How tradesmen and builders get customers on Google in Spain

A building company or a tradesman gets customers on Google through four channels that add up: the Google Business Profile, reviews from real customers, a website with one page per service and area, and ads when you need work now. The order matters: profile and reviews come first.

This guide is for building and renovation companies in Spain, and for plumbers, electricians, air con and solar installers and garages. It explains what each channel needs, how long it takes to bring in work and what changes from one trade to another. Nobody can promise you a specific position on Google; what does work is steady, well-organised effort.

Short answer: the four channels and in what order

To get renovation and trade customers through Google in Spain, work on four channels in this order. First, the Google Business Profile, which costs nothing: the right primary category, service area, opening hours, phone number and photos of your own jobs. Second, reviews: ask every customer when each job is finished, with a direct link, and reply to all of them. Third, the website: one page per service and per area, with real photos, guide prices if you have them and a button to request a quote or message you on WhatsApp in one tap. Fourth, Google Ads, when you need to fill the diary in weeks rather than months; they work better when each ad leads to the page for the service it advertises. The four reinforce each other: the profile and the ads bring the visit, the reviews persuade, and the website turns that visit into a quote request. What wins the job is replying quickly.

Channel, speed and what you need

Each channel takes a different amount of time to bring in enquiries and asks for different things. The table sums up what to have ready before you start with each one.

There is a reason for the order. Ads are the fastest channel, but without reviews or a page that persuades, you pay for the click and the call never comes. The profile and the reviews hold everything else up.

Your Google Business Profile: category, area and job photos

Your Google Business Profile is what shows up on Google Maps and in the map results when someone searches for “builders near me” or “emergency plumber” plus the name of their town. Setting it up costs nothing, and for a business that works at the customer’s home it is the first channel to get in order.

Three decisions matter more than the rest:

• Primary category. It has the biggest say in which searches you appear in. Choose the one that describes the work you most want to do (building firm, plumber, electrician, solar panel installation) and add the rest of what you do as secondary categories.
• Service area. If you go to the customer and don’t receive people at premises, Google lets you hide your address and list the towns or postcodes where you work. Only add the ones you really cover.
• Photos of your own jobs. Before and after, the team at work, the signwritten van. Real, recent photos, never stock images: this is what customers look at before they call.

Also fill in your opening hours, phone number, services with a short description and a link to the matching page on your website. Your name, address and phone number should match, character for character, on your website and on any directory where you appear; inconsistencies confuse both Google and customers. Posting a finished job every now and then keeps the profile active.

Reviews: ask everyone (and why you don’t filter them)

Reviews are what turn a profile into a phone call. Someone looking for a builder doesn’t know anyone and reads what other customers say: whether you turned up when you said, whether you left the house clean, whether the final bill looked like the quote.

The rule is simple: ask every customer, not only the ones you know are happy. Google’s content policies forbid filtering, that is, asking only the people you expect to rate you well, offering something in return or posting fake reviews. A profile that breaks those rules can lose reviews or be restricted.

How to ask without it feeling awkward:

1. When you finish the job or repair, in person: “If you’re happy with the work, a Google review would really help me.”
2. The same day, a WhatsApp message with the direct review link (you can copy it from your own profile).
3. If nothing arrives, one reminder a few days later. Only one.

Reply to every review, including the bad ones. A calm reply to a negative review, explaining what happened and what you did about it, says more about your business than ten five-star reviews.

Your website: one page per service and area, quotes in one tap

The profile brings the visit; the website is where the customer decides. A website that works for a builder or a tradesman has little in common with a brochure: it is a set of specific pages.

• One page per service: kitchen refit, bathroom refit, air con installation, electrical certificate, solar panels. Each one answers what people type into Google with those words.
• One page per area where you really work, with jobs done there. Don’t copy the same text and just change the town name: Google notices, and so do customers.
• Photos of real jobs, each with a line on what was done, where and how long it took.
• Quotes in one tap: a button that is easy to see on a phone and opens WhatsApp with the message already written, or a short form (what you need, where, a photo if you have one and a phone number).

Many of these visits come from a phone, often in a hurry. If the page is slow to load or the call button is hidden, the visitor goes back to Google and calls the next business.

To see how a site like this is put together for your trade, here is what goes into a website for your building company, and in the published projects you can see real websites with their own admin panel.

