Local SEO for tradies decides who shows in Google Maps when someone nearby searches for a plumber, electrician or builder. Google ranks them on relevance, distance and prominence, and says no one can pay for a better spot. Bigfoot Web Solutions, a Melbourne local SEO agency, works on the two you can change for a flat monthly fee.
A listing in the map comes with a call button, so a customer on a phone can ring you straight from the results without opening your website. Your reviews, photos and hours sit in the listing too, so people ring having already seen them. That’s why the business above you gets the call even when your work is better, and why it pays to know exactly what Google looks at.
Why is my business not showing on Google Maps?
Google’s Business Profile help is blunt about it: “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.” It ranks local results mainly on three things, and only two of them are yours to work on.
Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Google works it out from your business categories and the details on the profile, so a sparse profile matches fewer searches than a complete one.
Distance is how far your business is from the person searching, and you can’t change it. An electrician based in Werribee is unlikely to show in the map for a search made in Box Hill, however good the profile, so expect the map to work hardest in the suburbs closest to your base.
Prominence is how well known the business is. Google says it takes in how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help.
Google’s local ranking guidance doesn’t mention geo-tagged photos under any of the three, so treat any package sold on geo-tagging with caution. Keywords added to the business name are a bigger risk. Google’s guidelines for Business Profiles say unnecessary information in the name isn’t permitted and could get the profile suspended, so “Smith Plumbing” can’t become “Smith Plumbing Emergency Plumber Melbourne” unless that’s the registered name.
How many Google reviews do I need?
Reviews show beside your listing in Maps and Search, so they’re among the first things a caller reads. There’s no number that guarantees a place, and Google doesn’t publish one. What counts as enough depends on the businesses you compete with in your own area, so the answer for an electrician in Frankston won’t be the answer in Fitzroy.
Don’t offer a discount or anything else in return for a review. Google’s tips on getting reviews say incentives count as fake engagement and are strictly prohibited.
Where the website, links and ads fit
The profile is what people see first, and the website is where they go to check you out before ringing. Other websites that link to yours count too, through prominence. Don’t buy them. Google’s spam policies list buying links for ranking purposes as link spam, and a site that breaks those policies can rank lower or drop out of Google’s results altogether.
The map has a limit, though: distance. If you want work from suburbs well beyond your base, ads can be set to show there, and SEO or Google Ads covers how the two work together. If the listing sends people to the website and the phone still stays quiet, what to check when a website gets no leads goes through the website side.
Our local SEO in Melbourne covers your Business Profile, your citations and an easy way for customers to leave a review, for a flat monthly fee however many calls come in.
Local SEO for tradies comes down to relevance and prominence, the two parts of Google’s local ranking you can change. Book a 30-minute call and Bigfoot Web Solutions will check where your business sits in the map for your main search, and why.