How a $1.2M Gold Coast Plumbing Business Nearly Blew Its Leads Because It Trusted a Pretty Website
Picture this: a Gold Coast plumbing business doing about $1.2 million a year, six vans, four apprentices, and a shiny new website designed to impress estate agents and event organisers. The owner, Jake, treated the site like the shopfront. He spent $12,000 on design, $600 a month on hosting and a bit on SEO that promised “more traffic.”
Then, during a long drive to a job in Burleigh Heads, Jake listened to an interview with David Krauter. One line landed: “Most local customers don’t visit your full site. They call from your Google listing.” That moment flipped his view. He realised the site was for reputation, not for stopping the 80% of people who convert right from Google’s local results.
This is a real-world example of how a local Gold Coast business shifted focus from its website to its Google Business Profile (GBP) and what actually changed for lead volume, revenue and daily operations.
The Visibility Problem: Why the Pretty Website Wasn’t Getting Calls
Jake’s website looked great, but it wasn’t pulling the right kind of traffic. Quarterly audit numbers told the story:
Before GBP Focus (Monthly) After GBP Focus (6 Months) Organic website sessions 320 210 Website leads (form submissions) 12 10 GBP profile views 410 3,200 Phone calls from GBP 18 120 Monthly revenue (jobs from calls) $44,000 $264,000
Key problem: the site attracted low-intent visitors and the local visibility was poor. Jake was spending for brand aesthetics when customers searching “emergency plumber Surfers Paradise” were being served other local profiles in the Google 3-pack. Those profiles gave a phone number, immediate booking links, review snippets and service info - all available without clicking through to the site.
So what was failing? Jake’s site didn’t match search intent for on-the-spot plumbing needs. His GBP was half-complete, missing services, photos, accurate categories and consistent NAP https://gcmag.com.au/gold-coast-businesses-can-not-wait-any-longer-to-finally-take-their-websites-seriously/ (name, address, phone) across directories. The result: lost calls, missed jobs and wasted design money.
Flipping the Funnel: Prioritising Google Business Profile and Slimming the Website
We chose a blunt, pragmatic strategy: optimise the Google Business Profile to capture intent-driven searches, and shrink the website into a fast-loading, conversion-focused landing page for customers who wanted more detail. No ego projects. No over-engineered design.
Core elements of the strategy
- GBP-first: make the profile the main call-to-action for phone calls and bookings. Local keyword focus: set categories and services for exact-match search terms used by Gold Coast locals. Review ramp-up: create repeatable review requests to increase five-star proof where it matters most. Tracking and numbers: install call tracking and UTM links to measure which channels deliver real jobs. Website as hub: keep a fast, schema-marked landing page for trust and deeper info, but don’t expect it to do the heavy lifting for emergency calls.
Implementing the GBP-First Local SEO: A 90-Day Playbook on the Gold Coast
Here’s exactly what we did, week by week, and why. Ask yourself: could you do any of this in a morning?
Week 1 - Audit and Immediate Fixes
- Claimed and verified the GBP. Set primary category to “Plumber” and added secondary categories like “Blocked Drain Service” and “Hot Water Supply Service.” Fixed phone number formatting across website, invoices and directory listings to match the GBP phone number exactly. Enabled messaging and appointment URL with the booking system linked to the profile.
Week 2 - Content and Assets
- Uploaded 40 real photos: vans, team, recent jobs around Southport, Surfers Paradise and Robina. Photos increase clicks and calls. Added services with clear pricing ranges for common jobs - e.g., “Toilet repair from $95 call-out + parts.” Wrote 6 Google Posts focused on emergency services and same-day jobs. Each Post had a clear CTA and UTM-tagged link.
Week 3 - Reviews, Questions and Local Signals
- Implemented a one-click SMS review request after job completion. No incentives, just a polite ask and direct link to GBP review form. Answered 20 common Q&A items on the listing, turning vague questions into micro-landing answers for “do you service apartments in Surfers Paradise?” Built 12 high-quality local citations on Gold Coast directories and fixed old listings to ensure NAP consistency.
