Do Tradies Need a Website if They Have a Google Business Profile?

The Short Answer

Yes, but not for the reason most people think. A Google Business Profile will bring you calls on its own, and plenty of tradies run for years on a profile, a Facebook page and word of mouth. The website is what lets the profile reach further, and what turns a maybe into a phone call.

If you are just starting out, set up the profile first. If you already have steady work and want more of a particular kind, or in a particular area, that is when a website earns its keep.

What a Google Business Profile Does Well

The profile is what appears in the map results. It shows your phone number, hours, reviews and photos, and it lets someone call you with one tap. For urgent work in your own suburb, it is often the only thing a customer looks at.

Where a Profile on Its Own Runs Out

There are four things a profile cannot do for you.

• It mostly shows you to people near your base. To be found in suburbs further out, Google needs more evidence that you work there, and that evidence usually lives on a website
• It gives you very little room to explain a service. A customer comparing three quotes for a bathroom renovation wants to see how you work, what is included and what past jobs looked like
• You do not own it. Google can suspend a profile or change how it displays, and a business that depends on it entirely has nowhere else to send people
• It gives Google less to go on. Google reads the website linked from your profile to understand what you do, and a profile linked to a clear, relevant site tends to do better than one linked to nothing

What a Tradie Website Actually Needs

Not much. Most trade websites fail because they are slow, vague or hard to use on a phone, not because they are too small.

• Your phone number at the top of every page, as a button that calls you when tapped
• One page for each main service, written the way customers describe the job
• The areas you cover, stated plainly
• Photos of your own work, not stock images
• Your licence or registration number and insurance
• Reviews, or a link to them
• A short enquiry form for people who would rather not call

Speed and Phones Come First

Nearly all trade searches happen on a phone, often by someone standing in front of the problem. If your site takes several seconds to load on mobile data, a good share of those people will go back and tap the next result.

You can check your own site for free with Google's PageSpeed Insights. Look at the mobile result, not the desktop one. If it is in the red, that is worth fixing before you spend anything on advertising.

What About a Facebook Page Instead?

A Facebook page is useful for staying in front of people who already know you, and for local community groups. It is not a substitute for a website. It rarely appears for searches like 'fencing contractor Greenvale', you cannot structure it around your services, and the platform decides who sees your posts.

So What Should You Do?

Start with the Google Business Profile and fill in every section. Once that is working, add a small, fast website with a page for each service. Add suburb pages later, and only where you have real work to show.

We build websites for trade businesses and manage their Google Business Profiles, so we are not neutral on this. But the order above is the one we would give a mate. If you want an honest view of whether your current site is helping or holding you back, the free audit covers exactly that.