MARKETING FOR ROCKHAMPTON TRADIES
Straight-talking digital marketing for tradies in Rockhampton and across Central Queensland. No jargon, no lock-ins, no agency fluff.
THE PROBLEM
WHAT THIS INDUSTRY IS DEALING WITH.
Plenty of Rockhampton tradies are flat out on the tools and their marketing is whatever their nephew set up in 2019. The Google Business Profile still has the old mobile number, the website (if there is one) has not been touched since the kid started high school, and reviews are thin on the ground because nobody ever asks. Meanwhile the bloke down the road with twelve fresh five-star reviews is usually the one getting the call from Google.
The thing is, tradie marketing is not complicated. Your customer types "plumber near me" or "electrician Rockhampton", scans the map pack, reads the top few reviews, and calls whoever looks like they know what they are doing. That is the whole funnel. The tradies winning in Rocky are not running TikTok campaigns. They are just doing the basics properly and showing up when people are ready to call.
WHY IT MATTERS
WHY FIXING THIS MOVES THE NUMBERS.
- 01A lot of local trade jobs start with a Google search. If you are not in the map pack, you are invisible to many of the people looking.
- 02Reviews are one of the biggest levers for local trades. Three reviews versus thirty is often the difference between being skipped and being called.
- 03A clean, simple website tells homeowners you are a real business, not a bloke operating out of a ute with no paperwork.
- 04Call tracking tells you which ads, listings or channels are actually paying for themselves instead of guessing.
- 05Before-and-after photos build trust fast. People are hiring you to be in their home, they need to feel you are legit.
WHAT ACTUALLY WORKS
THE THINGS THAT MOVE THE NEEDLE.
WHAT TO EXPECT
REALISTIC OUTCOMES.
I am not going to promise you a specific number of leads, because every trade and every business is different. What the basics are designed to do: tradies who commit to a proper Google profile, a steady flow of reviews and a simple website for three to six months can reasonably expect the phone to ring more often, with better-qualified jobs from people who have already read the reviews. Work that used to come only from word of mouth can start coming from Google too, so you depend less on one source. I started Michael Evans Media in April 2026, so I will not pretend to have a pile of tradie case studies. I will tell you straight what I think makes sense for your trade.
WATCH OUT
COMMON MISTAKES I SEE.
- Treating Google Business Profile like a set-and-forget listing instead of updating it weekly with photos and posts.
- Never asking for reviews, then wondering why the bloke down the road with 80 reviews is getting all the work.
- Spending money on a fancy website with sliders and animations when a simple one-pager with a big phone number would often convert better.
- Running Facebook ads with no landing page and no call tracking, then claiming "ads do not work for tradies".
- Ignoring the service area pages. If you work across Rockhampton, Gracemere, Yeppoon and Mount Morgan, you need to tell Google that in plain English.
HOW I CAN HELP
RECOMMENDED SERVICES.
SEO OPTIMISATION
Rank for the searches your Rockhampton customers are actually typing.
WEBSITE DESIGN & BUILD
Fast, mobile-first websites built to bring in leads, not just sit there looking pretty.
DIGITAL STRATEGY
Stop guessing. Get a clear plan for how your business grows online.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS I GET FROM TRADIES.
I am already booked out. Do I even need marketing?
Being booked out is great until it is not. Trades work in cycles and the moment a big job falls through or a developer stops calling, you need the phone ringing. Marketing when you are busy is how you smooth out the quiet patches before they happen. It also lets you cherry-pick the better-paying jobs instead of taking whatever comes.
How many Google reviews do I realistically need?
Honest answer: more than your competitors. Look up the top three in your trade on the map and aim to beat them. Thirty or so genuine five-star reviews will often make you look like the obvious choice in the map pack, and a hundred puts you well clear of most local competition.
Do I need a website if I already have a Facebook page?
Yes. A Facebook page is rented land. Meta can change the rules, throttle your reach or shut it down and you have nothing. A website is yours. It also lets you show up in Google search when someone looks for your trade, which Facebook simply cannot do.
Should I run Facebook or Google ads?
For tradies, Google usually beats Facebook because Google catches people who are actively searching for help right now. Facebook is better for bigger-ticket jobs where you are building awareness: think renos, landscaping, pools. Start with Google Business Profile and Google Ads, then layer Facebook on once the basics are humming.
How long before I see results?
Google Business Profile and reviews can start shifting things inside the first month. A new website usually takes two to three months to settle in Google rankings. Paid ads can produce calls in the first week if they are set up properly. I will not promise overnight miracles. The tradies who stick with it for six months tend to stop worrying about where the next job is coming from.
I am based in North Rocky but work all over the region. How do I market that?
You tell Google exactly where you service. I set up your Google Business Profile service areas to cover Rockhampton, Gracemere, Yeppoon, Mount Morgan, Emu Park and wherever else you actually travel. Then on your website we build simple location pages so people in those suburbs find you when they search locally. It is one of the quickest wins many Rocky tradies are missing.
READY TO GET STARTED?
LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR TRADIES BUSINESS.
Free 30-minute strategy call. I will ask about your business, listen, and tell you straight what actually makes sense for a Rockhampton tradie like yours. No obligations, no sales pitch.