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Most tradesmen get their work from word of mouth. It works, but it’s unpredictable. One month you’re turning jobs away, the next you’re wondering where the phone calls went.
Marketing fixes that. Not flashy agency marketing with dashboards you can’t understand: practical marketing that puts your business in front of people already looking for what you do.
The order we’d tackle it in
If you’re starting from scratch, do these in order. The ones higher up the list are free or cheap, and make every channel below them work better.
- Google Business Profile: free, biggest single source of local leads, foundation for everything else. Our GBP setup guide walks through categories, photos, posts, and the ranking signals that actually move the map pack.
- Reviews: free, cumulative, strongest trust signal. Google uses review quantity and freshness as a ranking factor. See how to get more Google reviews.
- A website that ranks: one-off investment, makes every other channel more effective. If you’re not sure you need one yet, read do I need a website?; if you do, check what websites cost in the UK before you get quotes.
- Local SEO: ongoing investment, best long-term ROI. Most tradesmen see real movement by month 3-4. See how much SEO costs in the UK, is SEO worth it for a small business?, and how to rank in the Google Maps pack.
- Social media: free, slow-burn trust builder, not a lead machine. One or two platforms done consistently beats being on five. See social media for tradesmen.
- Paid directories: useful to fill the gap while SEO builds, less useful as a long-term strategy. Read the Checkatrade vs Bark vs MyBuilder vs Rated People comparison, is Checkatrade worth it?, is Bark worth it?, or Trustatrader vs Checkatrade before you sign anything.
- Google Ads: tactical only. Good for quick wins, new areas, or seasonal peaks. See Google Ads vs SEO for tradesmen.
The order we'd tackle it in
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Google Business Profile
Free, biggest source of local leads.
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Reviews
Free, strongest trust signal.
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A website that ranks
One-off investment.
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Local SEO
Best long-term ROI.
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Social media
Slow-burn trust builder.
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Paid directories
Fill the gap while SEO builds.
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Google Ads
Tactical only.
One more thing: platform choice
If you’re about to build or rebuild a website, the platform decision matters more than most vendors let on. Wix vs WordPress for SEO is the post to read before you commit.
Getting started
Not sure where to start? Book a free call. We’ll review your current online presence and recommend what to tackle first for your trade and area.
You can also browse our packages to see what a proper SEO setup looks like for a trade business.