The Plumber Benchmark

Most Aussie plumber businesses leave about $630/mo on the table. Here’s where the leak is. Every number sourced. No guesses.

What good looks like across the five measures — the Google review bar, the website scorecard, the GBP setup, the ops baseline, and the buyer’s actual questions. Every figure is sourced or labelled. No guesses.

modelled — sizes the leak, not a quote. Average job value (AJV) from modelled: weighted blend: reactive job ~$280 / mid service ~$600 / hot-water replace ~$2,200 (50/35/15) (whatsthedamage, jswplumbing, airtasker); close rate from hipages platform analysis (20minutemarketing.com.au); default 10 enquiries/month.

Field data · 2026-06-12 · How we score

Where you stand

Five things decide whether a plumber gets found and gets the call. Here’s where you stand on each — and the number to beat.

The review bar	74 reviews (your suburb)	→
The website scorecard	36/45 vs market 31/45	→
The Google profile	category check primary category review	→
Your numbers	AJV $600 · leak $630/mo	→
What buyers ask	1 questions to answer in writing	→

Run the Visibility Check — see how you score →

Download the 2-page benchmark (PDF)

The 45-point test for your trade

Plumber sites score 36 / 45 on the same nine-dimension rubric we ran across 289 Australian trade sites. The market median is 31/45. Read the trade score as a guide, not a hard stat — it rests on 4 AU sites. Your Google review bar above is the harder number. Top of the pack: Conrad Martens at 41/45.

The two weakest spots are SEO/AI Usefulness (3.5/5) and Mobile/Speed Confidence (3.5/5). Good sites look good and they convert. They don't answer buyer questions in plain form.

Dimension	Trade average /5
3-Second Clarity	4.75
Visual Polish	3.75
Trust Above Fold	4.5
CTA Clarity	4.5
Local Relevance	3.75
Service Architecture	4
Proof Depth	3.75
SEO/AI Usefulness weakest	3.5
Mobile/Speed Confidence weakest	3.5

The one to study

Platinum Hot Water & Plumbing — platinumhotwaterandplumbing.com.au

Copy this: 24/7, 30-minute response, $0 call-out, upfront/fixed pricing, lifetime guarantee and review proof.

Design direction: Urgency-first, phone-visible, trust-and-speed layout

Build rule. Use AU model for realistic owner-operator structure; use national/US models for scale, proof, conversion and service-page architecture.

You know the bar. Now see if you’re getting seen →

Your Map Pack reality

Your suburb's bar: about 74 Google reviews (Google Places API (New) (field median)). The quiet quarter sits at 25, the top quarter at 176, the busiest carries 4833 — across 356 listings.

Reviews here are table stakes. The top-3 (median 86) carry about the same as spots 4–6 (median 79). Hit the bar, then win on distance, category fit, and site signals.

Metro	Median reviews
Adelaide	90
Ballarat	5
Brisbane	75
Cairns	35
Canberra	112
Darwin	56
Geelong	43
Gold Coast	147
Hobart	34
Melbourne	73
Newcastle	72
Perth	146
Sunshine Coast	105
Sydney	109
Toowoomba	11
Townsville	134
Wollongong	37

Reviews get you seen. The profile they tap decides what happens next →

The Google profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the cheapest win on this page. It costs nothing. It moves first.

Most in your trade have the main category set right. Check yours is the most exact one Google offers. Bland always loses to exact.

What we measure — and what we won’t

Review count and prominence rank are public — we read them via the Google Places API. The owner-only fields — photo count, post cadence, messaging response speed — we never scrape from a competitor. Connect your own profile to read those.

Profile set right. Now answer what they ask before they ring →

What homeowners ask before they hire you

A homeowner searches before they call. They're already looking, reading and choosing. Below are the real questions — from accounts across 8 states.

Answer each one on your site in plain form. That's the SEO/AI gap, closed.

What do I need to know?

Pour a bucket of water down your sewer ORG … once a year, stops bad smells coming back up Aftercare/maintenance · source

Read what your customers are reading — the plumber buyer guide on Need A Trade

Skip the answers and watch the leak →

Where your trade leaks money

AJV: $600 (modelled: weighted blend: reactive job ~$280 / mid service ~$600 / hot-water replace ~$2,200 (50/35/15) (whatsthedamage, jswplumbing, airtasker)). Close rate: 20–25%. With follow-up: up to 33%. (hipages platform analysis (20minutemarketing.com.au))

Revenue-leak calculator

Enquiries a month Your close rate (%)

Benchmark close rate ~25–33% (hipages platform data). AJV is modelled — see the label above. This is an estimate to size the leak, not a quote.

Stop the leak — Run the Visibility Check

That’s the cost. Here’s the plan →

The 30/60/90 play

Three stages. Each one closes a gap on a measure above.

First 30 days — Foundation.
- Fix the two weak dimensions on the scorecard.
- Set the right Google profile category.
- Tighten the above-the-fold trust strip.
By 60 days — Proof.
- Start the review engine. Ask every completed job.
- Push toward the 74 review bar.
- Add before/after proof to the weakest dimension.
By 90 days — Activation.
- Publish the structured FAQ/answer blocks.
- Wire fast response to every enquiry.
- Re-score against the 45-point test. Aim for at least 4 points up.