Who is this for?
Mobile plumbers, heating engineers and small multi-van firms who live and die by the phone. Particularly if:
- "I have 60 five-star reviews and I still cannot get in the map box."
- "My profile says I am in Hackney but I mostly work in Essex now."
- "Google keeps suggesting edits to my opening hours that I never made."
- "I set up the profile years ago and have not touched it since."
What do you get?
Category set-up:
primary category chosen around your best-paying work, with secondary categories such as Heating contractor, Gas engineer, Drainage service or Bathroom remodeler added only where they are true.
Service area settings:
your address hidden if customers never visit, and the towns and districts you actually cover listed properly.
Services and products filled in:
each job you do written out with a short description in your own language, from power flushes to unvented cylinder servicing.
A photo routine:
guidance on what to snap on each job, plus regular uploads so the profile looks alive.
Genuine review requests:
a short message template and QR card for the van, asking every customer in the same way, with nothing offered in return.
Citation consistency:
your business name, address and number matched exactly across directories so Google sees one business, not three.
What goes into a strong Google Business Profile?
Your profile is the most important page you own that is not on your website. Here is how we handle each part.
Which categories should you pick?
Google lets you choose one primary category and several secondary ones. The primary carries the most weight. For most of our clients that is Plumber, but a firm that mainly fits boilers may do better leading with Heating contractor or Gas engineer.
Secondary categories should reflect real work. Ticking Drainage service when you have never rodded a drain just confuses Google and the customer.
How should you set your service area?
If you work from home and customers never come to you, Google expects you to hide the address and list service areas instead. We set those around where you genuinely want jobs, not every postcode in the M25. Ranking is still influenced by distance, so we pair the profile with area pages on your website for the towns further out.
What photos actually help?
Real ones. Your sign-written van outside a job. A tidy boiler install with the casing off. A before and after of a bathroom. A picture of you or your engineers in uniform. Stock photos and screenshots add nothing, and customers can tell.
How do you get more reviews without breaking the rules?
The DMCC Act 2024 made fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews unlawful, with the ban in force from April 2025. So no "£10 off if you leave five stars", and no asking only the customers you know are happy.
What works is boring and steady: ask every customer, the same day, with a direct link. We set up a short text template, an email follow-up and a QR card for the van. Then we help you reply to every review, good or bad, in a calm voice.
What about posts and Q&A?
Google Business Profile posts are a simple way to show you are active: a seasonal note before winter, a reminder about boiler servicing, a photo of a recent install. We draft them so all you do is approve.
How do you know if it is working?
Google Business Profile insights show calls, direction requests, website clicks and the searches people used to find you. We pull those figures monthly and set them beside your Search Console data, so you can see whether the map listing or the website is doing the heavy lifting. If a category change or new photo set coincides with a jump in calls, we note it. If nothing moves, we say so and change tack.
How does it work?
- Profile check: we review your current profile, categories, reviews and how you appear across directories.
- Fixed quote: your price in writing within one working day, held for seven days.
- Fix the foundations: categories, services, service areas, photos and citations sorted in the first weeks.
- Keep it moving: monthly photos, posts, review replies and reporting from Google Business Profile insights.
What does local SEO cost?
SEO and AI visibility
From £497 per month
Service and area pages, Google Business Profile, citations, review requests, regular manual checks of AI answers, monthly plain-English report
Get my fixed quotePrices exclude VAT. The exact scope is set out in your fixed written quote, held for seven days.
Local SEO is included in our SEO and AI visibility plans rather than sold as a bolt-on, because a map listing works best when the website behind it is strong too.
What else should I read?
- SEO for plumbers: the wider SEO service, including organic rankings.
- Plumber marketing: how the map listing fits with ads, reviews and repeat work.
- Checkatrade vs MyBuilder vs Bark: which directories are worth a citation and which cost too much.
- Plumbing business names: why your name on Google should match your van.
- Plumber website design in West London
- Plumber website design in North London
Frequently asked questions
What is local SEO for plumbers?
It is the work that helps your business show in the Google map results for searches in the areas you cover. Most of it centres on your Google Business Profile, your reviews and how consistent your details are across the web.
Which Google Business Profile category should a plumber choose?
Pick the one that matches the work you most want as your primary category, usually Plumber. Then add secondary categories such as Heating contractor or Gas engineer only if you genuinely do that work.
Should I show my home address on Google?
Not if customers do not visit you. Mobile plumbers can run a service area profile, which hides the address and shows the areas you cover instead.
Can I offer a discount for Google reviews?
No, not without risk. The DMCC Act bans concealed incentivised reviews, and Google's own rules restrict incentives, so we help you ask every genuine customer in the same simple way.
How many photos should my profile have?
There is no magic number. Add real photos regularly: your van, your team, before and after shots and finished installs, rather than a big batch once and nothing after.
Someone left a fake one-star review. What can I do?
You can report it to Google through your profile and reply calmly in public. We help you word the reply so future customers see a professional response rather than an argument.
My profile got suspended. Can you help?
We can help you work through Google's reinstatement process and fix whatever triggered it, such as a mismatched address or a keyword-stuffed business name. We cannot promise Google's decision.