What does digital marketing for tradies include?
Digital marketing for tradies is six parts that work as one system. Each does a different job, and the order you add them matters more than how many you run at once.
| Part | What it does | Cost (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Turns traffic from every other channel into calls and quote requests | $1,750 one page, $3,250 business site |
| Google Business Profile | Gets you into the map pack for local searches | Free from Google, it just takes time |
| SEO and AEO | Builds steady enquiries from Google and AI answers over months | From $950 a month |
| Google Ads | Puts you in front of people searching right now | From $950 a month plus ad spend |
| Meta ads | Reaches homeowners on Facebook and Instagram before they search | From $950 a month plus ad spend |
| Follow up | Texts every lead back, chases quotes, asks for reviews | Omega CS from $199 a month |
Skip the last row and the rest leaks. Most tradies lose more jobs to slow replies than to bad ads.
How much does digital marketing for tradies cost?
A website is a one off cost, then most tradies run one managed paid channel at a time. Every price below is ex GST, and there are no lock-in contracts.
| Where you are | What to pay for | Typical cost (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|
| Getting set up | Business website and Google Business Profile | $3,250 once, plus hosting |
| Need work now | Google Ads, managed | From $950 a month plus $500 to $5,000 ad spend |
| Want steady work without paying per click | SEO + AEO | From $950 a month |
| Planned, visual jobs | Meta ads, managed | From $950 a month plus ad spend, most small businesses spend $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Every stage | Lead follow up | Omega CS Self Serve from $199 a month, or Run For You from $350 a week |
For context, trades and home services in Perth average $3 to $8 a click on Google Ads, and Meta leads typically cost $6 to $30 each depending on the industry.
The base everything else points at.
- 5 to 8 pages, one per service
- Written for local and AI search
- Your real photos, no stock
- Live in 2 to 4 weeks
Found on Google, in the map pack and in AI answers.
- Service and suburb pages
- Google Business Profile work
- Schema and AI search setup
- A monthly report
Enquiries now, while SEO builds.
- Campaigns built around your jobs
- Landing pages from $950
- Call and form tracking
- Budget checked every week
Every lead texted back in seconds.
- $0 setup, cancel any time
- Missed calls texted back
- Quotes followed up
- 30 day guarantee
Prices exclude GST. Ad spend is paid to Google or Meta directly. No lock-in contracts, and you only pay for the parts you need.
What should a tradie do first with digital marketing?
It depends on where your business is. Here's the order I'd follow at each stage.
Just starting, or mostly referrals
Set up your Google Business Profile properly and get a simple website with your number, services, area and real photos. Ask every past customer for a review. Don't buy ads before you have somewhere good to send people. Our websites for tradies start at $1,750 + GST, and Google Business Profile setup is the cheapest win there is.
Steady, with quiet patches
Add Google Ads aimed at the two or three jobs you want more of, each pointing to its own page. Turn ads up in quiet weeks and down when you're booked.
Growing, with a crew to keep busy
Start SEO for tradies so more work comes in without a cost per click, add automated follow up so no lead waits, and test Meta ads for planned jobs.
Established, chasing bigger jobs
Build pages and campaigns for the high value work, like switchboards, restorations and renovations, and track which jobs actually make money, not just which ones make the phone ring.
Should tradies use Google Ads or Facebook ads?
Google Ads for urgent jobs people search for, Facebook and Instagram ads for planned and visual work. People search Google when they already know they need you. They scroll Facebook before they've decided.
- Google Ads suit: emergency plumbing and electrical, aircon repairs, hot water, pest control and locksmiths. The customer is ready to book today.
- Meta ads suit: patios, landscaping, kitchens, bathroom renovations, solar, pools and roof restorations. Before and after photos stop the scroll, and people plan these jobs for months.
Google leads usually cost more but are closer to booking. Meta leads are cheaper, typically $6 to $30 each, but need faster follow up because the person wasn't actively looking. See Google Ads for tradies and Facebook ads for how each is set up.
Why do tradies lose leads after the marketing works?
Because nobody replies fast enough. You're on the tools, the form lands in an inbox, and by the time you call back at 7pm they've booked someone else.
MIT and InsideSales found leads contacted within 5 minutes were 21 times more likely to qualify than leads contacted at 30 minutes. For a tradie on a roof or under a house, 5 minutes is close to impossible by hand. Omega CS, our CRM, fills that gap. It texts every web form, Facebook and Instagram lead back in seconds from your own Australian mobile number, asks the job details, texts back missed calls and follows up quotes until the customer says yes or no. Then it asks happy customers for a Google review, which feeds your SEO.
What should a tradie marketing agency report on?
Calls, quote requests, cost per lead and jobs won. If a tradie marketing agency's report leads with impressions, reach or "visibility", ask where the jobs are.
- Calls and forms by channel, tracked in GA4, so you can tell Google Ads from SEO from Facebook.
- Cost per lead for each paid channel.
- Which searches and ads brought enquiries, so budget moves to what works.
- Jobs won and what they were worth. That needs your CRM and your marketing talking to each other. Omega CS sends conversions back to Meta, so Facebook learns which leads became real jobs.
- What changes next month, in plain words.
With us, you deal with the person who does the work. There's one point of contact, no account manager in between and no outsourcing.
Is a tradie marketing agency worth it?
It's worth it when you have room for more work and your time is worth more on the tools than learning ad platforms. It isn't worth it if you're booked out for months, can't take on more jobs, or your website can't turn the visitors you already get into calls.
Honest checks before you hire anyone for digital marketing for tradies, including us:
- Can you take on more jobs next month? If not, fix capacity first.
- Do you know your average job value and margin? Without it, nobody can tell you whether a $40 lead is cheap or expensive.
- Will someone answer leads fast? If not, sort follow up before buying more leads.
- Will you send job photos and ask for reviews? Marketing without real proof struggles.
What the full system looks like: Calabreeze
Calabreeze, a Perth air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical and security contractor, started with no website, no Google Business Profile and no tracking. We built an 8 page custom site from live search data with 66 real job photos, structured it for AI search, set up GA4 and Search Console from launch, and put Omega CS behind every form with an AI SMS assistant answering each lead in seconds. It launched in September 2026.
That's the order we recommend for most digital marketing for tradies: a site built on real searches, tracking from day one, follow up that doesn't depend on you being off the tools, then paid channels on top once you can see what's working. Read the Calabreeze case study.
