For Australian trade businesses
Google Business Profile for tradies
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing Google gives your business: your name, your reviews, your hours and a call button. Set up properly, it is how a trade business gets into the three listings Google shows before any website. This guide walks through it step by step, so you show up for people searching "plumber near me" in your area, for free.
The three listings at the top of Google
When someone searches for a tradie, Google shows three business listings near the top, with their stars and a call button, before any website. They are not websites. They are Google listings, and your Google Business Profile is the only thing that puts you in there.
Plumber Near You | Book Online
- Nearby Plumbing
- A Local Plumbing Co
- Metro Plumbers
The demand behind that box is not small. These are the searches your future clients are already doing, and the three listings sit on top of every one of them.
| The search | Australian searches a month |
|---|---|
| "plumber near me" | 22,200 |
| "electrician near me" | 22,200 |
| "pest control near me" | 12,100 |
| "roofer near me" | 1,300 |
| "landscaper near me" | 1,000 |
Semrush AU, retrieved 25 July 2026.
Your suburbs, not your address
Most tradies work out of a ute, not a shopfront. Google has a setting for that: you hide your home address and list the suburbs you actually cover instead, up to 20 of them, so Google shows you to the people in those suburbs.
Then pick your type of business. Google calls these categories. Pick the one that matches your main trade, then add the other kinds of work you do. The suburbs and the categories are what tell Google which searches you belong in.
Address: Not shown
- Toowoomba
- Highfields
- Gowrie
- Westbrook
- Kearneys Spring
- Wilsonton
- Newtown
- Rangeville
Up to 20 suburbs, no shopfront needed. Suburbs shown are an example.
Fill out every service description
Every box you can fill in is a chance to say what you do and where you do it. The list of services is the biggest one. Add every job you do, not just the few Google suggests, call each one what the job is actually called, and write a line or two under every one. Never leave a blank.
Keep the name itself clean: "Hot Water Repairs", not "Toowoomba Hot Water Repairs". Padding a suburb into the service name is the same move Google warns about in your business name, and a homeowner reads it as spam either way. The suburbs belong one field down. The description is where you have room to say what the job involves and name every area you cover for it, which is the field almost every listing leaves empty.
| Trade | Service name | What its description covers |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber | Hot Water Repairs | Gas, electric and heat-pump repairs and replacements, same-day where we can. Covering Toowoomba, Highfields, Westbrook and Kearneys Spring. |
| Plumber | Blocked Drains | CCTV drain camera, high-pressure jetting and root cutting. Covering Coburg North, Pascoe Vale, Brunswick and Fawkner. |
| Electrician | Switchboard Upgrades | Fuse-to-breaker changeovers, safety switches and compliance certificates. Covering Ipswich, Booval, Ripley and Springfield. |
| Roofer | Roof Restorations | Re-bedding, repointing, tile replacement and protective coating. Covering Geelong, Belmont, Grovedale and Highton. |
| Pest control | Termite Inspections | Annual timber pest inspections with a written report and treatment plan. Covering Cairns, Edmonton, Smithfield and Redlynch. |
| Landscaper | Retaining Walls | Timber sleeper, besser block and concrete sleeper walls, engineered where required. Covering Ballarat, Wendouree, Sebastopol and Alfredton. |
That third column is the work. A couple of honest sentences on what the job involves, and the suburbs you cover for it, beats an empty field every time.
Add each service as a product as well
Your Google listing also has a products section, and it is a second place to list the same jobs. Add one product for each service you offer, fill in every box, and link it to the page for that job on your own website.
The link is the point. When your "Switchboard Upgrades" product points at a page about exactly that, on a website Google already shows people, Google sees the two backing each other up. The listing and the website stop working alone and start working together.
One service, two places it works
Service on your listing
Product on your listing
Your website
Both point at the same work, so both get found more easily
Never pad out your business name
Here is the line you do not cross. Your name on Google has to be your real business name, the one on your ute and your invoices. Padding it out to "Smith Plumbing Toowoomba Hot Water Repairs" breaks Google's guidelines and can get your whole listing suspended.
The same rule runs one field down. Service names stay the real name of the job, and the detail goes in the descriptions, your products and your business description, where you have just put it. That is the difference between a listing that comes up and one that gets pulled down.
