Search basics for contractor websites

What this service is

A fixed-scope review of a contractor website against Google's own published guidance, with the fixes made in the same job where your site allows it. It starts at NZD 1,600, plus GST where applicable. That covers sites of up to about thirty pages. Larger sites are quoted on page count.

You get a written report that lists each issue, why it matters, what we changed and anything we could not change.

What we check

The checklist follows Google Search Central's documentation, not a private formula. Google's starter guide says plainly that there are no secrets that will rank a site first automatically. Concentrate on the basics it describes.

Titles and descriptions. Google describes a good title as unique to the page, clear, concise and accurate about the content, and a good description as short, unique and focused on the most relevant points. We check every page for duplicates, empty fields and titles that say nothing, then rewrite them.

Page addresses and structure. Descriptive addresses help people understand a page before they open it. We check that each service and project has its own page, that pages link to each other sensibly and that nothing important is hidden behind a search box.

Images. Google's image guidance asks for descriptive file names, useful alt text and images placed near related text. Contractor sites lean on photos, so we review each project photo's file name, alt text and size.

The phone version. Google uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking. We check that the phone layout has the same content, structured data and image alt text as the desktop one.

Local business details. We compare your name, phone, coverage and hours on the site with your Business Profile and check any LocalBusiness structured data against Google's requirements.

Technical basics. A sitemap, a robots file that blocks nothing important, working redirects and no pages accidentally set to noindex.

What we do not do

We do not build links, write pages to target keywords you have no work for, or add reviews and ratings markup you cannot back up. We do not promise a position, a number of visitors or a number of enquiries.

That last point matters legally as well as practically. The Commerce Commission's message to businesses is that if you cannot back up a claim, you must not make it. A search provider promising page one would be making exactly that kind of claim.

What you can expect

Fixing the basics removes obstacles. Search engines can read the pages and understand what each is about, and people who find a page see an accurate title and description. Whether that changes how often your site appears depends on things outside a review, including what your competitors publish, how much useful content your site has and what people in your area search for. We say that plainly at the start and in the report.

What is included

• a crawl of the whole site and a page-by-page check against the list above
• rewritten titles and descriptions for every page that needs them
• alt text and file name fixes for project photos
• structured data checked and corrected where it is used
• redirects set up for any pages we move or merge
• a written report with every finding and change

Logins and details

• editing access to the site, or a developer who can make changes for us
• access to your Search Console property if you have one, or help setting it up
• your Business Profile details as they appear now
• the services and areas you want to be known for

Not in the review

Ongoing monitoring, monthly reports and content writing are not included. If the review shows that your site is missing pages for work you want, we say so and quote that separately.