How tradespeople can get more local jobs from Google

Most tradespeople start out on word of mouth. One good job leads to the next, a neighbour tells a neighbour, and the diary fills up. It’s the best kind of recommendation there is.

But if word of mouth is all you’ve got, you don’t really have a business. You have a run of good luck.

Why word of mouth isn’t enough on its own

Word of mouth depends on other people remembering you, at the moment someone asks. You can’t turn it up when it’s quiet. So it tends to bring feast or famine: three months booked solid, then a gap you can’t fill, then a rush again.

It also makes it hard to grow. If every job comes from a past customer’s friend, the number of jobs you hear about is capped by how many people already know you. Taking on help, buying a van or saying no to awkward jobs all feel risky when you don’t know where next month’s work is coming from.

A steady flow of enquiries changes that. When new people find you every week, you can pick the jobs you want, price properly, and plan ahead.

Where people look now

When someone needs a plumber, a roofer or a builder and nobody has given them a name, they search on Google. They usually see a map of local businesses, then a list of websites. Being in those results is what turns “nobody’s heard of me” into a steady stream of calls.

Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and how well known a business is. You can’t change where a customer lives, but you can do a lot about the other two.

1. Complete your Google Business Profile

Your Business Profile is what shows on the map. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Fill in every part: your trade, the areas you cover, your hours, your phone number and your website. Our Business Profile guide walks through it step by step.

2. Get reviews, and keep them coming

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. One burst of reviews when you set up isn’t enough: a steady trickle tells Google, and customers, that you’re busy and doing good work. Ask at the end of every job that went well, and reply to every review. Our guide to getting more reviews has wording you can copy.

3. Show your real work

Photos of jobs you’ve done are the best advert a tradesperson has. Google’s own advice for service businesses is to add at least three photos that show the services you offer. Add new ones as you finish jobs, to your Business Profile and your website. Our guide to photos that win you work has tips on taking them.

4. A website that says what you do, and where

Your website backs up everything on the map. Give each kind of work its own section or page, in the words customers use (“boiler repair”, not “heating solutions”), and name the towns and villages you cover. That’s how you show up when someone searches for your trade and their town.

Make getting in touch easy: your number at the top of every page, a call button on phones, and a short form for people who’d rather write. When we built a website for a builder in Bury St Edmunds, the whole site was built around one next step: book a free consultation, or call.

Keep word of mouth, and add to it

None of this replaces recommendations. It makes them work harder: when someone hears your name, they look you up, and what they find decides whether they call. A good website and a strong Business Profile turn a passing mention into a booked job.

If you’d like a website built for your trade, have a look at websites for trades.