Side A · renting your leads
SEO for tradies who are done renting their phone calls
Lead sites can pass one job to more than one business and charge you for each enquiry, for as long as you use them. The other way is to rank your own Google Business Profile and suburb pages, so the call comes straight to you and nobody else gets the same job.
Lead notification example
JobHot water system, [suburb]
Sent toyou and other businesses
You payper lead, every lead
Updated
Side B · owning them
The call comes to you. Unshared.
electrician near me · open now
What the customer checks before calling
- Do you actually cover their suburb?
- Recent reviews that mention a job like theirs
- A licence number they can look up
- Photos of your own work, not stock images
- Opening hours, and whether you take urgent calls
The short answer
How tradies get more leads online without paying per enquiry
By showing up in the Google Map Pack for the suburbs you serve. People search a job and a location, and plenty call straight from the map. That comes from a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of reviews, the right service area and a proper page for each trade and suburb you cover.
| Lead site | Your own profile and pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the customer | The platform, until you win the job | You, from the first call |
| Is the job shared? | It can be sent to more than one business | No, the customer called you |
| Cost per enquiry | Charged for each lead | No charge per call once you rank |
| When you stop paying | The leads stop | Rankings keep working, with upkeep |
| Speed to start | Fast | Slower; Google says changes can take hours or months |
Lead sites are fast, and plenty of trades use them while their own rankings build. But they rank because someone does SEO for them, and that work can be yours. Call it tradie SEO, SEO for tradesmen or SEO for trades; the aim is to own your patch on the map.
Where the work is
The three spots on the map that most trade calls come from
The local three-pack sits at the top of results for near-me and suburb searches. For most trades it's the first place we work.
Google's Business Profile help says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence (how well known a business is, including links and reviews), and that more reviews and positive ratings can help.
Google doesn't publish how the three are weighted.
You can't move your yard closer to every customer, but Google says a complete, accurate profile helps it match you to the right searches, so categories, services and reviews are where the effort goes.
Categories, services and descriptions that match the job searched.
You can work on itHow far you are from the searcher or the suburb in the search.
Fixed by where you areExplained by Google as prominence: reviews, links, how well known you are.
You can work on it
Two kinds of job
Burst pipe at 9pm, or a bathroom next autumn
An emergency job is decided in minutes and a planned job is researched over days or weeks, so a good plan covers both. Build for only one and you hand the other to a competitor.
Call-out sheet
Emergency work
- Searched with "emergency", "now", "24 hour", "near me"
- Customer calls the first credible result, fast
- Won on Map Pack presence and true hours
- Lost on a phone that rings out
Quote folder
Planned work
- Searched with the job, the suburb and "cost" or "best"
- Customer compares a few tradies before deciding
- Won on deeper service pages, job photos and reviews
An emergency plumber who owns the map but has thin pages loses the big renovation jobs. A builder with lovely project pages and a weak profile misses the urgent call-outs that pay the bills between jobs.
Cover your patch
Measure your real service area before you write a single suburb page
A single "areas we service" page listing twenty suburbs rarely ranks for any of them. What works is a page for each priority suburb, one focus each, so "electrician [suburb]" lands on a real page about working there: the housing, the usual jobs, how quickly you can get there.
An example layout, not a real client's coverage.
We build pages only for suburbs you actually service, set the profile's service area to match, and widen the list as fast as you can take the work. Ranking in five suburbs beats claiming fifty and ranking in none. Our local SEO service does this work.
Your trade
One approach, tuned trade by trade
The core stays the same for every trade (the map, a page per suburb, reviews, real work and a visible licence) because trade customers search locally and call rather than fill in forms. The weighting shifts by trade.
Plumbers
Burst pipes to bathroom renovations, with emergency searches weighted heavily.
→ Dedicated pageElectricians
Urgent call-outs and planned work, with licence and safety signals up front.
→ Dedicated pageBuilders
Planned projects won on suburb pages, project photos and a longer decision.
→ Same approachEvery other trade
Carpenters, roofers, painters, landscapers, tilers, concreters and more. Ask about yours.
→
What earns the call
Ranking gets you seen; these four things get you the call
They're letting a stranger into their home, so what your listing shows decides whether they ring you or the next number down.
Every suburb you really cover is on the profile, not just your home postcode.
A review link texted right after each finished job. Google's help says more reviews and positive ratings can help.
Before and after shots of your own work, never stock images.
Credentials a customer can check, on the profile and on every service page.
How we work
The job card: six stages from audit to tracked calls
Profile and service area come first because they bring calls soonest, then suburb pages and reviews, then tracking and widening out.
Local audit
Where you show in the Map Pack across your suburbs, and what holds you back.
Profile and area
A complete Business Profile with the service area set to your real coverage.
Suburb pages
A page for each priority suburb and trade, one focus per page.
Reviews and photos
A review routine and real job photos that turn rankings into calls.
Local links
Genuine local citations and links that strengthen the whole profile.
Track calls
Calls and quote requests by suburb, reported each month.
