Andrew Heppinstall, founder of marketing agency Unavoidable Marketing, shares ten practical ways electrical contractors can strengthen their online presence and attract new customers
When ECN last ran marketing tips for trade businesses in 2022, most customers found an electrician through Google, a recommendation, or a directory listing. They still do. What has changed is how those channels work.
More people now ask an AI assistant who to call, Google has overhauled its Local Services Ads, and the businesses doing best are the ones that own their online presence rather than renting it. Here are ten practical things any contractor or sole trader can do this year, most of them for little or no cost.
1. Treat your Google Business Profile as your shop front
For most local searches, your business profile is the first thing a customer sees, often before your website. Choose electrician as your primary category, list the services you want more of, and set service areas you genuinely cover. Add real photos of your own work every month: a tidy consumer unit, an EV charger install, a finished rewire. Stock photos and empty profiles make customers scroll on.
2. Make your details identical everywhere
Your business name, address and phone number should match exactly on your website, your business profile, your scheme listing, Companies House and any directories you use. AI assistants and search engines cross-check these sources. When they agree, the tools are more confident recommending you. When one listing has an old number or a slightly different name, that confidence drops. Set aside an hour to search for your business and fix anything out of date.
3. Ask every happy customer for a detailed review
Reviews remain the strongest signal for both customers and AI tools, and detail matters as much as the star rating. Ask at the end of every job, while the customer is pleased, and send a direct link by text. Encourage them to mention the job and the area, for example “rewire in a three bed semi in Headingley”, because that is the kind of detail people search for.
Keep it honest. Since April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has made fake reviews unlawful in the UK, and Google does not allow incentives for reviews. Reply to every review, good or bad. A calm, professional reply to a complaint often reassures future customers more than another five stars.
4. Own your website and your domain
Lead platforms and directory profiles can bring in work, but you are renting that space. If the platform changes its prices or rules, your presence goes with it. A website on your own domain is an asset you keep and build on. It does not need to be fancy. It needs to load quickly on a phone, show your number with a tap-to-call button, list your registrations and insurance, and explain clearly what you do and where.
5. Write a page for each service you want more of
One page that says “all electrical work undertaken” tells customers and search engines very little. Give each main service its own page: EICRs, consumer unit upgrades, EV charger installation, rewires, fault finding, and so on. On each page, answer the questions customers actually ask. What is involved? How long does it take? Will there be disruption? What certificate will I get? Plain, specific answers like these are exactly what AI assistants pick up and quote when someone asks for advice.
6. Put your credentials where customers make decisions
Customers often cannot judge the quality of electrical work, so they judge the signals around it. If you are registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, show it on your website, your business profile and your quotes. Explain that you can self-certify notifiable work under Part P and that the customer will receive the right certificate, whether that is an Electrical Installation Certificate, a Minor Works Certificate or an EICR. Mention your public liability insurance too. These details win jobs against cheaper quotes.
7. Understand Local Services Ads before you spend
Google’s Local Services Ads, the listings at the very top of some searches where you pay per lead, have changed. There is now one Google Verified badge, the old money-back guarantee has gone, and Google no longer lets you dispute bad leads by hand. To get verified, expect to need a verified Business Profile, a VAT or Companies House number, public liability insurance, and any licence the law requires for your work.
Because you can no longer claw back poor leads, set your service types and areas carefully so you only pay for work you want. Answer quickly and collect reviews, because responsiveness and reviews both help how often your listing is shown.
8. Answer fast, because a missed call is a lost job
Most customers ring the next electrician on the list if nobody picks up. If you are on a job and cannot answer, have a clear voicemail and make sure someone, or something, texts the caller back within minutes to say when you will ring. It sounds basic, but speed of response is one of the biggest differences between contractors who are busy and those who say the phone has gone quiet.
9. Keep in touch with past customers
Repeat and referral work is the cheapest work you will ever win. Keep a simple list of past customers and the work you did. Landlords in England need an electrical safety inspection at least every five years, so a reminder when an EICR is due is useful rather than salesy. The same goes for a follow-up after an EV charger install, or a note to customers who might want a consumer unit upgrade. Make sure you have permission to contact people and always give them an easy way to opt out.
10. Track where every job comes from
Ask every new customer how they found you and write it down. Over a few months, you will see which channels actually pay, whether that is your business profile, your website, an ad, a directory or word of mouth. Then put more time and money into what works and stop paying for what does not. Without this, most marketing decisions are guesswork.
The bottom line
None of these tips needs a big budget. Most need a little time each week and some consistency. Get the basics right, own your presence online, and make it easy for both customers and the new AI tools to see that you are a reliable, qualified electrician who turns up and does the job properly.
Andrew Heppinstall is the founder of Unavoidable Marketing
