Tradesperson website: getting found in your town without paying for ads

When someone searches for "plumber" or "bathroom renovation" plus their town, Google first shows a map with three businesses, then websites. For a tradesperson, appearing in both is worth more than any advert. Here is what matters, in order.

1. The Google business profile

It is what appears on the map. Pick the right business category, your service area, opening hours, photos of your jobs, and link it to your website. Post a recent project from time to time.

2. Identical contact details everywhere

Business name, address and phone number must be written exactly the same way on the website, the Google profile, directories and social networks. Inconsistencies confuse search engines.

3. Towns written out in full

"We work in Lyon" is not enough to be found in the neighbouring towns. List the towns you cover on a dedicated page and, above all, mention them in your projects: "bathroom renovation in Bron". Avoid, however, twenty near-identical pages that only change the town name: Google ignores them.

4. One page per job

Each project is a small page: the work, the town, the constraints, before-and-after photos. It is both the best proof of skill for clients and the best content for local search.

5. Customer reviews

Ask every happy customer for a review on your Google profile, and reply to all of them, criticism included, calmly. Quote a few precise testimonials on your website.

6. A fast, clear mobile site

Most enquiries come from a phone. A tappable number at the top, a short quote form and light images do more for your enquiries than any animation.

7. Visible guarantees

Insurance, qualifications, labels and company number: show them. They reassure customers and set your website apart from anonymous listings. If you hold a label that unlocks renovation grants for your customers, say so clearly and explain what it means for them: it is often the detail that makes a homeowner call you rather than a competitor.

What is useless, or nearly

• Keywords repeated in every sentence: "plumber Lyon cheap plumber Lyon". Search engines can read, and so can your customers.
• Fake reviews: they get spotted and removed, and can get a profile suspended.
• Dubious directories promising hundreds of links: useless at best, harmful at worst.
• A website rebuilt every two years without redirecting the old addresses: each time you lose what you had gained.

A realistic routine

Local search is built over time. A simple method: for every finished job, take three photos before and three after, write ten lines on the "Projects" page naming the town, post a photo on the Google profile and ask the customer for a review. Half an hour per job is enough, and after a few months your website holds dozens of concrete proofs, each tied to a precise place. Nothing an advertising campaign buys lasts as long, and every one of these pages keeps bringing enquiries from the towns it mentions.

To go faster

Our building contractor website template already includes before-and-after projects, service area, guarantees and a quote request, in HTML, React and as a WordPress theme.