Someone in Hamilton needs a sparky this week. They will not ring round their neighbours. They will search "electrician Hamilton" on their phone, look at the three businesses on the map, and call one of them. Word of mouth still matters, but more and more of it now happens on Google.
For a trade business, marketing comes down to two things. Be seen when someone searches for your trade in your area. Look good enough, once they find you, that they call you and not the next one down the list. This guide covers both, with the details that matter for plumbers, electricians, builders, painters and every other trade.
In this article
- 1. Setting up your Google listing when you work from a van, not a shop
- 2. Reviews and photos: the new word of mouth
- 3. The proof homeowners check before they let you in
- 4. Whether you need a website, and what goes on it
Be seen: a listing for a business on wheels
Most trades have no shopfront, so your Google listing does the job of one. Google lets you set it up as a service-area business: you hide your home address and list the suburbs and towns you cover instead. If your listing shows your home address, or only the one suburb you live in, fix that first.
Your primary category matters more than anything else you type. Pick the plain name of your trade: "Plumber", "Electrician", "Builder", "Painter", "Roofing contractor". A listing filed under "Contractor" or "Home services" is competing for searches nobody types. Add secondary categories only for work you really do, such as "Gasfitter" or "Drainlayer".
Keep your business name as it appears on your van and your invoices. Stuffing extra words into it, like "Bob's Plumbing Best Plumber Christchurch", breaks Google's rules and can get the listing suspended. Your description is the place to name your trade, your area and the jobs you want more of.
Be honest about hours. Only show "Open 24 hours" if someone really answers at 2am. If you do take emergency call-outs, say so in your description and make sure the phone number on the listing is the one you carry.
Key point
An emergency job goes to the first credible name on the map. A burst cylinder on a Sunday night does not wait for three quotes. If you are not on the map, you are not in the running.
Look good: reviews are the new word of mouth
"My mate used this builder and they were great" has won jobs for decades. A Google review is the same sentence, read by every homeowner who looks you up. Three things count: how many you have, how recent they are, and whether you reply.
Most tradies with few reviews have simply never asked. Send a text when the job is finished and the customer can see the result, with a direct link to your Google review page. "Thanks for having us. If you're happy with the work, a quick Google review helps a small business like ours."
Ask every customer, not just the ones you know were happy, and never offer a discount in return. Google's rules forbid both. A review that names the job and the suburb ("rewired our villa in Ponsonby") helps the next homeowner more than "great service", so it is fine to ask them to mention what you did.
Reply to every review, and reply calmly to the bad ones. A homeowner reading a one-star review cares less about the complaint than about how you handled it. Two sentences that own the problem and offer to sort it say more about you than another five stars.
Tip
Take the photo before you pack up. A rewired switchboard, a finished deck, a tidy bathroom. Before-and-after shots of real jobs, added to your listing every month, show a homeowner exactly what they are paying for.
The proof homeowners check
Letting a stranger into your house is a big ask, so homeowners look for proof you are legitimate. A lot of that proof already exists in public registers. Licensed Building Practitioners, registered electricians, and plumbers, gasfitters and drainlayers can all be looked up by name. Put your licence or registration number on your listing description, your quotes and your website, so a careful customer can check it in a minute.
Job sites like Builderscrack and NoCowboys are where many homeowners post work or check a name. If you are on them, make sure your business name, phone number and area match your Google listing exactly. Matching details everywhere help Google trust your listing, and they stop a customer wondering whether they have found the right business.
The same details feed the AI answers people are starting to ask, like "who's a good roofer in Tauranga". Those answers are built from your listing, your reviews, your website and the other places you are listed. Get those right and you are in the running there too.
Membership of a trade association, like Master Builders or Master Plumbers, is worth showing where it applies. So is your van. A clean, signwritten van parked outside a job is still advertising, and the name on it should be the one people find on Google.
The work you do on the tools earns repeat customers. The work you do online earns new ones.
Do you need a website
Plenty of trades get by on their Google listing alone. A simple website still earns its keep. It gives Google more to go on about what you do and where, and it is where a homeowner planning a renovation goes to look at your past work.
It does not need to be fancy. One page each for your main services, your area, your licence details, photos of finished jobs and a phone number that dials with one tap is plenty. Make sure it loads fast on a phone, and that the name, number and area match your Google listing word for word.
Picture this
An illustrative example: a painter in Dunedin with 60 five-star reviews, filed on Google under "Contractor", with a service area of only South Dunedin.
He changes his category to "Painter" and lists every suburb he will drive to.
His work and his reviews were already the best in town. Now the people searching for a painter across Dunedin can find them.
Your action plan
10 minutes today
- Search your trade and your town on your phone and see whether you are on the map
- Check your primary category, service area and phone number on your Google listing
30 minutes this week
- Upload 10 photos of finished jobs, your van and your team
- Add your licence or registration number to your description
- Text your last five customers a direct link to leave a Google review
Ongoing this month
- Send a review request after every finished job
- Reply to every review within a couple of days, the bad ones included
- Check your name and number match on every job site you are listed on
Where Marketbase comes in
Marketbase checks your business against every other business in your trade and your city, the way a homeowner sees them: your Google listing, your reviews, where you show on the map, your website and where else you are listed. Find your business by name and your free report shows what is working, what could move and where you stand.
Most tradies put their effort into whatever is worrying them. Open your free 7 days and you get the how for every finding, in the order that gets you the call. Sort it yourself, or we'll do it for you.