You Have Got Your Licence. Now Get Found.
You've got your ABN sorted. You've got your insurance. You might have a van, some gear, and a few contacts from your apprenticeship. What you probably don't have yet is any kind of digital presence.
That's normal. Most new tradies skip the digital setup entirely and spend their first year handing out business cards and hoping word of mouth takes off. Meanwhile, the competitor in the next suburb who set up a Google Business Profile on their first week is showing up in every local search and getting calls you never knew existed.
This checklist covers exactly what you need to set up from day one. Not everything at once. In order. Starting with what gets you found fastest.
The Digital Setup Checklist
1. Google Business Profile (free, do this today)
This is the single highest-impact thing a new tradie can do, and it costs nothing. A Google Business Profile puts your business on Google Maps and in local search results when someone nearby searches for your trade.
When someone types "plumber near me" or "electrician Footscray," Google shows a map with three business listings before any website results. If you're not on that map, you don't exist for those searches.
Setup takes about 15 minutes. When you do it:
- Add every service you offer
- Set your service area by suburb (not just a single address)
- Upload a few photos of your work straight away
- Set your hours accurately
- Ask your very first customer for a Google review the moment the job is done. Reviews build trust fast, and getting a few early ones gives you a massive head start over competitors who have been operating for years but never asked
2. A proper website (not just a Facebook page)
Your website is your digital shopfront. It's where customers land when they Google you, where they decide whether to call, and where leads come in when you're on a job and can't answer the phone.
A Facebook page is not a substitute. Facebook is a social media platform. You don't own it, you can't control it, and it almost never appears in Google search results for local trades. If someone searches "painter Brunswick," Facebook pages are not what shows up.
Your website needs a few things to do its job properly:
- Fast loading on phones. Most customers will visit on mobile. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, they leave.
- Clear services listed. What do you do? What areas do you cover? Make it obvious.
- Photos of your actual work. Real photos of completed jobs convert better than stock images every time.
- A simple way to request a quote. A form or a click-to-call button. Make it easy.
- Contact info that is easy to find. Phone number visible without scrolling, especially on mobile.
3. A business email address
This one is small but it matters more than you'd think. john@johnspumbing.com.au looks like a real business. johnsmithplumbing@gmail.com looks like a hobby.
When you send a quote to a homeowner deciding between three tradies and two of them have proper business emails, you want to be in that group. It signals you take your business seriously.
Most website hosting includes a business email, or you can use Google Workspace which starts at around $10/month. Set it up the same day as your domain.
4. A CRM (even a simple one)
A CRM sounds corporate but for a tradie it does one thing: stops you losing jobs because you forgot to follow up.
When you start getting enquiries, you need somewhere to track them. Not in your head. Not in a text thread. Somewhere you can see at a glance: who enquired, what they need, whether you sent a quote, and whether you've heard back.
At minimum, your system needs to capture:
- Name and contact number
- What they need done
- When you sent the quote
- Whether you won or lost the job
Even a spreadsheet beats nothing. But if your website has a lead capture form that feeds directly into a dashboard on your phone, you never have to manually enter anything. The lead arrives, you get a notification, you follow up. That's the system worth having from day one.
Want to see what a built-in tradie CRM dashboard looks like? We include one in every Groundwork Digital website package.
5. SEO basics (so Google can find you)
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. For a tradie, it means making sure Google knows what you do and where you do it.
The key insight for local trades is this: "plumber Footscray" and "plumber Yarraville" are different searches. Someone in Yarraville searching for a plumber is not going to call a result that only mentions Footscray. You need pages, or at least content, that specifically mentions the suburbs you service.
The basics to get right from the start:
- Your page title and meta description should include your trade and your main suburb
- List every suburb you service somewhere on your site
- Create separate landing pages for your highest-priority suburbs as you grow
- Add your business to free Australian directories like True Local, Word of Mouth, and hipages (even with a free listing)
6. Business cards and a QR code
Yes, physical cards still matter for tradies. You are constantly meeting customers, suppliers, and other businesses in person. A card is a tangible leave-behind that gets passed on.
The upgrade: put a QR code on your card that links directly to your website or your Google Business Profile. Most people who receive your card will scan it before they type anything. Make it easy.
Digital business cards let customers save your contact details to their phone in one tap. Some of our clients use a "/card" page on their website as a digital card they share via text or QR code.
What Most New Tradies Get Wrong
These are the patterns we see again and again from tradies who come to us after a frustrating first year of trying to get established:
- Spending thousands on a logo before getting a website. A logo does nothing without somewhere to display it. Get your website live first, even a simple one.
- Setting up a Facebook page and calling the digital setup done. Facebook is a social media tool, not a business platform. It does not rank on Google for local searches.
- Relying entirely on word of mouth for the first year. Word of mouth is great but it is unpredictable, especially in the early months. Digital channels give you a consistent source of leads that runs while you work.
- Not asking happy customers for Google reviews from day one. The best time to ask is immediately after a job when the customer is satisfied. Waiting until later means the moment passes and you never ask.
- Waiting until they are "busy enough" to invest in digital. By the time you are busy enough to think about it, your competitors have already locked up the search rankings. Start while they are still catchable.
What This Actually Costs
The honest answer is: less than you probably think, and nowhere near what some web agencies will quote you.
Google Business Profile is completely free. It is the highest-return thing on this list and it costs nothing but 15 minutes.
A basic website does not need to cost $5,000 or $10,000 upfront. At Groundwork Digital we build trade websites from $220 per month with $0 upfront. That covers your website, hosting, SEO, lead capture, and monthly maintenance. No big bill on day one. One predictable monthly cost that pays for itself with a couple of extra jobs.
Business email through Google Workspace runs around $10 per month. A box of business cards from a local printer costs around $50 to $80.
The total digital setup for a new tradie, done properly, is well under $300 per month for everything. That is less than most tradies spend on fuel each week.
Ready to Get Set Up?
If you are just starting your trade business and want to get your digital presence sorted properly from day one, we can help.
The easiest first step is a free website audit. Even if you don't have a website yet, we will look at your Google presence, what your competitors are doing, and put together a clear picture of exactly what you need.
Or if you would rather just have a conversation about what your setup should look like, get in touch here. No pressure, no sales pitch. Just a straight answer about what makes sense for your trade and your budget.
Groundwork Digital Studio builds and manages websites for trade businesses across Australia. Custom sites, lead capture, CRM dashboards, and local SEO from $220/month with $0 upfront. See our work or get in touch.