Calls, not screenshots of rankings
Rankings and map visibility are early signs and we track them, but the real measure is whether the phone is busier with the jobs you want, and from which suburbs. If a suburb ranks but doesn't call, we look at the profile and the page again.
Example plans
Three work dockets for three common trades
Starting plans, not client results. Each lists the work and the number we'd track from the first report. For real numbers, our case studies include Belvedere Building and Electrical: 27 leads in 30 days.
Docket: electrician
Set the service area to the suburbs you really cover, add your electrical licence number and job photos to the profile, and text a review link after every job.
Track: calls from the profile, by suburb
Docket: plumber
Show true after-hours availability, put the phone number at the top of every page, and write an emergency page that says what to do before you arrive.
Track: calls outside business hours
Docket: builder
A project page for each finished job with the suburb, scope and photos at each stage, linked from the matching suburb page.
Track: quote requests from project and suburb pages
Pricing
Three prices, and the job value that pays for them
Published plans, billed monthly, no setup fee and no lock-in. Work out how many extra jobs a month, at your average job value and margin, would cover the plan; the free audit tells you which plan fits, in writing.
Starter
$500/mo
One trade, a handful of suburbs: profile, reviews and core suburb pages.
Growth
$900/mo
More suburbs and services each month, plus planned-job pages and photos.
Performance
$1,500/mo
Several crews or locations, crowded city markets, emergency and planned work.
Plan detail is on the pricing page.
Questions
What tradies ask before spending on SEO
How do tradies get more leads online?
Mostly by showing up in the Google Map Pack for near-me and suburb searches. A complete Business Profile, steady reviews, the right service area and a page for each trade and suburb get you there.
Is SEO worth it for tradies?
Test it with your own numbers: average job value, margin, and how many extra jobs a month would cover the plan. A ranking doesn't switch off the day you stop paying, though it needs upkeep, and the leads aren't shared with other businesses.
How do I rank my trade business on Google Maps?
Claim and complete your Business Profile, set the service area to the suburbs you cover, add real job photos and keep your name, address and phone consistent everywhere. Then earn reviews; Google's help says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. For a service-area trade with no shopfront, the profile does most of the work.
How much does SEO cost for a tradie?
Three published plans: $500 a month (Starter), $900 (Growth) or $1,500 (Performance). No setup fee, no lock-in. After a free audit we tell you in writing which one fits your suburbs and trade. See the pricing page.
Do I need a website or just a Google Business Profile?
A well-run profile wins plenty of trade work, and some sole operators start there. A website still earns its keep: it ranks in ordinary results for suburb and service terms, shows job photos and licence details, and captures enquiries you own. For most trades the answer is both.
How do I get more Google reviews?
Ask at the right moment and make it easy: straight after a finished job, with a direct review link texted on the spot. Never buy or swap reviews; it breaks Google's rules.
What is the difference between emergency and planned-job SEO?
Emergency searches end in a call within minutes; planned jobs are researched over days or weeks, so deeper service pages, photos and reviews win. Most trades need both.
Which suburbs should I target?
The ones you actually service and want more work in. We write a page for each priority suburb, match the profile's service area, and add suburbs only as you have capacity.
Will AI search help my trade business?
The same work covers it. Google says its AI features, such as AI Overviews, are rooted in its core ranking systems, need no special markup or separate files, and that a complete Business Profile helps. Nobody can promise an AI answer will name you.
I spend my evenings writing free quotes for people who never go ahead. Can the website cut that down?
It can filter before you drive anywhere. Publish "from" prices or typical ranges for your common jobs, taken from your own invoices, so people with an unrealistic budget rule themselves out. Make the quote form ask for the suburb, a photo, the budget range and when they want it done, and send small jobs straight to a booking time instead of a site visit. Fewer quote requests will come in, and more of them will turn into jobs.
My web designer set up the domain and Google profile. Do I actually own them?
Check today. Look your domain up on the auDA WHOIS service at whois.auda.org.au, which shows who holds the licence for a .au name; it should be your business, not the designer's. In your Business Profile, confirm you are the primary owner and the designer is a manager. Do the same for Google Analytics and Search Console. If any of them sit in someone else's name, ask for a transfer in writing now.
I added my suburbs to my business name on Google and the profile got suspended. Why?
Google's guidelines say the profile name should be your real business name, as on your signage and paperwork, with service area and categories in their own fields. Suburb names in the name break that rule, and Google can suspend profiles that don't follow its guidelines. Change the name back to the one on your ABN and van, then appeal once with signage photos and registration details as evidence, instead of resubmitting changes.
How long does SEO take for a trade business?
Google's SEO starter guide says a change can show within hours or take several months. Profile fixes usually show first; suburb pages across a wider area take longer. The audit shows which suburbs look quick and which look slow; we won't promise a date.
How do I get started with trade SEO?
Start with a free trade SEO audit. We look at your profile, your site and the tradies ranking around you, then send a costed plan in writing, with no obligation.
Keep renting
Pay per lead, share the job, start again each month.
Or start owning your calls
Tell us your trade and the suburbs you work. We'll show where you appear in the Map Pack, what's holding you back, and a costed plan. No obligation, no lock-in.