When a homeowner in your area needs a plumber, electrician, or roofer, the first thing they do is open Google and type something like "plumber near me" or "emergency electrician Manchester". What they see next is the map pack: three local businesses displayed with a map, star ratings, and phone numbers. If your business is not in that map pack, you are invisible to the majority of local buyers.
The good news is that ranking in the Google Maps pack is more achievable than ranking in organic search results. It is driven by a specific set of factors that most trades businesses are not optimising. This guide covers exactly what those factors are and what you need to do to improve your position.
Why the Map Pack Matters More Than Organic Rankings
Studies consistently show that the map pack receives between 40% and 60% of all clicks for local search queries. For trades businesses, where the customer is looking for someone nearby and often needs help quickly, that percentage is even higher. A prospect searching for an emergency plumber is not going to scroll past the map to read a blog post. They are going to call one of the three businesses they see immediately.
This means your Google Business Profile is not a secondary concern. For most trades businesses doing £200k to £1m in annual revenue, it is the single most important digital asset you have. Getting it right can be the difference between a phone that rings consistently and one that is quiet for weeks at a time.
The Three Factors Google Uses to Rank Local Businesses
Google uses three primary factors to determine which businesses appear in the map pack: relevance, distance, and prominence. Understanding each one helps you prioritise where to focus your effort.
1. Relevance
Relevance is about how well your business profile matches what someone is searching for. If a homeowner searches for "boiler repair Leeds" and your profile says you are a "heating engineer" but does not mention boiler repair, Google may not consider you relevant enough to show. The fix is to make sure your business category, description, and services are as specific and keyword-rich as possible without sounding unnatural.
2. Distance
Distance is the most straightforward factor. Google shows businesses that are geographically close to the searcher. You cannot change where your business is located, but you can influence how far your service area extends by clearly defining your service areas in your Google Business Profile and by building local signals across the web that confirm you operate in specific towns and postcodes.
3. Prominence
Prominence is where most trades businesses have the most room to improve. It is essentially a measure of how well-known and trusted your business is online. Google uses review quantity and quality, the number of citations (mentions of your business name, address, and phone number across the web), backlinks to your website, and overall online activity to determine prominence. A business with 120 five-star reviews and consistent citations across 50 directories will outrank a competitor with 8 reviews and no citations, even if the competitor is closer to the searcher.
Step-by-Step: How to Improve Your Map Pack Ranking
Complete and Optimise Your Google Business Profile
Start by making sure every field in your Google Business Profile is filled in completely and accurately. This includes your business name (use your real trading name, not keyword-stuffed variations), your primary and secondary categories, your service areas, your opening hours, your phone number, and your website URL. Add every service you offer using the Services section. Write a business description that naturally includes the keywords your customers search for, such as your trade, your location, and the types of jobs you do.
Upload at least 20 photos of your work, your team, and your vehicles. Google rewards active profiles and photos are one of the easiest ways to demonstrate that your business is real, active, and professional. Add new photos regularly, ideally at least once a week.
Build a Systematic Review Strategy
Reviews are one of the most powerful ranking signals in local search, and they are also the factor that most trades businesses neglect. The businesses that dominate the map pack in competitive areas typically have hundreds of reviews. If you have fewer than 50, building your review count should be your top priority.
The most effective approach is to ask every customer for a review immediately after completing a job, while the experience is fresh. Send a text message with a direct link to your Google review page. Make it as easy as possible. A simple message like "Thanks for choosing us today. If you are happy with the work, a quick Google review would mean a lot to us" followed by the link will convert a significant proportion of satisfied customers.
Respond to every review, positive and negative. Google sees active engagement with reviews as a positive signal. For negative reviews, respond calmly and professionally. A thoughtful response to a negative review often does more for your reputation than the review itself.
Build Local Citations
A citation is any mention of your business name, address, and phone number on another website. The more consistent and widespread your citations are, the more Google trusts that your business is legitimate and well-established. Key citation sources for UK trades businesses include Checkatrade, Rated People, TrustATrader, Yell, Thomson Local, Yelp, and the major data aggregators like Brightlocal and Whitespark.
The most important thing is consistency. Your business name, address, and phone number must be identical across every citation. Even small variations, such as "St" versus "Street" or a different phone number format, can dilute the trust signal. Audit your existing citations and correct any inconsistencies before building new ones.
Create Location-Specific Pages on Your Website
Your website is a supporting signal for your Google Business Profile. If your website has a dedicated page for each town or area you serve, Google has more evidence that you are genuinely active in those locations. A plumber serving Leeds, Bradford, and Wakefield should have separate pages for each location, each with unique content describing the services offered in that area, local landmarks, and relevant customer stories.
These pages should not be thin or duplicated. Each one should be at least 400 words of genuinely useful content. This is one of the most effective local SEO tactics available to trades businesses and one of the least used.
Post Regularly to Your Google Business Profile
Google Posts are short updates that appear on your Business Profile in search results. Most trades businesses never use them. Posting once a week with a recent job photo, a seasonal offer, or a short tip for homeowners keeps your profile active and signals to Google that your business is engaged. It also gives potential customers more reasons to choose you over a competitor whose profile has not been updated in six months.
How Long Does It Take to See Results?
For businesses starting from a low base, meaningful movement in the map pack typically takes 60 to 90 days of consistent effort. The speed depends on how competitive your area is, how many reviews your top competitors have, and how well your profile and website are currently optimised. In less competitive areas, some businesses see significant movement within 30 days. In highly competitive cities, it can take six months to break into the top three consistently.
The key word is consistency. Google rewards businesses that maintain an active, well-managed presence over time. A burst of activity followed by months of neglect will not produce lasting results.
The Bottom Line
The map pack is the most valuable piece of digital real estate available to a local trades business. Getting there requires a combination of a fully optimised Google Business Profile, a systematic approach to generating reviews, consistent local citations, and supporting signals from your website. None of these things are complicated, but all of them require consistent attention.
If you are a trades business doing £200k or more in annual revenue and you are not consistently appearing in the map pack for your key services and locations, you are leaving a significant amount of revenue on the table every month.
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