Do the basics yourself and pay for the parts that take time or skill. Any tradie can complete their Google Business Profile, ask every happy customer for a review and post job photos. An agency earns its fee on suburb pages, technical fixes, link building and tracking.
The DIY list costs nothing but an hour a week: fill every field in your profile, choose the right primary category, list your services and service areas, reply to every review and keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere online.
Hiring help makes sense when you are on the tools all day, when you work in a competitive metro area, or when you want to rank in suburbs where you have no address. That work needs content, technical changes and links that most tradies do not have time for.
If you hire, make sure the Google Business Profile, website and analytics stay in your name, and avoid lock-in contracts. Read how to choose a marketing agency for tradies before you sign anything.
This is one part of a bigger picture. SEO for tradies: the full guide covers costs, timelines, Google Maps, websites, agencies and AI search in one place.