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Start with your Google Business Profile
For a contractor, the map listing matters more than your website's place in the regular results. It's what people see first and call from.
- Verify it. An unverified profile may not show at all.
- Pick the right main category. Plumber, roofing contractor, electrician. Add a few close extras.
- Set your service area. The towns you actually drive to, not the whole state.
- Fill in everything. Hours, services, a short description in plain words, and photos of real jobs.
Reviews do the most work
How many reviews you have, how recent they are and whether you answer them all count. A shop with 40 reviews from this year usually beats one with 200 from five years ago. The trick is asking every time, right after the job, while the customer is still happy.
A page for each service and each town
Your website should have one page for each thing you do, like drain cleaning or water heater installs, and a page for each main town you serve. Each page says what you do there in plain words, with real photos and a way to call. One page that lists everything ranks for nothing.
Keep your name and number the same everywhere
Google checks that your business looks the same across the web. Make your name, address and phone number match exactly on your profile, your website, Yelp, Angi, the Better Business Bureau, your supplier's dealer list and your trade association.
- "Linden Plumbing" on one site and "Linden Plumbing & Drain LLC" on another
- An old phone number on a directory you forgot about
- A tracking number on your profile that doesn't match your website
What not to pay for
Plenty of people will sell you local SEO. Be careful with anyone who promises a spot on the map by a date, sells you hundreds of directory listings, or wants to write pages stuffed with town names. None of that beats a verified profile, real reviews and honest service pages.
