Google & SEO
How to help your trade business show up on Google in the areas you serve
Your website and Google Business Profile should tell the same clear story about your services and the places you work. Start with these practical steps.
You might have a good reputation with existing customers, but someone new to the area still needs a way to find you. For trade businesses, that often starts with a search for a service and a place, such as roof repairs in Albany or an electrician in Henderson.
Being visible involves more than adding a list of suburbs to the bottom of your homepage. Your business information, website and evidence of local work should give people a clear, accurate picture of what you offer.
Understand the two places customers can find you
Google can show local business listings on Maps and in search results, alongside ordinary website results. Your Google Business Profile and your website support different parts of that experience.
Google explains that local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. Accurate information and genuine reviews can help, but listing a service area does not guarantee a position in every suburb. No agency can remove distance from that equation or promise you first place.
Get your Business Profile basics right
Check that your business name, phone number, website, hours and services are accurate. Choose a category that describes your main business and additional categories only where they genuinely apply.
Use your real business name. Adding a string of services or suburbs to it is not a substitute for completing the rest of the profile properly.
If you travel to customers and do not receive them at your address, Google says to hide that address and use a service area. A residential address does not need to become a public shopfront. Follow the profile rules that match how your business actually operates.
Give your main services useful pages
Your website should explain the services people are trying to find. A single sentence about “all building work” does little to help someone assessing a renovation contractor.
For each main service, explain the work, the situations it suits, your process and the areas you cover. Include relevant project examples and a clear enquiry route.
Use customer language naturally. If you offer reroofing, roof replacements and repairs, explain the distinctions rather than repeating a search phrase throughout the page.
Make local content worth reading
A project story can demonstrate that you understand the work and the location. An arborist might describe managing access to a suburban property. A builder might explain the considerations behind a coastal renovation.
Where a dedicated area page is useful, give it information specific to the customers you serve there. Swapping the suburb name across dozens of otherwise identical pages does not create a helpful local resource.
Choose a few important areas and build useful material around real experience. You do not need to publish a page for every place you have driven through.
Ask for genuine feedback
Make it straightforward for customers to leave an honest review after a completed job. A direct review link in your normal follow up can help.
Let customers describe the experience in their own words. Do not script praise or offer rewards for positive ratings. Reply thoughtfully and use feedback to improve the service as well as the profile.
Photographs of completed work and an accurate business description also help prospective customers assess whether you are a suitable choice.
Measure what is changing
Use Google Search Console to understand which searches bring up your website and which pages receive clicks. Check your Business Profile performance separately, because website results and local listings are different surfaces.
Look beyond searching your own business name. Track relevant services and locations, then connect enquiries to their source where you can. Rankings can vary with location and context, so one search on your phone is not a complete report.
Begin with accurate business information, clear service pages and a few strong examples of local work. If you want help deciding what to improve first, talk to FORTH about Search. We can discuss your website, the areas you serve and the opportunities worth pursuing.
Further reading
Google: Tips to improve your local ranking
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