I spent 16 years running a plumbers' merchants before I moved into digital marketing in 2019. For most of that time I was on the other side of the counter from plumbers, electricians, roofers and builders, and I heard the same frustration again and again: why is the firm down the road busier than me? The answer rarely had anything to do with the quality of the work. Customers simply found them first.
This guide is how I'd approach marketing a trade business today: what to do first, what to leave until later, and what changes depending on whether you fix boilers, rewire houses, replace roofs or build extensions. Each chapter gives you my short answer in plain English, then links to the detailed guides I've written for that trade, in the order I'd read them.
If you're short on time, start with these three. They apply whatever your trade.
Start here
- How ChatGPT Finds Local Tradespeople. What really decides who gets recommended, and why you probably don't need to pay for anything new.
- Google Ads for Trades. How I set up paid search for trade businesses so you only pay for people who want a job doing.
- The Best Tradesperson Recommendation Sites in the UK. An honest look at Checkatrade and the rest, and why your own leads matter more.
What's in this guide
- The short version: the order I'd market a trade business in
- 1. What works for every trade
- 2. Plumbers
- 3. Heating engineers: boilers, heat pumps and air conditioning
- 4. Electricians
- 5. Roofers
- 6. Builders
- Where to get help
- FAQ
The short version: the order I'd market a trade business in
Whatever your trade, the order is broadly the same. A lot of tradespeople do it the other way round, starting with a paid lead site or a Facebook page and never getting to the foundations that bring in the cheapest work.
- Get your Google Business Profile right. It's free, it's what puts you in the map results for local searches, and it's where ChatGPT gets much of what it says about you. Fill in every field, choose the right categories and add real photos of your work.
- Collect reviews deliberately. Ask every happy customer, every time. Reviews are how a stranger decides you're safe to let into their home.
- Build a website that turns visitors into calls. Fast on a phone, a tap-to-call number that's always visible, a page for each service, photos of real jobs and your registrations (Gas Safe, NICEIC, MCS, FMB or whichever apply) where people can see them.
- Get listed with your trade bodies and the right directories. They build trust with customers, support your local SEO and are among the sources AI tools cite.
- Invest in local SEO for the long run. Service pages, content that answers customers' questions and links from local and trade websites. It's slow to build, but once it works it brings in the cheapest enquiries you'll get.
- Use Google Ads and Local Services Ads when you need work now. Paid search fills the diary quickly while SEO builds, provided a job is worth enough to cover the clicks and your ads only show near where you're based.
- Treat paid lead sites as a top-up, not a plan. They can help, especially when you're starting out, but if they're your only source you're competing on price with everyone else who received the same enquiry.
The biggest difference between trades isn't the channel, it's urgency. An emergency plumber or electrician is competing for someone who will call the first credible number they see, so visibility, speed and a phone that actually gets answered matter most. A roofer quoting a re-roof, a builder pricing an extension or an installer selling heat pumps is competing for a customer who compares several firms over weeks, so photos of past work, reviews and genuinely helpful content do more of the selling. Most trades have both kinds of job, and your marketing should treat them differently.
| Emergency work | Planned work | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical jobs | Leaks, no heating, power cuts, storm damage | Bathrooms, rewires, re-roofs, extensions, heat pumps |
| How customers decide | Minutes. They call whoever looks credible first | Weeks. They compare two or three firms |
| What wins the job | Top of Google, strong reviews, an answered phone | Project photos, reviews, clear service pages, a good quote |
| Best channels | Google Business Profile, Google Ads, Local Services Ads | Local SEO, content, referrals, targeted Google Ads |
1. What works for every trade
Three things apply whichever trade you're in, and they're the questions I'm asked most often.
AI search. More homeowners are asking ChatGPT to recommend a local tradesperson, and agencies are already selling packages to get you "into ChatGPT". When I tested local trade searches across Surrey and Hampshire, ChatGPT built its answers from Google listings, Google reviews, trade directories and trade bodies, and it recommended 85% of the businesses in Google's top three map results. In other words, the same basics that win the map pack are what get you recommended. You almost certainly don't need to pay for anything new.
