‘You need to be everywhere.’ That is the worst advice you can give a sole trader. When you already manage jobs, appointments and paperwork, being everywhere means doing a mediocre job everywhere. The right question is not where to be, but when each channel comes into your customer's thinking.
Customers do not decide in a single step. They discover you exist, check that you are credible, then contact you. Google, Facebook and Instagram play different roles in that journey, and confusing them means spending energy at the wrong moment.
Google: the customer who needs you now
Someone typing ‘plumber’ and their town has a leak, not a passing curiosity. Someone searching for ‘garage open Saturday’ needs their car repaired this week. On Google, customers arrive with their problem and their wallet: all you need to do is be easy to find and inspire confidence. A complete profile, recent reviews, a fast website and a clickable number are what turn that search into a call.
That is what high purchase intent means. Nobody scrolls through Google to pass the time: every search is a request. For most service businesses, this is the channel that fills the appointment book, and the one to get right first.
Facebook and Instagram: discovery and proof
Nobody opens Instagram thinking ‘I need a landscaper’. But when a photo of a transformed garden appears in a neighbour's feed, it creates a desire that did not exist a minute earlier. Social media creates demand and keeps you in people's minds: they discover you, follow you and think of you when the time comes.
It also provides proof. A beauty salon regularly sharing before-and-after photos, a restaurant showing today's specials, a hairdresser posting colour work: these are demonstrations no copy can replace. A customer who found you on Google will often check your social page before calling, just to see the business is active. An account silent for eight months creates doubt, even with good reviews.
Where to focus first, trade by trade
- Plumbers and garages: Google first, almost exclusively. Customers arrive with an urgent need; nobody chooses an emergency repair service on Instagram.
- Hairdressers and beauty salons: Google to be found, Instagram to convince. Your results are visible; a recent gallery is worth more than any sales argument.
- Restaurants: give both equal attention. Google and your Business Profile for ‘restaurant’ plus your town, Instagram to make people hungry and keep regulars coming back.
- Landscapers: Google for quote requests, Facebook for local awareness. Homeowners in your area see your projects being shared there.
Your website is where it all comes together
Whichever channel brings them in, a serious customer ends up in the same place: your website. That is where they check your services, the area you cover and your photos, and find the number to call. A beautiful Instagram page linking to a slow or dated website gets a customer interested only to put them off at the last moment. The reverse is just as true: a good website without a presence elsewhere is a shop window on an empty street.
A sensible order for a sole trader is to start with the Google profile and website, because that is where decisions happen. Then choose one social network, just one, where your customers spend time, and keep it manageable: a few posts a month showing your real work.
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