SEO for tradies: what actually moves the phone
A click for plumber in south east Queensland costs advertisers around fifty seven dollars. Here is how to get some of that traffic without paying for it, in the order that matters.
Search advice for trades is usually written by people who have never watched how a customer with a burst pipe actually behaves. They do not browse. They search, they look at the map, they ring the first two or three that look real, and they stop.
That behaviour is the whole strategy, and it puts things in an order that surprises most tradies.
First: the map, not the website
For local trades the map results sit above everything else on the page. They are won with a Google Business Profile, reviews and proximity, not with a website.
I audited a competitive local trade market recently and the business sitting first in the map for the two highest value searches had a website with no organic keywords, no backlinks and effectively no traffic at all. It won anyway, because the map is a different contest.
So if you have limited time, the profile comes before the site. Complete every field, add real photos of real jobs, and ask every customer who was happy to leave a review the same day, while they still remember your name.
Second: one page per service, in the words customers use
Not a services page listing eleven things. One page for the thing people actually search, written the way they say it.
Emergency plumber is a different search from blocked drain, and both are different from hot water system replacement. They are different jobs at different prices with different urgency, and a single page trying to catch all three catches none of them.
Third: the money is in the question pages
How much does it cost to replace a hot water system. Is it illegal to do my own electrical work. How long does a blocked drain take to clear.
Nobody in most trades answers these properly, because answering them feels like giving something away. It is the opposite. The person searching that question is closer to buying than the person searching your trade and your suburb, and the answer is what makes an AI assistant able to quote you when someone asks it the same thing.
What to ignore
The word mobile, if you are a mobile service. It reads well on a page and almost nobody searches it. It is a selling point, not a search term.
Anything sold to you as a package of directory listings. And anyone who guarantees a position, because nobody controls that and the ones who promise it are describing an outcome they cannot deliver.
Quick answers
What is the first thing a tradie should fix for search?
The Google Business Profile, before the website. For local trades the map results sit above the ordinary results, and they are won with a complete profile, real photos and recent reviews rather than with pages.
How many reviews does a tradie need?
There is no threshold that switches something on. What matters more is recency and steadiness: a handful of reviews spread across recent months reads better than thirty from two years ago. Ask the same day, while the customer still remembers your name.
Should I have one page for all my services?
No. One page per service, using the words customers type. Emergency plumber, blocked drain and hot water replacement are three different searches with different urgency and different value, and one page trying to catch all three catches none.
Does answering cost questions on my site lose me work?
The evidence points the other way. The person searching how much something costs is closer to booking than the person browsing, and a published answer is what lets an AI assistant name you when someone asks it the same question.
Is it worth targeting the word mobile if I am a mobile service?
Not as a search term. Search volume for mobile plus a trade is tiny compared to the trade on its own. It belongs in your copy as a reason to choose you, not in your page titles as a target.
Want this checked on your own site?
The scan is free and it runs on the same crawler I use for client work. It gives you the list, not a sales call.