The short version: get listed on Google, Apple and Bing first, then a short list of Australian directories, every one carrying your name, address and phone in the exact same format. Below is the list with links, a copy-this master record to keep them straight, and how to clean up the mess if your details are already scattered.
How many versions of your phone number are floating around the internet right now? Most tradies have no idea, and that is exactly the problem.
Google trusts a business that shows up the same way everywhere. It is how it works out that you are one real, settled business and not a fly-by-night. List your number three different ways across the web and you do not look like one strong business. You look like three weak, half-real ones, and none of them rank.
I have spent more than one afternoon cleaning up a tradie’s listings, and it is always the same story: the work is fine, the details are a shambles. An old mobile on half of them, a previous business name on a few, a duplicate nobody knew was there. So, yeah, the job here is almost never “get on more sites.” It is “make the sites you are already on agree with each other.”
1. Lock your NAP before you touch a single listing
Decide one format for your Name, Address and Phone, write it down, and never vary it again. This is your master record. Copy this structure into a note on your phone right now:
Name: Tweed Coast Plumbing & Gas
Address: Tweed Heads NSW 2485 (suburb + state + postcode only, if you work from home)
Phone: (07) 5599 1234
Web: tweedcoastplumbing.com.auEvery listing you ever touch matches this to the letter. “St” or “Street”, “(07)” or “07”, pick one and never switch. Google forgives the small stuff, but you should not have to rely on it.
2. Do the three maps first
These three feed Google, Apple and Microsoft search and maps. Paste your master record into each.
| Directory | Where to go | Cost | Time | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | business.google.com | Free | (its own guide) | The big one. Set it up properly |
| Apple Business Connect | businessconnect.apple.com | Free | ~15 min | Needs an Apple ID. Feeds every iPhone |
| Bing Places | bingplaces.com | Free | ~10 min | Feeds Bing and the AI answer tools |
That is three done.
3. Work the core AU directories
Same master record, copy-paste, down the list. One sitting.
| Directory | Where to go | Cost | Time | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Pages | yellowpages.com.au | Free (paid upsell) | ~10 min | Expect a sales call about a paid listing. The free one is fine |
| True Local | truelocal.com.au | Free | ~5 min | - |
| Hotfrog | hotfrog.com.au | Free | ~5 min | - |
| StartLocal | startlocal.com.au | Free | ~5 min | - |
| Yelp | biz.yelp.com.au | Free | ~5 min | - |
| Word of Mouth (WOMO) | womo.com.au | Free | ~5 min | Review-led. Ask a happy customer to post one |
4. Kill any duplicates
A duplicate listing splits your ranking between two versions of you, and neither wins. Find and fix them:
- Search your business name, then your phone number, in Google Maps.
- If a listing is yours but unclaimed, claim it (the “Own this business?” or “Claim this business” link).
- If it is a duplicate you cannot claim, open it and use Suggest an edit → Close or remove → “It’s a duplicate”, and point to the real one.
- Do the same quick search in Apple and Bing.
The trade platforms: a listing, not a contract
Hipages, Oneflare and ServiceSeeking are worth a free listing. It is one more citation and one more place a customer can land on you. But whether you buy leads from them is a completely separate decision with real trade-offs, and it is worth knowing your customers are often wary of those platforms too:
“I am super reluctant to do airtasker/hipages.” Electrical customer, New South Wales
Take the free listing. Read pay-per-lead platforms vs building your own visibility before you commit a cent to their lead products.
What if your details change
The moment you change your number, move, or rebrand, fix it in this order so Google relearns you cleanly instead of seeing a contradiction:
- Google Business Profile first.
- Then Apple and Bing.
- Then every directory, from the top of your master record down.
Update rather than delete where you can, and mark an old address as moved, so your history connects instead of snapping.
What if you work from home
Use suburb, state and postcode only, no street number, and hide the address on your profile (the service-area setup in the GBP guide covers it). Your master record carries the suburb line, and every listing matches it. A home address you accidentally leave public on one directory is the kind of mismatch that undoes the rest.
The links that actually move you
Beyond directories, a few genuine local links do more than a hundred listings: your trade association, a sponsored local club, a supplier’s case study, the local paper. Relationships, not volume.
Don't chase volume
Once you have the core 20 to 30 quality listings done with identical details, stop. Paying for hundreds of low-value directory submissions adds almost nothing, and the sloppy ones reintroduce the exact NAP inconsistencies you just spent the afternoon killing. Ten strong, consistent listings beat a hundred junk ones.
Your citation afternoon
- Write your master record (step 1) at the top of a note.
- Do the three maps, pasting it into each.
- Work down the AU directory table, same paste every time.
- Search your name and number in Maps, and claim or report any duplicates.
One sitting. Then a five-minute check once a quarter for anything that has drifted.
A worked example
A plumber working the Tweed was listed on dozens of sites, but his old mobile was on half of them and a previous business name on a few. Google could not tell which version was the real him, so none of them ranked well.
He did not add a single new listing. He wrote one master record, then spent an afternoon making every listing match it to the letter, and killing a duplicate he did not know existed. Within weeks his map ranking across the border firmed up. The fix was not more. It was consistent.
Consistent beats everywhere
Getting listed is a consistency game, not a numbers game. One master record, the maps and the core directories matching it to the letter, then you stop. That quiet agreement across the web is worth more than any volume play.
Not sure how many versions of you are out there? The free Visibility Check finds them in about a minute, and the Prove It Fast Start helps you lock the lot into one story Google can trust. Start with the check. It is your own data, about your own business.