Week 4-8 - Measurement and Iteration
- Added a tracked call number on the GBP so we could separate calls from Google vs other sources. Logged call outcomes and job value. Implemented LocalBusiness schema on the site and created slim landing pages for each suburb: “Plumber Broadbeach — Emergency Callouts.” A/B tested two styles of photo thumbnails on GBP to see which produced more clicks to call. One produced 18% more calls.
Months 3-6 - Scale and Protect
- Turned the review process into a KPI for field techs: a target of 8 reviews per month with a 4.6+ average. Tied to small monthly bonuses. Built a simple internal scoreboard that showed daily GBP views and calls so staff could see the impact of leaving a jobsite without asking for a review. Set up monthly GBP health checks: duplicate listings, category creep, and Q&A monitoring.
From 18 Leads a Month to 120: Clear, Measurable Results in Six Months
Results weren’t gradual niceties. They were blunt and immediate.
MetricBeforeAfter Monthly phone calls from GBP18120 Monthly booked jobs from calls1166 Average job value$2,000$2,000 Monthly turnover from call jobs$22,000$132,000 Number of 5-star reviews2278 Cost per lead (marketing spend only)$85$18Key takeaways from the numbers:
- Phone calls increased 566%. That alone changed how many jobs Jake could accept. Cost per lead dropped from $85 to $18 because we stopped over-investing in site aesthetics and focused on the channel that converts. Monthly revenue attributable to GBP calls jumped from $22k to $132k. That paid for the optimisation work within two months.
5 Local SEO Lessons Every Gold Coast Business Should Steal
- Which matters more for emergency or immediate services: the Google Business Profile. Why? Because most local searches have high intent and people call from the listing. A fast, useful landing page beats a brochure site for conversions. Keep it simple, make sure schema is present, and match search intent for each suburb. Reviews are currency. Encourage them with a system: ask at the job, follow up with an SMS link, and log outcomes. Don’t buy reviews. Tracking is non-negotiable. If you can’t measure which phone number or post generated the job, you’re guessing about what works. Local optimisation isn’t one-off. Daily Q&A, monthly posts and photo updates keep the profile fresh and favoured by Google.
How Any Gold Coast Business Can Copy This Without Paying an Agency
Want to replicate Jake’s results? Here’s a pragmatic checklist you can follow in a weekend. Ask yourself: which of these can you tick off today?
72-hour priority checklist
Claim and verify your Google Business Profile. Is your primary category accurate? Fix NAP across your website, invoices and every directory you control. One number, one address format. Add 10 real photos: team, vans with Gold Coast plates, a job in action, the block drain fix in Broadbeach. Add services with clear pricing ranges. People want to know what ballpark to expect. Set up a tracked phone number on the GBP so you can see calls from Google separate to others. Ask for reviews at the job and send an SMS with the direct review link immediately after completion.Advanced tactics that make the difference
- Use LocalBusiness schema on the site for business name, address, service areas and operating hours. UTM tag every URL in GBP posts so you can track clicks in Google Analytics and see which posts create calls. Create suburb-specific landing pages with H1s that read like actual search queries: “Emergency Plumber Surfers Paradise - Same Day.” Set up a dashboard that tracks GBP views, calls, and booked jobs weekly. Make field staff accountable for review targets. Respond to every review promptly. Negative reviews? Fix the problem and show you follow up - that wins future customers.
Summary: So Which Matters More — Your Google Business Profile or Your Website?
Short answer: for local, intent-driven services on the Gold Coast, the Google Business Profile matters more for direct leads. The website still matters for branding, longer content and converting visitors who want to compare options. But put your marketing money where the customers are.
Ask yourself these three questions to set priorities:
- Do most customers call you from their phones looking for immediate help? If yes, GBP first. Are you targeting non-local or research-heavy buyers? If yes, invest in the website. Can you track calls and tie them back to GBP actions? If not, fix tracking now before you spend any more on design.
Final thought: the David Krauter interview was the nudge, but the results came from disciplined execution - photos, reviews, services and tracking. For Gold Coast tradies and local businesses, focus on what converts right now. Then use a lean website to back up trust and long-term SEO. Want a quick audit checklist I used for Jake? Ask and I’ll send the exact template we ran across his team’s phones.