Guide
How does a tradie get found by local customers?
Four things, in this order. A complete, verified Google Business Profile set up as a service-area business: no home address, the suburbs you cover. A website with a page for each main service and area, with your phone a tap away. The same name, phone and ABN on the directories customers use, such as Localsearch (a basic listing is free) and hipages (a paid lead service, from $139 + GST a month on a six-month first term). And a steady run of honest Google reviews. Nobody can buy a better place in Google's local results; Google says so itself.
Every fact below is from the page it names, in that page's words: Google's Business Profile help, hipages' and Localsearch's own pages (all read 19 Oct 2026), and the tradie providers' pages from our tradie comparison (read 13 and 14 Oct 2026, each quote found again on 19 Oct). Appear Everywhere is run by ESK Solutions, which also runs Creative by Jake; where Creative by Jake appears in a comparison it is marked ours. Creative by Jake builds websites and this site sells Appear, so we have a stake in what this page recommends. We compete with the providers named here, and our own price is shown the same way.
What does Google say decides who shows up?
Google's page on local ranking says "Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity." Distance is "how far each business is from the customer who's searching", which you cannot change. The other two you can: relevance comes from a complete profile ("Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results."), and prominence is "based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have".
And on money it is plain: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." An agency can do the work that helps; nobody can buy the place.
Should a tradie's Google profile show an address?
Not if customers do not come to you. Google's own example of a service-area business is a tradie: "A business that visits or delivers to customers directly but doesn't serve customers at their business address." "For example, businesses like cleaning services or plumbers." For those, "If you don't serve customers at your business address, remove your address from your Business Profile."
You name the areas you cover instead: "You can set up to 20 service areas based on the cities, postal codes, or other areas you serve." The whole area "shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based." And it is one profile, not one per suburb: "Service-area businesses can only have one profile for the whole area that they serve."
Two rules catch tradies out. A virtual office address is not allowed "unless that office is staffed during business hours". And a business that does show its address "should maintain permanent fixed signage of their business name at the address." A home address with no sign is not a shopfront in Google's eyes.
What should the profile itself say?
- Your real business name, nothing added. "Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile." "Smith Plumbing", not "Smith Plumbing Emergency Plumber Penrith".
- The most specific category. "Select a primary category that best describes your business." It counts: "The categories you select affect your local ranking on Google."
- Every job you do as a service. Google's own example: "a plumbing business might get options such as" "Install faucet" or "Repair toilet", and "You can also create and add custom services options."
- Reviews, asked for honestly. "you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code": put it on the invoice or the follow-up text, for every customer. Nothing in return: "Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews, change reviews, or remove negative reviews is considered fake & misleading content and is strictly prohibited."
The same rules, in more detail, are in our guide to the Google profile; it is written for celebrants, but every rule in it is Google's and applies to a tradie too.
Do hipages and Localsearch help, and what do they cost?
They are different things. hipages sells leads: "Credits can be used to accept job leads posted by homeowners and renters." Localsearch is a directory: a free basic listing, and paid tiers for a featured place. Every quote is the provider's own words, read 19 Oct 2026; the words around the quotes are ours.
| hipages | Localsearch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | "Starter" "$139 + GST / per month" ("155 credits/month", "Appears in 1 postcode"), up to "Platinum" "$649 + GST / per month" ("850 credits/month", "Appears in 10 postcodes"); "Pay yearly (5% discount)" | "A basic Localsearch listing is free." Featured tiers: "Bronze" "$199", "Silver" "$239", "Gold" "$299", "Platinum" "$369". "All prices are monthly and exclude GST." |
| Term | "Join on a 6 month introductory term, we'll tell you before it automatically renews on a 12 month term." "You can cancel your subscription during the seven day cooling off period provided you haven't accepted any leads." | The two pages differ. Its pricing page: "All plans are month-to-month with a 30-day notice period." Its listing page: "Cancellation terms depend on the agreement signed at setup; we'll always make the terms clear in writing before you commit". Get the term in writing. |
| Setup fee | "hipages is a monthly subscription with no upfront or set-up fees." | "A one-off setup fee may apply depending on scope." |
| How it works | "Every lead is capped at 3 businesses." "The amount of credits needed to accept a lead varies by job category, location, size of job, and supply and demand", and it "can change anytime until the job is marked as hired." | "All tiers include Google Business Profile setup and syndication of your details across Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing, Waze and the major mapping networks, no extra cost." |
| To join | "To list on hipages, you'll need to have a valid ABN." | Not shown |
| Its own figures | "With over 100,000 jobs each month on average" | "around 815,000 organic visits a month" |
For being found, the free Localsearch listing is the easy win: one more place with your name, phone and area exactly as on your Google profile. Its paid tiers buy "A featured profile on localsearch.com.au", placed "ahead of standard listings" on its own site.
hipages is a lead service more than a search one. Its value is the jobs you win from the credits you spend, and the first term is six months, so judge it on what a won job is worth to you. Its profile can "link to your business website, connect your Google reviews", so link both.
