Blog
Straight answers, no sales pitch.
The questions tradies and small business owners actually ask me, answered properly. No terminology nobody explained to you.
29 October 2026
Would You Know If You Had a Google Penalty?
Most traffic drops are not penalties. Real ones arrive with a message, and you can check for one in about a minute. Here is how to tell them apart.
28 October 2026
How to Read a Google Ads Report Without Being Lied To
Agency reports are usually true and often misleading. Here are the numbers that matter, the ones designed to flatter, and the questions that settle it.
27 October 2026
Do Location Pages Still Work?
The tactic got a bad name because of how it was abused. Done properly it still works. Here is the line between a page worth having and one that hurts.
26 October 2026
WordPress or Hand-Built: What It Costs to Run
The build price is the part everyone compares. The running cost is the part that decides which one you should have actually chosen.
25 October 2026
When a Worse Business Outranks You
Their work is poor, their reviews are thin, and they are above you anyway. Google is not judging the trade. Here is what it is judging instead.
24 October 2026
How to Check What AI Says About Your Business
Twenty minutes, no tools, no cost. Here is how to find out whether AI tools know you exist and whether what they say about you is even right.
23 October 2026
Local Services Ads or Google Ads?
They look similar, sit in the same place and work completely differently. Here is which one suits a trade business, and where you can even get them.
22 October 2026
What Happens to Your Rankings When You Rebuild
Rebuilds lose traffic when old pages are dropped without redirects. Here is what to do before, during and after, so you keep what you built.
21 October 2026
Will Google Penalise AI-Written Content?
Google's position is clearer than the arguments about it. It does not care how a page was made. It cares whether it was made for a person.
20 October 2026
Service Area or Shopfront: How Google Treats You Differently
If you go to the customer rather than the other way round, your Google listing works differently. Getting this wrong is one of the quickest ways to lose it.
19 October 2026
How Do I Get My Business on Google Maps?
The map is where most local work starts. How to get your trade business into it, and what decides which three businesses Google shows.
18 October 2026
Does Schema Markup Still Matter Now AI Reads the Web?
Structured data was always a way of telling machines what a page means. More machines are reading now, not fewer. Here is what is worth having and what is not.
17 October 2026
What Photos Belong on a Trade Website
The photos on most trade websites were chosen by a web designer from a stock library. Here is what should be there instead, and how to shoot it on a phone.
16 October 2026
Why Your Google Ads Leads Are Rubbish
The phone rings and it is never the job you wanted. That is almost always a setup problem rather than bad luck, and these are the five causes.
15 October 2026
City or Suburb: Where Should You Aim?
Everyone wants to rank for the city. Almost everyone would make more money ranking for the suburbs around them. Here is how to work out which is realistic.
14 October 2026
Should You Let AI Crawlers Read Your Site?
There is a real argument for blocking AI bots, and it is almost never the right call for a local business. Here is how to check what yours is doing.
13 October 2026
How to Find the Words Your Customers Actually Search
The words you use for your work are rarely the words people type. Here is how to find the real ones without paying for a keyword tool.
12 October 2026
Should You Bid on Your Own Business Name?
Paying for clicks from people already searching for you feels like buying something you own. Sometimes it is. Here is how to tell which case you are in.
11 October 2026
Why Your Contact Form Gets No Submissions
People are reaching your contact page and leaving without filling anything in. Here are the reasons that actually cause it, in the order they cost you work.
10 October 2026
Are AI Overviews Costing You Clicks?
Google now answers plenty of questions itself, above the results. Here is what that actually does to a trade business, and which searches it does not touch.
9 October 2026
How Many Google Reviews Do You Actually Need?
There is no magic number, but there is a threshold where reviews stop being a worry and start being a moat. Here is what actually matters, and what does not.
8 October 2026
The Negative Keyword List Every Trade Account Needs
Most wasted ad spend is not bad bidding, it is paying for searches that were never going to become a job. Here is the list to block before you spend anything.
7 October 2026
How Fast Does Your Website Need to Be?
Speed matters, but not in the way most people are sold it. Here is what is actually fast enough for a trade website, and how to check yours in two minutes.
6 October 2026
What Is GEO, and How Do You Actually Do It?
Generative engine optimisation is getting AI tools to know your business and recommend it. Here is what that involves in practice, and what it costs.
5 October 2026
How Much Does a Website Cost for a Trade Business?
What a website actually costs a plumber, sparky or builder, what you are paying for, and why two quotes for the same job can be thousands apart.
22 September 2026
What Is AEO, and Does It Matter for a Trade Business?
AEO means being the answer when Google or an AI replies directly instead of listing links. Here is what it means for a trade business, in plain English.
14 September 2026
Why Isn't My Website Getting Any Calls?
Your website looks fine but the phone never rings. Here are the six reasons that actually cause it, and how to work out which one is yours.
8 September 2026
Google Ads or SEO: Which Should a Trade Business Do First?
Ads bring work in this week and stop when you stop paying. SEO takes months and keeps going. Here is how to work out which one your business needs right now.
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