If you're not there when they search, you don't exist
When someone in your area needs a tradesperson, they pull out their phone and search. The businesses that show up in the top few results get the calls. Everyone else is invisible, no matter how good their work is.
If your trades business isn't appearing for searches like "plumber Wellington" or "electrician near me", it usually comes down to a handful of fixable things.
Your Google Business Profile is weak or unclaimed
For local trades searches, your Google Business Profile matters more than your website. If you haven't claimed it, filled in every field, added photos, and collected reviews, you're handing leads to competitors who have.
This is the single highest-return task for most trades businesses, and it costs nothing but time.
Your site doesn't target the right searches
A lot of trades websites are built to look good, not to be found. They say "Welcome to ABC Services" and little else. Google can't tell what you do or where you do it.
Each service you offer and each area you cover should have its own clear, useful page. "Hot water cylinder replacement North Shore" is a page, not a hope.
You have no local signals
Google works out where you operate from clues: your address, the areas mentioned on your site, your profile, and links from local directories and news. If those signals are thin or inconsistent, you'll struggle to rank locally.
Your site is slow or hard to use on a phone
Trades searches happen on phones. If your site takes five seconds to load or the phone number isn't tappable, people leave. Google knows when they leave, and it pushes you down.
How to start fixing it
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile this week.
- Add a page for each service and each main area you cover.
- Get your site loading fast on mobile and put your number front and centre.
- Ask every happy customer for a review.
None of this is glamorous, but it's exactly what gets trades businesses onto the first page. A free growth plan will show you which of these is costing you the most leads right now.