Why Mainland Agencies Don’t Get Tenerife

I’ve seen it time and again: a Tenerife business gets burned by a slick agency from Madrid or a "budget-friendly" freelancer overseas. They promise the world, deliver a generic template, and then vanish when the phone doesn't ring.

The website might look pretty, but it fails to generate business. Why? Because Tenerife is a unique market, and if you aren't on the ground here, you simply don't understand the nuances.

1. They Don’t Know How Locals Search

Mainland designers optimise for standard Spanish terms like "Fontanero Madrid" or "Restaurante Barcelona." But here in Tenerife, the search behaviour is entirely different.

A generic agency won't know that your customers are actually typing things like:

• "English-speaking electrician Tenerife"
• "Reliable builders South Tenerife"
• "Expat-friendly plumber near me"

If your website isn't built to capture these specific, bilingual search terms, you remain invisible to a massive portion of your potential client base.

2. They Miss the Expat Market Completely

A huge chunk of your revenue likely comes from English, German, or Scandinavian expats. These customers have specific anxieties that a standard Spanish website doesn't address.

Furthermore, WhatsApp is the lifeblood of business on this island. While mainland sites might bury a contact form on a back page, we know that a prominent WhatsApp button is often the difference between a booking and a bounce.

3. They Don’t Understand Our Geography

Tenerife isn't like the Peninsula where a service radius might be a simple 50km circle. The island’s geography dictates business.

Someone living in Los Cristianos is unlikely to hire a tradesman from Puerto de la Cruz for a routine job. Your website needs to target your specific catchment area—whether that’s the South, the North, or specific municipalities. Mainland agencies tend to lump everything under "Tenerife" and wonder why the local SEO strategy fails.

The Enterprise Difference

This is why I operate differently. I actually live here. I understand the frustration of trying to find reliable services on the island, and I know exactly how to position your business to solve that problem.

But I also bring something most local designers don't: Big Tech experience.

Before settling in Tenerife, I spent decades managing technology for massive organisations like Apple, BP, Mars, and the BBC. I’m not self-taught on YouTube; I have managed enterprise-level architecture for international banks and broadcasters.

When you work with onTenerife, you get that high-level strategic thinking—proper security, professional project management, and solid architecture—applied to your local business. You get corporate-quality work without the corporate price tag.