Recommendation and lead sites. They have their place, particularly when you're new or quiet. The catch is that when several trades receive the same enquiry, the customer often picks the cheapest quote. Use them, but don't depend on them, and put most of your effort into enquiries that come to you and only you.
Paid search. Google Ads works for trades when you only pay for searches from people who want a job doing now, your ads only show near where you're actually based, and you can see which clicks turned into phone calls. Local Services Ads, which charge per lead rather than per click and now carry a single Google Verified badge, are worth running alongside them for many trades. For the full picture on paid search, see my small business guide to Google Ads.
- How ChatGPT Finds Local Tradespeople (and How to Be the One It Picks). What ChatGPT actually relied on when I tested local trade searches against Google, a six-point checklist for being the one it picks, and what not to spend money on.
- The Best Tradesperson Recommendation Sites in the UK (And Why Your Own Website Matters More). How Checkatrade, Rated People, MyBuilder, Bark and the other UK platforms work, the three ways they charge, how to choose between them and why owning your leads matters more.
- Google Ads for Trades: A Practical Guide for UK Tradespeople. How I set up and run Google Ads for plumbers, electricians, roofers and builders, with UK trade click costs, what to spend and the mistakes I see most in trade accounts.
- Local Services Ads in the UK: Google Guaranteed, Screened and Verified Explained. Which UK trades can use Local Services Ads, the checks involved, how pay per lead and lead disputes work, what replaced Google Guaranteed and how LSAs compare with normal Google Ads.
2. Plumbers
Plumbing is the trade I know best, and it's about as demand-driven as trades get. A big share of the work is reactive: a leak, no hot water, a blocked drain. Those customers are on their phone typing "emergency plumber near me" and calling whoever looks credible at the top of the results. That makes your Google Business Profile, your reviews and a fast, mobile-friendly page with your number on it the first priorities, with Google Ads to fill the gaps while your local SEO builds.
The planned side of plumbing (bathrooms, cylinder swaps, heating upgrades) behaves differently. That's where content, photos of finished jobs and a clear page for each service earn their keep. I've written more for plumbers than for any other trade, so I've grouped the guides below. If you're starting from scratch, read the complete guide first.
Strategy and lead generation
- The Complete Guide to Digital Marketing for Plumbers. Every channel worth a plumber's attention (website, SEO, local search, Google Ads, social media and email), how to measure it and the order I'd recommend tackling them in.
- Plumbing Lead Generation: 10 Proven Strategies to Get More Leads. Ten strategies ranked roughly by impact, from local search and ads to answering every lead within 60 seconds, plus the lead generation mistakes to avoid.
- How to Grow a Plumbing Business: 12 Strategies That Actually Work. Growing the business as well as the lead flow: hiring, systems, maintenance plans, recurring revenue, pricing, cash flow and choosing a niche.
Advertising
- How to Advertise a Plumbing Business (And Actually Get Local Leads). Nine ways to advertise a plumbing business, from local SEO and Google Ads to directories, referrals and offline advertising, and why you need a mix rather than one channel.
- Plumber Advertising Strategies That Actually Win You Work. Advertising built around the difference between emergency and planned work, including Local Services Ads, repeat business tactics like boiler tags and QR codes, and tracking your return.
- Facebook Ads for Plumbers: The Complete Guide. Where Facebook ads fit for a plumber (building awareness, not catching emergencies), the formats and targeting that work, UK costs and how to run them alongside Google Ads.
SEO
- SEO for Plumbers: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Found Online. My most complete plumbing SEO guide: keyword research, service and location pages, on-page and technical SEO, Google Business Profile, content, links and schema markup.
- Local SEO for Plumbers: The Complete Guide. A six-step plan for ranking in your area: Google Business Profile, citations, local keywords, reviews, service area pages and tracking, plus what local SEO costs.
- Plumbing Keywords: 60+ UK SEO Terms and Search Volumes. Over 60 plumbing keywords with UK search volumes, grouped by category from bathrooms to drainage, and how to use them on your website.
