Claim and verify your Google Business Profile. This is the single most important free thing you can do. Without it you will not show up on Google Maps when someone nearby searches for your trade.

Make sure your business name, address and phone number are identical everywhere. That means your website, Google Business Profile, Golden Pages and any other directory. Even small differences confuse Google and cost you rankings.

Choose the right primary category on Google Business Profile. Pick the most specific one that matches your main trade, for example ‘Plumber’ rather than ‘Contractor’, so Google shows you to the right searchers.

Put your phone number at the top of every page and make it a clickable link on mobile. Most people looking for a tradesperson are on their phone. If they have to hunt for your number they will ring someone else.

List every town and county you cover clearly on the site. Google needs to know where you work and so do your customers. A simple ‘Areas We Cover’ section or footer list does the job.

Add a dedicated page for each of your main services. One page for boiler servicing, one for bathroom fitting, one for rewiring, and so on. It helps Google rank you for each search and helps customers find exactly what they need.

Ask every happy customer for a Google review as soon as the job is done. The best time to ask is right there on site or send a follow-up text that same evening with a direct link to your review page. Do not wait a week or they will forget.

Reply to every review, good and bad, within a day or two. A polite, professional response to a negative review often impresses new customers more than the five-star ones. Ignore it and it looks like you do not care.

Aim to have more recent reviews than your nearest local competitor. Recency matters. A stream of steady new reviews tells Google you are active and tells customers you are busy and trusted.

Only bid on searches for your actual trade services, not general DIY or supply searches. Someone searching for ‘how to bleed a radiator’ or ’tiles for sale Dublin’ will not call you. Add those kinds of terms as negative keywords before you spend a penny.

Use call extensions so people can ring you straight from the ad without visiting your site. For most trades the phone call is the conversion. Make it as easy as one tap.

Set your ads to show only in the areas you actually serve. There is no point paying for clicks from towns you cannot reach. Tight location targeting means your budget goes further and the leads are real.

Set up call tracking so you know which marketing channel is bringing in real enquiries. Otherwise you are guessing whether it is your Google Ads, your Google Business Profile or your website doing the work.

Check your Google Business Profile Insights at least once a month. It shows you how many people called, asked for directions or visited your website from your listing. It is free information that tells you a lot.

Ask every new enquiry how they found you and note it down. It only takes five seconds on the phone and over time it gives you a clear picture of where to put your marketing money.

Add photos of your actual work to your Google Business Profile every single month. Real photos of jobs you have completed in your local area build trust faster than any sales copy. Profiles with regular fresh photos get significantly more views than those that sit untouched. Take a couple of snaps before you pack up on a good job and upload them that evening. It takes two minutes and it compounds over time.