Marketing for trades
SEO for plumbers and trades that brings in local jobs
Google Business Profile, Local Services Ads, service-area pages, reviews and call tracking for plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers and other trades across London and the UK.
- More calls from Google Maps
- Every call tracked to source
- Rolling monthly, no lock-in
Quick answer
ProntX provides SEO and digital marketing for plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers and other tradesmen in London and across the UK. We optimise Google Business Profiles, set up Local Services Ads and Google Ads, build service-area pages and websites, grow reviews and track every call. SEO for trades starts from £595 a month, rolling monthly.
Overview
What does SEO for plumbers and trades involve?
It means showing up in Google Maps and local search results when people near you need your trade, then making it easy for them to call. For most trades, the Business Profile, reviews and a fast mobile website do most of the work.
When a pipe bursts or the power trips, nobody scrolls to page two. They search on their phone, look at the three businesses in the map, check the reviews and call one. SEO for plumbers and other trades is about being one of those three, and being the one that looks most trustworthy. ProntX provides marketing for tradesmen across London and the UK, covering local SEO, Local Services Ads, Google Ads, websites, reviews and call tracking.
Trades have two kinds of customer. Emergency customers want someone now and choose fast, mostly from the map results and ads. Planned-work customers, such as someone wanting a rewire, a new roof or an extension, take longer, compare photos of past jobs, read reviews and get several quotes. Your marketing has to handle both, often in the same week.
Most trade businesses we speak to are getting work from word of mouth, a directory or two and a website that was built years ago. That is fine until a quiet month arrives. A well-run local search and ads set-up gives you a steady flow of enquiries you control, so you can choose the jobs and areas you want instead of taking whatever comes.
What is included
What does our marketing for tradesmen include?
The channels that bring local calls and quote requests, set up and managed by one team, with every enquiry tracked back to where it came from.
Maps
Google Business Profile
Full optimisation for a service-area business: categories, services, service areas, photos of real jobs, regular posts and accurate hours, including emergency cover.
Pay per lead
Local Services Ads
Set-up, screening paperwork, budget and lead management for Google’s pay-per-lead format, where available for your trade and area.
Pay per click
Google Ads
Search campaigns for high-value and urgent jobs, scheduled around when you can answer the phone and limited to the postcodes you want to work in.
Organic
Local SEO and area pages
Service pages for each job type and genuine service-area pages for the towns and boroughs you cover, plus consistent listings across trade directories.
Reputation
Review growth
A simple text message process to ask every customer for a Google review after the job, with reply templates for good and bad reviews.
Measurement
Call tracking
Tracking numbers by source, missed-call alerts and a monthly count of calls, quote requests and booked jobs from each channel.
Business Profile
How do you get a trade business into the Google Maps top three?
By making your Business Profile the most complete and active in your area, earning a steady stream of reviews and backing it up with a website that confirms what you do and where. Distance from the searcher matters too, which you cannot change.
Set up correctly
- Service-area business settings, with your home address hidden if you work from home
- The right primary category, such as Plumber, Electrician or Roofing contractor
- Every service listed, from boiler servicing to leak detection
- Your real business name, with no added keywords that risk suspension
- Accreditation details, such as Gas Safe or NICEIC, in your description and website
Kept active
Google favours profiles that look alive. We add photos of real jobs each month, post about seasonal work such as boiler servicing before winter, answer questions on the profile and make sure every review gets a reply. We never use PO boxes or virtual offices to fake a location, because that can get a profile suspended and lose years of reviews.
Local Services Ads
Are Google Local Services Ads worth it for tradesmen?
Often, yes, where they are available for your trade. They sit at the very top of results and you pay per lead rather than per click, which suits trades with clear job values.
To run Local Services Ads, your business must pass Google’s screening, which can include background, licence and insurance checks depending on your trade. Ads show your reviews and service area, and customers can call or message directly. Your ranking within the ads depends on factors such as your review score, how quickly you respond and how many leads you accept.
We handle the screening paperwork, set your job types and service areas, manage budgets and dispute leads that are clearly not genuine, such as wrong numbers or jobs outside your area. We also run standard Google Ads alongside, because they cover searches and job types that Local Services Ads do not, and they let you control the landing page.
Service-area pages
How do service-area pages help you win work beyond your base?
They give you something to rank in organic results for towns and boroughs you cover, outside the map results near your base. They only work if each page is genuinely useful, not a copy with the town name swapped.
A good area page shows jobs you have actually done there, with photos and short descriptions, reviews from customers in that area, typical response times and local factors that affect the work. In much of London and the South East, hard water means limescale problems in boilers and taps. Older terraced housing brings different plumbing and wiring issues from new-build estates. Writing about that shows real local knowledge.
We create area pages only for places where you want work and can describe genuine experience. Thin, duplicated location pages can be treated as doorway pages and do more harm than good. For areas you cannot yet support with real content, targeted Google Ads are the better option until you have jobs to show.
By trade
How does SEO for builders, electricians and roofers differ?