Do
Smith Plumbing
Your real name, safe.
Don't
Smith Plumbing Toowoomba Hot Water Repairs
Padded out, risks suspension.
Photos that make people pick you
Your photos are job-site photos, not a shopfront. Before-and-after shots, the van on site, the team on a job. They show a real, working business and give someone a reason to pick you over a listing with nothing to look at.
Keep adding them. Fresh photos are a small signal that the business is active and still working, which is exactly what a homeowner is checking for before they ring.
Turn finished jobs into reviews
Ask for a review on the day the job wraps, while the client is happiest, and reply to every one you get. People read the dates, so a steady trickle of recent reviews beats a big total that stopped two years ago.
Reviews also help your listing show up, so the habit pays twice. And never buy them. Fake reviews carry real penalties in Australia, and they read fake anyway.
What's our angle here?
KINGTRADIE builds websites and gets Australian trade businesses found on Google (local SEO), so this is what we do for a living. The Australia-wide picture, including the listing rules that apply here, is on local SEO in Australia. Quick Mick's Plumbing, a Blue Mountains plumber, is on page one of Google for around 40 searches and brings in about 10 new clients a month with no ad spend (KINGTRADIE client result, July 2026).
This is the do-it-yourself guide, and you can do all of it. When you would rather hand it over, the done-for-you version is local SEO for tradies. Across 7+ years, $750k+ of work has come through client websites, every engagement carries a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and KINGTRADIE holds a five-star Google rating.
More on how the channels fit together is in our digital marketing for tradies guide, and the trade-specific playbooks live on local SEO for electricians, roofers and pest control.
Google Business Profile questions?
Straight answers on setting up and running your Google listing.
How do I get a Google Business Profile for my business?
It is free. Search your business name on Google, or go to business.google.com and create it, then click to claim it. Google checks you own the business by video, phone or a postcard sent to your address. Once that is done you can fill in everything: type of business, services, photos and hours (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).
I work out of a ute. What address do I put on my listing?
You do not have to show one. Google lets a business hide its street address and list the suburbs it covers instead, up to 20 of them. Your home address stays private and Google still shows you to people searching in the suburbs you actually work in (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).
Can I put suburbs or services in my business name?
No. Your name on Google has to be your real business name, exactly as it appears in the real world. Adding suburbs or services to it breaks Google's guidelines and risks suspension. Put those words in your services, products and business description instead, where they are allowed to live (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).
How long until I show up in the three listings?
There is no fixed timer. A new listing that Google has checked and that is fully filled in can start appearing within a few weeks, but getting into the top three takes longer and depends on the type of business you picked, your reviews, how close you are and how filled in the listing is. Recent reviews and steady photos help.
Do I need a physical address for a Google listing?
You need an address so Google can check the business is real, but you do not have to show it. Most trades hide the address and show a list of suburbs instead. That keeps a home address private while still telling Google where you work (Google Business Profile Help, 2026).
How many services can I add to my listing?
Plenty. Google suggests a few based on your type of business, and you can add your own on top with "Add more services". Call each one what the job is actually called, then use the line under it to say what the work involves and which suburbs you cover for it. That is where the detail belongs, not in the name.
What photos should a tradie put on their listing?
Job-site photos, not a storefront. Before-and-after shots of finished work, the van on site, the team on a job. They show a homeowner a real business, and adding fresh ones regularly is a small signal to Google that you are active and still working.
Is a Google Business Profile free for tradies?
Yes. Creating, verifying and filling out your Google Business Profile costs nothing, and it is the single most valuable free thing a local trade business can set up. Getting into the three listings for "near me" searches does not cost per click the way ads do.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help (support.google.com), 2026: service-area cap, categories, services and products, photos, reviews, verification, business-name and suspension rules
- Semrush AU search volume estimates ("near me" demand), retrieved 25 July 2026
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2026: 74% look for reviews written in the last three months
- Quick Mick's Plumbing figures: KINGTRADIE client result, confirmed July 2026
Facts and figures retrieved July 2026. Google's guidelines and search volumes move; check the source pages for current details.
No rush.
Work through this guide on your own listing and you will move the needle, no invoice required. If you would rather the whole listing and website were built and run for you, book a call and the team will map out what that looks like for your trade and area.
Book a call