The complete guide to getting a trade business online

Before you buy anything, lock down the name customers will see. This is the name that has to match everywhere — your ABN, your domain, your email, your Google listing, your invoices.

Inconsistency confuses customers and looks dodgy. "Brisbane Northside Plumbing" on your van but "BNP Services Pty Ltd" on your invoice makes people pause.

Pick one trading name and use it everywhere. If you operate as a sole trader, you can register a business name through ASIC. If you trade under your own name (e.g. "Dave Smith Plumbing"), you may not need to.

Make sure your ABN is current and the details are right. You can check and update it at abr.gov.au for free.

Cost: ASIC business name registration is around $44 for one year or $102 for three years. An ABN is free.

Your domain is your web address, like brisbanenorthsideplumbing.com.au.

For an Australian local business, a .com.au is the right choice. Customers trust it, and to hold one you need a valid ABN — which means competitors and overseas chancers can't easily grab it.

Buy it from an Australian registrar such as VentraIP, Crazy Domains or GoDaddy AU. Register it in your own name and your own account. This matters — more on that later.

Keep the name short and easy to say over the phone. Avoid hyphens and clever spelling.

Cost: a .com.au is roughly $20 to $40 per year depending on the registrar.

A business email on your own domain — like dave@brisbanenorthsideplumbing.com.au — looks far more professional than a Gmail or Bigpond address.

It also means if you ever change phone or internet provider, your email stays put.

The two common options are Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Both give you a real inbox, calendar and storage on your own domain.

Set this up early so you can use the address when you register everything else.

Cost: around $10 to $15 per user per month.

This is the free listing that shows up in Google Maps and in the local results when someone searches "electrician near me".

For a lot of trade businesses, this single listing brings in more calls than the website does. Do not skip it.

Go to google.com/business and create or claim your profile. Google will usually verify you by phone, postcard or video.

Fill in everything: business name (exactly as it appears elsewhere), phone, service areas, hours, and the services you offer. Add real photos of your work and your van.

Cost: free.

Now you build the site. By this point you have a name, a domain, an email and a Google listing — so the website has somewhere to point and something to link to.

For most trades you need a small, fast, mobile-friendly site: a home page, a services page, an area/contact page, and clear ways to call or message you. Nothing fancy.

The non-negotiables are a tap-to-call phone number, a simple contact form, and your service areas spelled out so customers know you cover them.

You can build it yourself on a platform like Wix, Squarespace or WordPress, or pay someone to do it. If you'd rather not touch it, Sheppard Industries builds and hosts the whole thing for no setup fee, $99 a month, no lock-in.

Cost: DIY is roughly $15 to $40 per month for the platform. Hiring out varies — see our guide on choosing a web provider.

Once you're live, reviews are the thing that turns a listing into bookings. Most customers read them before they call.

The easiest way to get them is to ask, in person, right after a job done well. "If you've got a minute, a quick Google review really helps me out."

Then make it easy. Google gives you a short review link in your Business Profile dashboard — text it to the customer there and then.

Reply to every review, good or bad. Keep replies short and polite. A calm reply to a negative review reassures the next reader more than the complaint worries them.

Cost: free.

1. Lock down your trading name and check your ABN

2. Buy your .com.au domain in your own account

3. Set up email on your domain

4. Claim and fill out your Google Business Profile

5. Build a simple, mobile-friendly website

6. Start asking happy customers for reviews

Up front, expect somewhere around $60 to $150 for name registration and your first year of domain.

Ongoing, budget roughly $20 to $55 a month for email and a website platform if you DIY, or a fixed monthly fee if you hire someone.

None of this is expensive compared to one extra job a month. The trick is just doing the steps in order and owning everything yourself.