Home improvement trades are missing out on local online searches
Posted by: electime 1st April 2025
As we embark on National Home Improvement month (April 2025), popular trades, such as plasterers and carpenters, are not taking advantage of the online opportunities to bring in local customers, missing out on the internet savvy 30-49 year-old demographic that is most likely to spend on home upgrades. Overall, 40 per cent* of households face difficulties in identifying and securing the right service providers, according to a recent survey from Houzz.
Digital marketing experts, JL Creative, can see from Google data that common home improvement trades are not investing in capturing people online when compared to their building services counterparts – plumbers, gas engineers and renewable installers. With more than half of trades people wanting more local jobs according to a 2024 USwitch survey, targeting these potential customers could be just a few clicks away.
Carpenters in particular are missing a trick; one of the most widely searched for trades at around 12,000 ‘near me’ searches a month**, with the least investment in online advertising. Paid-for search (Pay Per Click (PPC)) is a bidding war, which means there are some extremely cost-effective opportunities. Clicks for ‘Carpenter near me’, on average, cost just over £1, compared with nearly £10 for solar panel installer.
Of the building services-based trades, there is one anomaly – electricians, by-far the most searched for at nearly 20,000 searches a month but not paying much more than carpenters for clicks. Gas installers in comparison get around 3,000 searches at approximately £2.50 per click – still quite cheap when you consider that one of these clicks could turn into a job worth thousands of pounds.
Jonny Lawrence, Director at JL Creative, said: “The statistics paint an interesting picture, where emerging trades seem to be making the most investment in digital advertising, but that does not necessarily translate into search volume. ‘Near me’ searches for air source heat pump (ASHP), solar panel and EV charging installers are negligible, yet pay the most for PPC. Often newer businesses, this group needs to ensure success – getting found on Google is key in the modern world.
“The construction sector has the highest number of sole traders of any industry, and many home improvement trades people fall into this group. They might feel that investing in online advertising is too expensive, but it’s clear that there are cost-effective ways to get in front of new customers. What’s important is that you don’t waste your money. Bidding on specific, local search terms yields the best and most price competitive results.”
Top trades missing out on local searches:
- Electricians: 19,000 searches > £2 a click
- Carpenters: 12,000 + searches < £1 a click
- Builders: 3000 searches > £2 a click
- Plasterers: 2000 searches < £1 a click
JL Creative has created a guide to understanding search data for small businesses: https://jlcreativeltd.com/blog/making-better-decisions-how-understand-demand-near-me