- The Best Directory Sites for Plumbers in the UK. Every directory worth listing a plumbing business on, from Gas Safe Register and Watersafe to free citation sites, and when a paid premium listing is worth it.
- Link Building for Plumbers: How to Build Authority and Rank Higher Locally. How plumbers can earn the backlinks that build authority, from local citations to content-led link building, and what to check before hiring a link building service.
- Content Marketing for Plumbers: The Complete Guide. Which kinds of content work for a plumbing business, how to start a blog, an honest take on social media and how content supports your local SEO.
Your website
- How Much Does a Plumber's Website Cost in the UK?. Honest UK prices across four routes, from DIY builders to specialist agencies, what drives the cost and what to budget for after launch.
- 10 Best Plumbing Website Designs (and Two Bad Ones). Ten UK plumbing websites worth learning from, two that aren't following best practice, and what the ideal plumbing website needs.
- How to Create a High-Converting Plumbing Landing Page. A ten-step guide to a landing page that turns a late-night emergency search into a phone call, and the mistakes that lose it.
3. Heating engineers: boilers, heat pumps and air conditioning
Heating work splits three ways, and each needs a different pitch. Boiler replacements are often prompted by a failure, so visibility and speed matter, and the big decision is whether to keep buying shared leads that put you in a price war before you've spoken to the customer, or to generate your own exclusive enquiries. My view is clear: build your own.
Heat pumps are the opposite. They're planned and researched over weeks, and homeowners come with real questions about running costs, suitability and grants, so your marketing has to educate. Most grant schemes need an MCS-certified installer, which makes your certification a selling point in itself. Air conditioning sits in between: considered, but once someone has decided they need cooling they usually want it sorted within weeks, and demand follows the weather. Your F-Gas certification is your credibility marker, and your budget should flex with the season.
- How to Generate High-Quality Boiler Leads (Without Buying Them). Why shared boiler leads put you in a price war, and how to generate exclusive enquiries through your website, Google Ads, Facebook, local SEO and better follow-up.
- Heat Pump Leads: A Marketing Guide for Heating Engineers. Why heat pump enquiries need more educating than boiler work, how to use grants as a marketing angle, and where content, referral partnerships and Google Ads fit.
- Air Conditioning Leads: A Marketing Guide for Installers. How air conditioning buyers think, using F-Gas certification to build trust, structuring around system types and timing your marketing around the season.
4. Electricians
Electrical work has two very different buyers. Someone with no power in the house is anxious and in a hurry. Someone planning a rewire or an EV charger installation is comparing two or three electricians and will look at your reviews, photos and prices before getting in touch. Most electricians market themselves the same way to both, and lose out on one or the other.
Electrical problems also carry a genuine element of fear, so people call whoever looks safe, qualified and reachable first. That puts more weight than usual on trust signals: your NICEIC or NAPIT membership, insurance, real reviews and a tap-to-call number that's visible on every screen. One detail most trade marketing advice skips: if your website runs Google Ads or Google Analytics tracking, consent mode needs to be set up properly, or your tracking and remarketing quietly degrade.
- Marketing for Electricians: The Complete Guide. Everything that moves the needle for an electrical business: Google Business Profile, AI search, reviews, your website, Google Ads versus Local Services Ads, consent mode and what it all costs.
- SEO for Electricians: How to Rank on Google. How Google decides who ranks locally, keyword research, a page per service, schema, local SEO, backlinks and quick wins you can action this week.
- Web Design for Electricians. What makes an electrician's website convert: a sticky tap-to-call bar, the trust signals that matter for electrical work and the mistakes that quietly cost you leads.
5. Roofers
Roofing demand is driven by the weather. After a storm or a spell of heavy rain, emergency searches spike in the areas affected, and the roofer who's ready in that moment often wins the job without any comparison at all. The rest of the year, re-roofs and bigger jobs are weighed up carefully. And because most homeowners only need a roofer once or twice in their lives, your Google profile, reviews and photos are often the only impression they'll ever form of you.
