Local SEO for trades

A customer in Wollongong types "plumber near me" on their phone, in a hurry because the ceiling is dripping. They see a map with three plumbers, then a list of websites. Local SEO is the work that gets you into one of those two spots, for the searches that lead to a phone call. There is no secret. It is a short list, done for months.

Two sets of results, two jobs

• The map pack. Driven by your Google profile, your categories, how close you are and your reviews. Start with the Google Business Profile overview and the reviews overview.
• The website results underneath. Driven by your pages, titles, content and how other sites refer to you.

If you want the definitions first, read what is local SEO or the version for small business generally. The tradie guide is local SEO for tradies.

Do you need a website at all?

Yes, though it can be small. Some tradies run on a hipages profile and a Facebook page. That works until a customer wants to see more than three photos, or a lead platform changes its fees. Do tradies need a website, and what does it cost gives realistic numbers in dollars. Buy your own domain in your own name, and keep the login. A site that a mate registered for you is a problem on the day you fall out.

What fixing the site you have looks like

Most tradie sites have the same five faults: a page title that says "Home", no description, one page that lists every service, service pages with two lines, and a phone number you cannot tap. Fix those first, before you pay for anything new.

Pages for jobs and places

Customers search for a job plus a place. "Switchboard upgrade Parramatta". "Blocked drain Northcote". Each main service gets a page, and each area you actually cover can get one too. Service area pages shows how to do that without pasting the same text with a suburb swapped, which does not work and reads badly. Cover places where you have done jobs, and say what you did there.

Trade by trade

The competition and the search habits differ, so there are separate posts:

• SEO for plumbers
• SEO for electricians
• SEO for roofers
• SEO for air conditioning, where demand jumps in the first hot weeks of summer
• SEO for builders, landscapers and painters

Directories

Yellow Pages, True Local, hipages and Oneflare profiles can all carry your name and number, and mismatched details across them confuse both customers and search engines. You do not need fifty. Which ones are worth keeping is covered in local citations. Check your ABN and licence number appear where your state expects them, and ask your state regulator if you are unsure what advertising must show.

Cost and time

Agency SEO for a local trade business commonly runs A$800 to A$2,500 a month on a 6 or 12 month term, as a rough guide, not a quote. Check whether that figure includes GST. The posts on what local SEO costs and how long it takes go through both. The short answer on time is months, not weeks. Anyone promising page one by the end of the month, or a flat-fee "guaranteed" ranking by cold email, should be left unread.

Common mistakes

• Registering the domain or the Google profile in a designer's name.
• Making a page for 40 suburbs you have never visited.
• Checking your ranking on your own phone at home, where results lean towards you.
• Giving up after three weeks.
• Buying a "link package" nobody can explain.