Google Ads: when they pay off

Google Ads can show your business in the results from the day the campaign goes live, and you pay for each click. They pay off in three situations:

• When you need work now and your profile and website are not yet bringing in enough enquiries.
• For seasonal services: air con before summer, heating before winter, waterproofing before the rains.
• For high-value jobs, such as a full renovation or a solar installation, where one new customer can justify several months of campaign spend.

To avoid wasting money: advertise each service separately, limit the campaign to the towns where you work, exclude searches you don’t want (such as “course”, “jobs” or “DIY”) and send each ad to the page for that service, never to your home page. Before you start, decide how much you can spend each month and check every week how many calls and messages the campaign brings in.

Tradesmen and garages: what changes by trade

The four channels work for everyone, but each trade has its own way of searching and its own urgency. If you are a tradesman or run a garage, these are the details; to see how they translate into a website, look at what goes into a website for tradesmen.

Plumbing

Many call-outs are emergencies: a leak, a blocked drain, a water heater that won’t come on. People searching like that call the first business that seems trustworthy and answers the phone. Here, a profile with real opening hours, a phone number that is easy to find on your website and a quick reply count for more. On your website, keep emergencies separate from planned work (swapping a bath for a shower tray, a full new installation).

Electrical work

Besides faults, electricians get very specific searches: electrical certificate (the boletín), power upgrades, electric car chargers, wiring a new home. Each one deserves its own page, with what it includes and what paperwork the customer receives. If you are registered as an authorised installation company, say so on your website and your profile: it builds trust.

Air conditioning and heating

This is a very seasonal trade. Searches for air con installation rise before summer and repair searches peak in a heatwave; heating and aerothermal heat pumps, in autumn. Get the page and the campaign ready before the peak, not during it: in high season the hard part is keeping up with everyone. Out of season, annual servicing is what brings in regular work.

Solar

A solar panel installation is a long decision: customers compare several quotes, ask about grants and want to see installations similar to theirs. Here the website carries more weight than in other trades: photos of real roofs, what the installation includes, how the process works and a form that asks for what you need for an initial assessment (type of home, approximate consumption, roof orientation). Reviews that mention the paperwork are among the most useful.

Garages

A garage works with customers from its neighbourhood or daily route, so the Google Business Profile is its main shop window: exact opening hours, services (servicing, tyre changes, diagnostics, pre-ITV checks), photos of the workshop and plenty of reviews. On the website, what helps most is being able to book or ask for a repair quote without calling, and making it clear which makes or types of vehicle you work on.

Reply quickly and follow up every quote

Many enquiries are lost after first contact: the customer asks for three quotes, the first one to reply with something concrete usually gets the visit, and whoever takes a week is out of the running. Replying quickly and following up is part of getting customers, even if it doesn’t happen on Google.

1. Reply the same day, even if only to arrange when you’ll come and see the job.
2. Log every request in one place: name, phone number, what they want and where they came from (profile, website, ad, recommendation).
3. Send the quote in writing, with clear line items and how long it is valid.
4. If you hear nothing, call or message a few days later. Once, and politely.
5. When the job is done, ask for the review. That closes the loop.

Knowing where each customer comes from tells you which channel deserves more of your time. Some websites save every request with its source and let you prepare the quote from the same admin panel; if you send a lot of quotes each month, it is worth asking for this from whoever builds your website.

Frequently asked questions

How does a building company win more jobs?

With a well set-up Google Business Profile, reviews from every customer, a website by service and area, and ads when work is short. Recommendations from customers and other trades are still an important source: a good profile and a good website reinforce them, because people who get a recommendation usually look the name up on Google before calling.

Where can builders find customers?

On Google (profile, website and ads), through recommendations from past customers and other trades, and on quote platforms. Platforms bring contacts quickly, but they often share them with other companies and have a cost; your profile and website bring customers who are looking for you.

How does a garage get customers?

Mainly through the Google Business Profile: exact opening hours, services, photos of the workshop and reviews from every customer. A website where people can book or ask for a quote without calling, plus local recommendations, does the rest.

How does a plumber or an electrician get call-outs?

By being easy to reach at the moment of the emergency: a profile with real opening hours, a visible phone number on the website and a quick reply. For planned work (certificates, rewiring, chargers), the service pages on your website work better.

And a solar installer?

With a website that shows real installations and explains the process, because customers compare several quotes before deciding. Reviews that mention the paperwork and the result, plus an ad campaign in the busiest months, complete the plan.

How do I get my business on Google?

By creating and verifying your Google Business Profile, which costs nothing, with the right primary category and service area. Your details should match your website. After that, your website and reviews help you appear in more searches; neither of them ensures a specific position.