Why your own website and profile matter most
When someone nearby searches for a plumber, Google shows them businesses it trusts are relevant, close and well regarded. A call that comes from your own Google profile or website comes straight to you, from a customer who already chose you. Over a year, those are the enquiries that build a business. Here are seven ways to get more of them.
1. Get your Google Business Profile complete
Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Category, services, hours, photos: fill it all in.
2. Set your service area properly
Google's guidelines use a plumber as the example: if you work from home, clear the address and set a service area. Cover the towns you actually want to drive to.
3. Write a page for each job you want more of
If you want more bathroom installs and fewer dripping taps, your website should say so. Give the jobs you want a clear page each, with the areas you cover and an easy way to get a quote.
4. Make it easy to contact you
A phone number that can be tapped on a mobile, a short quote form that actually works, and an answer within the hour where you can. Plenty of leads are lost after the search, not before it.
5. Ask every happy customer for a review
Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Use a Google link or QR code and never offer anything in return.
6. Earn genuine local links
Your merchant's installer list, a local club you sponsor, a genuine local news story. Google lists links as part of prominence but treats buying them as link spam.
7. Measure what your own site brings in
Ask every new customer how they found you and note it down. Your Google Business Profile also shows the calls and website clicks it has generated. After a few months you'll know which pages and searches bring the jobs you want, so you can do more of what works.
Turn more of your current visitors into calls
Before chasing more visitors, check you're not losing the ones you already get. Open your own website on your phone. Can you see your phone number without scrolling? Does tapping it dial? Does the quote form work, and does someone answer within the hour? Are your main jobs and areas obvious in the first few seconds?
Fixing these costs very little and can mean more calls from the same searches. It's usually part of the first month of any decent managed service.
Where to start
Search "plumber" plus your town on your phone. If you're not in the map results, start with steps 1 and 2. If you are, but low down, steps 5 and 6 are usually the gap. Our SEO for plumbers page goes into more detail.
Common questions
How do I get more plumbing leads?
Show up in Google Maps and the local results for the jobs and towns you want, with a complete Business Profile, a page per job and town, steady reviews and genuine local links, so customers call you directly.
How do I know if my plumbing website is working?
Ask every new customer how they found you, and check the calls and website clicks shown in your Google Business Profile. If those are rising for the jobs and towns you want, it is working.
What's the quickest win for more plumbing leads?
Usually your Google Business Profile: the right category, a proper service area, your services listed and real photos.