The short answer
Marketing for a trade business starts with the same three things in every trade: a Google Business Profile with steady reviews, a website a customer can check in a minute, and pages for the jobs you want in the towns you cover. What differs by trade is the trust mark customers look for and the months they search, from boilers in October to builders in January.
Marketing for tradesmen comes down to one question: when someone needs your trade in your town, do they find you, and do they trust what they find? The answer starts in the same place for every trade and then splits, because a plumber, a roofer and a builder are checked for different things and searched for in different months.
We build websites and do SEO for trades, so we have an interest in some of what follows. The rest is what we do not sell, with each rule taken from its source and each search figure dated.
The same three things, whatever your trade
- A complete Google Business Profile. Google says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity", and that "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking". The right primary category, the jobs you do listed as services, a service area that matches where you actually work, and true hours. If yours is not showing, our guide on a Google Business Profile not showing finds the cause.
- Reviews after every job. Ask every customer the same way, on the day. Google bans offering anything for a review and asking only the happy ones, and since 6 April 2025 UK law bans fake reviews and reviews that hide an incentive. Our guide on how to get Google reviews has the wording.
- A website a customer can check in a minute. Your trust mark linked to the register, the towns you cover, real photos of your work and a phone number that works one-handed.
Then comes being found for the jobs, not just the trade: a page for each kind of work you want more of, in each town you genuinely cover. That ongoing work is what our SEO for trades covers.
The trust mark your customers check
Every trade has the badge a careful customer looks for, and in two trades it is the law.
| Trade | What customers check | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbers and heating engineers | The Gas Safe registration number for any gas work | In Great Britain, only businesses in the class approved by HSE may do gas work, and pretending to be registered is an offence (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998) |
| Electricians | Membership of a competent person scheme, such as NICEIC or NAPIT | Lets you self-certify certain building work, and puts you on the electrical competent person register householders search (GOV.UK) |
| Builders | A trade body that vets and inspects, such as the FMB | The FMB inspects members' work before they join (its join page) |
| Roofers | NFRC membership or a similar scheme | The NFRC inspects members before joining and every three years after (its own guide) |
Show yours on the website, the profile and the van, linked to the register, so a customer can check it in a minute. The trade guides go further: marketing for plumbers, marketing for electricians and marketing for construction companies.
When your customers search
Each trade has its own calendar, and the marketing that takes months has to be done before the peak, not during it. From UK Google Ads data (DataForSEO):
| Trade | The pattern | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing and heating | Boiler work peaks in October | "boiler service" 27,100 in October 2025, 8,100 in May 2026 |
| Electrical | Emergencies rise into winter; landlord testing never stops | "emergency electrician" 6,600 in November 2025, 3,600 from April to July 2026; "eicr" never below 18,100 a month |
| Building | Homeowners go looking straight after Christmas | "builders near me" 27,100 in January 2026, 12,100 in December 2025 |
| Roofing | Storm nights bring the emergencies | The Met Office names storms from early September to late August |
Work the law puts in the diary
Two trades have customers who must book them on a schedule. In Great Britain a landlord must have each gas appliance and flue checked at intervals of not more than 12 months, and in England a landlord must have the electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years. A list of whose check is due when, and a reminder before it comes round, is the most predictable marketing a plumber or electrician can do.
The van, the boards and the street
In England, the government's guide for advertisers lists adverts on a vehicle that is normally moving among those outside the planning authority's direct control, so the van can carry your name, number, web address and trust mark. Builders can also put a board on site while the work is going on, within the size limits in our construction marketing guide. A card left after each job, with a QR code for a review, makes the next recommendation easier.
Paying for adverts and leads
When the diary has a gap, paid channels are quick, and each trade pays a different price for the same click. Advertisers pay around £17.36 a click for "emergency plumber" and £8.56 for "emergency electrician" (November 2026), £3.96 for "roofer near me" and £2.53 for "builders near me" (2 November 2026; all DataForSEO, converted from US dollars). Lead sellers and directories are the same advertising with a margin on top. The trade leads guides compare them with dated prices: plumbing leads, leads for electricians, roofing leads and construction leads. Free listings are in our guide to free business directories.
Being found, trade by trade
What being found means differs by trade, and each of our trade SEO pages sets out the searches and the work for one trade: plumber SEO, SEO for electricians, SEO for construction companies, local SEO for roofers, SEO for locksmiths, SEO for carpenters and joiners, SEO for plasterers, SEO for tilers, SEO for handyman services, SEO for landscapers and SEO for painters and decorators.
Track where every job comes from
Ask every enquiry how they found you, write it down, and once a quarter divide what each channel cost by the jobs it won. It is the only way to know whether the van, the badge, the directory, the ads or the website is earning its keep. The free lead cost calculator does the sum for paid channels side by side.
What is the best marketing for tradesmen?
The channel that brings booked jobs for the least money, which you only find out by asking every enquiry how they found you. For most trades the cheapest per job is a Google Business Profile with steady reviews, then a website with a page for each kind of work. Lead sellers, directories and paid ads fill gaps quickly and stop when you stop paying.
How much should a tradesman spend on marketing?
Work back from what a job is worth rather than from a percentage. A boiler installation, a rewire or an extension can justify a marketing budget that would make no sense for small repairs. Add up what you already pay directories and lead sellers per job won, and compare it with what it costs to be found on your own; that comparison usually settles the number.
Do I need a website if I already get work through word of mouth?
Probably, because the person you were recommended to will usually look you up before they ring. What they find, your reviews, your photos, your accreditations and a number that works, decides whether they call. A website also gives Google pages to show for the jobs you want, which word of mouth alone never reaches.
Written by Janusz Wozniak, Founder & Lead Developer. Guides are updated when prices or platforms change; the dates above say when.