SEO for trades
SEO for trades that want Google to become a proper source of work.
Trade SEO isn't publishing hundreds of pages with town names swapped in. It's a technically sound website, strong service pages, genuine geographic relevance, real project content, a properly run Google Business Profile, honest reviews, sensible internal linking and steady improvement — done together.
What people actually search
Real searches, and what they actually need.
These are illustrations of how search intent varies by trade and urgency — not claims about where we or our clients currently rank for them.
“decorator near me”
Proximity search — the words don't mention a place, the phone does. Google is deciding who's nearby, relevant and credible.
“builder Birmingham”
Named place, wide area, high competition. Needs a genuine service page and enough evidence to stand out from dozens of similar firms.
“roofer Sutton Coldfield”
A smaller, more specific area. Real local presence and reviews carry more weight here than in a big-city search.
“emergency plumber”
Urgent intent, often with no place typed at all. Speed of contact and a Google Business Profile that answers 'are you open now' matter as much as the website.
“landscaper near me”
Often researched over days rather than decided in minutes — project photography and reviews get more scrutiny than an emergency search would get.
Three different battles
A trade business can win one of these and lose the other two.
"SEO isn't working" usually means one specific stage is failing, not all three. Knowing which one tells you what to actually fix.
Standard organic results
The ordinary blue links. Won by technically sound pages, clear service content and a website Google can understand without guessing.
How to tell: If you appear for sensible searches in Search Console but clicks are low, the listing itself — title, description — probably isn't earning the click.
Local / Maps results
The map pack and profile results. Driven heavily by your Google Business Profile, proximity to the searcher, categories and reviews.
How to tell: If your website ranks reasonably but you never appear on the map, the profile is under-filled, in the wrong category, or has too few recent reviews.
Conversion once someone lands
What happens after the click: does the page answer the question, build trust and make enquiring obvious.
How to tell: If Search Console shows healthy clicks but the phone doesn't ring and the form stays empty, the problem isn't visibility — it's the page itself.
The basic structure
The shape of a trade website that's built to be found.
Every page has a job. Skip a level and the ones above and below it have to work harder to compensate.
- 01
Homepage
States what you do, where you work, and gets people to the right service fast.
- 02
Individual services
One page per service you want work from, in the words customers search.
- 03
Genuine areas
A handful of areas you actually cover, each with something real to say.
- 04
Case studies / projects
Completed jobs written up — proof and content in the same piece of work.
- 05
FAQs / resources
The questions people ask before they buy, answered properly.
- 06
Contact / quote
One obvious, low-friction way to get in touch.
Two different jobs
Your website and your Google Business Profile aren't the same thing.
The website is the place with room to explain: services in full, real projects, pricing context, FAQs, everything a considered decision needs. It's also what shows up in ordinary organic results and gives Google the content to understand what you do.
Google Business Profile is a snapshot, mostly consumed on a phone, mostly deciding whether you're nearby, open and trusted enough to call right now. It leans on categories, photos and reviews far more than on written detail.
Get one right and neglect the other, and you'll do well in one battle and badly in the other two.
Trade SEO example
Four Oaks Decorating
A painting and decorating business with a strong local reputation but limited presence for anyone searching cold. The structure splits interior, exterior and commercial decorating into their own pages rather than one general "decorating" page, because those are genuinely different searches with different buyers.
Area coverage is built around Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield and the surrounding parts of north Birmingham the business actually works in — not a long list assembled for the sake of coverage. Completed jobs are written up as project content, which doubles as proof of standard and as pages Google can index and understand.
Reviews sit on the pages where hesitation happens, and internal links tie services, areas and projects together so the site reads as one coherent local business rather than a set of disconnected pages.
Read the full Four Oaks Decorating case study · SEO for painters & decorators
Trade SEO example
My HomeDry
A damp and water-damage restoration business, which searches quite differently from decorating: urgent, often technical, and covering a wider service area because specialist restoration work isn't available on every street. The service pages are built around the specific problems people search — damp, water damage, drying out a property — rather than one generic "restoration" page.
Because the service area is genuinely wider, coverage is presented honestly at that scale, with content that explains response and process rather than pretending to be a small local firm on every page. Business information, contact routes and Search Console data guide which pages get attention each month.
SEO by trade
The same principles, applied to your trade specifically.
What matters differs by trade — a roofer needs urgency and legitimacy signals, a builder needs project detail, a landscaper needs before-and-after imagery. Pick yours below.
- SEO for painters & decorators
- SEO for builders
- SEO for plumbers
- SEO for electricians
- SEO for roofers
- SEO for landscapers
Also related: web design for trades, service-area SEO and Google Business Profile for trades.
Ongoing SEO
Local results move. Ongoing work is what holds a position.
Growth SEO is £395/month; Scale SEO is £695/month for larger sites or more competitive markets. Full pricing.
Every month: Search Console reviewed for what's actually gaining and slipping, the Google Business Profile checked and refreshed, one or two priority pages improved rather than a dozen touched lightly, and technical health kept clean.
No lock-in, and a plain report each month on what changed and why.
Trade SEO in practice
The specific jobs behind trade search visibility.
Each of these covers one part of the work in proper detail, with no requirement to hire anyone to act on it.
Ranking a trade business on Google
What actually moves a trade business up the local results.
Google Business Profile for trades
Setting up and running the free asset most trades under-use.
Building a review system
How to ask, when to ask, and what not to do.
Getting more trade enquiries
Beyond search — turning attention into quote requests.
Before you ask
Questions trade businesses ask about SEO
Anything specific to your trade, ask us directly and we'll give a straight answer.
SEO for trades
Want Google doing more of the work?
Let's look at your site.
Tell us what you do and where you work. We'll give you an honest view of what's realistic and what it would take.