Online job booking for tradies: from website to job app

Short answer: If you already run ServiceM8, Tradify or Fergus, start with the form your job management app gives you: it drops the customer's details straight into an enquiry or job, so nobody retypes anything. ServiceM8 goes furthest, with booking forms that can price a job and offer real time slots. Build a custom website form only when the built-in one can't ask the questions your trade needs, and even then, send its answers into the same app.

The real problem: the gap between website and job card

A typical small trade business has a contact form that emails the office, a phone that rings while you're on the tools, and a job app where the actual work lives. Every web enquiry gets read, retyped into the app, then followed up by phone to get the address right and see photos of the problem. The aim of online booking isn't a fancier website. It's closing that gap so the enquiry arrives as a job card with the address, description and photos already in it.

Three ways to connect the website, compared

	Built-in booking with pricing and times	Built-in enquiry form (embed or link)	Custom website form sent into the app
Example	ServiceM8 Services and Online Booking	Tradify Enquiries, Fergus web contact form, ServiceM8 Simple Online Enquiry	Your site's own form, connected through an integration
Customer can pick a time	Yes, from staff schedules	No, you call or message back	Only if you build it
Customer sees a price	Optional, from your pricing questions	No	Only if you build it
Effort	Highest setup in the app, little on the website	Low: copy a link or code snippet	Highest on the website side
Best for	Repeatable jobs: service calls, installs, inspections	Varied jobs that always need a quote	Trades with unusual intake questions or a site that must match a strong brand

ServiceM8: booking forms that schedule and price

ServiceM8's help centre describes "Services" that can be published with a hosted Online Booking Form, which you link from your website, social media and listings. You set each Service up as on-site or workshop, choose whether customers see pricing, and pick from three booking types: schedule a quote, schedule a service, or no schedule (the customer submits an enquiry instead).

The useful detail for tradies is in the guardrails:

Pricing questions: fixed pricing, or variable pricing built from questions (text, multiple choice, numeric) that add time and materials.
Manual approval: jobs over a dollar limit, or certain answers, push the customer to an enquiry for you to review instead of booking directly.
Service radius: addresses outside your set distance are sent to an enquiry rather than a booking, and you can add a per-kilometre travel surcharge beyond a set perimeter.
Arrival windows: times can show as exact slots or windows such as 9:00 to 10:00.

On the website side, ServiceM8 gives you a "Request Booking" or "Request a Quote" button as an HTML snippet to paste in, or pass to whoever manages your site.

Tradify and Fergus: enquiry forms into the app

Tradify's feature page describes inquiries arriving through a web form or an email inbox, landing in an Inquiries tab where you action them into customers, quotes, jobs and invoices, or reject them. It also mentions linking the form from Facebook, your website or a QR code.

Fergus's help centre walks through enabling the web contact form under Settings → Enquiries. Fergus generates a branded form, which you can embed in your page as an iframe or add as a link, and enquiries appear in a to-do list where you convert them to a job with one click. If someone else manages your website, Fergus can generate a prewritten email with setup details for them.

ServiceM8's lighter option, the Simple Online Enquiry form, does a similar job: address autocomplete, photo and document uploads, and requests landing in the ServiceM8 inbox, ready to convert into a job card.

When a custom form earns its keep

A custom form makes sense when you need logic the built-in forms can't do: a solar or air-conditioning install that depends on roof type, a pest job that depends on the pest, or a strata client who needs a work order number. The rule is simple: the custom form should still create the enquiry or job inside your app, through an official integration or an automation tool, rather than emailing the office. ServiceM8's help centre, for example, lists connections such as n8n and Workato. Check your own app's current integration options before your developer quotes the work.

Setup flow that works on site and on the road

List your top five job types and decide, for each, whether customers can book directly or must enquire first.
Write intake questions per job type. Keep them answerable on a phone: what's wrong, where it is, how old the system is, and whether there's access.
Ask for photos. A photo of the switchboard, hot water unit label or leak saves a site visit for quoting.
Set limits before going live: service radius, the dollar limit for manual approval, and any jobs you never take online.
Place the form where people decide: a button in the header and on every service page, not only on the contact page. If you embed an iframe, check it on a phone; Fergus's guide suggests a width of 100% so it fits smaller screens.
Confirm immediately. The customer should see a confirmation screen and receive an email or SMS saying what happens next and when.
Test from outside your area. Enter an address beyond your radius and a job over your price limit, and check both land where you expect.
Put the same link everywhere: Google Business Profile, Facebook page, quote emails and a QR code on the ute.

FAQ

Can customers book a time slot through Tradify or Fergus?

From the pages we reviewed, both focus on enquiry forms that you action into jobs rather than customer-chosen time slots. Check each provider's current feature list, as this changes.

Will an iframe form slow down my website?

It loads from the provider's server, so it adds some weight to that page. Put it on the contact or booking page and link to it elsewhere, rather than embedding it on every page.

Should I show prices online?

Only for jobs you can price without seeing them. ServiceM8 lets you show pricing per Service and send high-value or unusual jobs to manual approval, which is a sensible middle ground.

What if customers still just ring?

They will. Send the form link by SMS when you miss a call or can't talk on site; Fergus specifically suggests sending the form while you're out on a job.

If your enquiries still arrive as emails someone has to retype, show us how jobs reach your app today and we'll sketch a cleaner path.