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Local SEO for trades and tradesmen
If your customers can’t find you on Google, they’re calling someone else. We do local SEO for tradesmen and skilled trades across the UK. The things that decide who gets the call: your Google profile, your website and your reviews, worked on every month for the towns you cover. No jargon, no lock-in.
- Real research before we recommend anything
- Trades across the UK
Why tradesmen lose jobs on Google every day.
You’re as good at the job as anyone in your area, probably better. But when someone nearby searches for your trade, it’s another firm’s number they tap. That’s not about who’s the better tradesperson. It’s about who Google understands and trusts. Here’s what’s usually holding trades back:
Your Google Business Profile is incomplete
Set up once and never touched. Missing categories, no photos, no services listed. So Google has less to go on when it decides who to show.
Your website is slow or invisible on mobile
If your site is slow on a phone, people tap back and call someone else.
You only show up in one of your towns
Based in one place but working a whole patch, and invisible everywhere except where your van’s parked.
Nobody’s keeping it going
SEO for trades isn’t a one-off job. The businesses ahead of you are doing something every month. If you’re not, the gap grows.
Free local forecast
See how much work you're missing in your area every month.
Tell us your trade and your towns. We’ll send back an honest forecast showing the real demand in your area, who’s winning those enquiries right now, and what it would take to get them coming to you instead.
- Real local search data
- Back to you in 3 working days
- No pitch, no pressure
Free, no follow-up unless you ask for it.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the work that gets your business shown when someone searches for your trade in a particular place. Searches like “electrician in Rugby”, “roofer near me” or “boiler repair Hinckley”. For a trade it comes down to three things Google looks at:
- Your Google Business Profile. It’s what shows in the map pack and on Google Maps. Your categories, service areas, services, photos and hours.
- Your website. A page for each main job and each town you work in, so Google can match you to what people type.
- What the rest of the web says about you. Your reviews, and the same name, address and phone number on the other sites that list you.
Nobody can buy a better spot in the map results. Google says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Paid ads are a separate thing. They sit above or alongside the free results, and you pay per click. That’s paid Google Ads.
Local SEO and national SEO
Local SEO is about searches in a set area, like “electrician in Rugby” or “plumber near me”. It leans on your Google Business Profile, the map results and pages for your towns. National SEO goes after searches with no place in them, across the whole UK. A trade usually wants work from the towns it can drive to, so we start with local.
What SEO for tradesmen actually involves.
No template, no guesswork. SEO for trades is a handful of things done consistently. Here’s what we cover and what each one does for your trade business.
Local SEO and Google Maps
Working on what decides who Google shows in the map pack. That’s the three local businesses listed with the map at the top of the results.
On-page SEO for trades
Making your site tell Google plainly what you do and where, so it can match you to the searches that matter.
Technical and mobile
A fast site that works properly on a phone. Someone with a burst pipe isn’t sat at a desk.
Reviews and reputation
A steady flow of genuine reviews. Customers read them. Google does too.
Citations and consistency
Keeping your business details the same on Google, your website and the main listing sites.
AI search
The groundwork that counts on Google counts when people ask AI tools for a local trade too. The free forecast shows whether those tools mention you today.
SEO for your trade
Each trade gets searched for in its own way. Our trade pages show the real UK search numbers for the work you do.
SEO for plumbers and heating engineers
Boilers, emergency call outs, bathrooms and landlord certificates each pull in different customers. See which ones are worth a page of their own.
SEO for electricians
Certificates, EV chargers, solar and rewires. Each one pulls in its own searches from its own kind of customer.
SEO for roofers
Repairs, flat roofs, roofline and new roofs. Very different jobs, searched for in very different words.
Builders, landscapers and other trades
The same groundwork applies to every trade. Your free forecast shows the searches for your own work in your own towns. There’s more on marketing for landscapers, marketing for builders and every trade we work with.
How Google decides which trades to show first.
When someone searches “landscaper near me” or “electrician in [your town]”, Google picks who to show using three things. Relevance (how well it understands what you do and where). Distance (how far you are from the person searching). Prominence (how well known and trusted you look, including your reviews and the sites that link to you). Good SEO for trades is about getting all three right and keeping them right. Google sets this out on its own help page.
Imagine Dave, a landscaper covering Coventry and Nuneaton. He only ever told Google he was in Coventry.
So in Nuneaton, where there was more work going, he didn’t appear at all. One fixable gap, costing him jobs every month.
What would more work be worth to your trade?
Set the sliders to your own numbers. The starting values are examples only, not figures from any real business.
The starting numbers are examples only. Move the sliders to match your business.
Why your Google Business Profile matters.
For a local trade, the map pack matters a lot. It’s the box of three businesses shown with the map at the top of local searches. What’s on your Google Business Profile plays a big part in who appears there. A profile that earns its place is:
Claimed, verified and complete
Right categories, all your towns, services and hours filled in properly.
Full of real photos
Your actual jobs and before-and-afters, not stock images.
Photos and reviews kept up
New photos of your work and a steady flow of genuine reviews. Ask every customer and reply to every review.
None of that costs money. It costs time and keeping at it. That’s why so many trades have a half-finished profile.
