SEO and Google Maps work starts from $800 a month, quoted separately from any website build, because getting found and being built are two different jobs.
SEO for tradies, be the one Google shows when someone needs your trade today
What SEO for tradies actually means
The aim of local SEO for tradies is to get your business found in Google's map and website results when someone nearby searches for your trade.
Someone types "electrician near me" and Google shows three businesses in a map at the top, then a list of websites underneath.
SEO for tradies is the work that decides whether you are in that map. That is it. Not rankings in the abstract, not traffic for its own sake. Whether your phone rings when someone within driving distance needs your trade.
Why the map pack matters more than the website for most trades
For local trade searches, the three businesses in the map take the majority of the clicks. Most people never scroll past them.
That map is not decided by your website alone. Google is weighing how close you are to the person searching, how many reviews you have and how recent they are, how complete and active your Google Business Profile is, and how well what you have published matches what was typed.
A beautiful website with a neglected Google profile will lose to a plain website with a well kept one. That is the part most tradies have backwards.
What actually moves it
Your Google Business Profile, properly set up and actually used. Correct categories, real service areas, photos added regularly, questions answered, posts going up. Most trade profiles are set once and abandoned.
Reviews, consistently. Not a burst of ten and then nothing for two years. A steady trickle signals an active business. Asking every customer at the right moment is the whole trick.
Pages that match real searches. A page for each service you want work in, and each area you cover. "Emergency electrician Wollongong" needs a page, not a mention.
Your name, address and phone consistent everywhere. If your number is different on three directories, Google trusts none of them.
A site that loads fast on a phone and is easy to crawl. The technical floor. It will not win on its own, but falling through it will sink everything above.
What it does not mean
It does not mean buying links, stuffing suburb names into paragraphs, or spinning fifty near identical pages for fifty suburbs. That worked years ago. Now it either does nothing or it does damage.
It also does not work overnight. A new business or a new site takes months to build the track record Google wants to see. Anyone promising page one in thirty days is either lying or planning to burn your domain.
Where a tradie website fits in
The website is the foundation and the SEO is what puts it in front of people. You need both, but in that order. There is no point ranking a site that does not convert, and no point building a site nobody finds.
What it costs
Websites are $999 to $2,500 one off plus GST, with hosting and maintenance at $60 a month.
Straight answers before you commit
What is SEO for tradies?
The work that gets your trade business showing up when someone nearby searches for what you do, mainly in the Google map results where most local clicks go.
How long does SEO take for a trade business?
Months, not weeks. Google Business Profile work can show movement sooner, website rankings take longer. Anyone promising fast results is selling you something.
How much does SEO for tradies cost?
From $800 a month, quoted separately from a website build.
Do I need SEO if I already have a website?
Usually yes. A website tells Google you exist. SEO is what gets you shown ahead of the other twelve businesses that also exist.
Is Google Maps more important than my website?
For most trades, yes. The map results take the bulk of local clicks, and they are driven by your Google Business Profile as much as your site.
Check if your trade is still open in your area
I work with one business per trade per area so I am never running campaigns against my own clients. Check whether your trade is available where you are.