Short answer: getting found on Google comes down to three things working together, a Google Business Profile set up properly, a steady stream of genuine reviews, and a website Google can trust. Nail all three and you show up when locals search your trade in your area.
The three things that decide if locals find you
When a homeowner searches "electrician near me" or "fencing quotes in your suburb", Google decides in a split second who to show. For a local trade, three things move that decision more than anything else: your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and your website. Here's how to get each one working.
1. Set up your Google Business Profile properly
Your Google Business Profile, the listing with your name, map pin, phone and reviews, is what puts you in the local "map pack" at the top of the results. It's free, and it's the single biggest lever for a local tradie. To get it right:
- Claim and verify it at google.com/business. Verification is what makes it live.
- Pick the most accurate category (electrician, fencing contractor, plumber) and add the services you offer.
- Set your service area to the suburbs you actually work in, not the whole state.
- Fill in everything: phone, hours, a real description, and your website address.
- Add photos of real jobs. Profiles with photos get more calls.
2. Get more reviews, and reply to them
Reviews do two jobs: they push you up the local rankings, and they win the click once you're there. Nobody wants to be the first review, and everyone reads them. The trick is to make asking a habit:
- Ask on the day the job wraps, when the customer is happiest.
- Make it one tap. Text them your Google review link, don't ask them to search for you.
- Reply to every review, good or bad. It shows you're switched on, and Google notices.
- Keep them coming. A steady trickle of recent reviews beats a big batch from a year ago.
3. Have a website Google can trust
You can appear in the map results with just a Business Profile, but a website makes everything stronger. It gives Google real content to match against searches, a place to show your work and licences, and something for your Business Profile to link to, which lifts both. A good tradie website:
- Says what you do and where, in the words your customers actually search.
- Loads fast on a phone, where most tradie searches happen.
- Shows real jobs and reviews, so the visit turns into a call.
- Is set up cleanly for Google, with the right page titles, structure and speed.
How long does it take?
Let's be honest about timing. A verified Google Business Profile can start showing in local results within days to a few weeks. Ranking a website for the more competitive searches takes longer, usually a few months of being live, gathering reviews and earning the odd link. It builds steadily. Anyone promising page one overnight is selling you something.
Where TradieWebsiteHQ fits
We build your website and set up your Google Business Profile properly, then host and look after the lot for $99 a month, everything included, nothing upfront. You get found, and you own it. See what we can do, browse websites for your trade, or read the honest cost guide.