Where to start: what you can do yourself
Some of this costs nothing but an hour of your time. Start here.
- Search for your main job and your town on your phone. Note who shows up above you.
- Open your Google Business Profile. Check the main category is your actual trade and the service area matches where you work.
- Add photos of a recent job to your profile. A before and after works well.
- Ask every customer for a review and let them write it in their own words. Reply to each one.
- Look up your business on Google. Is the name, address and phone number the same on your profile and on your website? Fix any that differ.
Done all five and the phone’s still quiet? Your free forecast shows what’s in the way. See your free forecast →
SEO, Google Ads or lead sites
Digital marketing for tradesmen mostly comes down to three routes. Here’s how we see each one.
SEO
Your profile, your pages and your reviews, worked on month after month. It’s slower to build. There’s no charge per click, and it all stays in your name if you ever leave us.
Google Ads
You pay each time someone clicks your ad. Ads can bring calls in sooner. Time them for the months you want the diary full.
Lead sites
Useful when the diary has a gap. You’re renting someone else’s customers, and you can pay for leads you never win.
We’ll tell you which mix makes sense for your trade and your towns, even when the honest answer means less work for us.
An SEO agency built for trades
- Local first. We research your area before we recommend anything.
- Real access. A direct number and fast replies.
- Agility. When something needs to change, we change it.
- Transparency. Clear, honest numbers every month.
- Education. You’ll always know what we’re doing and why.
- No lock-in. Month to month. You stay because you can see what’s coming in.
MES Systems, fitting an alarm. One of the trades we work with.
Getting started with SEO for your trade.
No pitch deck. No vague promises. Here’s exactly what happens when you get in touch.
Free area forecast
We look at your area, your competitors and the search terms your customers are actually using. You get a full picture of what’s possible before you spend a penny.
We show our research
We walk you through exactly what we found and what we’d do about it. You’ll understand every decision we recommend.
We do the work and show you what's coming in
Once the work starts, we track taps on your call button and form enquiries and go through them with you every month. Straight numbers and a clear conversation.
Questions about SEO for trades
How long does SEO take to work?
Anyone who gives you a date is guessing. It depends on how many firms want the same work in your towns and the state of your website and Google profile when we start. Every month we’ll show you what we’ve done and what’s come in. If you need calls this month, talk to us about Google Ads alongside it.
What results can I realistically expect?
That’s what the free forecast is for. We look at the searches for your work, where you stand now and who you’re up against. Then we give you an honest picture. We won’t promise you a position on Google. We’ll show you what the evidence says is possible.
What does it cost?
It depends on how competitive your market is and what you’re starting with. We’ll give you a clear number after the free forecast, so you can weigh it up against what we’ve shown you. No hidden costs, no surprise invoices.
Is there a contract?
We always offer a rolling monthly contract. You stay because you’re happy with what you see, not because you’re tied in. SEO builds over time, so a few weeks won’t tell you much either way.
Do you work with trades across the UK?
Yes. We’re based in Hinckley in Leicestershire, but your towns don’t need to be near ours. Your forecast and your plan are built on the searches in the places you work.
What trades do you work with?
Plumbers, electricians, roofers, builders, heating engineers, plasterers, landscapers and other local trades, anywhere in the UK. If you want more work coming through Google, get in touch. Our trade pages go into the detail for plumbers, electricians and roofers.
Can you help if my website is old or basic?
Yes. We work with whatever you have. If your site needs work before SEO will help, we’ll tell you upfront and explain why. We can work with your existing developer, or rebuild it ourselves if that’s the better option. Websites for trades →
Do I need a website, or just a Google profile?
A profile on its own can bring in calls. A website gives you a page for each job and each town, which a profile can’t. If your current site is fast and easy to call from, we’ll work with it.
Should I stay on Checkatrade?
Stay if it’s paying its way. We’ll give you our honest view with your free forecast, even if the answer means less work for us. Either way, don’t leave your own Google profile and website for last. Those stay yours, whoever you work with.
Can I do SEO for my trade business myself?
Some of it, yes. The five checks under “Where to start” cost nothing but your time. What takes the time is doing them every month around your jobs. That’s the bit we can take off you.
What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It’s improving your website and your presence online so Google is more likely to show you when someone nearby searches for your trade. It covers what’s on your pages, how your site works, your Google Business Profile and the signals Google uses to decide who to trust.
Local SEO for trade businesses across the UK.
We work with trade businesses all over the UK. Plumbers, electricians, roofers, builders, landscapers and heating engineers. We’re based in Hinckley in Leicestershire. Every forecast and every plan is built on the searches in your own towns, wherever they are.
Local SEO for trades comes down to the same few things. An accurate, active Google profile. Genuine reviews. A fast website with a page for each of your towns. And keeping at it month after month. That groundwork counts wherever your customers look next, including AI search.
Near us: SEO in Hinckley → SEO in Nuneaton →
See what your local market actually looks like.
Tell us your service and your towns. We’ll send you a free local forecast covering search demand, competitors and where the real opportunities are. No pitch, no pressure, no follow up unless you ask for it.