The search pattern and the trust signals change by trade. Emergency trades win on speed and availability; planned trades win on photos, project detail and reviews.
| Trade | How customers search | Trust signals to show |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbers and heating engineers | Urgent leaks and breakdowns, plus boiler installs and servicing | Gas Safe registration, response times, reviews |
| Electricians | Urgent faults, plus rewires, EV chargers and certificates | NICEIC or NAPIT registration, certificates issued, reviews |
| Builders | Planned research for extensions, lofts and renovations | Project galleries, Federation of Master Builders or TrustMark membership, insurance |
| Roofers | Urgent leaks and storm damage, plus planned replacements | Photos before and after, guarantees offered, trade body membership |
| Locksmiths | Almost entirely urgent and mobile | Fixed call-out prices, response times, reviews |
Websites and tracking
What should web design for tradesmen include?
A tap-to-call button at the top of every page, fast loading on a phone signal, clear service and area pages, real photos and reviews. Customers decide in seconds, so clarity beats clever design.
- Phone number and call button always visible on mobile
- A short quote request form with photo upload
- A page for each service you want more of
- Accreditations and insurance details shown clearly
- Real job photos instead of stock images
- Reviews pulled from Google
Every site we build has call and form tracking from day one, so you can see which pages and channels bring jobs. Our small business websites start from £1,950. If your current site works well enough, we leave it and focus budget on getting found instead.
Call tracking also helps you run the business: missed-call alerts mean fewer lost jobs, and seeing which job types come from which channel tells us where to put next month’s budget.
Why ProntX
Why do trade businesses choose ProntX?
Plain reporting on calls and jobs, published prices and no long contract, from a team that also builds the website.
Straight talk
Jobs, not jargon
Your monthly update shows calls, quote requests and booked jobs by channel, in plain English.
Ownership
Your profile stays yours
Business Profile, ad accounts, website and tracking numbers are in your name, and ad spend goes straight to Google.
Flexibility
Rolling monthly
Busy season and fully booked? Scale ads down. Quiet month? Scale up. No twelve-month contract.
Pricing
How much does SEO for plumbers and trades cost?
Local SEO for trades starts from £595 a month and Google Ads management from £450 a month plus ad spend, ex VAT. Final price depends on the number of services, areas and how competitive your patch is.
| Plan | Typical price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO | From £595 a month | Sole traders and small firms covering one area |
| Google Ads and Local Services Ads | From £450 a month plus ad spend | Trades that need calls quickly or want to cover wider areas |
| Local SEO plus ads | Typically £1,045 to £1,500 a month plus ad spend | Growing firms with vans to fill across several areas |
| Trades website | From £1,950 one-off | Businesses with no site or one that does not bring calls |
SEO and AI search
from £595/month
Local and small business SEO, GEO and AEO included
What is includedPPC and Google Ads
from £450/month
Management fee. Ad spend is paid direct to Google
What is includedWorking to a tight budget? Our guide to digital marketing for small business explains what to do first. Or ask for a free trades audit: the ProntX team will record a personal video review of your Business Profile, website and ads within 2 working days. See other sectors on our industries page.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
FAQ
Trades marketing questions, answered
Still unsure? Ask us anything. We reply within one working day.
How does SEO for plumbers work?
SEO for plumbers makes your business appear when people nearby search for a plumber, an emergency plumber or a specific job such as boiler repair. Most calls come from the Google Maps results, so the work centres on your Business Profile, reviews and consistent listings, supported by a fast website with pages for each service and the areas you cover.
What are Google Local Services Ads?
Local Services Ads are a Google ad format for certain trades and areas that appears above standard ads. You pay per lead, such as a call or message, rather than per click, and businesses must pass Google's screening checks before ads run. Availability varies by trade and location. We handle set-up, screening paperwork, lead disputes and budget management.
Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
You can get calls from a Business Profile alone, but a website helps you rank higher in the map results, gives you pages for each service and area, and reassures customers comparing you with competitors. It also gives your ads somewhere better to send people. Our small business websites start from £1,950.
Can I rank in areas where I do not have an office?
In the Google Maps results, distance from your business location is a major factor, so ranking far from your base is hard. Outside that radius, service-area pages on your website and Google Ads or Local Services Ads targeted to those areas fill the gap. Each area page needs genuine local content, such as jobs you have done there, to be worth ranking.
How do I get more reviews as a tradesman?
Ask every customer straight after a job is finished, while they are pleased, using a short text with a direct link to your Google review form. Make it routine rather than occasional. Never offer discounts or gifts for reviews, as this breaks Google's rules. Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and briefly. We set up the process and templates for you.
Will call tracking mess up my Google listing?
Not if it is set up properly. We use a tracking number as the main number on your Business Profile and keep your real number as an additional number, so your details stay consistent. On your website, dynamic numbers show a different number by traffic source. Every call is logged, so you can see which channel brought each job.
How much should a trade business spend on marketing?
Many sole traders and small trade firms start with £1,000 to £1,500 a month including ad spend, split between local SEO and Google Ads or Local Services Ads. The right amount depends on your job values, how busy you already are and how competitive your area is. If you are already fully booked, focus on higher-value jobs rather than more volume.
Do you work with builders and roofers as well as plumbers?
Yes. We work with plumbers, heating engineers, electricians, builders, roofers, locksmiths, landscapers, decorators and other trades. Planned work such as extensions and roofs needs more emphasis on photos, project pages and reviews, while emergency trades need fast mobile pages, call tracking and ads scheduled around when you can answer the phone.
Works well with
Related services
Free growth audit
Find out what is holding your growth back
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