Local SEO for Trades: The 6-Month Playbook

If you run a local trade, you know the feeling: someone's AC breaks, they open Google, and they call whichever contractor shows up at the top of the results.

The question isn't whether local SEO matters — it's whether *you're* the one showing up. Here's the playbook we follow.

Month 1: Foundation

Before we touch keywords, we fix the basics:

• Google Business Profile — Claimed, verified, and fully filled out. Categories, hours, service areas, and at least 15 photos.
• NAP consistency — Name, address, phone must match everywhere: your website, Google, Yelp, Facebook, and any directories.
• Site speed — A site that takes 8 seconds to load is basically invisible to both Google and customers on their phones.

Month 2-3: Content & Keywords

We don't guess what people search — we find out. For a plumbing company in Glasgow, that meant pages and blog posts for:

• "emergency plumber Glasgow"
• "water heater repair Glasgow"
• "leak detection Glasgow"

Each one solves a specific, urgent problem at a specific time. That intent is gold.

Month 4-6: Trust & Authority

Reviews become the engine. We set up systems to get more reviews, respond to every single one, and build local backlinks through community involvement.

The results clients see

• Higher rankings for the terms that actually bring paying customers
• More clicks-to-call from the Google Map Pack
• A growing stream of free, qualified organic traffic

Local SEO is a marathon, not a sprint — but the compound effect is real.

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