The Cardiff search market, mapped
Most service businesses in Cardiff rank for their own company name and little else. The buying searches — the "near me" queries fired from the CF postcode area and from Newport, Barry and Penarth — go to whoever holds the map pack. That's rarely the best operator in Cardiff; it's the one whose Google Business Profile and site structure send the strongest local signals.
Our approach in Cardiff is sequence-driven: fix the technical foundations first, then build out location pages for Caerphilly and Penarth, then push Google Business Profile authority until the map pack moves. Each stage is measured against enquiries from the CF area — not impressions, not traffic, enquiries.
Where we win work around Cardiff
In Cardiff we prioritise the searches that turn into booked work: emergency and urgent-intent terms, "near me" queries across the CF area, and town-plus-service phrases for Caerphilly and Penarth. Volume keywords look good in reports; intent keywords pay invoices.
And because we're Leicester-based rather than Cardiff-based, there's no conflict of interest: we're not ranking three of your local competitors on the same keywords. One service business per trade, per market — that's the arrangement.