Do I have to put my ABN on my website?

Google doesn't require it, but it helps. A customer can paste your ABN into ABN Lookup and see whether it's active and whether you're registered for GST. That's a fast trust signal, and it ties your site to one real business. Put it in the footer next to your business name.

I trade under a name that isn't my own. Do I need to register it?

Usually yes. ASIC says you must register a business name if you trade under a name other than your own, and you need an ABN to do it. The exceptions are a sole trader using only their first name and surname, a partnership using all partners' names, and a company using its own registered name. Use the registered name on your Google profile.

How do I show customers I'm a licensed electrician or plumber in Victoria?

Put your licence or registration number on your site and link to the public register. Electricians can be checked on Energy Safe Victoria's Licensed Electrical Worker Search and its Registered Electrical Contractor Register. Plumbers and builders can be checked through the Building and Plumbing Commission's practitioner search.

When is the next Grand Final Friday holiday?

It depends on the AFL fixture. Business Victoria lists it as subject to the AFL schedule and says it typically falls on the last Friday in September. Check Business Victoria's public holiday page each year once the date is confirmed, then add special hours to your Google profile the same week.

Melbourne Local SEO Checklist: Fix the Four Places Customers Find You

Q: Should my website prices include GST?

If you quote to households, yes. The ACCC says businesses must show the total price, including GST, as a single figure, and if you show a partial price the total must be at least as prominent. Prices quoted only to other businesses are an exception. If a price depends on the job, say 'from' and make the total clear when you quote.

Customers don’t find a Melbourne business in one place. They see you on the map, in the search results, on your website and in the listings and reviews around the web, and a weak spot in any of the four loses the job. So this checklist is built around those four places, not around a list of tasks. Work through them in order, and fix the first thing in each that a customer would actually notice.

1. On the map

This is where most calls from phones start. Open your Google Business Profile and check these.

Is the name your registered name? Your profile name should match the name you really trade under. Here’s the Australian wrinkle. If you trade under a name that isn’t your own, ASIC says you must register it, and you need an ABN to do that. The one exception for a company is trading under its own registered name. Be careful with ABN Lookup, too. The Australian Business Register stopped updating trading names on 28 May 2012, so the ones still showing have no legal status. To confirm a registered business name, check ASIC’s business names register. Then make the name on your profile, your website and your invoices identical.

Are your categories and suburbs honest? One primary category for the work you most want, secondary categories only where true, and service areas limited to suburbs you really drive to. Our Melbourne Google Maps guide explains how distance across a spread-out city shapes who gets shown.

Do your hours know about Victorian holidays? Melbourne Cup Day is Tuesday 3 November 2026 and Tuesday 2 November 2027. It’s a public holiday across Victoria, though some regional councils pick a different date, so check if you serve customers outside the metro area. The Friday before the AFL Grand Final is also a public holiday, but the date is set by the AFL fixture and usually falls on the last Friday in September. Next year, add Tuesday 26 January for Australia Day and Monday 8 March for Labour Day. Anzac Day falls on a Sunday in 2027 and there’s no replacement holiday. Set special hours at least a week ahead.

2. In the search results

You can check this without any tools. Open a private browser window and search three things.

Your own business name. Do you own the top results? Your site, your Google profile and your main directory listings should fill the first screen. If a marketplace or a competitor sits above you, your name is probably inconsistent somewhere.

site: followed by your domain. Typing it into Google lists the pages Google knows about, with their titles. Read them like a stranger. Does each title say what the page is and, where it’s true, where you work? Are there old pages, duplicate pages or “test” pages still showing?

Your main service in a suburb you really serve. Look at who appears and what their page offers. If your suburb pages are the same text with the name swapped, fix that before building more. A suburb page earns its place when it names the actual jobs you do there, with photos and a review or two from that area. If you can’t write that, don’t publish the page.

3. On your website

A visitor on a phone decides in seconds whether you look like a real, licensed, fairly priced business. Check these in order.

ABN in the footer. Show your ABN, and your ACN if you’re a company. Anyone can check it on ABN Lookup, which shows whether it’s active and whether you’re registered for GST.

GST-inclusive prices. Under the ACCC’s guidance, the price you show a household has to be the total price including GST, as a single figure. If you show a partial price, the total must be at least as prominent. The exception is prices quoted only to other businesses. If your prices vary, say “from” and give the total price in the quote.

Licence numbers that can be checked. For electrical work, customers can look you up on Energy Safe Victoria’s public registers, which cover both licensed electrical workers and registered electrical contractors. ESV tells customers not to let anyone start work if they won’t show their licence. For plumbers and builders, the Building and Plumbing Commission has a practitioner search. Put your number on the site and link to the register.

A phone number that works from a phone. Tap to call, a Melbourne 03 number or a mobile starting 04 that rings through, and the same number as your Google profile.

Structured data that fits Australia. If your site has LocalBusiness schema, check it shows a Victorian address with state and postcode, an Australian phone number in international format (+61) and prices in AUD. Our local SEO guide for Melbourne explains how the pieces fit.

4. In your listings and reviews

The last place is the one customers see least, but it’s what makes your business look consistent and real when someone does check.

Do your records agree? Your ASIC record, ABN Lookup, your Google profile, your website footer and your main directory listings should show the same business name, the same address (or the same service area) and the same phone number. Fix the odd ones out. If you moved or rebranded, look for the old details first.

Do you ask every customer for a review? Send your Google review link after every job. Reply to all of them. Don’t write your own, don’t pay for them and don’t only ask the customers you know are happy. Australian Consumer Law bans misleading or deceptive conduct, and fake reviews fall under that.

Are your trade marketplace profiles current? If you have profiles on trade marketplaces, make sure the business name, licence and phone number match everything above. They’re useful for customers who choose there, but treat them as support for your Google reviews, not a substitute.

A sensible order

Do the map first, because it’s free and fast. Then the website, because it’s where your licence, ABN and prices earn trust. Then the listings, because that’s tidying. Then the search results, which is a check that the first three worked. Put a 20-minute reminder in your calendar for the first of each month and run through it again.

If you want to know what a realistic budget looks like, read how much SEO costs in Melbourne. If you’d rather hand it over, get in touch and I’ll give you a straight read on where you stand. Our SEO for Melbourne businesses page covers this checklist as standard, from AU$520/mo.

Melbourne Local SEO Checklist: Fix the Four Places Customers Find You

1. On the map

2. In the search results

3. On your website

4. In your listings and reviews

A sensible order

Keep reading

Frequently asked questions

Rather have this handled for you?