SEO for Plumbers, Electricians and Other Trades.

The basics are the same for every trade: pages Google can read, useful explanations, the right local details and real reviews. What changes is the customer's problem, how urgent it is, and what proof they need.

• SEO: search engine optimisation: making your website easy for Google to understand and show for the right searches.
• Local SEO: showing up for people searching near where you work.
• Google Business Profile: your free business listing on Google Search and Maps.
• Service page: a page about one service you offer.
• Padlock: the sign in a browser that your site is secure (HTTPS).
• Redirect: an automatic forward from an old page address to a new one.

Someone with water coming through the ceiling acts very differently from someone planning a loft conversion. Your website should support the work you actually want.

• Emergency: where you cover, when you're available, a big call button, and what to do safely in the meantime
• Routine: what's included, how often, how to prepare and how to book
• Safety checks and certificates: qualifications, paperwork, what's covered and what isn't
• Bigger projects: how it works, examples, options, how long it takes and how to get a quote
• Commercial: what you can take on, access, paperwork and accounts

List your jobs by what they're worth, whether you enjoy them, whether you've got time, and where they are. There's no point attracting work you don't want, can't do profitably or can't get to.

• Which jobs do we want more of?
• Which ones make money after travel and paperwork?
• Which need a qualification or more hands?
• Which areas can we reliably cover?
• What do customers keep asking before they book?
• What proof have we already got?

The home page introduces you. A services page lets people see everything at a glance. Each main job gets its own page. About and contact pages answer “can I trust them?” and “how do I book?”.

See Why Service Pages Help Your Website for when a job deserves its own page.

Use real jobs, your qualifications, memberships, how you work, guarantees, reviews and recent photos. Say exactly what a qualification means, without overselling it.

Keep customers' addresses, certificates, faces and private details off, unless you've got a good reason and their permission.

Use the same name, number, website and area on both. Fill in your profile, ask for honest reviews and keep your hours right. Never make fake locations to chase nearby towns.

See Local SEO for Tradespeople and How to Set Up a Google Business Profile.

• A secure site (the padlock in the address bar)
• Every important page works properly on a phone
• Menus and words that load properly
• Clear titles and headings on every page
• Important pages linked from your menu
• Photos made smaller to load fast, without going blurry
• A short description on photos that show something important
• Old page addresses sent to the new ones if they change
• Google Search Console set up, and checked for problems

The technical side supports your pages. It doesn't replace them.

• Weeks 1 to 2: see where you are now, sort out access, pick priorities and set up tracking
• Weeks 3 to 6: fix anything broken, especially calling you from a phone
• Weeks 4 to 10: make your main service pages good, with real proof
• Weeks 6 to 12: get your Google profile and reviews sorted
• After that: keep counting searches and enquiries, and fix weak spots

That's the order to do things in. It's not a promise of rankings or enquiries within 90 days.

Note which services and towns bring calls, forms and jobs you win. Count how good the enquiries are, not just how many.

• Searches and clicks in Search Console
• Calls and enquiries for each service
• Good enquiries versus time wasters
• Quotes sent and quotes won
• Enquiries from outside your area
• Pages people visit but don't then get in touch from

Use it to improve your website, your offer or your area. Don't hide a lack of work behind a ranking screenshot.