The State of the Industry · 2026-Q3 · AU

Australia's engineering and construction firms earn strong ratings but stay largely invisible to the customers searching for them

Across 493 engineering and construction businesses, the median RADAR score sits at 45.1, and just 2.4 per cent reach Accomplished tier. The cohort earns trust where it is seen, yet most firms are barely visible in search and thinly reviewed, leaving a wide gap between reputation and reach.

RADAR score distribution · 493 businesses2026-Q3
MEDIAN · 45.1
0255075100
The numbers that define the industry
4.8★
Median Google rating
5
Median reviews — top quartile starts at 10
47.3%
Attract under 100 organic visits/month
2.4%
Reach Accomplished — the top tier
Tier distribution
148
209
124
12
Off the radar (0–34) · 30% Emerging (35–54) · 42.4% Established (55–74) · 25.2% Accomplished (75+) · 2.4%
Findings from the sweep
Finding 01 · The review paradox

High ratings, almost no reviews to prove it

The median business holds a 4.8-star rating but just five reviews, and 48.4 per cent show the classic paradox of strong scores on thin volume. Top-quartile firms sit at only ten reviews, so even the leaders carry limited social proof. Satisfied clients are not being converted into visible evidence of quality.

Finding 02 · Search invisibility

Nearly half the cohort barely registers in search

An estimated 47.3 per cent of firms fall into the low-traffic band, and 24.3 per cent are effectively invisible in third-party search estimates. With a median domain authority of just nine, most sites lack the weight to surface for the queries clients actually run. Reputation is strong, but discoverability is not.

Finding 03 · Growth versus decline

A cohort splitting into two directions

Some 58.6 per cent of firms are growing on the measures tracked, while 39.3 per cent are declining and 20 have collapsed outright. The spread points to a widening divide rather than a rising tide. Momentum is available, but it is not evenly shared across the field.

Finding 04 · Website and conversion

Half the field sits in the digital bottom

Just over half the cohort, 50.1 per cent, occupies the bottom band on digital performance, and 30 per cent remain off the radar entirely. WordPress leads the platform mix, but a large share of sites show no clearly detected CMS. Weak web foundations blunt the ability to turn hard-won reputation into enquiries.

State by state
RegionBusinessesMedian RADARAccomplished
TAS10 59.2
1
SA24 49
3
WA58 48.9
NSW114 46.8
1
QLD111 44.8
4
VIC89 41
2
ACT8 36.8
NT13 30.4

Smaller cohorts shown for indication only.

Technology landscape
WordPress
92.9%
Other / none detected
4.3%
Squarespace
1.2%
Wix
0.8%
Drupal
0.4%
Technology adoption
Analytics
Google Tag Manager 68.6%
Google Analytics 62.1%
Google Analytics 4 43%
Google Search Console 41.8%
CRM
HubSpot 4.9%
Salesforce 2.8%
Zoho 1.8%
Marketing automation
HubSpot 4.9%
Mailchimp 3.7%
ShareThis 0.6%
Pardot 0.6%
E-commerce
WooCommerce 6.3%
Shopify 0.2%

Share of the cohort with each tool detected (BuiltWith). Businesses may run more than one.

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FREE · 493 BUSINESSES SCORED
METHODOLOGY — RADAR scores five pillars (Reputation, Authority, Digital experience, Activity, Reach) from verified public data across the 2026-Q3 Engineering & Construction cohort (493 businesses, AU). Figures are aggregated and anonymised; individual business data is never disclosed. Search metrics are third-party estimates shown as approximations. RADARREGISTER.COM · AN INITIATIVE OF REDFOX DIGITAL.