New Zealand · September 2026
There are three reasons, and they happen in a fixed order. The first one is free to fix and most trades have never done it. Work down the list before you spend a dollar with anybody, including us.
This is the big one, and it catches most trades. Google usually already knows you exist, because it builds a rough listing from phone books, council records and what customers have said. But until somebody claims it, it sits there half-finished with no hours, no photos, no description, and sometimes the wrong phone number.
A claimed profile is what puts you in the map results: the block of three businesses above the ordinary results when somebody searches your trade and your town. That block gets the calls.
It is free, and you can do it yourself this afternoon. Search your own business name, look for “Own this business?” or “Claim this business”, and follow it through. Google verifies you by post or video. Nobody should be charging you for this part.
Full walkthrough: how to claim your Google Business Profile, including how to keep your home address off the internet if you work from home.
Your business is probably listed in more places than you realise: old directories, a trade association page, a supplier’s stockist list, an ancient Yellow entry. If your name, address and phone number are written differently in those places, Google is less confident it is all the same business, and confidence is what it ranks on.
“Example Motors Ltd” in one place, “Example Motors” in another, and an old mobile number in a third is enough to blur it.
What to do: pick one exact way of writing your name, address and phone number. Write it down. Use that version everywhere from now on, and fix the old entries you can still log into. You will not get them all. Get the ones that rank.
This is the last one, not the first. Once your listing is claimed and your details are consistent, the remaining problem is that a listing is only a summary. Somebody who taps through wants to see whether you look like a real business: your work, your prices or at least your range, your hours, and a number they can press.
A Facebook page half-does this. It shows up for your business name, which is worth something. But it rarely ranks for what you actually do in your town, it puts competitors’ adverts beside your work, and a lot of people simply cannot see much of it.
We have gone into that properly here: is a Facebook page enough instead of a website? It covers what it does well, and the four things it cannot do.
Being straight with you: if you have not done step 1, a website will not fix your problem, and we would rather tell you that than sell you one. Claim the free listing first. A website makes that listing more convincing. It does not replace it. We also cannot claim it for you: it needs a verified New Zealand address and we are not in New Zealand.
Four of those five cost nothing. If you only ever do the free ones you will still be better off than most of your competitors, and that is a fair thing for us to tell you.
When you get to the last step, we have written up what a tradie website actually costs in New Zealand, with real published prices, including our competitors’, so you know the going rate before anybody quotes you.
Built for your trade
Almost always one of three things: you have never claimed your Google Business Profile, your name, address and phone number are written differently in different places, or there is nothing for Google to send people to. Claiming the free Google Business Profile fixes the most common case and costs nothing.
It helps, but it is not the same thing. A Facebook page shows up for your business name and is worth having. It will not usually rank for what you actually do in your town, it puts your competitors' adverts next to your work, and people who do not use Facebook cannot see much of it.
No. It is free and you can do it yourself. Anyone who charges you to claim it is charging for something you can do in an afternoon. Managing it properly month after month is a real service and is charged for, but the claiming itself is free.
A Google Business Profile can appear within days of being verified. A new website takes longer and it depends on how competitive your trade and town are. Nobody can honestly give you a date, and be careful of anyone who does.
Related, if it is useful: how to claim your Google Business Profile, why your business is not showing on Google Maps and Facebook page or website.
Send us your business name and the town. We will tell you honestly whether we can build one, and if we can, we email you the link to look at. It costs nothing to have and nothing to keep, as long as you answer one message a year saying the details are still right.