SEO for trades: what 112 trade websites get wrong
We ran the same checks as our free scan on 112 independent trade websites across the South West in September 2026, from plumbers and electricians to roofers and locksmiths. Here is what came up most, what it costs a trade business, and what to fix first.
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The problems that came up most often
Based on 112 trade businesses, pooled across plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, gardeners, cleaners, painters and decorators, and locksmiths. Each figure shows how many sites it was measured on.
73%of sites took more than four seconds to show their main content on a phone (75 of 103). Only 7 loaded in the time Google counts as good.
Most trade work starts with someone on a phone who needs it sorted today. If your page is still loading, they go back and ring the next name on the list.
First fix: Start with the large photo at the top of the homepage: resize and compress it, and make sure nothing else has to load before it.
42%of sites did not tell Google what trade they were, or even that they were a local business, in their structured data (41 of 97).
When someone searches for a roofer or an electrician near them, Google has to guess what you do and where you work from the page text. Structured data states it outright.
First fix: Add structured data for your trade (Plumber, Electrician, RoofingContractor and so on) to your homepage, with your service area, phone number and hours.
Check your structured data38%of sites were missing a page title or description on more than 30% of the pages we sampled (37 of 97).
Google then writes your search listing for you, often from whatever text it finds first, such as a cookie notice or a list of towns you cover.
First fix: Give each service page its own title and description: the job, the area, and a reason to call you rather than the next listing.
Check your titles and descriptions54%of sites had no DMARC record at all, and only 9 of 112 told inboxes to quarantine or reject fake email sent in their name.
Quotes and invoices sent from your domain are easier to fake, and a customer who pays a fake invoice with changed bank details is left asking why it came from your address.
First fix: Add a DMARC record to your domain, start it in monitoring mode, then move it to quarantine once your own email passes.
Check your DMARC record
What to fix first
If you run a trade business, this is the order we would take these in. Then run the free scan to see which apply to your site.
Make the first screen fast on a phone
Your customers find you on a phone, often mid-problem. Compress the hero image and put your phone number where it loads first.
Tell Google what you do and where
Add structured data for your trade with your service area, phone and hours, matching your Google Business Profile.
Write a title and description for every service page
Each job you want to be found for needs its own page title naming the job and the area, not just your business name.
Protect the email your quotes go out from
Add SPF and DMARC records. It is a one-off job for whoever manages your domain, and it makes fake invoices in your name harder to send.
About this research
- 112 independent trade businesses across twelve South West towns, audited on 26 September 2026 with the same checks our free scan runs. No site is named on this page.
- The figures are for the group as a whole. Some of its sectors had too few sites to quote on their own, so no figure here describes any single one of them.
- Homepage plus up to six further pages per site. Mobile speed is Google PageSpeed Insights lab data, measured twice and averaged.
- A site counts as failing a check only when it clearly misses it. Borderline results, such as a DMARC record in monitoring mode, are counted separately and not included in the fail figures.
- Some checks could not be measured on every site, for example when a page would not load. Each figure says how many sites it is based on.
Common questions
Further reading
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Read moreStart with one page. Then let AuditCrow watch the rest.
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