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If you're a plumber in Leeds or an electrician in Cork, the search that matters most to you isn't your business name. It's things like "plumber Leeds" or "emergency electrician Cork". That's what your next customer types when their boiler breaks or the lights go out.
Getting found for those searches isn't magic. It's a handful of unglamorous, repeatable things done properly. Here's what actually moves the needle, in the order that matters.
This is the single most important thing you can do. It's the free listing that shows up on Google Maps and in that box of local businesses when someone searches your trade plus a place name.
Go to google.com/business, claim your listing, and fill in every field: your exact trade, your service area, your phone number, your opening hours, and photos of your actual work. Businesses with complete profiles and real photos consistently get more clicks than half-filled ones.
Google will usually ask to verify you by postcard or phone. Do it straight away. An unverified profile won't show up properly, and you'll wonder why nothing's working.
Google trusts businesses that look real and established. Part of how it checks that is by seeing your business name, address, and phone number written the same way across the web — your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and any directories you're listed in.
If your website says "07123 456789" but your Facebook page says "01234 567 891", that's a small red flag. Pick one format and use it everywhere. It sounds fussy, but it's one of those quiet trust signals that adds up.
Google can't guess what you do or where you work — it reads your words. Your homepage should say, in plain language, your trade and the towns or areas you cover. "Family-run plumber serving Leeds and the surrounding areas" tells Google exactly what to match you against.
If you cover several towns, give each one a mention somewhere on the site, even just a line in your service area section. A one-page site with no location detail is invisible for local search, no matter how nice it looks.
Reviews do two things: they help you rank higher, and they convince the person who found you to actually call. Most happy customers won't leave a review unless you ask them directly.
After a job well done, send a quick text with a direct link to your Google review page. Keep it short: "Thanks for having us round today — if you've got 30 seconds, a review would really help us out." Aim for a steady trickle over time rather than a rush of ten in one week, which can look odd to Google.
Sites like Yell, Checkatrade, Thumbtack, or local chamber-of-commerce listings all help. Each one that has your correct name, address, and phone number is another signal to Google that you're a genuine, established local business.
You don't need to be on twenty of them. Three or four well-chosen, relevant ones do more good than a scattergun approach across every directory you can find.
All of this points traffic somewhere, and that somewhere needs to load fast, work on a phone, and make it dead simple to call or message you. A slow, cluttered, outdated site loses people in the first five seconds, even if Google sent them there.
This is exactly the gap we built Keepyz to close. You tell us about your trade and your city, and in about 10 minutes you get a proper, professional website — online straight away, free, at yourname.keepyz.com. It's built to have your trade and location clearly stated, load quickly, and make it easy for someone to ring you on the spot. If your site's been holding you back rather than helping, it might be worth ten minutes to see what Keepyz can put together for you.
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