Local SEO for Tradies: How to Get Found on Google in Your Area

When someone in your suburb types "electrician near me" or "emergency plumber the Wide Bay" into Google, you want your business to be one of the first three results that pops up. That's local SEO, and for most tradies it's the single most valuable marketing channel you've got.

The good news: you don't need to hire an SEO agency to get the basics right. Most of the work is straightforward, free, and pays back for years.

If you're a sparky in Newcastle, you don't care about ranking for "electrician" globally. You care about the people within 30km of your van who are looking for someone right now.

Google knows this too. When someone searches a service-based query with local intent, Google shows what's called the "local pack" — the map with three businesses pinned, each with reviews and a phone number. Above almost everything else.

Getting into that local pack is the goal. Everything in this article is about how to do that.

Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the single most important asset in local SEO. If you do nothing else, do this properly.

Setting Up Properly

If you haven't claimed your profile yet, search your business name on Google. If a profile exists, claim it. If not, create one at google.com/business.

Verification is usually done by postcard (a code mailed to your business address) or by phone for some categories.

What to Fill In

Google rewards completeness. Fill in everything:

• ✓**Business name** — exactly as it appears on your invoices and signage. Don't keyword-stuff it ("ABC Plumbing - Emergency Plumber Sydney" gets you suspended).
• ✓**Primary category** — pick the most accurate one (e.g. "Electrician," not "Contractor")
• ✓**Secondary categories** — add up to 9 relevant ones
• ✓**Service area** — list the suburbs and regions you actually service
• ✓**Hours** — including special hours for public holidays
• ✓**Phone number** — the one that rings on your work phone
• ✓**Website** — your actual website
• ✓**Services** — list every service with descriptions
• ✓**Photos** — at least 10 real photos: vans, team, completed work, before/afters
• ✓**Description** — 750 characters max; mention what you do, where, and what's distinctive

Update photos monthly. Profiles with regularly updated photos consistently outperform stale ones.

Posts and Updates

Google Business Profile lets you post updates the same way you'd post to social media. A short post once a week — a recent job, a customer testimonial, a seasonal reminder — keeps your profile active in Google's eyes.

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. It's the most boring, important thing in local SEO.

Your business name, address, and phone number need to be exactly identical everywhere they appear online — your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook, hipages, Yellow Pages, every directory.

If your phone is "(07) 1234 5678" on Google but "07-1234-5678" on your website and "0712345678" on Facebook, Google's confused about whether those are the same business. Inconsistencies dilute the trust signal.

Pick one format and use it everywhere. Same suite number, same abbreviations, same phone format.

Reviews are the single biggest factor most tradies under-invest in. A business with 80 reviews at 4.7 stars beats a business with 6 reviews at 5.0 stars almost every time.

How to Actually Get Reviews

The number one reason clients don't leave reviews isn't because they don't want to — it's because nobody asked. Asking works, and it works best when:

1. 1You ask immediately after the job, while goodwill is at its peak
2. 2You make it stupidly easy — send a direct link, not "Google us and leave a review"
3. 3You ask in person first, then follow up with a text

A simple text the same evening:

"Hi Sarah, thanks for having us out today. If you've got 30 seconds, a quick Google review would mean the world: [link]"

Generate Your Review Link

In your Google Business Profile, there's a "Get more reviews" button that gives you a short shareable link. Save it as a text shortcut on your phone. Send it within 24 hours of finishing the job.

Responding to Reviews

Reply to every review — good and bad. A short thank-you for positive ones, a measured professional response to negative ones. Google notices.

You don't need a 50-page website. You do need one that Google can read and that makes sense to people who land on it.

Core Pages Every Tradie Site Needs

• ✓Home page that clearly says what you do and where
• ✓Services pages — one per main service (drain unblocking, hot water systems, gas fitting, etc.)
• ✓About page with real photos of you and the team
• ✓Contact page with phone, email, and a form
• ✓A few testimonials or case studies

Location Pages

If you cover multiple suburbs or regions, create a page for each major one:

• ✓/electrician-brisbane-northside
• ✓/electrician-redcliffe
• ✓/electrician-chermside

Each page should be genuinely useful — not just "we're an electrician in [suburb]" repeated 30 times. Talk about the area, common jobs you do there, recent projects, suburbs nearby.

Don't spin up 50 thin location pages. Five solid ones beat 50 garbage ones every time.

For local trades, the keyword pattern is almost always [trade] + [location] or [service] + [location]:

• ✓electrician brisbane northside
• ✓emergency plumber redcliffe
• ✓split system installation chermside
• ✓hot water repairs caboolture

Use these naturally in:

• ✓Page titles and headings
• ✓The opening paragraph of relevant pages
• ✓The image alt text and file names
• ✓Your Google Business Profile description and services

The mistake is cramming them in. "Best electrician brisbane electrician sparky brisbane electrician chermside" reads like spam to humans and to Google. Write naturally; mention the location once or twice per page.

A citation is a mention of your NAP on another website. The more reputable directories list your business, the more Google trusts you.

The directories worth being on:

| Directory | Notes | |---|---| | hipages | Australian trades; high authority | | Yellow Pages | Free basic listing | | True Local | Free | | Yelp Australia | Free | | Word of Mouth | Free | | Local council business directories | Often free for local businesses | | Industry-specific (Master Builders, MPMSAA, etc.) | Worth it for trust |

Avoid paying for spammy "list your site on 500 directories" services. Quality beats quantity.

Backlinks from local sources help even more — getting mentioned by a local newspaper, sponsoring a local sports club, being listed on a Chamber of Commerce site. These take more effort but compound over years.

Google Business Profile has a built-in insights tab that tells you:

• ✓How many people viewed your profile
• ✓How they found you (direct search vs discovery)
• ✓How many called, requested directions, or visited your website
• ✓What search terms triggered your profile

Check it monthly. If profile views are growing but calls aren't, your photos or reviews aren't converting. If nothing is growing, your profile or NAP needs work.

For your website, Google Search Console (free) tells you which keywords are showing your site in search results and where you rank.

Local SEO is not instant. Expect:

• ✓Weeks 1–4: Get the basics in place — profile, NAP, initial reviews
• ✓Months 2–3: Reviews start accumulating, profile gains traction
• ✓Months 4–6: Visible improvements in local pack rankings for some keywords
• ✓Months 6–12: Consistent presence in the local pack for your core keywords

Tradies who give up at month two never see the payoff. Tradies who stick with it for a year are still benefiting five years later.

• ✓Google Business Profile is the most important local SEO asset — fill it in completely and update it regularly
• ✓Keep your name, address, and phone number identical everywhere online
• ✓Reviews are the biggest under-invested area for most tradies — ask every customer, every time
• ✓Build location-specific pages on your website for the suburbs you serve
• ✓Target [trade] + [location] keywords naturally, don't stuff them
• ✓Local citations and backlinks compound slowly but matter long-term
• ✓Measure with Google Business Profile insights and Search Console — if you're not measuring, you're guessing