put an SIA badge on the van as if it were the trade's licence.
BS3621 is a lock. Drilling is a last resort.
28.8% of the pages mention a British Standard, and 12.5% mention BS3621. The MLA says BS3621 is the most common British Standard for mortice locks, that the Kitemark is how you check it, and that many insurers stipulate one. That insurer sentence is the MLA's. Do not invent which insurers, or a legal duty to fit one. Anti-snap is a separate phrase, also on 28.8% of pages. It is not the same as BS3621.
The MLA says drilling should not be the first attempt. Try non-destructive methods, and use a drill as a last resort. It lists cases where a drill is reasonable: the lock is being replaced anyway, the mechanism has failed, there is no feel in the lock, or the right pick is not on the van. Drilling as a first attempt is, in the MLA's words, a common scam technique, because the damaged lock becomes a second charge. That is advice from the association, not a statute.
If you print a price, print the whole price.
Gov.uk guidance on unfair commercial practices, in force for the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 from 6 April 2025, always bans misuse of a trust mark or endorsement that does not apply, bait advertising and bait and switch, and fake reviews. An invitation to purchase has to give the full price, who is selling, and how to contact them. Failing professional diligence includes taking advantage of a customer who does not know about a product, to charge a very high price. That page does not say a call-out must be agreed before you travel. The clearer sites do it anyway.
Where you show a price, say whether VAT is included. The Norwich page above says plus VAT. The Teesside labour rate, as we read it, does not. "Fully insured" is on 21.3% of the front pages. It is not a policy we have read, and it is not a substitute for the figure.
Website design for locksmiths
A template can hold the words. The words have to be yours.
31.3% of the sites name who built them. The site can be yours either way. People who search for a locksmith website are also offered the cost of a locksmith, and "find a locksmith near me". This page is for the locksmith, not a directory. We write the brief with you, design and build the site, then look after it for a monthly fee. You check the work before it goes live.
The build is a one-off cost. Hosting and ongoing work are monthly.
Start with the work you do today. Add pages as the business needs them.
Monthly plans
Edits with your assistant use credits.
One-off build packs
1 page
3 pages
5 pages
Each includes 30 days of Forge edits after the build and is paired with your first month on a plan. Add pages any time, priced per page; you see the price before you pay.
Cancellation takes two clicks from your account. The site keeps running until the end of the billing period. Your domain stays yours, and if you leave we send a static snapshot for another host. Failed builds are not charged; a person follows up the next working day. There is no introductory rate that runs out.
Get startedQuestions locksmiths ask
Before you have the site built.
Can I start with a one-page locksmith website?
Yes. The example is one page, and the one-page build pack is £29. Use it for who answers, the price before the van moves, whether you drill, the towns you actually cover, and the phone number. Add a page when a service needs its own explanation, not to make the site look larger.
Should I publish a call-out price?
If you can define the visit, publish the figure, the hours, and whether VAT is included. Of the sites we read, 5.0% write "fixed price" and 36.3% say there is no call-out without giving a figure. Gov.uk does not require the price to be agreed before you travel. A cheap advertised call-out that becomes another bill at the door is the bait pattern the guidance already bans. Do not copy another firm's £90, or their £50 night deposit, unless that is your charge.
Can I say I am MLA approved?
Only if the business is an MLA Approved Company: vetted, inspected, and employing someone who has passed the MLA qualification. A personal member, a training certificate, or the Guild of Master Locksmiths is a different sentence. 16.3% of the front pages name the association in the accreditation field. If that is you, link the listing a customer can check. If it is not, leave the badge off.
Can I write police approved on the site?
The Master Locksmiths Association says there is no such thing as a police approved locksmith, and quotes the Met refusing commercial endorsements. 6.3% of the sites we read say it anyway. Secured by Design is a product scheme for doors, windows and locks. Fitting one does not make you police approved. We are not calling the phrase a criminal offence. We are saying it does not belong on the page.
Do I need an SIA licence to be a locksmith?
Not for opening a door or changing a lock. Those jobs are not on the licensable list. You may need a key holding licence if you keep keys, or control access to them, as security work. The front-line licence is a letter. It is not a locksmith qualification, and locksmithing itself is not a licensed trade.
Will a new website put me at the top of Google?
Who ranks is not yet checked. We do not promise a place on Google. A page that says who answers, what the visit costs, and which towns you cover gives someone a reason to ring. There is no honest ranking guarantee to put in a quote.