Why Your Website Isn't Bringing in the Phone Calls (And How to Fix It)
If you’ve spent five minutes looking into how to get your business to show up on Google, you’ve probably heard people talk about "keywords."
The old advice was simple: if you’re a plumber in Chermside, you just need to write "plumber Chermside" fifty times on your website, and magically, the phone will start ringing.
I’m here to tell you that those days are dead. In fact, if you’re still paying a marketing agency to "optimise your keywords," you are likely flushing money down the toilet.
Google has gotten smarter. It doesn't just look for matching words anymore; it tries to understand what the person sitting behind the computer actually needs. This shift is what tech people call "semantic search," but for you—a business owner in Brisbane—it’s much simpler than that. It’s about being the most helpful answer.
In this guide, I’m going to bust the myths that are keeping your business invisible and show you how to actually get more customers by playing the game the way Google plays it today.
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Myth #1: You Need to Mention Your Service 100 Times
I see this all the time with local tradies and professional services. You go to their website and it reads like a robot wrote it: "We offer the best accounting Brisbane. Our Brisbane accounting services are the top accounting Brisbane choice."
It’s painful to read. And guess what? Google hates it too.
The Reality: Google Understands Context
Google now understands that if someone searches for "my pipes are making a banging noise," they are looking for a plumber. Even if that person never types the word "plumber," Google is smart enough to connect the dots.What to do instead: Stop writing for Google and start writing for your customers. If you’re a mechanic in Coorparoo, don't just list your services. Write about the common problems people have with their cars. Talk about why a European car needs different oil than a Toyota. When you provide real information, Google sees you as an authority, not just a guy with a website.
Myth #2: More Pages Equals More Sales
There’s a common lie told by agencies that you need a 50-page website to rank well. They’ll charge you thousands to create "location pages" for every single suburb from Ipswich to the Gold Coast.
The Reality: Quality Beats Quantity Every Time
Filling your site with thin, useless pages that all say the same thing doesn't fool anyone. In fact, it often hurts you. Google would much rather see one incredibly helpful page that answers every question a customer might have about your service than ten pages of fluff.Think about a homeowner in Paddington looking for a renovation builder. They don't want to see a page that just says "Renovations Paddington." They want to see: Photos of previous work in the area. A breakdown of how long a bathroom reno actually takes. An explanation of the council approval process in Brisbane.
When you provide this level of detail, you become the local expert Google recommends because you’re actually helping the user, not just trying to trick an algorithm.
How Google Actually Decides Who to Show
Imagine Google is a personal assistant. If you ask your assistant, "Where should I get my hair cut?", they aren't going to give you a list of people who shouted "HAIRCUT" the loudest. They’re going to suggest the place that has the best reputation, is closest to you, and offers exactly what you need (like a specialist in curly hair).
Google works the same way. It looks at three main things:
1. Intent: What is the person really looking for? (A price? An emergency fix? A long-term partner?) 2. Location: Are you actually near the person searching? 3. Trust: Do other people trust you? This is why you need to focus on getting more reviews from your happy clients. Reviews are the ultimate proof to Google that you do what you say you do.
The "Helpfulness" Test: A Practical Example
Let's look at a real-world scenario we handled for a pest control business in North Lakes.
Before they came to us, their website was just a list of bugs they killed. It didn't work. We changed their strategy to focus on answering the questions their customers actually asked on the phone.
Instead of just "Termite Protection," we wrote a piece on "How to tell if that pile of dirt in your garden is actually a termite nest."
The result? People found the article while they were panicked in their backyard. They saw the business knew their stuff, and they clicked the "Call Now" button immediately. That’s how you turn a visitor into a lead. You didn't trick them; you helped them.
3 Steps to Start Growing Your Business Today
You don't need a degree in IT to do this. You just need to know your business and your customers. Here is what I would tell a mate to do if they wanted more enquiries this month:
1. Write Down Your Top 10 Customer Questions
Listen to your phone calls this week. What are people worried about? What do they ask about price, timing, or how the job gets done? Create a page on your site for each of these. This is the single best way to get more phone calls because you’re meeting the customer exactly where they are.2. Make Sure Your Site Works on a Phone
Most of your customers are searching for you while they’re on the go—on a building site, in the kitchen, or at the office. If your site is slow or hard to read on a mobile, they will leave in two seconds. Google knows this and will stop showing your site to people if it’s a pain to use.3. Stop Paying for "SEO Magic"
If an agency promises you "Rank #1 on Google in 30 days," run the other way. Real growth takes time—usually 3 to 6 months to see significant changes—but it lasts. Cheap tricks might get you a win for a week, but Google will eventually catch on and penalise you. It’s better to build a solid foundation of helpful content that brings in customers for years.Is This Worth the Money?
I’ll be blunt: marketing costs money. But it should be an investment, not an expense.
If you spend $1,000 a month on a proper strategy that brings in three new high-value jobs worth $5,000 each, you’ve made a massive profit. If you spend $200 a month on "cheap SEO" that brings in zero calls, you’ve wasted $200.
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about fancy reports or technical jargon. We care about whether your phone is ringing. We’ve seen this approach work for dozens of Brisbane businesses, from solicitors in the CBD to landscapers in the Redlands.
Summary: The New Rules of Winning on Google
Forget keywords, focus on topics. Talk about your industry like an expert. Be the answer. If someone has a problem, make sure your website solves it. Build trust. Get those Google reviews and show off your real work.
- Be patient. Do it right once, and you won't have to keep paying for tricks that don't work.
Ready to grow your Brisbane business? Contact Local Marketing Group today.