Brunswick Electrician — Local SEO
A residential electrician went from page 5 to the local 3-pack — organic calls up 189% without spending a cent on ads.
TL;DR
- Challenge:
- A Brunswick electrician paying $30+ per Hipages lead with zero organic Google presence.
- Approach:
- GMB optimisation, 5 suburb service pages, SMS review generation workflow.
- Result:
- +189% organic calls, Google reviews grew from 2 to 47, Hipages spend cut 78%.
Key Results at a Glance
+189%
Organic calls
+2,250%
Google reviews
-78%
Hipages spend
Client Context
Business Type
Residential electrician (sole trader → 3 sparkies)
Founded
2016
Team Size
3 sparkies + admin
Market
Brunswick + inner north Melbourne
Revenue Tier
$520K annual revenue
Stack Before
Hipages, ServiceM8, basic 1-page website
The Challenge
The electrician had a basic one-page website with no suburb targeting, 2 Google reviews, and zero visibility in Maps. All work came from Hipages at $30+ per lead.
Goals & KPIs
North-Star Metric
Replace 70% of Hipages leads with organic Google leads within 8 months
Supporting KPIs
Organic calls/month
Target: 25+
Google reviews
Target: 40+
Hipages spend reduction
Target: -70%
Local pack rankings
Target: Top 3 in 5 suburbs
Cost per organic lead
Target: Under $15
Discovery & Research
Audit Findings
- •Basic 1-page site with no suburb targeting
- •GMB missing 60% of profile fields
- •2 Google reviews vs competitor average 42
- •No review request workflow
- •Zero local content
Baseline Issues
- •9 organic calls/month
- •$1,800/month Hipages spend
- •2 Google reviews
- •Page 5 rankings
Competitor Insight
Top Brunswick electricians had 40+ reviews, 8+ suburb pages, and posted GMB updates weekly. Organic accounted for 55% of their lead flow.
Audience Insight
Brunswick residents search "electrician [suburb]" and read reviews before calling — the local 3-pack captures 78% of clicks.
Strategy
Core Hypothesis
“If we build suburb pages plus automate reviews, organic will replace paid leads because trade services rely on trust signals and proximity.”
Positioning Shift
Repositioned from "electrician" to "Brunswick's trusted local sparky, 5-star rated, 3-hour response" — trust + speed.
Channel Mix
GMB optimisation · 40%
Local 3-pack ranking
Suburb service pages · 30%
Long-tail capture
Review campaign · 25%
Trust + ranking factor
Technical SEO · 5%
Site speed + schema
Our Approach
Google Business Profile
Optimised the profile with correct categories, service areas covering 12 suburbs, weekly posts showing completed jobs, and a review request system via SMS.
Suburb service pages
Created individual pages for Brunswick, Coburg, Northcote, Fitzroy, and Carlton — each targeting "electrician [suburb]" with unique content about local jobs.
Review generation
Built an automated SMS workflow: after every job, the customer receives a thank-you text with a direct link to leave a Google review. Reviews grew from 2 to 47 in 6 months.
Phased Roadmap
Weeks 1–4
Foundation
- →GMB full rebuild
- →Local business schema markup
- →Site speed fixes (4.8s → 1.6s)
- →Category + service area setup
Weeks 5–16
Suburb Pages + Reviews
- →Built pages for Brunswick, Coburg, Northcote, Fitzroy, Carlton
- →Weekly GMB posts
- →SMS review request workflow
- →Reviews grew 2 → 32
Weeks 17–32
Scale + Reduce Hipages
- →Added Preston + Thornbury suburbs
- →Guest post on Brunswick community blog
- →Reduced Hipages 30% then 50% then 78%
- →Reviews: 47
What We Built
The Results
Monthly Organic Calls
Before vs After — 8 Months
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic calls | 9/month | 26/month | +189% |
| Google reviews | 2 | 47 | +2,250% |
| Hipages spend | $1,800/month | $400/month | -78% |
“I have almost completely dropped Hipages. Google sends me better jobs and I keep 100% of the margin.”
Steve K.
Owner, Residential Electrical
Key Insights
- →SMS review requests converted 34% vs email 6% — trade customers respond to text
- →Suburb pages drove 68% of organic calls — hyper-local wins over generic
- →GMB weekly posts kept the profile fresh and ranked higher over time
- →Hipages was easy to cut once organic hit 20+ calls/month
What's Next
Adding solar + EV charger installation service pages, launching Google Ads for high-value commercial jobs, and testing Instagram for before/after switchboard installs.
Ready to see similar results?
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Services Used
Representative case study. Figures illustrate the type of outcomes achievable through these strategies for Australian businesses; individual results vary based on market, budget and starting position.