Marketing for tradies in South East Queensland: what to sort first

Marketing for tradies: what to sort first

Marketing for tradies works best in order: a proper Google profile with reviews and real job photos, then a website that gets the call, then a way to track where jobs come from, and only then ads and social. Most of the early steps cost you time, not money.

A lot of tradie marketing goes wrong because it starts with the dear stuff. Say a plumber in Ipswich pays for ads that send people to a slow website with no quote form. The clicks get paid for and nobody rings. Fix the basics first and the ads have something to work with.

This is the order we’d work through for a trade business in South East Queensland. Our other guides go deeper on each step, and we’ve linked them as we go.

First: your Google profile, photos and reviews

When someone in Chermside searches for an electrician, Google often shows a map with a few local businesses first. Each one is a Google Business Profile, and it’s free. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and how well known you are, and that you can’t pay for a better spot in the map results. Our guide to the Google Business Profile for tradies covers the setup, including hiding a home address.

Next, add real photos: your ute, your crew, a job before and after. Ask the customer first, and leave out their name and street number.

Then ask every customer for a review while the job is fresh. Text your Google review link when you send the invoice. Google doesn’t allow offering discounts or freebies for reviews, or only asking the happy customers, and under the Australian Consumer Law it’s illegal to create or arrange a fake review. Reply to each one in your own words.

Second: a website that gets the call

Your website is where someone decides to ring. It doesn’t need to be big. It needs a page for each service you want work in, the suburbs you cover, your licence number, a tap-to-call number at the top and a short quote form. Our page on websites for tradies shows what we build.

If you’re a QBCC licensee, the QBCC says your advertising has to show your licence name and number, and that includes websites and social media pages. Put it in the footer so it’s on every page.

Getting found on Google is a separate job that builds over months. Our SEO for tradies guide covers it. Don’t wait for it before you do the next steps.

Third: a simple way to track where jobs come from

Do this before you spend on ads, because it’s how you’ll know what to keep paying for. It doesn’t need software.

• Ask every new customer. “How did you hear about us?” on the phone, and as a dropdown on your quote form: Google search, Google Maps, Facebook, a mate, a builder, other.
• Keep a tally. A note on your phone or a page in the ute: date, suburb, job, where they came from and whether you won it. Count it up at the end of each month.
• Check your Google profile. It shows taps on your call button, direction requests, website clicks and messages. Those are taps, not calls, so use them as a guide.
• Track the calls from ads. If you run Google Ads, Google can swap your website number for a forwarding number at no cost, so you can see which ads bring calls.

After a few months you’ll see what brings jobs and what only looks busy. Cut what doesn’t pay.

Fourth: Google Ads for tradies, only for the work you want

Ads can bring calls quickly, but you pay for every click. Google’s keyword data for October 2026 puts the average click at about $60 for “plumber brisbane”, about $85 for “emergency plumber brisbane” and about $30 for “electrician brisbane”. Our guide on how much Google Ads cost has more trades and shows how budgets work.

So don’t pay to show for every search with your trade in it. Pick the jobs you want more of. Say a landscaping business on the Sunshine Coast wants retaining walls and paving, not lawn mowing: the ads, and the page they land on, should say retaining walls and paving. Say a concreter in Logan wants driveways, not small patch repairs: advertise driveways.

Start small, in the suburbs you really work, and look at the searches that triggered your ads each month. Block the ones that were never going to become a customer. For plumbing, the emergency searches cost the most of the ones we checked, so work out what a call-out is worth to you first.

Fifth: social media as proof of your work

Think of Facebook and Instagram as the place you show you’re real and busy, not where the phone will ring. Post real jobs: a deck finished in Redcliffe, a switchboard before and after, the crew on site. A line on what the job was and which suburb is plenty.

Short and regular beats clever. Your licence name and number go on your page too, because the QBCC counts social media pages as advertising. If you’d like someone to plan and post it for you, we do social media for businesses like yours.

Builders, property managers and word of mouth

Plenty of trade work comes from other people: past customers, other trades, builders and property managers. You can’t buy that with ads, but you can make it easier.

• Make referrals easy. When you finish a job, text your name, number and review link. Tell regular customers the kind of work you want more of, like bathroom renos or full rewires.
• Builders. A builder pricing a job around Moreton Bay wants subbies who turn up and are easy to deal with. Send a one-page sheet with your licence number, insurance, the work you do, where you work and a few photos. For bigger jobs, a capability statement does the same job.
• Property managers. A property manager on the Gold Coast with a landlord waiting on a quote wants a tradie who answers the phone and quotes quickly. Ring a few local agencies, say what you do and where, and ask how they like quotes sent.

Then do what you said you would. Turning up on time and leaving the place clean is what gets you the next call.

Questions people ask

What’s the cheapest marketing for a tradie?

Your Google Business Profile, job photos, review requests and a simple tally cost you time, not money. Do those first.

Are Google Ads for plumbers worth it?

They can be, but plumbing clicks are among the dearest we checked, at about $60 for “plumber brisbane”. Start small, track calls and only advertise the jobs that pay well. Our Google Ads cost guide has the numbers.

Do tradies need social media?

Not to get found, because your Google profile and website matter more. It’s an easy place to show real work, though, and customers can look you up before they ring.

Can I do my own marketing, or do I need an agency?

You can do the profile, photos, reviews and tracking yourself, because they cost time rather than money. A website and ads are where help tends to pay off. If you’re flat out on the tools, ask any agency what they’ll do each month and how they’ll report calls and quote requests.

If you’d like a second opinion on where you stand, send us your website for a free website check. We’ll tell you what’s working, what isn’t and what we’d sort first, in plain English.