- Local SEO for a trade business is mostly three things: a complete Google profile, a steady flow of reviews, and a website that says your trade and town.
- Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and how well known a business is. You cannot change distance, so work on the other two.
- Fix the basics first: a page title with your trade and town, your phone on every page, and the same name, phone and address everywhere.
What the free SEO report checks
The report reads what Google and your website show today, the same way a customer's search would, and scores it out of 100. Every business is scored on the same rubric:
| Part of the report | Points | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Search results | 20 | Your page title, headline and search description: do they say your trade and town |
| Your website | 26 | It loads, is fast on a phone, has a clear way to call or book, and matches your Google listing |
| Google profile | 16 | Phone, hours, description, a specific category, website and town on your profile |
| Reviews | 18 | How many, your rating, how recent, and how you compare with nearby shops |
| Photos | 10 | How many, and whether they show real work and your name or truck |
| Nearby rank | 10 | Where you show up when someone nearby searches for your trade |
Anything the checker could not reach (a website that blocks bots, a step Google did not answer) is left out of the score rather than counted against you, and the report says so. Each low score comes with the fix, in plain words, in the order that tends to matter most.
How local SEO works for home service businesses
When a homeowner searches "plumber near me" or "house cleaning in Mesa", Google usually shows a map with a few businesses at the top, then the regular results. For trades, that map is where many searchers pick who to call.
Google says local results are mainly based on three things (Google's local ranking tips):
- Relevance: how well your profile and website match the search. A specific category, services listed, and a website that names your trade and towns.
- Distance: how far you are from the person searching. You cannot change this, but you can list the areas you serve.
- Prominence: how well known you are. Google names how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, and says more reviews and positive ratings can help.
Unlike national SEO, you are not competing with the whole internet. You are competing with the ten or twenty businesses near your customers. That is why the report compares your reviews, rating and photos with nearby shops.
The fixes that matter most for a trade website
Home service websites often lose points on the same handful of things. Each is a one-time fix:
| Fix | Why | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Page title says trade and town ("Plumber in Mesa, AZ | Bell Plumbing") | Google uses it for the headline of your search result | 5 minutes |
| A search description (the report checks for 70 to 170 characters) | Google may use it for the text under your headline | 10 minutes |
| Phone number as a tap-to-call link on every page | Many people search for a trade on their phone and want to call in one tap | 10 minutes |
| Same business name, phone and address as your Google profile | Mismatches confuse Google and customers | 15 minutes |
| A page for each main service | Gives Google something specific to match | An afternoon |
| Real photos of your work and truck | Shows you are real and local | An afternoon |
None of these needs an agency. If your website builder makes them hard, that is a reason to look at another builder.
Your Google Business Profile matters as much as your website
For many trade businesses the Google profile is the first thing a customer sees, before the website. The report checks that yours has:
- Your real business name, exactly as on your truck and paperwork, with no keywords added. Google's guidelines say unnecessary information in the name can get a profile suspended.
- A specific category that fits ("Plumber", not "Contractor"). Google asks for categories as specific as possible.
- Hours, phone, website and a description that says what you do and where.
- Photos of real jobs, your team and your truck, added over time.
- Recent reviews, with replies.
Reviews are the part that keeps moving. A free Google review link and QR code makes asking easy.
What matters most, trade by trade
The rubric is the same for every business, but where points are lost differs by trade:
| Trade | Often weakest | Worth doing first |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing, HVAC, electrical | Website speed on a phone, tap-to-call, emergency hours | Phone link in the header, honest hours, a page per service |
| Roofing | Photos of real work, reviews against nearby roofers | Before and after photos, reviews after every job |
| Cleaning | A website at all, a specific category | A simple site with your area and services, "House cleaning service" as the category |
| Lawn and landscaping | Description, hours, website matching the profile | Fill in the profile fully, match the phone on the site |
| Pressure washing | Search description, page title | Title and description with trade and town |
| Painting and remodeling | Photos and recency of reviews | A steady habit of photos and review requests |
These are patterns, not rules. The report shows your own weak spots, so start with what it lists first. See the plumber version of this page for plumbing-specific advice.
After the report
The report lists your fixes in order. Some you can do in an evening, like the page title, the description and the profile hours. Others take steady effort, like reviews and photos.
If you would rather not do it by hand, Koira builds a fast contractor website that gets the basics right from the start, keeps your listings matching, and asks for reviews after every paid job. See what Koira does for contractor SEO.
Last checked October 8, 2026.