What do tradie agencies charge for local SEO?
The local SEO and Google profile prices shown by the providers in our tradie comparison, in their own words. Read 13 and 14 Oct 2026; every quote found again on 19 Oct. Providers that show no price for local SEO are left out of this table, not judged.
| Provider | Local SEO or Google profile price, as shown |
|---|---|
| Appear (ours) | $250 + GST a month, month to month: the Google profile kept up, details matched across directories, a review kit, Maps read weekly. How it works |
| 5 Star Tradie | "Google Profile only, $137 a month" "Or pay once, $500", "AUD, no GST added", "No minimum term" |
| Newcastle Web Co | "The Local SEO plan is $350 a month and is open to any business" |
| WB Designs | "start from $299 per month for the Bronze Plan", up to "$499 per month for the Gold Plan"; "Each plan includes a 1st page guarantee for a set number of keywords" |
| Made 4 Tradies | "Google Business Profile optimisation $497", an add-on |
| Made by Max | "Local Visibility Package" "$600": "Local keyword targeting, Google Business Profile setup and optimisation, Maps ranking, citation building and review strategy." |
| Steel Cap Digital | "SEO built in. Not an add-on."; Google profile setup "$750 once, or free in Enterprise builds." |
| HighStreet | "SEO Local" "$1,500 +GST foundation" and "$650+GST/month" |
| Michael Wolf | "tailored packages starting at $900 + GST per month" |
| Digital Marketing Tribe | "Local SEO $1,200 /month" "+GST" |
Three shapes of offer sit in that table: a one-off profile setup, a monthly plan for the profile alone, and a monthly SEO campaign that adds pages, links and reporting. Compare like with like, and ask what you keep if you stop. When a plan promises a ranking, ask what happens if it is missed: Google says nobody can pay it for a better place, and no agency controls its results.
Localsearch sells local SEO too, on its pricing page: "SEO & Local Search" "From $499/mo", and "Google Business Profile Management" "Custom quote". "Prices are indicative starting points in AUD, exclusive of GST."
What should a tradie do, in order?
- Claim or create the Google profile.A service-area business: address hidden, up to 20 areas, your real name, the most specific category, every job you do as a service, photos of real work, your phone and your website.
- Give each main service and area its own page."Hot water repairs in Penrith" with the work you did there says more than one page listing every suburb. Put the phone number at the top of every page.
- Claim the free Localsearch listing.The same name, phone and area as your Google profile, letter for letter.
- Decide on hipages as a lead service.Six months is the first term, so work out what a won job is worth before you sign. If you join, link your website and your Google reviews.
- Ask every customer for a Google review.A link or QR code on the invoice or the follow-up text, the same way for every job. Never anything in return.
- Reply to reviews.Short, specific, and polite even when the review is not.
- Measure the searches that pay.Your trade plus your suburb on Google Maps, from the same point, every week; and the calls the profile sends you, which its performance report counts once the profile is verified. A single reading tells you little; a series does.
When we read Bing Australia on 13 Oct 2026, "local seo for tradies" was answered by two agency guides: Tradie Web Guys' definitive Australian guide and Made 4 Tradies' local SEO guide, both dated 2026. The steps above are the same ground, with each rule sourced to the page that sets it.
Questions tradies ask
Do I need hipages to show up on Google?
No. hipages sends you leads posted on its own site; showing up on Google Maps comes from your Google profile, your website and your reviews. You can use both; they do different jobs.
Is a free Localsearch listing worth having?
Yes, as one more place your name, phone and area appear exactly as on Google. You do not need a paid tier for that.
I work from home. Can I put my home address on Google?
Only if customers come to you and there is permanent signage with your business name at that address; that is Google's rule. Otherwise hide the address and set the suburbs you cover.
Can Appear do this for me?
Most of it. Appear sets up and keeps your Google profile, matches your details across Localsearch and the other directories, adds a page to your site every second month and reads where you sit on Google Maps every week. Joining hipages, asking customers for reviews and answering your enquiries stay with you. It is $250 + GST a month, month to month. How it works.
Where does each fact on this page come from?
- Google Business Profile Help, read 19 Oct 2026: local ranking, service areas, guidelines, categories, services, reviews and performance.
- hipages, read 19 Oct 2026: membership costs, job leads and credits policy and hipages for business.
- Localsearch, read 19 Oct 2026: its directory listing page and pricing.
- The providers' own pages, linked from each provider's page on this site; read 13 and 14 Oct 2026 and found again on 19 Oct.
- Bing Australia: our own read, 13 Oct 2026.
If anything here no longer matches its page, email Appear Everywhere at creativebyjake@gmail.com and we will correct it and re-date the page.
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