SEO, Google Ads, and everything in between — the complete guide.
Free organic traffic that compounds over time. This is where to start.
Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile — GBP is the #1 local ranking factor. Complete every field, add photos of your work, and post updates regularly. Most tradies leave it half-done, which means their competitors who do fill it out rank higher for the same searches.
Get Listed on Hipages, ServiceSeeking, and Oneflare — these directories rank well for trade searches. A complete profile with reviews gets you leads without ad spend. Keep your profile active and respond to enquiries quickly, because slow replies cost you the job.
Collect Reviews After Every Job — reviews are the #1 trust signal for local search. Ask your last 10 customers for a Google review this week. Even 5 reviews can move you up a page in local results, and a tradie with 20 reviews will almost always win the click over one with none.
Already running Google Ads? These are the warning signs that your spend might be wasted.
Location Targeting Too Broad — many tradies target their whole state by default. If you service a 30km radius, your targeting should reflect that — otherwise you're paying for clicks you can never convert. Tighten your location settings and your cost per lead drops immediately.
No Negative Keywords — without negatives, your ads show for 'DIY', 'how to fix', 'tradie jobs' searches. These burn budget fast. A basic negative keyword list takes 20 minutes to set up and can cut wasted spend by 20–40%.
Not Optimised for Mobile — 70%+ of tradie searches happen on mobile. If your landing page loads slowly on mobile or doesn't have a prominent call button, you're losing those leads immediately. Check your mobile experience before you spend another dollar on ads.
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Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Facebook and Instagram work well for brand awareness, especially for visual trades. Not a replacement for Google Ads if you want immediate job leads.
Word of mouth is your cheapest channel. A simple referral reward — $50 off their next job — can generate consistent leads.
Hipages, ServiceSeeking, and Google Business Profile. Keep them updated and collect reviews — they rank well locally.
Relying only on word-of-mouth — it dries up. Build at least one digital channel that generates leads while you sleep.
Not collecting reviews — one bad review with no response looks terrible. Five good ones with replies look trustworthy.
Running Google Ads without conversion tracking — you'll never know which keywords bring jobs.
Ignoring your Google Business Profile — it's free and it ranks. Most tradies leave half the fields empty.
Using the same landing page for all your ads — a 'plumber Sydney' ad should go to a plumber Sydney page, not your homepage.
For most tradies: Google Business Profile first (free, high ROI), then Google Ads if you want immediate leads, then SEO for long-term organic traffic. Directory listings like Hipages are worth keeping active. Don't spread yourself thin — do one thing well before adding another.
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