My advice for roofers is to get your Google Business Profile and local SEO solid before paying for ads, photograph every job, and use sites like Checkatrade and Bark without depending on them. When several roofers receive the same enquiry, the homeowner ends up with a pile of similar quotes and often picks the cheapest.
- Marketing for Roofing Companies. The channels that work for roofers, from Google Business Profile to Google Ads and Facebook, how much to spend, why documenting every job pays off and quick wins for this week.
- SEO for Roofers: A Practical Guide. How to win both storm-driven emergency searches and planned re-roofs, with Google Business Profile, service and project pages, schema markup and tracking.
6. Builders
Building work has the longest sales cycle of any trade in this guide. A homeowner planning an extension or loft conversion will compare several builders, study your past projects and take weeks to decide, and a quiet spell in your marketing now shows up as an empty diary months later. A genuine portfolio and a page for each type of project are your strongest assets, online and in conversation.
If you run Google Ads, focus on searches with clear commercial intent, such as a loft conversion quote in your town, rather than broad and expensive terms like "builder near me". Don't chase volume for its own sake either: being clear about the projects, budgets and areas you take on filters out poor-fit enquiries before they cost you hours of quoting. And build relationships with local architects, interior designers and planning consultants, an overlooked source of well-scoped work that most builders never pursue deliberately.
- Marketing for Builders: Getting More Enquiries. How builders can grow beyond word of mouth: organic visibility, a portfolio that sells, referrals from architects and designers, Google Ads on the right terms and filtering poor-fit enquiries.
- SEO for Builders and Contractors. Why builders' SEO differs from other trades, with service pages, project pages, trade body membership, backlinks, AI search and content for the research phase.
Where to get help
Everything in this guide can be done yourself, and plenty of tradespeople do. If you'd rather be on the tools while someone else handles it, this is how I work with trade businesses. You deal with me directly, there are no long contracts and you own your accounts.
- Digital marketing for trades. How I help plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers and heating engineers get more enquiries.
- Local SEO. Google Business Profile, citations, reviews and local rankings.
- Google Ads management. Search campaigns and Local Services Ads, set up the way this guide describes.
- Web design. Websites built to turn visitors into calls.
- SEO and PPC packages. Ads for work now and SEO for the long run, with 10% off when you take both.
- Free SEO audit. See how your website is performing right now in under a minute.
For more depth on each channel, see my other guides: the small business guide to Google Ads, the small business guide to SEO, the small business website guide and the small business marketing guide.
FAQ
What is the best marketing for tradesmen?
For most trades, the best return comes from the free foundations: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of Google reviews and a website that makes it easy to call you. Add local SEO for the long term and Google Ads or Local Services Ads when you need work quickly.
How much should a tradesperson spend on marketing?
As a general guide, somewhere around 5 to 10% of turnover, split between the free foundations and paid channels depending on where your gaps are. If you run Google Ads, I treat £10 a day paid to Google as the realistic minimum for a local Search campaign.
Are Checkatrade and other lead sites worth it?
They can be, especially when you're starting out or have gaps in the diary. The risk is relying on them: shared enquiries push you into competing on price. Use them alongside your own Google presence and website, not instead of it.
Do tradespeople need to do anything special for ChatGPT?
Not much beyond the basics. In my testing, ChatGPT's recommendations for local trades came from Google listings, Google reviews, trade directories and trade bodies. Get those right and you're doing what matters.
Should a trade business start with SEO or Google Ads?
If the diary is empty and you need calls in the next few weeks, start with Google Ads. If you can wait a few months, start with your Google Business Profile and local SEO. If you can afford both, run ads while SEO builds, then lean on ads less as your rankings improve.
Want a hand filling the diary?
I've spent most of my working life around tradespeople, and I'd much rather help you win work than sell you something you don't need. Get in touch, tell me what you do and where, and I'll give you an honest view of where your next enquiries are most likely to come from. Or, if you'd like to see where your website stands first, run a free SEO audit.
