Unavoidable Marketing

Something stood out when we went through local trade profiles on Google.

Scroll the results for a plumber, roofer or electrician and almost everyone has a strong star rating. When the whole list looks the same, the stars stop doing the selling.

What tips it is the rest of the profile. Of the 320 trade profiles we checked around Leeds, a third had no website link and nearly a quarter had never been verified by the owner. Those are the gaps customers spot while deciding who to ring.

Curious how yours looks to a customer? Our free Google profile check shows you what to fix first: https://unavoidablem.com/free-google-profile-check/

Let's make you Unavoidable.

Last month we went through 320 Google profiles belonging to trades within 10 km of Leeds.

The headline surprised even us: almost six in ten had fewer than ten reviews. A third had no link to a website, and nearly a quarter had never been verified by the owner.

Why does that matter? Because your next customer is looking at your profile next to two or three others before they ring anyone. Small gaps on a profile are often the reason the phone rings somewhere else.

Want to know how yours compares? Book a free Google profile check at https://unavoidablem.com and we will show you what customers see first.

A thought for the end of the week.

If you pay for leads, whether from Google Ads, a lead site or a directory, each one comes with a price tag. Let the phone ring out and that money is gone, along with the job.

Most trades we speak to are not short of enquiries. They are short of time to answer them. A missed-call text, a shared phone or an answering service closes that gap for far less than another month of ad spend.

Want help plugging the leak? Have a look at https://unavoidablem.com

When the boiler packs in or the fuse box trips, most people do not pick one trade and wait. They ring three, and they book the first one who gets back to them.

That means a slow reply can lose you the job before anyone has even looked at your prices or your reviews.

The fix is simple: answer quickly, or at the very least send a short text saying you will call shortly. Trades who make that a habit win far more of the enquiries they are already getting.

Want every enquiry answered fast? Find out how we help local trades at https://unavoidablem.com

Picture a homeowner stood in a wet kitchen with water coming through the ceiling. They find three local plumbers on Google and ring the first one.

If you do not answer, you do not get a second chance. The job, the review and the repeat work all go to whoever picks up next.

This week we are sharing practical ways local trades can make sure fewer calls go unanswered, even on the busiest days out on site.

Want help turning more of your calls into booked jobs? Start here: https://unavoidablem.com

Just shipped our biggest guide yet: Google Ads for UK Trades 2026.

If you run a plumbing, electrical, roofing, joinery or any trade business, this is the honest breakdown of what Google Ads actually costs to run properly.

Short version: £60 to £110 per booked job when it is set up right. £600 to £1,400 per booked job when it is not.

The guide covers campaign structure by service type (not town), offline conversion imports for booked jobs, negative keyword sculpting, landing pages that answer cost and timescale upfront, and how a strong Google Business Profile amplifies paid CPJ.

Full guide:

Google Ads for UK Trades 2026: Complete Guide - Unavoidable Marketing Pillar guide - July 2026

Not showing up on Google when someone nearby searches for what you do? Nine times out of ten, one of these is the reason.

The signals that actually get you into Google's local 3-pack in 2026:

- The right primary category on your Google Business Profile. This is the strongest ranking signal on the whole profile - and most businesses picked the wrong one three years ago and never touched it.
- Review recency, not just volume. 30 reviews in the last quarter beats 150 from three years ago.
- Real local landing pages, not doorway pages. Google now punishes copy-paste "we serve Leeds / York / Harrogate" templates.
- Fresh photos every week or two - team, work, results. Not stock.
- Consistent NAP citations. Same name, address and phone across every UK directory.
- One local backlink (chamber of commerce, local paper, supplier site) beats fifty generic ones.

None of it is glamorous. All of it compounds.

Full 2026 playbook here:

https://unavoidablem.com/rank-in-google-local-3-pack-signals/

We run free, no-obligation local SEO audits - proper written report either way. 07749 941 111 or the link above.

How to Rank in Google's Local 3-Pack: The Signals That Actually Move the Needle - Unavoidable Marketing The real signals that get you into Google's local 3-pack: GBP optimisation, citations, reviews, on-page. What works, what does not.

"Free audit" is one of the most abused phrases in this industry. Most of them are just a sales appointment wearing a lab coat.

Here is what an honest one actually looks like, based on the several hundred we have run:

- It names specific pages, not vague categories.
- It ranks findings by impact and effort. Some fixes take 20 minutes, others take three months.
- It tells you what NOT to do. Every honest audit has at least one "leave this alone".
- It shows you the working. Screenshots, crawl reports, search terms data. Evidence, not opinions.

Roughly 80% of the audits we run flag the same handful of issues - slow mobile load times, a half-finished Google Business Profile, GA4 firing on the wrong events, and Google Ads paying for the brand's own name.

Full checklist here:

https://unavoidablem.com/free-website-marketing-audit-what-it-covers/

Free, no obligation. 07749 941 111 or the link above.

The Free Website and Marketing Audit: What It Actually Covers (And What an Honest One Looks Like) - Unavoidable Marketing What a proper free website and marketing audit really covers, the issues we find in 80% of businesses, and how to spot an honest one.

The Car Finance Hub

📈 +150% organic traffic in just 8 weeks.

That's what happened when The Car Finance Hub let us loose on their SEO.

No magic tricks, no shortcuts - just a strategy built around what their customers are actually searching for, and showing up when it matters.

Ready for numbers like this? Drop "SEO" in the comments or hit the link in bio to book your free strategy call. 🚗

Your Google Business Profile sends you a performance report every month. Most business owners never open it. Fair enough - most of it is noise. But there are 3 numbers in there that reliably predict your next month of enquiries, and if you know which ones to watch you can spot problems (or wins) coming a fortnight before they arrive.

Read the plain-English breakdown here, and if you want us to read yours with you it is on the house.

How to Read Your Google Business Profile Performance Report (And the 3 Numbers That Actually Matter) - Unavoidable Marketing Your GBP sends a monthly performance report. Most owners never open it. Here is what the numbers mean, and the 3 that actually predict enquiries.